7

“Lacey,” he purred in my ear, his fingers sinking into me once again. I gripped his horns and gasped, my body trembling as he willed pleasure from me over and over.

“You’re going to destroy me,” he groaned as I whimpered, rubbing my body against his.

“It’s time to go,” he sighed in disappointment. The dream was hazy and dim, like there was red chiffon over my face, slowly suffocating me. That didn’t matter. My fingers threaded through his hair and I pulled him down until his mouth was on mine. His taste filled my senses, both spicy and sweet.

The dream grew even darker, like all the light was going out.

“Don’t go,” I said, opening my eyes and trying to see him one last time before I woke up. Two red eyes blinked at me, searing me inside and out.

The sun was already high in the sky when I woke up from a good night of sleep. The warmth of a fading dream invigorated me. Jittery energy whispered under my skin. The special event at Tower of Sin had me thoroughly excited.

I gave a long yawn as I padded towards the bathroom, clicking my tongue for the cat. I swear, sometimes it was as if he wasn’t here at all.

“Bathroom lights on,” I said, blinking as the lights accosted my tired eyes. My smile dropped. Surprise bled into rage as I looked at smeared lipstick kisses on my skin. Not just one either. I peeled off my clothes and looked over myself, counting out each red imprint of lips left on my pale flesh. Each new one I counted set me more on edge…thirteen kisses.

I knew this color too. I ripped open the bathroom drawer and riffled through the tubes of lipstick. The Rouge Hermes was missing. Just like my toothbrush. Just like my hairbrush. Just like who knew what the fuck else.

Someone had been inside my home while I slept, stealing my shit and kissing me like some perverted asshole while I slept. And I hadn’t woken up because last night I needed fae vapor to keep my Greed from making me explode.

I growled as I pulled my pajamas back on. With my teeth gritted, I checked the security tapes. There was no recording for last night.

Actually, there was no recording for the entire last week.

Luck was a funny thing. I wasn’t dead, I wasn’t hurt, and—after checking everything—nothing had been stolen other than random personal objects. Creepy kisses were the worst of it. That meant I’d been lucky despite having a home invader.

Suspicious things were piling up. It was not in my head. Something was swelling in the distance, a wave coming close, threatening to suck me down before pummeling me into dark waters.

I thought of everything over the past month and one thing kept screaming in my mind above the rest.