Page 11 of Precipitous Nightmare's Valentine Dream

The crestfallen look on her face, and the quick dart of her eyes to his horns, made him amend his statement. “Not that I don’t want that. Of course I want that, so long as you’re amenable. You were… it was…”

“Pretty fucking incredible,” she murmured, and all he could do was nod in agreement.

Their smiles at the memory were genuine, and Precipitous wanted to linger in the moment forever.

“So,” she asked as their smiles faded, “What do you want from me then if not another random fuck?”

The plan had already formed in his head, the idea that if she knew how to matchmake, then she may be primed for her own emotional entanglement. And he could learn from her, try the same tricks she performed on these mortals to win her over.

“Take me with you,” he said simply. “Show me what you’re doing. I want to learn about love.”

Chapter 9

What Is Love?

Luminous Dream

“Love,” Luminous Dream proclaimed between sips of cranberry-apple smoothie, “is all about the grand gesture.”

Across the table, the Night Terror raised one pierced eyebrow at her.

Luminous bit her lip. She had to admit he looked good like this, wrapped in the guise of a dark-haired mortal with tight, defined muscles under that form-fitting black T-shirt and an abundance of interesting tattoos that wound down his arms and up his neck. Tattoos she wanted to explore from closer than across a table in a smoothie shop. The fact that she already intimately knew the monstrous form hidden beneath his faux mortal persona made everything even more interesting.

“While I have little experience in the matter, I have not come to that particular conclusion,” he replied, reaching over to the napkin dispenser as a drop of errant smoothie slid down the side of Luminous’ cup onto her hand. He passed her a paper napkin, and she murmured her thanks, trying not to get caught in the crimson flecks lingering in the depths of those dark eyes. A quirk of his lip indicated he was well aware of her attention.

They sat in a sunny window waiting for Melanie and Gary to meet for lunch at the restaurant next door. Though she’d been startled by the Nightmare’s request at first, Luminous had quickly agreed to bring him along on her self-directed matchmaking mission. The more involved the Night Terror got, the less likely he’d be to report her transgressions. Not that they weren’t already tied together by forbidden fraternization.

Why not throw in a little crime against the Dual Realms, too?

“Oh, you’ll see,” she said, confident in her own ability to understand an emotion tied so tightly to dreams and idle musings. She sucked on her straw again, noting the way his eyes tracked the motion. “I’ve arranged this to be completely foolproof.”

The Night Terror leaned back, one arm draped over the back of his chair, looking like nothing less than a hot emo rocker boy as he casually interrogated her. He even had a lip ring to match the one in his brow, for whatever that was worth.

“Perhaps explaining exactly what you’re planning might help me understand.”

Some indefinable threat underlay his words, and Lumi almost melted in a puddle of sexual frustration.

He could still reveal her plans to both realms, leave her vulnerable to censure. To punishment. Luminous shuddered at the thought.

“Lumi?” His voice came soft and low. There might even have been a note of concern there. Her head snapped up in confusion.

“How? I didn’t tell you…”

With one long black-tipped finger, he tapped the side of her cup where a sticker showed her name as Lumi.

“That seems not to be a proper Realm name, yet you answer to it.”

She flashed a coy smile. Was he trying to get her real name? Those things held power. She might be easy, but she wasn’t that kind of easy.

“I don’t recall learning your name, Horny Boi.”

He laughed at that.

“Precipitous Nightmare,” he said with a nod, giving his own name as though handing over so much power meant nothing.

Luminous licked her suddenly all-too-dry lips. That kind of nonchalant unconcern was wildly hot.

This creature truly thought he had nothing to fear from her. Who knew? Maybe he didn’t.It occurred to Luminous that should Precipitous wish it, he likely could destroy her in truth. If she weren’t quick enough to turn to dream sand, if she became caught up in the sensation and forgot to safeguard her existence. Instead of scaring her, the thought only enhanced the attraction.

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