by K L Rymer
But it wasn’t enough. I need Crystal. The real her. Not some dream version.
Though I keep wondering if it really was a dream. It was just too vivid, like she was really beside me, her sweet, ringing voice filling my ears with music once again.
I soon dress in my signature black suit, smooth back my wet hair, then trek around the house.
Fuck, it’s boring. I almost miss my father’s miserable, bulldog face, criticising my every move.
But I’m glad he’s gone for Crystal’s sake. I can see she’s much more at ease with the big, bad boss out of town.
Everywhere I go, I hear Misaki and her friends cackling around the house, and I grit my teeth, trying to find somewhere quiet.
They sound like The Witches of Eastwick.
More like Bitches of Eastwick.
Perhaps I’ll go to the library.
I find the room at the end of the south wing, and the door stretches out onto a dusty old hall. Shelves of books line the walls and I sigh, blowing away several dust motes.
I always used to hide from my father as a child in here.
My feet lead me through the aisles, and I check out some of the old tomes. It’s not until I reach the third when I hear someone humming and stop.
It’s coming from the aisle opposite from me.
I peer through a shelf, catching sight of a small blonde on the other side.
My heart skips when I pick up on her candy scent.
Crystal.
I’ve not actually been alone with her since the dream, and it plays out in my mind again as my eyes wander over her body.
More white lace, and my dick hardens.
That figure-hugging dress does wonders to her curvy shape, and I cover my mouth, trying to muffle the sound of my breath.
I’m such a pervert, I know, but this was the most I got to see of her these past few days. Besides, it’s not like she’s showering or anything. However, if I were to accidentally walk in on her doing that too... well, I’d have taken more than a little gander...
Look, I’m a man and a beast. It’s in my nature.
She’s still humming, flipping through the pages of a book, and I listen for a while, impressed.
Crystal’s not half bad.
Soon she breaks out in song, and the sound echoes through the room, giving it life once again. Goose bumps spread across my entire body.
Holy shit.
She wasn’t lying when she said she could sing.
It’s better than any artist in the top forty right now. Heck, it’s even better than the greatest artists of the last forty years.
Maybe of all time.
It’s an angel singing, and no wonder. I stand there, letting her angelic voice fill me with awe, and I’m transported to a whole other plane.
That voice could stop world wars.
It’s certainly stopped this demon’s black heart.
I soon drift off, her voice making me feel all dream-like, and then I knock my head against the shelf.
Not my proudest moment.
Crystal stops, flipping the book shut, and whirls around. Her eyes widen in horror, and then she turns completely white.
“Eli...”
I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Hello, Crystal.”
She backs away, holding the book to her chest like a shield. I step out of the aisle, arching a brow.
“How... how long have you been standing there?”
I gaze into those horrified blue eyes and smirk. “Long enough to hear you belt out in song.”
She shivers, and her bottom lip wiggles. “Oh no...”
“I don’t know why you’re so embarrassed. You have a beautiful voice, Crystal. You never told me you could sing like that.”
She shoots me a toxic look. “What are you doing here? Are... are you following me?!”
I fall down into a chair in the middle of the room, propping my shoes up on the table. “No, I am not, Crystal. This just happens to be one of my favourite places. I did grow up in this house after all.”
She shakes her head. “I don’t believe you.”
I blow a sigh, brushing my fingers through my wet hair. “Believe what you want. You don’t have to demonise me all the time, you know.”
She scoffs. “Was that a joke?!”
I raise a brow. “Did you hear me laugh?”
Crystal’s luscious pink lips pull up with a sneer, and she’s never looked so unattractive. Did she really hate me that much?
“I want you to leave.”
A darkness sweeps through me next, and then I fix her with my cold dead eyes. “No. It’s my house. I go where I please.”
She grinds those rabbit teeth, and all I can think of is a vicious little bunny. “I was here first!”
I fake a yawn and she stamps her foot, looking even more rabbit-like. “You are such a brute! I can’t believe I ever fell for someone like you.”
“Ouch.” I grasp my heart. “You can be so cruel at times, Crystal.”
“Oh, I can be crueller...”
I stare into those bubbling blue eyes, smirking yet again. “Go on then. Say what you really want.”
Crystal snaps her mouth shut, then slams the book down on the table. Was that supposed to make me flinch?
“No. I won’t stoop to your level. I’m sticking with brute and that’s my final insult.”
“So, no fuck-twit or cunt face? Just brute?”
She gasps. “You really are disgusting!”
“Well, it’s certainly worse than brute...”
Her eyes start to shine, and I almost feel a little bad now, but she may as well see the real me.
“Were you always this crude? Even while we were dating?”
I give a dark snicker. “You’ve no idea, Crystal. You did say once yourself you wanted to crack me open and find out what’s inside, and here I am. I did warn you.”
Her face contorts, and then she wipes away a tear.
“I’m sorry I’m not the prince charming you thought I was. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to have a smoke.”
I pull out a cigarette and she rolls her eyes.
“Why am I not surprised? I knew I smelled smoke that day in your house, and you blamed it on poor Misaki!”
