Sleeping Beauties (4 page)

“I have to see every inch of you,” Seth murmured, raisin
g away from her. He pulled the straps of her dress down and peeled it from her slowly. His heated gaze took in her lush body, covered only with a lacy black bra and matching panties as he slid her heels from her feet. He kissed his way from her delicate toes and up her legs to gently lick her belly. Chloe sighed loudly, a mischievous smile curving her lips.

“You can have every inch of me, Seth,” she said.

Seth undid the front clasp of her bra slowly, savoring the moment in its entirety. He pushed it away and cupped her abundant breasts in his hands. While she watched, he lowered his mouth to one nipple, drawing it into his mouth. He ran his tongue across it and smiled a little when she shivered and moaned softly. He repeated his motion with the other nipple, paying close attention to her responses. He played with her breasts for long moments before running his tongue across her belly and down to the juncture of her thighs. He grabbed her small panties and tugged them off, burying his tongue in the heart of her. Chloe sucked in a sharp breath.

Seth moved his tongue in the core of her as Chloe cried
out her pleasure, running her fingers through his long hair. She suddenly stopped him. “I want you inside of me.” Her gaze was scorching when their eyes met. “But first...”

Chloe came up to a seated position on the table as
he stood in front of her. She maintained eye contact as she undid his jeans slowly and took him into her mouth. As she moved her tongue in pleasing circles Seth groaned, stroking her hair gently. When he couldn’t take another moment of her torture, he pulled out and pushed her back on the table.

Seth slid inside of her silken warmth with one sure thrust.
He grabbed her legs, wrapping them around his waist as he moved swiftly within her sheath. She watched his eyes close as he lost himself completely in their lovemaking. She didn’t want to miss a moment so she kept her

eyes open, watching his tongue swipe across his lips as she grinde
d her hips against him to meet and match his thrusts.

He moved down to whisper in her ear. “I’m in love with
you, Chloe. No matter how far apart we are in the real world you will always have my love.”  

He brought her to the peak first, falling after her in an explosion of sheer pleasure. H
e rested his head on her breasts after the frenzy, his breath coming out in harsh gasps. Chloe spoke first in the silence.

“I don’t know that I can go on without you,” she said softl
y. “I wish I could have you in my real world. I know that you belong to God but why can’t you belong to me?”

He rose to look at her with a sad smile. “Because existenc
e can be a cruel mistress.” He fastened his jeans.

Chloe faced him nervously but his back remained to her. “We just did…all that and I don’t even know your last name.”

Seth didn’t turn around. “Brousseau. My last name is Brousseau,” he said softly.

They dressed in the quiet of the aftermath, both af
raid to speak because what had transpired between them had been so precious. Seth was picking up things that he had pushed to the floor when he noticed it. The Book of Secrets had fallen out of one of the boxes he had been about to go through. He rushed to pick it up and as he held it, it began to glow brightly.

Chloe turned around, adjusting the hem of her dress and s
aw what Seth held. “That’s the Book of Secrets, isn’t it?” Her voice was hushed. He nodded and she came to stand next to him.

“Can I touch it? It’s so beautiful. I mean, I almost died for it.” S
he touched the cover with her fingertips and felt a tingle shoot up her spine. 

Seth gave a victorious shout and held her close
to him with one arm around her shoulders. “Let’s get this back to your apartment and I can deal with Alexander.” His expression held a trace of sadness. “It’s time for you sleeping beauties to wake up.”

******

Laurie slid the screen door open, stepping out on to the balcony. Nicola turned around from her position at the railing and gave her a small smile. “Couldn’t find you in your room so I figured that this would be the place.”

“Remember our margarita parties out here on the balcony
that lasted until four in the morning?” Nicola sighed. “Unbelievable that we all got better than decent grades with all the

partying. Looks like this will be our last good time. I didn’t find t
he book in any of those boxes. We’re dead. We’re standing here talking but we’re as good as dead.”

Laurie came to her side, wrapping an arm around her s
houlders. “Things look bad now but we have an angel on our side. Seth looks pretty tough and I bet that he’ll get us out of this mess.”

“You shouldn’t be spending your precious moments
in the dream realm with me. I appreciate the comfort but you should be in there with Byron.” Nicola gave her a knowing smile.

“The walls of this condo were paper thin.”

Laurie’s face heated up. “Sorry. I know we were supposed to be looking for the book but...” Her voice trailed off in embarrassment.

Nicola laughed and patted her hand. “No, it’s fine. In fact, I totally
saw this coming.” She gave Laurie a gentle push toward the screen door. “Go back to Byron, you need to be with him right now for whatever time that we have left. I’m okay.”

Laurie searched her friend’s face for any sign of distress but she seemed fine fo
r the moment. She nodded, embraced Nicola tightly for a moment, and headed back inside.

******

Nicola  

A single tear rolled down Nicola’s cheek as she stood by t
he railing on the balcony. She was alone now so there was no need to pretend comfort or a happiness that she didn’t feel.

Alone. That was the problem. Chloe and Laurie had been truly loved
in their lives but, outside of the bedroom, she couldn’t think of a single man who had ever really loved her. Seeing the joy on their faces after being reunited with the men from the past twisted up her heart and made her feel

ugly and almost dirty. A sob rose from deep inside of her.

“Poor Nicola. So much love surrounding you but none for you.”

She turned abruptly to see Alexander standing a few feet away
from her in the shadows. He came forward into the moonlight and she could clearly make out the smirk on his face, his dark hair gleaming.  She backed away from him, hitting the railing. “Go away,” she said in a firm voice that belied the overwhelming fear she felt. Damn it, why couldn’t her legs stop

trembling? “It’s not sunrise yet.”

