Page 9 of Bonds of Magic (Vesperwood Academy: Incubus #3)

But for the first time, I did. The world around us looked solid, but in a way that felt artificial. Like I was walking around inside a diorama, and I could make a wall fall over with one good push.

Noah . Go figure. My anchor had actually worked.

But Lance was still staring at me, waiting for me to answer. And it wasn’t like I could go back and tell Noah it had worked. Not until I dealt with—

“Wait, did you say tie me to the bed?” I asked, answering Lance’s question with one of my own.

He grinned. “Isn’t that what you wanted? You told me you were into power play. What’s more powerful than that?”

He nodded at the bed behind me, and when I looked back at it, there were long, silk ribbons tied to the headboard and footboard. They hadn’t been there a minute ago.

My stomach tightened. He wanted to tie me up? And I’d said yes to that?

Well, no, I hadn’t. I hadn’t been here a minute ago. But in the logic of his dream, that didn’t matter. He believed I had.

But I could change this, right? If it was a dream, I was supposed to be able to use my will to change it however I liked. If I could push over a wall, I could certainly disappear some ribbons.

Unless…unless I didn’t want to.

The feeling in my stomach tightened, and I couldn’t tell if I was afraid or interested. Maybe both.

“I promise I’ll let you go as soon as we’re done,” Lance said, walking me backwards towards the bed. The backs of my knees hit the frame and I sat down on the mattress with a thump. “And I promise you’ll like it.” He laughed. “Or, at least, I can promise I will. Now, lie down.”

I opened my mouth to object, to say that at least I needed to take my clothes off first, but then realized I was naked. I wasn’t sure when that had happened. Lance was fully clothed, and he grinned down at me with a possessive smile.

If he could dream me suddenly naked, then surely I could dream myself clothed again. I could dream him on the bed instead of me, and me standing over him, tying those ribbons to his wrists. But as I looked up at him, I realized that while the fear was still there, so was a current of excitement.

My heart thumped as Lance went to work on my left wrist, drawing it up to a post on the headboard and tying a knot that looked more complicated than the motions of his hands could justify. He spent even less time on my right wrist, but left an intricate knot there too.

When I looked down, my feet were already tied to the footboard. I couldn’t help noticing that my cock was hard and begging for attention. When had that happened? I wasn’t sure, but a thrill of danger and anticipation shot through my body.

Lance leered at my cock, then brought his thumb to his mouth to lick. He moved it to the tip of my cock and swirled it around the tip. That tiny touch was enough to send another bolt of electricity through my body, and I shuddered.

“Told you you’d like it,” he said with a lazy smile. “Now, let’s see how much you like this .”

He held something in his hand, made of smooth, clear glass. Something long and curved, with a rounded tip and a flared base. Was that a dildo? I’d never seen one before, but that had to be what it was. He rolled it across my stomach and I broke out in goosebumps.

“Chilly, huh?” Lance said. “Let’s see if we can warm you up.”

He ran the tip of the dildo from my bellybutton to my chest, then up my neck and over my chin until it rested against my lips. He tapped them lightly and said, “Open up.”

And god help me, I did as I was told. My lips parted and he slid the dildo into my mouth. It was an awkward angle, and I couldn’t control his movements. But I did the best I could, sliding my tongue around it, taking as much of it in my mouth as possible to warm the glass.

When he pulled it out of my mouth, it was covered in spit, a long line dribbling from the tip.

“Looks just like you,” he said, bringing his free hand to my cock, which was leaking precum. His fingers swirled around it, then slid past my balls to my hole.

I whimpered, not sure if I wanted this to go further, not sure if I wanted it to stop.

It’s a dream , I told myself. Just a dream . But it was hard to remember in that moment, when the pleasure inside me felt so real.

Then again, it was real, wasn’t it? That was the whole reason I needed to enter people’s dreams in the first place. I needed this to survive. And in dreams, I could try things I’d never do in the waking world.

Lance played with my hole, pushing the tip of one finger inside, then sliding it out, teasing me open slowly.

He rolled the wet dildo up and down my cock, the smooth glide of the glass on my skin making me moan.

It wasn’t cold anymore. It was hot . I felt like I was burning up, but I didn’t want to stop.

He looked down at me again,and his smile was possessive. He was clearly enjoying himself, which meant he was enjoying making me enjoy this, too. No one had ever cared about whether I was having a good time before.

I wish Noah looked at me like that .

The thought popped into my mind out of nowhere, but once it was there, it was hard to shake. Because it was true. Lance was attractive, and I was turned on, but the man I really wanted was the one watching me back in the waking world.

