Page 27 of Nightmares and Numerology

I nodded. “If it happened, it was never on purpose.”

“It will be now. Your orgasms are mine, Lydia. I’m going to taste every single one. Understood?”

I raised an eyebrow. “What if I want to do it by myself?”

“Mine,” he insisted, a touch of that demonic growl in his voice. “You are mine.”

I should have argued. But I couldn’t. It was the truth.

“Yours,” I agreed.

Chapter Twelve

Lydia

“What the hell were you doing in here while I was away?” Indie asked inside my head once she’d awakened. “Did you lose a wrestling match with your bookshelves or something?”

Indie’s voice was like a splash of cold water on my dreamy haze. I came to, spluttering and gasping for my life as she settled back into the brain space we shared. It had been like a subtle ache, the place where her thoughts were supposed to be. Now she’d returned with a vengeance. And she was loud.

“Ugh...” I moaned, turning onto my side and pressing a pillow over my ears as though it might accomplish something. Indie’s voice wasn’t something I could muffle, despite my fondest wishes for that to be the case.

“Seriously, Lydia. What happened? Did we get into a fight? And if we did, I hope you kicked some ass.”

It was the concern in her voice that finally broke me. She’d never admit it, but she cared about me. Not just because I was her host body, but because we’d become... friends. It seemed impossible, but we’d managed it.

“Not a fight,” I admitted.

I struggled to keep what Angelo and I had done private, but let just a few images slip past the careful filter by way of explanation. My back caged against the bookshelf. Running, tripping, and being captured by a very hungry demon. I let her do the math. It only took a protracted second. Indie remained carefully neutral.

“Oh. You got laid. Finally. Good for you.”

A trickle of guilt slipped in to dampen the warm, floaty afterglow. It wasn’t my fault that Indie couldn’t be getting some with the man she loved, but I felt responsible anyway.

Indie’s sigh breezed through my head. “Don’t do that. I knowwhat you’re considering, and you need to stop it. It won’t help.”

“You don’t know what I was going to say,” I snapped defensively.

Indie snorted. “Yes, I do, you feather-brained gypsy. I’m in your head, remember? Even if your lover wanted to share you with Anthony, I wouldn’t let you. You don’t have to rent your body out for my use. It’s... wrong.”

“Indie,”I thought back.

“I know that’s rich coming from me, but the point still stands. I know you don’t feel that way about Anthony. I don’t want you to do something you don’t want to do for my sake. You’re right. It’s not your fault that I’m in this predicament.”

Not my fault, but still my problem. Liking Indie came with hiccups of its own. Namely, that a normal, well-adjusted person wanted their friend to be happy with the man she’d fallen in love with. Except it was my lips he’d kiss, not hers. My body they would both use to try to be close to one another. It did feel a little icky, now that I thought about it.

“Did you enjoy yourself at least?”Indie asked, trying for a more upbeat tone.

I groaned. “Are we really going to talk about my sex life? I thought you’d leave me alone once I finally did what you suggested and...” I made finger quotes in the air. “‘Got some man meat’. I still can’t believe you called it that, by the way. And to a vegan, no less.”

“It’s the only meat you’ll eat, right?”

“Oh, my God…”

Heat flooded into my cheeks and swept down my body in a prickling rush. It felt like I was on fire.

No... scratch that. I was on fire. A small but genuine tongue of flame had blossomed between my fingertips at the embarrassing thoughts. I yelped and batted it out on the coverlet, which was a stupid move when I really thought aboutit. But come on, my hand was on fire! The last time it had only been a lighter, and only for a second or two at a time. The scorch marks left behind were proof enough that this flame had lasted longer, even when the sparks dancing over my fingertips went out.

“What the hell was that?” I shrieked at her.

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