Page 16

Matty

M atty stared at Nightmare’s sharp-toothed grin, momentarily frozen in place by pure, unadulterated joy.

Nightmare wanted Matty. Coveted him, he’d said. He planned to keep him.

He’d planned to keep Matty all along.

Something heavy and warm and wonderful settled in Matty’s chest as Nightmare stared at him with naked hunger in his strange white gaze. Matty had been claimed by this creature of the dark without even knowing it, and it was a better fate than he ever could have hoped for.

And maybe Matty should have longed for freedom after a lifetime under Luca Caruso’s cruel thumb. Maybe he should have wanted independence, a chance to find his inner bravery. But Matty had tried life on his own here in Seacliff, and while it was better than what he’d left, he’d still hated it.

He didn’t want to be alone. He wanted what Sascha had with Kai. He wanted to belong to someone. Someone so strong and fearless that nothing could stand in their way.

And maybe that made Matty weak, this need to be protected. But he’d already known that about himself, hadn’t he?

It was silly to expect him to resist, anyway.

Nightmare was perfect. He was exactly what Matty needed.

What he wanted . Darkly compelling but also tender.

Ripping a man apart in one moment and talking sweetly to Matty in the next.

He fit around all Matty’s broken pieces, his shadows filling all the painful gaps.

Matty didn’t even care if Nightmare was acting that way just to seduce him into a bond. Let the seduction continue forever, then. Matty was game for it.

There was a gentle tug on Matty’s wrists. Nightmare’s shadows, urging him even closer. Matty went willingly—easily—crawling fully into Nightmare’s lap.

“Kiss me now,” Matty ordered, tilting his chin up in invitation. “Please.”

Nightmare did, wrapping strong, slender arms around Matty’s back.

Matty stretched up as much as he was able, slinging his own arms around Nightmare’s neck, tugging him down so he could kiss his demon back with all the yearning in his veins.

The kiss was sloppy, messy, and hungry. Nightmare didn’t seem to mind.

He let out a rumbling growl as he ravaged Matty’s mouth, encouraging Matty to rock against him, Matty trying desperately to get friction against his aching cock as all his blood rushed south.

This was good. Very good. Talking and confessions of eternal devotion were fine and all, but really, there should have been more kissing all along.

Eventually Nightmare allowed Matty to breathe— overrated —and Matty instantly started tugging at the ties on Nightmare’s pants. “Take it out. I want to see it again.”

Nightmare huffed a laugh, but he unlaced the ties, lowering his waistband to release his cock. Matty scooted back on Nightmare’s thighs, making room for the monstrosity.

Why did the sight of that strange cock make Matty so hungry ? There was something about it—large and dark and unlike anything he’d seen before—that made him ache inside. He wanted to rub his face against it. And his…chest? And his dick. Definitely his dick.

For the moment, Matty settled for rubbing his thumb against the head of it, enjoying the way it made Nightmare’s rumble deepen. “Do the petals stay like that?” Matty asked.

“Petals?”

“These.” Matty brushed one deliberately, watching it lift, smoky gray precum leaking out.

Nightmare gently knocked Matty’s hand away and wrapped his own slender fingers around his cockhead. He slid his hand down, and the petals bunched down around the head, revealing the bulbous black tip to the air, shimmering with precum.

Matty’s own cock jerked at the sight, and he squirmed on Nightmare’s lap. “I want to touch it,” he breathed. “And—and suck it. And I think you should fuck me with it.”

“Is that what you think, sweet?” Nightmare asked, his voice deadly soft.

Matty reached out a hand, wanting to touch it again, but Nightmare’s shadows held him back. Matty settled for palming his own clothed cock, hoping some sort of pressure would make him less desperate.

It didn’t work.

Matty licked his lips, staring at the branching black veins. “Will it really fit inside me? The whole thing?”

It seemed unlikely. The head was so fat, the petals bunched under it so strange.

“Yes, sweet. It will fit.”

“And it’ll feel good?”

“We’ll make sure of it.”

“You should—you should give it to me. Right now.” Matty squirmed harder now, fighting against the shadows holding him. It was like all the lust and want and naughty thoughts he’d been ignoring for a lifetime were pouring out from inside him. He felt ravenous and needy and a little crazed.

