Sometimes the only relief she got from a bad day was to find her way there in her dreams. He always spoke softly to her, his deep voice a comforting rumble.
He didn't speak now, and the shadows grew until there was nothing but a soft red glow from the coals in the fireplace.
Anger and power boiled in the room like it never had before. Delphi's mouth turned metallic from adrenaline. Something was telling her she was in danger, that she needed to run as fast as she could.
Warm breath ruffled the hair on top of her head, and her body froze. It wasn't fear but anticipation that shot through her now.
"Whydo you seek me out?" the voice growled, the softest caress of a hand on her back. Her nipples tightened under the thin night gown. No man had ever made her respond so quickly, but the voice in the darkness always did. "Cat got your tongue?"
"Are you hard of hearing? I told you I don't know why I dream of this place. You and everything here is a figment of an overactive imagination," Delphi replied, trying to keep her voice steady.
Large hands rested on her hips, making her feel tiny in comparison. Heat burned through the thin fabric of her gown, and she bit back a gasp as his hands moved over her waist to her breasts.
"Some imagination you have, little flower, to keep coming to a creature like me so boldly. Do you like me touching you?" his husky voice whispered in her ear.
"Y-Yes," she admitted. He pinched her hard nipples slowly, making her whimper. If a man tried to do this to her in real life, she would stick a blade in his throat.
"If I stroked your sweet little cunt, would you moan for me?" the voice asked, one hand moving over her belly and lifting the hem of her gown. "I bet you make the sweetest sounds."
Big fingers skimmed her thighs, making Delphi gasp. They didn't feel like skin on skin. They felt like being touched with a suede glove. She looked down at the hand, but she could only see a dark shadow. She didn't care, it felt so good.
She dared to tilt her head back, trying to see his face. Honey golden eyes looked down at her, bright as a cat's, and all the rest was blackness.
"Eyes forward," he hissed, and she quickly averted her gaze. She was familiar enough with lust to catch it in his golden eyes before the rebuke. "You're good at obeying instructions. Is that what you need, flower? Someone to take control and make you obey?"
Delphi laughed softly. "I don't do obedience well."
"We will see about that," he replied, and a large finger stroked over her.
Delphi's smile died on her lips. It had been so long since she had been touched that she throbbed from only the briefest of caresses.
"So soft and wet for this monster already. You are a strange flower after all," her shadowy man replied. "I bet you taste like sex and springtime."
He slid his thick finger inside of her, and Delphi moaned. Her hands gripped his wrist. It was strangely soft, but she didn't care. Nothing mattered except the slick wet slide of his finger thrusting inside of her. His hips ground against her, a hard cock rubbing against her back, and she knew he had to be a giant of a man.
"Are you going to come for me like a good girl?" he growled softly, making her pussy clench. He chuckled at her response and began to circle her clit with the pad of a large thumb. "I'll take that as a yes."
Delphi whimpered, the pressure built low in her stomach until she was grinding against his hand, chasing her release with a single-minded focus.
"That's the way, little flower. You say you don't obey, but you're being so good for me. Give me your pleasure. Let all those guards down, and I'll give you what you want."
Delphi could have wept from the sensations battering her. Hot magic bloomed in her chest and soaked through her body. Something sharp scraped down the side of her neck, sending a bolt of pain through her. She erupted. Light burned under her skin, and she came with a hoarse shout.
Golden eyes burned into hers, a big hand suddenly around her throat. "There you are, witch. I found you at last."
Delphi jolted awake, her neck burning and her body throbbing with aftershocks. The candle had burned out, and she panted in the darkness, trying to catch her breath. Her hand rested over her chest, her heart beating too hard.
Outside her window, the moon cast a silver glow over the world.
"Just a dream," she told herself, staring at her ghostly garden. "No one there. Just a dream."
She rolled onto her side, curling tight into a ball, but it was a long time before she fell asleep once more.
4
Delphi's head throbbed with an unrelenting migraine. She woke with her sheets soaked in sweat, her mouth dry, and a deep pain behind her eyes.
The sun was making a valiant effort to break through the clouds, and Delphi knew she had overslept. She fumbled for the cup of water by her bed, knocking over her stub of candle from the night before.
