We didn’t speak as our gaze drifted to the silver tray loaded with food on the white coverlet. Food clearly chosen for bloodreplenishment with thick slices of rare steak, honey-glazed pastries, dark chocolate, orange segments, grapes, and watermelon juice boxes.
Sugar and iron and salt. All things that my body absolutely craved.
Every instinct told me to dive in face first, but...we stared at the feast like it might bite us instead. We already knew what would happen if we ate but...
Bracing myself, I plucked a juicy grape off its stem. “Do you think it was a fluke what happened back in Brimstone or will we truly never be able to eat or drink again?” My empty stomach clenched as I rolled the grape on my palm. “Because the thought of never being able to enjoy another meal is too sad to contemplate.”
“I don’t know,” Lucien gruffed. “I hope not.” His eyes narrowed on the feast. “We should’ve died from thirst by now if we were normal. However...after we tripped into the dreamscape, the hunger pangs stopped. They’re back now though...” His exhausted eyes heated. “Along with that insatiable need to be with you.”
I blushed as matching lust kindled between my legs.
The longer we were awake, the more intense the desire became, but...I felt ridiculous wanting sex when we could barely sit upright. It didn’t make sense, yet I couldn’t deny I needed him on a deeper level than just an orgasm. “Are you saying sex has replaced food? That we could heal ourselves like last time if we got a little...frisky?”
He chuckled, wincing as he did his best not to move. His constant agony from the numerous broken bones throbbed down the bond.
“I’m sorry you’re in so much pain,” I whispered. “Even if we could find our way back into that snowy, dreamy place, you’re not up to doing anything—let alone making love to me.”
“I could be one heartbeat away from a grave, and I would still have the energy to pleasure you, Rook.” He tensed as more pain echoed. “And...I actually think we’re being driven to have sex because it might be the only thing keeping us alive right now.”
“Really?”
“Why else is my entire soul craving you?”
“Because you lost your virginity late in life and want to make up for lost time?”
His eyes narrowed, not appreciating my little joke. “Or because the moment I slipped inside you, you became the only thing I needed to exist. Come here.” He groaned as he lifted hishand then dropped it back to the covers. “Let’s experiment.”
“And they say romance is dead.” I smiled but my heart hurt for him.
He smirked. “Alright, strip off your clothes, lie on your back, and let me have my wicked way with you before I pass out again. That work?”
“Behave, my fluttering heart.” My fingers strayed to the filthy nightgown. “How could I refuse such a wooing?”
“You can’t.” He winked, paying for it with another wince.
Holding out my hand, I wriggled my fingers. “Touch me.”
His eyebrow rose but he didn’t ask questions. We shivered as our fingers grazed and—
Nothing.
I slouched in disappointment. “I hoped the second we touched the illusion would appear.” Sighing, I forced my blurry gaze to sweep around the bedroom we’d been locked in, searching for a hint on how to enter a dimension I wasn’t entirely sure was real.
At least this prison was better than the last one.
The smell of old money clung to the brass light fixtures and damask wallpaper. Heavy crimson curtains were half-drawn across the huge windows, allowing meagre moonlight to slip inside.
Night again.
How long had we been unconscious this time? Just a few hours or a few days?
Clenching against misery, Lucien reached for a watermelon juice box. Stabbing its tiny plastic straw into the silver hole, he flashed me a wry smile. “If we can’t figure out a way to fall into the dreamscape, then...I guess we better try eating.” His gaze hardened. “And if I’m going to kill them next time they come for us, I need to find a way to at least get strong enough to do that.”
My hand balled around the forgotten grape.
The thought of him in yet more pain...
Snatching the juice box from his hands, I wrapped my lips around the straw and sucked.