I laugh when I hear that adjective. That’s two words I never thought I’d hear stringed together.
“Aw, yes. Poor Misaki... So, what horrible lies has she made up about me this time?” I light the cigarette and take a drag, blowing smoke up at the ceiling.
Crystal coughs, wafting her hand. “About you threatening her if she didn’t help you trick me. How could you be so cold? She’s your family!”
I almost choke on my own smoke at the complete bullshit. “Threaten? Is that what she told you?”
Crystal raises her chin, defiant. “Yes. And we won’t stand for it, Eli. You won’t win against us.”
I narrow my eyes, wondering how anyone can be so stupid. Trusting, yes, but not stupid. “I didn’t threaten her, Crystal. She’s lying to you. Don’t trust her. She’s really not your friend.”
Crystal falls silent, and the guilt cuts straight through me when I see the broken expression on her face. Its fear and loneliness, and I just want to pull her into my arms and hold on to her forever, but I stay put.
She meets my eyes again, and they dance with tears. “Well, she’s the only friend I have in the world right now. Who else do I trust?”
Well, I can’t say “me,” because even I know that would sound ridiculous after what I did to her.
“Why?” she whispers now, her eyes dripping with tears.
I swallow, my throat closing when she fixes me with those heartbroken eyes.
“Why did you lie to me? I loved you, and you were just laughing behind my back the whole time.”
Those watery pools drown me now, twisting my shrivelled heart into a knot, and I release a slow, rattling breath.
“Do you really want to know why?” I ask, and she nods, preparing herself for the wo
rst.
My mouth dries up and I gulp, meeting her gaze. It’s best she knows. At least then she may be able to sleep easier at night.
“Your father... he was the one who killed my mother.”
My words seem to suck all the joy out the room, and now the only sound I can hear is my pounding heart.
I can’t bear to see the look on her face. So I just continue to puff on my cigarette, keeping the old memories of my mother’s death at bay lest they threaten to throw me into despair.
Crystal starts to gasp, and I look up at last. She holds her hand to her heart, shaking her head. “No... it... it can’t be. He’s a good man.”
I don’t want to quash her perfect vision of her father, but she has a right to know the truth of my actions.
“I know you’re innocent, Crystal, but your father never was. He came to the house to kill my father after he made a particularly shoddy deal, and my poor mother got in the way of his crossfire.”
Tears run down her face and onto her dress, and I can’t help myself then. I get up and pass her a clean handkerchief. I always carry one around to clean my hands in case they get dirty, but it can be used for tears too.
“I’m sorry. You weren’t even born yet when it all happened, but that’s the truth. I know it’s not what you want to hear, but that’s why I did what I did. To get to your father. He took someone I love, and I’m going to make him pay, Crystal.”
She looks up, her blue irises vanishing behind a veil of tears, and then she rushes out the room, taking my handkerchief with her.
I was going to let her keep it anyway.
Fuck, I’ve been a real jerk to her, making her eyes wetter than her underwear these past few days.
What kind of man does that make me?
I promise. In our next sex dream, I will make her so wet she’ll be drowning in her sleep.
22. Crystal
I run to my room, my heart sinking to the pits of my stomach.
No, I don’t believe him. Eli was lying. That was not the father my grandma had told me about on her deathbed.
He was a saviour, a decent, charitable man. Not like Eli’s scheming, shrewd businessman of a father.
Maybe Eli’s getting my father mixed up with his own. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Randall Black had been the one to kill that kind, grey-eyed woman in the painting downstairs.
I bump into Misaki in the hall, and I see the genuine concern in her beautiful, cat-like eyes. But it’s hard to tell with these Blacks. Are they friend or are they foe?
Can I really trust them?
“Crystal... what’s—?”
I ignore her and continue down the hall, finding the ugly black door of my room at last, and push inside.
I press my back to the wood and slip to the ground, sobbing into the handkerchief that Eli gave me. It has his stupid spicy scent, and I blubber, trying to get him off my mind.
I hate him. I truly hate him, but I still keep his handkerchief close, holding onto the good times we had together, even if they’re tainted by his lies.
Everything’s just so confusing, I just want to scream, bury myself under the ground, and never come out again.
The door knocks, and I jump, wiping my eyes.
“Crystal... What did he do to you?”
It’s Misaki, and I hear that genuine concern in her voice again. A powerful migraine seizes a hold of my brain.
I really don’t know who to trust anymore. One minute, people are sweet and kind, and the next they’re showing their true colours.
Misaki had left out the part about my father killing Eli’s mother, but it really wasn’t her place to say.
But still. I just want to be alone. I can’t look at anyone now.
“Crystal. Open the door...” Misaki’s tone is deep and sinister, and I shudder, hearing the demon inside her at last.
She makes Eli’s demon sound like a baby girl...
“Please, just... leave me alone,” I cry, sniffling into the handkerchief.
I can almost feel her eyes burning into the wood, and somehow I imagine them a bright molten gold.
Finally, she turns away, and her heels click down the hall.
I go to the mirror and pull out my pins, then slip out of Misaki’s white lace dress. Then I throw on my unicorn PJs and climb under the sheets, wishing I could be anywhere but this cold, miserable place.
