Page 62 of Demon of Dreams

Cory’s chest heaved with exertion, and I waited until his breath slowed before speaking again.

“Did I say you could take a break?”

He whined but began pushing farther back onto the dildo. His hole was a thing of beauty, sliding down the girth of the dildo, over one thick ridge, then another. It stretched wider still as he neared the final bump, straining to reach the base. He had to be near his limit, but that was the beauty of the trance—I didn’t have to worry about doing any real damage to the kid.

He groaned as the final ridge slipped inside of him, bottoming out against the base of the dildo. Again, I waited until I was sure he could handle it before I told him, voice cold, “I told you to fuck yourself on it, I didn’t tell you to stop.”

I was getting close to coming, and try as I might to savor this, I knew I couldn’t last much longer. Cory’s face was permanently flushed now, sweat sliding down his cheeks, hair slicked to his forehead. His knees were red where they pressed against the hard floor. His thin chest expanded and contracted as he gasped in pleasure, working the dildo in and out of his hole.

“Slide it all the way out next time,” I told him when he bottomed out again. “Let me see that pretty little hole of yours all stretched out.”

Cory obeyed, rocking forward, pulling off the dildo. He groaned as the head started to emerge, until finally, it slid out of his hole. At that second, he came, splattering the wood floor underneath him.

For a few glorious seconds, his hole gaped wide, and something inside me exploded with desire. I came, filling my hand as my mind was filled with the gorgeous sight in front of me. How I wanted to be the one inside him, the man who made Cory groan with pleasure for real.

I ached to touch him, to tell him how sweet he was, how perfect. But he was already fading. His slight form dissipated into mist as the room around me swirled. In the blink of an eye, Isaac’s office reappeared, minus the violet light. I was no longer on the couch, but right back in the chair where I’d started, in front of his desk.

Isaac’s nostrils were flared, and his breath was a trifle labored. Other than that, he looked unperturbed, like he’d simply been meditating as he waited for me to emerge from the trance. I inhaled deeply, trying to exhale slowly—it was always disorienting, coming out of the trance. Isaac glanced at his pocket watch before slipping it back inside his suit.

“That took longer than I expected.”

I opened my mouth to protest, then snapped it shut. I didn’t need to defend myself to him. It was bad enough, needing his trances to keep myself alive. I wasn’t going to make it worse by telling him what had just happened.

What would I even say?Sorry, my subconscious decided to mutiny on me.

“You good?” I asked instead, standing up. “It wasn’t too much?”

“Not at all.” Isaac smiled blandly. “And you? Did you get what you needed?”

I knew what he meant. An incubus who could no longer dream was a dead man walking. Incubi needed dreams—neededsexin dreams—to survive. If it weren’t for Isaac and his help every week, I would have died long ago.

But still, it was like living off watery gruel when you used to feast every night. The trance paled in comparison to the dream world itself. Every time I came out of it, I was reminded of what I’d lost. And now, I had even more reason to dislike it, if Cory was the kind of trick my subconscious was going to play every time I went under.

“Yeah,” I said, my voice gruff. “Yeah, I did.”

As I walked out the door, the lie curdled on my tongue.

14

CORY

What the fuck had I done?

I sat in my bedroom, a narrow little cell on the fourth floor that I was pretty sure was actually a storage closet, except that it had a small closet inside it as well. It also had a single bed, a tiny desk, and an even tinier chair.

The nicest part of the room was by far the window, diamond-paned and recessed, with a ledge that was perfect for sitting on and staring out at the night sky, wondering just when you’d turned into a complete idiot.

It was one day after my…liaison…with Sean, and I still felt panicky every time my mind drifted back there. The fact that I’d done that with him—that I’d let himdo that to me. At the time, I’d wanted it. Or at least, some sick part of me had. But looking back at it, all I saw was a pathetic excuse for a man, asking to be treated like shit.

A man who got off on being with other men.

That couldn’t be me, could it?

My classes today had been more of the same—another incomprehensible lecture in Spellwork, an unsettling lecture in Human and Paranormal Relations, and an overwhelming lecture in Alchemy and Artifice. We’d had Combat a second time, but I’d been paired with Felix, thank God. Still, I could feel Sean’s eyes on me from across the gym, and it made my skin crawl.

Was he hoping to get me alone again? To make me do those disgusting things with him?

Except he didn’t make you,did he?You’re the one who asked him to stay.

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