Page 2 of Wake the Dream

She wasn’t always sure she made the right decisions. In fact, if she stopped to think about it, she’d be horrified with her path. Then the action started and things got sweaty and she stopped thinking entirely.

This man certainly had the muscles for some serious gymnastics. This night might go down in the books as one of her more athletic anonymous sex partners, although she hesitated to make assumptions when they’d only just begun. Illaria knew better than to get ahead of herself.

He’d proved to be a good kisser so far, though. Had a decent set of peepers on him, too.

Tonight, Illaria planned to ride her man like she intended to win a rodeo contest. Eyes shut, she let him squeeze her breasts, tilting her head back as sensation flooded her. Yes. This was what she’d needed to get her mind off of...well, everything.

Work for one thing—because for some strange reason, trapped in the mortal world even immortal beings were forced to hold down jobs—her sister for another, also the fact that their parents had abandoned them on Earth. Everything.

His tongue swept the inside of her mouth and sent a shockwave of heat into her lower extremities.This. This was her way of trying to enjoy life when life wasn’t always enjoyable.

His arm came around her midsection and hoisted her higher until she was forced to wrap her legs around his hips. Yes,yes.

“The bed,” he whispered.

Illaria couldn’t agree more.

Her rear hit the mattress with a rough bump once her mystery man let her go. She stared up at him, a smile teasing her lips apart, her inhalation deep and hot when his lips fastened on hers again. His hands pushing her down, down.

“Tell me,” he demanded. “Tell me how much you want me. What you want me to do to you.”

She’d been a part of too many illicit rendezvous, complicated hookups, and one-night stands to be overly impressed with the line. Experience had jaded her.

The booming tones of the clock alerted the hour. She nearly tuned them out until she realized the count. Ten.

Ten already? She hadn’t meant to be out this late. Oh, Jesus, Yelena would kill her.

Illaria interrupted the frantic fumbling of the man trying with little success to get her bra to snap apart. “Sorry, I have to go.”

Nope, definitely not what he had wanted or expected to hear.

Her “date” started, leaning back to stare at her through wide, confused eyes. “You have to be kidding me.”

Not a question so much as a plea to reconsider. Already off the bed, Illaria adjusted the set of her shirt, inclination for intimacy gone. Disappeared in a snap.

Her sex drive was powerful, but this was a different kind of power. Her desires urged her to sit down again and send her sister a text with an excuse. But she couldn’t. Not when she’d done it too many times before.

“I was supposed to meet my sister at nine,” she told him, searching around for her boots. Not that she owed him an explanation. A tourist more than likely, her mystery man would have been good for one night and on his way out of town in the morning.

Just the way she preferred them.

“You can’t leave me like this.” He pointed to his crotch and the massive erection pressing against his jeans. “Seriously.”

“Seriously, it’s a problem you’ll have to solve on your own. I’m sorry.” Illaria tucked her delicate feet into the boots and zipped them up the back. They added a good five inches to her petite frame. “It was fun while it lasted.”

He made as if to come after her, to grab her arm and stop her from leaving. Maybe express his disappointment through sweet words.

Illaria held up a hand and her magic swelled. It stopped him in his tracks with a gust of wind. Strong and powerful.

That was the beauty of her home. The controlling ley lines meant she could be herself without fear of persecution or reprisal. Who knew how it was perceived by him? Perhaps he had a sudden urge to go somewhere else, unsure where the desire came from. At any rate, it gave her the seconds she needed to get out of Dodge.

The ley lines that made Hedgehill Marsh special were unprecedented in this world. To Illaria’s knowledge, there was no other place on the planet where monsters could be themselves without anyone the wiser. Tourists saw what they expected to see, not what was real, and that was what made the town unique.

To the hunk in the bedroom, he wouldn’t recognize her magic.

“Call me,” she said over her shoulder. Knowing full well she hadn’t left her number.

She hurried out the door and down the steps to the first floor of the motel which was located on the outskirts of town. She probably should have been a bit more careful with how she flaunted her magic this close to the border. Mistakes were bound to happen once in a while, although she hadn’t made any yet.

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