His teeth were on display, proud, and happy for the first time since I had seen him with Alicia all those weeks ago.
“Is that what you want?” I asked tentatively. Remi rolled over onto his back, he gripped my forearms and pulled my body on top of his, so that I was straddling him.
“I want more.” He whispered, looking up at me.
“I don’t know how to offer that.” My eyes dropped as I looked away, unable to hold his gaze.
“I want to be yours.” Remi cupped my cheek. “Fate connected us for a reason.”
I thought of the Balance and the shrewd and calculating intelligence that hid in the innocent eyes of a child.
I just hoped that the reason was a good one.
I dropped down until my cheek pressed against his heart and listened to the slow rhythmic organ. It was in that position that we both fell asleep.
Chapter 22
I stood in the hallway of my apartment complex in the east village, side by side with Remi, our hands entwined like a binary version of the shining twins.
We were in standard nightmare territory. The wallpaper had decayed and begun to peel, tiny flecks of old paint and glue floated into the air like dust motes dancing. The floorboards were visible in several places, and the carpet had worn away. The well-maintained building had been warped by the dreamscape, haunting the air with a delicious eeriness that made me feel at home.
My gaze roamed every facet of the entropy with wide-eyed awe.
Remi cleared his throat and moved to my side as if my incorporeal form could offer some protection. I did a double-take, staring down at our joined hands. If I squinted, I could see the red string of our Soul Bond tying us together, connecting our littlest fingers like a double-ended leash.
And we were touching.
I could feel Remi's hand in mine.
“Where are we?” Remi's chocolate eyes scanned the area, but he was relaxed, taking his cues from my own body language.
“This is the in-between,” I told him. My voice was skittering leaves and rustling trees. My body was starlight and shadow. “Dreams and nightmares.”
“Your home?”
“I have always straddled two worlds.” I smiled lazily and jerked my chin to the door of my apartment. The brass numbers were gone, their nails had long since eroded away. “That’s my apartment.”
“You have an apartment in the dream dimension?” Remi whistled, impressed.
“My apartment in the East Village.” I corrected him. “This isn't my dream though.” I tasted the air, noticing the delicate perfume of Hugo's magic. I turned away from my own door and strode across the hall, floating into apartment 36.
Remi followed, stepping over the debris as if it was really there. His caution was adorable. We found Hugo in the center of his bedroom, candles shining on every surface. His golden body was stretched out on his red silk bedsheets, and the iron lattice of his four-poster bed spoke of French brothels and red rooms of pain.
I loved it. Hugo's ice blue eyes flicked to Remi, but instead of jealousy, a lazy hooded smile swathed his perfect face.
“I must admit, it has been a fantasy since you marked him.” Hugo smiled foppishly. “Is he a construct?”
Remi looked comically shocked. “That’s Hugo?” His mouth snapped shut. “Quiet. Serious. Doesn’t make eye contact. That Hugo?”
I rolled my eyes, gliding towards the half-naked man on the bed.
“I am an incubus.” Hugo was amused.
“Everyone has a secret side.” I reached out and stroked Hugo's face with a single finger, and then pulling his bottom lip away from his teeth. “Hello,” I whispered, lowering my voice so only he could hear me.
A wide smile lit up his face. “Hello,” Hugo replied equally quietly.
“I’m not wearing someone else's body,” I said, innocently.
“No you're not.” Hugo reached out, gripping my hip and pulling me onto the bed. He shifted over to make space, folding himself around my back. His hands skimmed the edges of my form, touching the undulating smoke. Reverent. I had never felt so truly seen. So beautiful, in all of my existence.
“We can touch you?” Remi asked, stepping forward hesitantly. His dark eyes fixed on Hugo’s hand, skimming my shoulder, with thinly veiled interest.
“Yes,” I whispered as Hugo’s fingers brushed my collarbone. “I have a body here. I can be whatever I want. This is my world.” With barely a thought, my shadows folded inwards and became clear pristine milk-white skin. Blonde hair and blue eyes. “Or, Brunette, if you prefer?” My form changed again.
Hugo's breath whispered against the shell of my ear. “We want you.”
My skin turned dark as night, with shimmering diamonds again. I wanted to preen like a peacock.
I sat on the edge of the bed, my form becoming more human in shape as I responded to Hugo's touch. He hovered behind me, sweeping my skin with barely-there brushes. I arched my back and closed my eyes, reveling.
“Do you want to watch, Witchling?” Hugo purred. Glancing up from placing delicate kisses on the seam of my jaw, to tease Remi. My incubus’s eyes glowed with lust.
Remi's responding smirk was one of confidence and daring. “I think we should teach our mate a lesson.”
“Oh?” Hugo’s brow quirked, but he did not stop touching me.
“No lessons.” I protested. Panting.
Remi ignored me and knelt down on the floor, gripping my bare thigh and pushing it aside, so my legs parted.
“We belong to you.” Hugo purred.
“We're bonded.” Remi kissed the sensitive skin on the inside of my knee, his lips slowly peeled away, only to deliver another kiss. Each one was sensuously closer to my heated core.
I struggled to keep still as Hugo reached around my waist, looping my body to his with his arm. He smirked into my neck as he walked his fingers across my stomach, brushing the back of his hand across one nipple and then the next. Each time, innocently, as if by accident.
“What lesson?” I asked, breathy with need. Remi smirked against the skin of my inner thigh. He sat up, only to command Hugo to get a gag. I straightened, opening my mouth to protest. Hugo's fingers twisted with a flourish. A master magician at work. He produced a gag from thin air, a round rubber ball with a hot pink strap.
I shook my head. “Nuh-uh.”
Remi's eyed widened playfully. “Pretty please, Mistress Tequila.”
“What does a big bad Nightmare have to fear from a tiny little gag?” Hugo tweaked my nipple, the motion bordered on pleasure and pain.
I gave them a look. “I’m not scared.”
“Mara...” Remi sat up, his look was sobering. “We would never hurt you.”
I chewed my bottom lip. “I know that.”
Hugo swung the ball gag and clapped his hand over it. When his fingers parted, the shape had changed to reveal a small jeweled plug. “Better?” His pink lip quirked into a shy smile.
I nodded enthusiastically, sitting up. Both of the men laughed, and my chest inflated with a lightness that was foreign but not unpleasant. Hugo pulled his arms away, only to tilt my lips to meet his in a slow and exploring kiss that set my world on fire. While my mouth was occupied, Remi maneuvered my body with little protest until my bottom was tilted in the air, and my legs were spread. I felt exposed.
I had worn numerous bodies and been naked in dozens of ways, but none of those forms had been mine.
Remi slapped my butt cheek, gripping the rounded flesh with a small squeeze, further exposing my core. I felt the moisture on my inner thighs, proof of my arousal. Reality hurried to shape itself to my expectations.