Sweet Dreams

by Bolryder, Terry

  “But he does know who you are,” I say, needing to defend Reve. “He—”

  “No,” Sandra says, pushing the glass at me. “Drink this. Then we’ll talk.” She sends a look to Tess. “Truth serum.”

  Tess finally nods, something dawning on her that makes her smile. “Right. Drunk fairy.”

  I look at my glass. “You want me to imbibe this until inebriation?” I wrinkle my nose. “A fairy warrior never lets his guard down on the job.”

  Sandra shrugs. “This fairy warrior is about to if he wants to earn our trust.”

  Sighing, I tip the glass up and drink until it’s gone. She pours another, and I drink that too.

  I will do anything for love. Even get drunk.

  10

  Tess

  Sandra’s idea to get Lorien drunk was amazing even if it was just to even the power balance between us and this magical creature with wings of light.

  Right now, Lorien seems completely incapacitated, which makes him a lightweight since he hasn’t even had that much wine.

  I guess he and his friends didn’t get very far into the bottle while we were waiting for Jen and Sandra to show up.

  Lorien looks maybe even more gorgeous right now, sitting on the floor, slightly disheveled as he leans back against the couch. His long, jean-clad legs are splayed clumsily in front of him, and he’s waving his glass in the air as if toasting someone invisible.

  “To love,” he says drunkenly, swaying as he misses when bringing the glass to his mouth. It’s empty, and he turns it upside down before tossing it aside. I wince, expecting shattered glass, but he simply waves a hand, and some unseen force stops the glass from falling and moves it to the counter.

  “That’s amazing,” Jen says. “Telekinesis.”

  He squints at her, some of his black hair falling around his face. “Ugh, illusions are too hard right now.” Slowly, to my friends’ shock and surprise, Lorien’s hair grows out to its usual long length, turning back to its regular dark oil-slick rainbow blue. “Perfect.” He runs a hand over it. “Didn’t make you so pretty to just put you beneath some horrible human hair.”

  Sandra snorts, slightly drunk herself. “This guy is unreal. Maybe his friends were actually serious. He’s totally smashed, and he’s still only toasting love and worrying about his hairstyle.”

  Lorien lets out a snort and looks up blearily. “Of course my friends were serious.” He looks down somewhat solemnly at a lock of hair in his hands. “A warrior is always serious when it comes to love.” He lets out a bitter laugh. “Except when it comes to humans. Stupid, ugly, dirty human men touching my soul bond—”

  “Hey,” I say, bringing up a question that’s been bothering me ever since he showed up with a broken dream link. “What did you do to those guys anyway?” I feel a pleasant buzz from the wine, nothing more.

  Sandra brings another glass to Lorien, swaying slightly, and he takes it and throws it back, downing the liquid instantly.

  “Not telling,” he says, pouting.

  It’s almost cute seeing him get stubborn like this.

  Until now, it’s just been, “Tess, I love you. Tess, I came for you. Tess, I was made for you.” All sparkling armor and wings and promises.

  Right now, he’s just a drunk trying to figure out how to sit up.

  I sigh, laughing quietly as I walk over to take his arm to help him up. Instead, he takes my hand and pulls me down so he can look intently into my eyes.

  “You want me, soul bond. Why won’t you just admit it?” His aurora eyes are piercing despite the redness of the whites around them.

  I pull back slightly, and he lets me go instantly with a sigh.

  “Unlike human males, I would never force anyone.” He sighs, setting aside his glass on the carpet. “I thought rape was a myth. A nightmare from the history books used to scare warriors. What is the point of such a thing?” He shakes his head. “I will never understand this world. I don’t want to.” He’s muttering now, almost to himself, but I can’t help but be touched by how real he is.

  He isn’t the perfect being deigning to confuse me constantly.

  He’s just a guy as confused as I am by this world filled with bad people doing bad things with seemingly no one to stop them.

  “I mean, where are the punishers? Where is enforcement? Why are the queens letting unmated warriors roam free? Where are the princes and kings to stop them?” He shakes his head. “This place truly makes no sense. How can my dream mate be born here? How am I supposed to get her out?”

