Page 54 of Ballad of Nightmares

Ana found herself sitting up one song in, oblivious to whether Sam was watching her or if he was as into the music as she was. But she hugged that wine to her chest and let the screeching violins and the high-pitched flutes take her into a trance. Speeding up her heart and stopping it completely. She was happiness and rage, and her eyes filled with tears every time those emotions overwhelmed her mind and pricked her skin.

Between movements, Ana found her breath, and would finally take a sip of her wine. She once snuck a glance over to Sam, whom she found herself wholly mesmerized by for a few seconds.

And she wondered if she, too, looked as in love with the music as he did.

By the time intermission came, Ana felt like she’d run a marathon.

With the house lights came her own heavy sigh. “Fuck me,” Ana muttered.

“What do you think?” Sam asked as he leaned forward.

“I think…” Ana collected herself and met his eyes. “I think if there were no other people around, I would sit in front of you and suck your cock for bringing me here.”

Sam’s brows lifted. “You like it that much?”

“Sam, it’s… I thought I loved orchestras before, but this… the way my heart is racing right now is as if I am running from a legion of demons and Death himself. I’ve never…” She tried to articulate how she really felt, but she didn’t have the words, so she managed two words that rarely came from her mouth.

“Thank you,” she finally said.

He stared at her a moment, contemplating her words, and then he reached for her face, his thumb brushing against her cheek. “I would buy you an orchestra if it meant I could make you feel this way every day,” he said softly.

A quiet huff left her. “I don’t need an entire orchestra,” she said. “I have you.”

Sam’s lips lifted, his hair falling into his eyes. “Is that what you want, baby?” he asked. “Do you want your heart racing and crashing like it’s doing here? For your fear to be fed and your body to be devoured after?”

“I crave it,” she said in a strained voice.

Sam held her face there a moment, their noses nearly brushing, and his eyes darted between hers as he held her stare. “A nightmare come true,” he whispered. He kissed her then, engulfing and yet fleeting, and once he pulled away, he grabbed their empty glasses.

“I’ll be back,” he told her.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

THE REMAINDER OF the show continued to spiral Ana into a trance, and by the time it was over, she had wept, jumped, shivered, and nearly fell to her knees. She couldn’t move when the lights came on. She hadn’t even noticed that with the last movement, she’d cradled herself into Sam’s body, his arm around the back of her chair, touch delicately swirling on her back as she laid her head on his shoulder. It was so domestic and ordinary that Ana nearly jumped upon realizing it.

A smile threatened Sam’s lips when he looked at her. “I almost thought you’d fallen asleep until I felt your heart racing and stopping.”

“I bet you loved that,” Ana teased.

Sam blew out a huff of amusement and kissed her hard. “You know I did,” he said. “A bit jealous of the music making you feel like that, though,” he added as he stood and grabbed his coat. “I’ll have to work harder.”

He took her out for dinner and drinks after, and Ana swore every time she heard him actually laugh that it didn’t sound real. They’d made a habit of trying to guess what other couples were talking about, if they were even talking, as some just stared at their phones the entire meal.

Conversations with him were easier than she’d ever held with anyone. Maybe it was that he actually took her sarcasm and responded with his own or made some snarky comment that had her nearly jumping him at the table. And maybe it was that he had lived so long that he was unafraid to be himself.

“I have to tell you something,” Ana said when they made it back in front of her apartment.

Sam’s head tilted, his hands around her waist. “What?”

Ana smiled despite herself, her lashes lifting to meet his eyes. “I really hate how much I’m enjoying you.”

A quiet snort left him, and he looked over her head, then back to her. “Theres a haunted tour that goes through mid and old town on Thursday nights,” he said.

“Ghosts?” She balked. “What, the demons weren’t enough. We’ve ghosts here, too? Does this tour include a trip inside Castle Corvus’s dungeon? I’m sure there are a few stories the ghosts could tell us from down there.”

Sam chuckled. “Okay, temptress. So something more dangerous then.”

“I like danger,” she replied.