I DON’T RECALL FALLING asleep, but I know I’m dreaming.
For one, I’m lying on a beautiful silken bed in the middle of an enchanted, moonlit cave. A waterfall crashes somewhere to the left, and I breathe it all in.
It’s so serene and peaceful, and if I died in my sleep right now, then I’d die a very happy girl.
This place is much nicer than what’s out there anyway. Whatever grief I had has faded to the back of my mind, and now I feel happy and free once again.
My thin gossamer gown feels like breath on my naked skin, and I sigh, grasping the sheets beside me.
I feel so aroused. A gentle wind licks my butt, and I know whose tongue it reminds me of.
My body shudders next with the anticipation of his arrival, and already I can smell his intoxicating musk.
In fact, I know what will make this dream a little spicier...
A white silken mask appears by my pillow, and I place it around my eyes. Perfect timing; he has just arrived.
His dark, foreboding presence sends a delightful shiver up my spine, and I bite my lower lip.
I feel his black crimson eyes all over me, and I give a seductive giggle. “I’ve been waiting for you...”
He stalks to the bed, sinking into the mattress beside me, and we remain that way for some time.
My heart beats in excitement as I anticipate his next move, licking my lips.
I may as well explore his body while I wait.
Slowly, I reach my hands up, feeling those hardened muscles. My fingers graze his chiselled abs, and I smile; he really does have the body of an athlete.
Yet I don’t have to go south to know he’s hard. I can taste it in the charged energy of the air, and I smirk, knowing it’s only for me.
My hands find his rock-hard pecs, and I pause, sensing that strong pulse.
It’s hard to believe he’s only a dream. It’s like he was really beside me, his dark, manly musk tempting my every senses, and I focus on his heartbeat again.
Wait, could it really be?
I peer up. “Eli?”
I don’t see him because of the blindfold, but I feel his glowing red eyes all the same.
“In the flesh...” His voice is deep and demonic, rising the hair up at the back of my neck.
Confused, I caress his face to make sure I’m not imagining things. He’s a dream after all. He couldn’t really be here.
My fingers find his strong jawline. Then they move to his lips, and I gasp.
I’ve memorised them by touch, but these ones feel so real. My finger brushes that prominent groove beneath his nose, and I stop, taking off the blind.
But then he grabs my wrist, whispering hot against my ear. “Leave it on.”
“But... Eli... is that really—?”
“You talk too much...”
He growls then throws me back on the bed, and I squeal, suddenly afraid.
No... it couldn’t really be him... right?
Before I have time to think, he crushes his mouth to my lips, pinning my arms to the bed.
I’m completely trapped, his warm body pressing down on me like a rock. His length pokes between my thighs, and I shudder, breaking out in a hot sweat.
Fudge... I am utterly and helplessly his now, and there’s nothing I can do about it.
So I let him do what he wants to my body. This was a dream after all. Anything was possible.
His mouth burns hot trails down my neck, stopping at my breasts as he gives them a nibble. Then he moves to my stomach and towards my sex, and I groan, knowing what’s to come.
I just thank my lucky stars that I’m
naked in this dream.
He licks my dripping entrance, slowly and teasingly at first, then slips his tongue inside. I arch my back, releasing a moan. I’m trembling head to toe, and if he doesn’t hurry up, I’m going to scream from the pressure.
“Sing for me, Crystal...” he whispers hot between my thighs.
I open my eyes, though all I see is fabric. “What..?”
Without warning, he slides his fingers inside me, taking a hold of my clitoris, and my screams echo through the entire cave.
Holy moly...
I never thought I’d feel so much pain and pleasure in all my life, and I don’t want it to stop. Sure, I’m tight, but Eli just works his way through like magic, and I’m gasping for breath.
He keeps on rubbing, each slow and tender stroke pushing me closer to climax, and I writhe my hips, grasping fistfuls of silk sheets.
Fudge... I’m about to release...
The pleasure’s so intense, I see a million burning white lights, and then I explode like a supernova and come all over his hand.
Everything turns white as my body radiates with a heavenly glow, and I’ve never felt so alive. So powerful.
Where these my angel-born powers?
Next, I’m swept away from the cave, and Eli vanishes.
No, not yet. I’m not ready to wake!
I WAKE GASPING IN A massive wet patch, searching the room for Eli.
Where did he go? I can still feel his fingers inside me, sending intense waves of pleasure throughout my entire body, and I flop back down on the bed, breathing heavily.
I’m drenched in sweat as my heart thumps like a rabbit. These dreams are getting too realistic; I’m not going to get a proper night’s sleep again if they keep going at this rate.
And I’m sick of waking up soaking wet. I’m pretty sure the maids have changed my sheets for the third time this week now.
It’s a good job I packed several pairs of panties and PJs, or I’d be sleeping naked.
The dream with Eli fills my mind and I groan, whacking my forehead for letting him get under my skin.
I need him and I hate him at the same time. But mostly I need him, and it sucks. In fact, I can already see his smug smile and I vow to myself I will wipe it off his face one day.
