“Are you sure, though?” I was ready to get to the sex dream part of my dream. Or whatever it was. Definitely not reality because that would mean I was quite close to being tossed in a very real dungeon.
He closed his eyes. The muscles in his jaw worked, his chest expanding on a long, controlled breath. He was centering himself. I recognized the technique—I’d seen bouncers at the club do it before dealing with particularly difficult patrons.
“I have interrogated warlords,” he said. “I have extracted confessions from spies who held out for weeks. I once broke a troll mercenary in under an hour. And you are more difficult to extract information from than any of them.”
I beamed. I couldn’t help it. It was, hands down, the nicest thing anyone had said to me all day.
“New approach.” He leaned across the table, planting his hands flat on its surface, boxing me in. His face was inches from mine. His violet eyes were even more unsettling this close.
“I am going to ask you three questions.” He was so close that his dangerous tone reverberated through every bone in my body. “You are going to answer them. Directly. Without flirting, posing, stretching, or making references to my anatomy. If you do this, I will arrange for you to have a proper room with a bed and a meal and clean clothing. If you do not—”
“You’ll punish me?” I bit my bottom lip.
The air between us changed. I couldn’t explain it. There was no visible shift, no flash, no sound, but the metal bracket holding the torch on the wall let out a faint, high hum, and the lock on the door rattled once as if something had passed through the room. The man in front of me went still, like he was holding something in.
He held the position, staring down at me, and shit. How hard was he going to fuck me?
Then he straightened, walked back to his chair, sat down, and picked up his quill with the careful, precise movements of a man who was holding himself together through sheer force of will.
“Three questions,” he said again.
“Sure,” I said. “Hit me.”
“Do you have any knowledge of the Farewild, its agents, or its military operations?”
“No.”
“Did anyone—any person, entity, or magical force—instruct you to travel to Qoksmere?”
“No. Nobody suggested anything except Sky, who suggested that my twerking technique needed work, which is slander.”
He was watching me as I spoke. His fingers rested lightly on the table, pressing against an iron strap that bound the planks of wood together, as if feeling for something.
“Is there anyone in your world who would have reason to send you here? Anyone who would benefit from your presence in Qoksmere?”
“Nope,” I said. “Just lucky, I guess.”
“Let’s try again.” He opened his eyes. “Explain to me why a human with no magical ability, no knowledge of our realm, and no survival instincts—”
“Hey! I can survive!”
“—would be sent through a portal wearing nothing but undergarments and a smile.”
“These are not undergarments. This is a costume.” I smoothed the fabric over my thighs. “Like your costume.”
“This is not a costume,” he bit out.
“Oh, come on. Leather pants?”
He turned away from me, blowing out a slow breath like he was trying to control his temper. And those leather pants from the back were a revelation. I’d been admiring them from the front, but the rear view was a feat of engineering.
They were well-worn, molded to him, and as I examined the very real looking wear along the backs of his thickly muscled thighs, they didn’t look like a costume anymore. They looked like a uniform. The sexy fantasy collapsed, the stage lights in my head shutting off one by one, leaving me cold and exposed.
“If this isn’t a dream, something horrible just happened to me. Something that was completely out of my control.” My voice cracked. “And you… you’re interrogating me like I’m a criminal.”
He turned back, his expression unreadable. “Is that why you are so certain this is a dream?”
“Of course! Because the alternative is insane!” I waved a hand at the room. “Five hours ago, I’d just finished filming Tiktoks to hype the new club! Now I’m in a stone dungeon being questioned by the hottest man I’ve ever seen, and everyone keeps mentioning execution.” I leaned forward. “So yeah, let me pretend this is a dream, because if this is real, it’s fucking scary.”