  I guess he’s drunk enough to not really realize we are all still here and listening to him, but it’s kind of refreshing to hear such honest thoughts.

  Sandra sighs as she sits down heavily on the floor across from him. “Dude, I’m a lawyer. Trust me, it makes even less sense when you know more.”

  “What do you mean?” Jen asks.

  “Just…” Sandra sucks in a breath and grimaces. “We give people more time in prison for stealing a car than for raping a woman.”

  Lorien looks up at her in shock, then nods. “So you see that this place is deranged.”

  Sandra nods. “Absolutely. No idea what to do about it.”

  “What’s a car?” Lorien asks, making us all laugh.

  As Sandra explains cars to my drunk fairy, I wonder when my heart started feeling this fond of such a weird guy.

  I shut my heart off long ago, and it was easier to keep it shut to the Lorien who kept showing up like some perfect fantasy.

  But this Lorien, disheveled, frustrated, muttering about humans, is maybe a Lorien I could fall for after all.

  He narrows his eyes as he looks up at me, and I wonder who could not fall for those eyes.

  Then again, maybe this wine is just affecting me. I set aside my glass.

  “I wish you would just come with me to the dream world, Tess,” he says, sounding less formal than he ever has. “I could make sure you were safe there. You could learn—”

  “Your dream link broke, remember?”

  “Yeah,” he says. “But it should get reinstated once I prove I came here only to find my mate.”

  “Why?” Sandra asks like she’s humoring him.

  “No one believes me,” he says. “In the fae realm, they thought I was lying. No one’s dream mate is outside the dream realm. My brother, his mate was in the fae realm and then came here. That’s how I realized this world exists. But the other dream fae think I’m crazy.”

  My heart sort of goes out to him, hearing all of this. “I’m sorry, Lorien. But I’m not ready to go to your world. And I don’t think I can be anyone’s dream mate.”

  Sandra looks at me. “Why not? Dude is hot.” She sighs, putting a hand under her chin to prop it up. “Like his friends.”

  Lorien perks up. “So you do like Jerrek!”

  “I don’t know,” Sandra says. “I don’t like cocky guys. Or hot ones. They’re always trouble.”

  “Jerrek can definitely be trouble,” Lorien says, looking down at the carpet and playing with it with one long finger. “He didn’t get high grades in controlling his possessiveness and jealousy, though I’m sure he’ll be better at holding himself back in the future. He only cared about acing sex—”

  Jen makes a choking sound. “Acing sex?”

  Lorien waves a hand. “You know, sex education. How to please a queen, things like that.”

  Sandra’s mouth drops open in shock. “Oh my God, how do they teach those things?”

  Rage shoots through me, and I almost don’t want to know the answer, and then Lorien speaks up.

  “Just… female anatomy. How to find the clitoris, what kind of sensation a queen might like. We have many books on the subject, and Jerrek insisted on becoming quite the expert.” Lorien pins me with a rakish glare that is effective even though he is swaying slightly. “Though, I had top grades as well.” He wiggles his eyebrows at me.

  “God, most men just grope around for a few seconds and count that as foreplay,” Sandra says,
shaking her head.

  Lorien looks offended. “Disgraceful. In my world—”

  But suddenly, I don’t want him to talk about that. I don’t want to share him any longer.

  “Okay, guys,” I say, bending down to grab Lorien by the arm and yank him to standing. He’s surprisingly easy to move for how tall he is, and he smiles sweetly up into my eyes as he stands.

  He sways, and I put an arm around his waist.

  “Look what you did,” I say, shaking my head at Sandra who is pushing herself up to plop on the couch.

  “Not my fault,” Sandra says. “I needed to see who he is.” She raises her alcohol. “This is truth serum.”

  Usually, I’d be the one drinking myself into a stupor with said serum, but tonight, I just want to get Lorien to bed.

  I feel oddly protective of him.

  Besides, for me, alcohol is more like avoiding the truth serum.