Alexander got right in her face, smiling. He trailed idle fingers across her forehead. “The Book of Secrets is as good as in my possession. I don’t need you to locate it for me anymore. No, what I need from you now is something else entirely.” He pinned her back against the railing

with his body, sniffing her hair. “You smell wonderful.”

Nicola pushed at him, failing to put distance between them. The feel of him was swiftly becoming arousing and she hated herself for it. She couldn’t shake her attraction to him as awful and terrifying as he was. “Let me go.”

“Let yourself go, Nicola,” he said softly. “Give into me an
d I’ll show you how sex should be had. Tears for something so unnecessary as love? Really? You’re a grown woman, not some stupid adolescent spouting nonsense about devotion and fidelity. You know better than to trust

love. In that way, we are so similar.”

Alexander had begun to stroke her lower back, speaking directly into her ear. God, she wanted him badly. When he finally touched his soft lips to her ear, she lost the battle. She grabbed his head with both hands and kissed him deeply. His tongue parted her lips, playing with

her tongue.

His hand slid up her thigh, caressing the soft skin gently. He continued kissing her intensely as he impatiently moved her panties aside and slipped his fingers into her heat. Nicola moaned loudly, holding onto his shoulders for support. Yes, damn it, she thought, this is how sex should feel. She had never experienced anything in her life like the maelstrom she was caught up in.

Alexander lowered the straps of her dress and pushe
d it down around her waist. He unhooked her bra and began kissing and nibbling on her breasts, still stroking between her legs. He broke the kiss and smiled down at her face, noting her eyes narrowed in passion and her shallow breathing.

Nicola felt the change after a moment. Her legs began to t
remble again and she felt hot, burning all over. A bright light suddenly exploded from her being and her head throbbed in pain. No, she panicked. He was feeding off her like the worst kind of vampire and she was powerless to stop him.

******

“He’s here,” Seth said as soon as he and Chloe stepped into the short hallway. He stopped abruptly and his whole body tensed. “Stay right here and guard the book.” He took off down the hallway before she could answer. Chloe wasn’t about to stay put while Seth battled with the

dream king. She didn’t doubt his strength but what if even he
couldn’t stop Alexander? Chloe was gone like a shot down the hallway after him.

Seth followed the stream of intense power singing in his bloo
d right to the balcony to find Alexander feeding from Nicola. Without a decisive plan of action, Seth leapt and wrapped his arms around Alexander’s neck, tightening his grip. He tossed him to the ground roughly. Chloe

stepped out onto the balcony, book in hand, and stopp
ed short when she saw him. She instinctively moved closer to Seth, taking in Nicola huddled by the railing, adjusting her dress.

“Give me my fucking book,” Alexander snarled as he stood up.

Seth smiled grimly, taking the Book of Secrets from Chloe. He calmly paged through it. “No.” He stopped at one page and began to recite ancient words. Alexander shouted in pain and fear. He lifted one hand, fire shooting from his palm at Seth. He raised one hand, pushing the stream of fire back at Alexander, before going back to reading from the book.

The Book of Secrets began to glow brightly again befor
e becoming completely engulfed in crackling flames. Alexander began to writhe in horrific pain, falling to the ground again. Nicola and Chloe watched, both terrified and fascinated by the scene in front of them.

“Look closely, Nicola. Look at his other form so that you
aren’t ever tempted or tricked by him again,” Seth said sternly. Alexander’s head began to swell and his handsome face changed into something a Hollywood movie couldn’t even begin to create. His nose became a snout and rows of sharp teeth emerged from his mouth as he gave a loud scream. His skin became black and formed scales. His eyes glowed a fierce yellow.

Laurie and Byron, hearing the noise, hurriedly steppe
d out onto the balcony. Laurie stopped short in shock. “Yikes,” she said softly. She grabbed Byron’s hand as he looked on in surprise and fear. “I’ll explain all this later.”

“You can’t escape me, bitches,” Alexander shouted an
grily as he became engulfed in flames. “You have to sleep and I guarantee you that I’ll be there waiting. And you, bastard angel, I’ll be waiting for you, too. You can’t kill what’s immortal, you can only contain me. I’ll free

myself again.”

“Not for years and years, Alexander,” Seth said coolly. He held up the Book of Secrets and spoke some words in an ancient language. The book began to absorb Alexander’s energy, folding his body in on itself and sucking him inside as he left the dream realm with a final enraged scream. Seth closed the book, took a deep breath and smiled at The Trifecta and Byron.

“I’m done here,” he said casually with a grin.

“What in the hell did we just see?” Byron asked in a dazed voice.

******

The journey was over. Seth had spoken a few words in his old language to Byron as they all sat in the living room and he had fallen instantly asleep. He explained that Byron would remember nothing when he awakened somewhere in the real world, much to Laurie’s relief. She still had every intention of finding him.

Chloe could feel the sudden distance from her in Seth’s b
ehavior. He wasn’t really cold but seemed distracted. She sat next to him on one sofa with Laurie, Nicola, and Byron on the other. She had so much to say but wondered if he even wanted to know.

Nicola was utterly humiliated and wanted to be as far away
from this dream realm as she could get. She didn’t feel safe and happy in her dreams anymore. She didn’t feel as if she even knew herself after this. Alexander had only wanted her energy and had manipulated her with sex to get

it. Used again, she thought sadly.  

“So, you ladies are safe again. The odds of Alexander escaping to torment you in your dreams are slim. He’ll be well-guarded while he’s trapped in the Book of Secrets for many decades,” Seth explained. “He’s in a special hell.”

Chloe met his eyes. “And you, Seth? Will we ever see you
again in our dreams…or in the real world?”

Seth’s gaze was direct but not very comforting. “I’m sor
t of your guardian angel but I work in the background. You won’t even know I’m there.” He looked away from her, down at the floor.