Page 204 of Lost in the Dark

"I was trapped in a bottle for decades, lost in the darkness, but you freed me from my confinement and drew me to you with your nightmares. The pain. The agony. They tasted delicious. But when I walked in your dreams, I could tell you did not deserve them. You did nothing wrong. He did." He growled those last two words.

It took me a moment to process what he was saying. Or not saying.

Delicious nightmares. Confined to darkness.

That first night, had I freed something malevolent from its prison?

Something that had then found its way into my dreams and into my bed. Into my body.

A shudder passed over me, fear and desire warring in my veins. Ash was darkness incarnate, I could see that in the undulating waves of lightning beneath my bed, but he had done nothing but pleasure me, and now he was affirming the same thing that Jenny had.

I didn't deserve the nightmare that Karl had put me through.

Maybe, if I heard it enough times, I might actually believe it.

I feel like there needs to be a passage of time here, or maybe not.

"Are you going to hurt me, too?" I asked, though I had a feeling I knew the answer.

"Never."

"And if he comes?"

"Then I will be his worst nightmare."

There was something so comforting about that statement. I knew instinctively that Ash couldn't come into the light, but I wanted to show him that I appreciated him.

That I wanted him.

I wanted to banish all thoughts of my ex and lose myself in this creature of the night.

"I want to show you what I want you to do to me. When it's dark. When you can." The words came out husky, my longing surprising me. No one had ever made such a totally clear statement in defense of me. No one had ever said they would never hurt me and made me believe it was true.

Every single time Karl said it, I'd known that it was a lie.

Ash was different, though. Maybe it was because he wasn't a man at all, but a monster.

Just not the monster I was used to.

I moved back so that I could get on my knees and slipped the robe from my shoulders. My silky shortie pajamas weren't sexy, but that wasn't the point. I wasn't trying to put on a show for Ash. I just wanted him to see me. To be vulnerable with him.

And there was nothing more vulnerable than touching yourself in front of someone else.

I knelt, teasing the waistband of my shorts with one hand, keeping my eyes locked on Ash's. His gaze didn't waver for one second the purple glow of his eyes only got more intense. But then he looked away, and my eyes followed.

Karl. He was there, standing in the cabin's doorway. The door I hadn't even thought to lock after Jenny had left.

I shot to my feet. My only thought was to get as far away from him as I could. Literally, the only good thing about this situation was that he couldn't see Ash, so maybe he wouldn't straight up fucking kill me for lusting after someone else.

It didn't matter, though. Karl was faster than me. Stronger. He slammed into me, knocking me to the bed. My head slammed against the headboard, and everything went black.

My head pounded so damn hard. I didn't want to open my eyes because I knew that light would make it worse, and if I opened them, I'd have to accept that Karl had come for me, that Ash couldn't save me.

I was on my own.

"I see you stirring there, my love."

Fucking Karl. I groaned and forced my eyes open. He was squatting in front of me, a stupid grin on his face. How had I ever thought he was the man for me? I wanted to spit in his face, but I couldn't let my anger out.

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