  “Spoilsport,” Sandra says. “Jen, come cuddle me!”

  Jen laughs, walking over to Sandra who pulls her down into a hug.

  Jen looks up at me apologetically. “You okay? I mean, Lorien seems awesome, to be honest. But if you don’t want to be alone with him…”

  I shake my head. “I’m good. I’ve been alone with him a few times. But I’m glad you two came over. It makes me feel less alone.”

  Jen nods, and Sandra salutes.

  “We’ll be here for this whole crazy affair,” Sandra says. “I’m not working for the firm for a while anyway. Month break.”

  That explains the drinking.

  “Oh no,” Jen says. “What happened?”

  “Sorry, but I’m gonna hit the sack,” I say. “Come knock if you need anything. The guest room is yours. I need to put this fairy to bed.” God, what am I saying? But at this point, with Lorien in my arms smelling like sex and sugar cookies, the crazier thing to do would be to deny this is happening.

  It’s time to face the truth, and this odd, intriguing man.

  Fairy.

  King.

  As I hear Sandra regale Jen with a tale of her latest outburst at an abusive client, I drag Lorien to the bedroom, determined to get to the bottom of just what he is.

  11

  Lorien

  If this is how my mate felt when I met her, then I understand how she mistrusted my presence all along.

  With this weird human potion burning through my veins, I feel incapacitated in a way that’s not befitting any warrior, much less one of my standing.

  I feel humiliated. Or at least I should. But then the odd, floaty effects of the potion cause me to let all that go and just look up at Tess as she leads me to the room, muttering about “heavy fairies.”

  “Sorry,” I murmur, lunging for the safety of the bed in the middle of the room as soon as I can reach it.

  Well, sort of reach it. My top half is on. My knees are on the ground. I groan, pushing myself up and onto the bed, rolling onto my back as the light above makes me wince.

  She hits some kind of switch that makes the light dimmer. “Wow, you really got smashed. Off wine.” Her full red lips are turned up in an amused smile, and I merely blink, unable to take in the beautiful picture of my mate and keep my composure as I usually do.

  She’s just gorgeous. She’s the only woman I’ve ever wanted, and I’m just aching to show her how much.

  This odd human potion is whispering in my ear all the things we could do together, all the things I’ve dreamed of my entire life.

  I want to bond with her, and as she gets onto the bed and begins messing with my tee shirt, I realize perhaps the feeling is mutual.

  “Darling,” I say, though my words feel garbled. “As much as I want to assist you right now, I’m afraid I’m a bit incapacitated.”

  She lifts my shirt over my head, and I raise my eyebrows as she goes to work on my jeans.

  I glare down at them, the room spinning. “No, really. I’d rather do this at a time when I could do our bond justice.”

  She merely shakes her head, a slight smile on her lips as she pulls my jeans off. I blink, looking down at the odd human underwear I’m wearing, but almost instantly, she pulls a blanket over me, covering me to the neck.

  “You’re probably gonna puke based on how little sense you’re making and how much you’re sweating, so I’m just trying to make sure you don’t ruin your stuff.” She laughs, shaking her head again. “Then again, maybe you’d just poof into something else immediately.”

  “No,” I say, shaking my head. “I can’t even begin to comprehend how I would use my magic right now.” The shame of my mate needing to help me stand up earlier was only slightly eclipsed by the warm feeling of her body against me.

  Something I have been hungering over for centuries.

  Doesn’t she know how hard it is to wait?

  “You’re the only one for me, soul bond,” I say drunkenly, sitting up to wrap my arms around her waist just as she turns to go. “Your friends wanted me drunk. Why?”

  “Uh, well, to be honest, guys usually show who they really are when they’re drunk.”

  I look up at her, keeping my arms locked around her, which seems to make her blush for some reason. “And what am I like drunk?”

  “Affectionate,” she says with a slight smile. “And a little silly. But cute.”

  I grin. “I can be cute. But I’m still confused about how other males act when drunk or why alcohol should be needed as truth serum.”