If only Noah were here. If only it were him, slicking up the dildo with lube. His strong hands playing with my balls, sliding up and down my cock, bringing the dildo to the edge of my hole. A self-satisfied smile on his face as he brought me closer and closer to an orgasm.

When I looked up at Lance, I realized he was naked. His hand left my cock so it could stroke his own. I closed my eyes so I could really imagine it was Noah instead. I felt the dildo press against my hole and tensed. I tugged against the ribbons holding me in place.

I couldn’t actually take that, could I? It was so big. I hadn’t had to deal with anything like that since—

“God, I love it when you squirm,” Lance said, and my eyes snapped open, heat burning my cheeks. It was similar to what Sean had said to me too. Why did everyone like it when I was scared? Fear and desire pulsed in my core, and my cock ached for attention. Why did I like it when I was scared?

Imagine it’s Noah, imagine it’s Noah , I repeated to myself as I closed my eyes again.

It was Noah, telling me I looked so sexy like this. Noah slicking my hole with more lube. Noah pushing that dildo into me with a stretch, a burn, and sudden relief as the head slipped inside me.

I groaned, feeling my hole stretch to accommodate the intrusion. It should have scared me. Should have made me terrified. But instead, I pictured Noah. Noah telling me I was a good boy, I was taking it so well, I was sweet and perfect and—

I came, hands free, as the dildo pressed farther inside me. I moaned, full of pleasure and shame. My cock pumped cum, splattering my stomach and dripping down my shaft. My body shook as the orgasm rolled over me.

Suddenly, there was heat on my chest, and when I looked up, Lance was straddling me, knees on either side of my torso, his cock at my lips.

“Open up,” he said again, and I did.

He slid his cock in and began to fuck my face. That was the only word for it. It wasn’t gentle. It was humiliating. But I was still riding high from coming, and all I could think was that I wished Noah could see me, being so obedient. Doing whatever was asked of me.

I wished Noah knew I’d do the same for him.

It didn’t last long. Within a minute, Lance had come so far into my mouth that I almost couldn’t taste it. I licked the tip of his cock as he pulled it out of my mouth and looked up at him, embarrassed, exhausted, and euphoric.

“Told you you’d like it,” he said again, and the scene began to fade into mist.

The weight on my chest lightened and the ties on my wrists and ankles loosened as the whole room lost solidity. The dream was ending.

It must have been my awareness that made the difference, because when the mist cleared, I didn’t wake up. I found myself back in the starry sea, looking at that green and gold star again, but from a safe distance this time.

I looked around, confused. Shouldn’t my increased awareness make it easier for me to wake up, not harder?

I frowned, and closed my eyes, picturing Noah again.

But not straddling my chest, not touching me, not even telling me I was a good boy.

Out of the heat of the moment, that felt too shameful, too humiliating.

He’d cringe if he knew I’d thought about him like that. He didn’t want me, and he never would.

No, this time I pictured his cabin. The bed that looked so soft and inviting, the couch with its knobbly afghan, the plants on the windowsills. And Noah, sitting in that beat up wooden chair. Watching me. Waiting.

He probably hated that I was in his home. Taking up space. Taking up his time. He didn’t want to teach me. I didn’t remember a lot of the conversation from last night, but I’d retained that much. He probably wished I would wake up and—

“Go,” I said, sitting bolt upright on the couch and looking around in confusion. I caught sight of Noah, staring at me from his chair, and realized I’d woken myself up.

“Come again?” Noah said with a doubtful look.

I flushed, wondering if he heard the pun. I doubted it was intentional.

“It worked.” I smiled in spite of myself. “The anchor thing. It worked. At first it didn’t, I was still confused, but then something triggered it, and I knew I was in someone’s dream, and remembered why I was there.”

Noah continued to look at me skeptically.

“I’m not lying, I swear.”

“I didn’t say you were.” He straightened in his chair. “So what happened? You were able to use your anchor to control the dream?”

“Not control it, exactly.” I made a face. I hadn’t controlled it in the slightest, if I were being honest. I’d surrendered to it—and to my own most shameful fantasies. I shook my head. “But it’s still progress, right?”

Noah was quiet for a long moment, and then said, “It is. Some, anyway. But you have a lot farther to go, and Dean Mansur is right. You don’t have much time.”

He stood up and motioned for me to do the same. “Now get up. I have to get you back to the manor before I can do anything else.”

And just like that, my excitement deflated. Of course Noah wasn’t excited for me. Of course he wanted me gone. I was a burden. A parcel to be watched over and passed back and forth. Not an actual human with feelings.

I sighed, and followed him out into the woods.

Why had I ever expected anything else?