  “I don’t know how things work in your world, but a lot of guys say sweet things like you do about love and commitment when they’re only trying to get a woman in bed. Then they get what they want and move on.”

  “What? Why would they do that?”

  She sighs, pulling back from me and laying me back on the bed as she tucks me in again. Then she puts her hands on her hips.

  “In this world, women are often looking for someone stable. Someone to create a future with. Men realize that and use it to get sex.”

  I narrow my eyes, shaking my head. “Again, I don’t get the point of such a thing. Sex without bonding. Awful. Ew.”

  She laughs, raising both eyebrows. “Seriously? Ew?”

  I push up on one elbow. “You’re it for me. It wouldn’t occur to me to lie to you. I couldn’t.” I blink. “So these men, when they’re drunk, that all comes down?”

  She shrugs. “Mostly. Most of us let our facades down when drinking. It’s hard enough to keep thoughts straight, let alone carry out a con.”

  I narrow my eyes. “I still don’t see the point of this con.”

  “To sleep with women.”

  I sigh. “I don’t see the point in that either.”

  She flushes. “Really? Because you seemed quite into the idea in my dream.”

  I flush too. “That’s different! You’re my dream mate! Anyway, I don’t see the point in bonding with someone after you simply lie to them and make the whole relationship invalid.”

  “Well, most men don’t want a relationship. The sex itself is a reward. People are too busy—”

  I sit bolt upright, my heart pounding. “That is absolutely ridiculous. Too busy for the best thing in life? Men in your world are ridiculous. The ones who hurt you…” Everything goes dark in my mind. Painful, swirling darkness. “I don’t understand, even from their selfish perspective, what they could want.”

  “Sex,” she says, laughing in disbelief. “They just want sex. They’ll do anything to get it. Is that so hard to understand?”

  “Not any more than nightmares killing babies because they like the way their blood tastes,” I say. “But we don’t let nightmares run free in our realm, whereas yours are just walking around unpoliced.”

  “What are these nightmares again?”

  I blink up at her. “Every society has them and has since the beginning of time. Ancient tribes used to simply take them hunting and not bring them back. Dream fae found a way to deal with them a long time ago.” I sigh. “That doesn’t appear to be the case in your world.”<
br />
  She folds her arms and pulls a chair up to the bed to sit in it. “Social media hasn’t helped. It’s easier than ever to hide your real intentions.”

  “I don’t know what that is, but it appears this world is the outcome of proliferating nightmares. Your people don’t even know how to tell nightmares apart. Or what to do with them when they make themselves known.”

  She just stares at me intently. “So what do your people do with nightmares?”

  My cheeks go red. “I’m not talking about that. Not with someone who doesn’t even believe I’m their soul bond. Who gets me drunk—”

  “You were willing to.”

  “Who gets me drunk to see who I really am. Who could blame you, though? In this world…” Pain shoots through me, making it hard to think.

  She flushes, folding her arms. “Well, if I didn’t trust you somewhat, I wouldn’t want to be around you drunk. Drunk people can be a huge problem. Drunk men usually get handsy, loud—”

  I put a hand to my head as the world spins. “Ugh. Don’t tell me more.” I sigh. “But how do these nightmares have bonded sex after so much deceit?”

  “Bonded sex?”

  “You know, sex is a way to strengthen our bond and show our love and commitment to another human. It lifts us above ourselves, lets us join with something sacred, and—”

  “Yeah… not so much in a porn-filled society.”

  I’m kind of glad I’m drunk right now because this whole conversation would probably make me go nuclear on this world otherwise. After taking my mate and her friends safely away with me, of course.

  “What’s porn?”

  She pulls out her phone and hands it to me. “I turned off safe search.”

  “Safe search?” I ask.

  “Yeah, if you don’t, pretty much anything you search will bring up porn.”

  I turn my eyes down to the small screen in front of me, then quickly recoil, chucking the phone against a wall.

  I hear the smash and feel faintly guilty at the shocked gasp she makes as she goes to the phone, but I’m too busy trying not to throw up, feeling my blood in my ears, to think of anything but pure hatred toward what I saw.