Nightmare rose from the floor, lifting Matty with him effortlessly.

Matty tried to wrap his legs around Nightmare’s waist, but he was held back by something.

The next thing he knew, he was being tossed on the hotel bed, and then he was sprawled on his back, spread-eagle, his demon’s shadows holding down each limb.

Nightmare stood over him, his cock rising rigid from his open pants.

“Stay,” the demon ordered darkly. He was huge and scary and perfect.

Matty melted into the mattress. “Okay. I’ll stay.”

The shadows around Matty started peeling off his pants and underwear. All the while Nightmare stood there, looming over him.

Maybe Matty should have felt exposed or embarrassed, being stripped like this, all his scars on display. But he only felt beautiful. Not cute or adorable or anything like that. Beautiful.

Eventually Matty was naked, his hard cock jutting out from the dark thatch of curls at his groin. His erection wasn’t as strange or impressive as Nightmare’s, but Nightmare seemed to like it. His gaze was locked on it, and he’d wrapped a hand around his own cock again, gripping tightly.

“Am I still pretty?” Matty asked.

“Yes, sweet. Every inch.”

Matty’s breath caught as Nightmare lifted a knee onto the mattress. The demon leaned down close, running his nose along Matty’s neck, his long silvery-white hair brushing Matty’s skin. Matty could feel the heat emanating from him, an inferno waiting to envelop him.

“So sweet,” Nightmare murmured. And then he moved down, running his nose along Matty’s collarbone, his chest. He followed a path all the way down to the creases along Matty’s groin, ignoring the way Matty jerked as his hair tickled Matty’s cock.

It didn’t matter if Matty jolted though. Nightmare’s shadows were still holding him securely.

Nightmare didn’t stop at Matty’s groin. He traveled down Matty’s legs next, upper thigh to ankle. Sometimes Matty thought he felt Nightmare’s lips brushing him, but mostly it was skin against skin. Scenting him or marking him or sizing him up to eat him, who knew?

Matty had thought he’d experienced all types of torture, but this one was new. He’d never been turned on like this, aching for any tiny bit of touch. He’d never been so completely desperate, with absolutely no idea how to relieve any of it.

Well, he had ideas of how to relieve it. But he wasn’t being allowed to act on them.

It was overwhelming. Scary. Perfect.

But not enough.

“I hurt,” Matty whispered as Nightmare moved on to examine each of his individual ten toes.

“Where do you hurt, sweet?” Nightmare asked, one of his shadows shifting to caress Matty’s cheek.

“Everywhere.”

Matty meant his aching arousal, but he also maybe meant a lifetime of broken hopes and horrible pain finally catching up to him. He thought Nightmare got it though. He thought maybe Nightmare was the only creature who could.

Nightmare rose over him again, his palms settling on either side of Matty’s head. He smelled of smoke and secrets, and his white eyes were glowing. “And how can I make it better, little human?”

“Touch me all over,” Matty whispered, tears leaking from his eyes for some reason. “Make me come. Make me—make me yours.”

And then Nightmare was finally kissing him again. Matty sobbed into it, desperate and aching. And Nightmare must have made his teeth blunt again because Matty didn’t cut his tongue, no matter how aggressively he fucked it into Nightmare’s mouth.

He was grateful for the shadows holding him back now. Otherwise, Matty might have tried to climb into Nightmare somehow. Burrow under his skin. He thought that might be the only way to assuage this hunger.

But at least now Nightmare was doing what he’d asked and touching Matty all over. Matty couldn’t tell what were Nightmare’s fingers and what were his shadows, but there was warmth and pressure everywhere, petting his skin and rubbing his tender places.

And then Matty knew exactly where Nightmare’s fingers were because they were brushing against his crease. Matty whimpered into Nightmare’s mouth. Permission. A plea.

Nightmare pulled away, his breathing harsh and jagged. “Has anyone ever touched you here, sweet?”

“No.” Matty pouted. “No one’s touched me anywhere.”

“No wonder you hurt, my sweet summoner.”

Exactly. Exactly . Something warm and slippery rubbed against Matty’s hole—lube or precum or who the hell knew what—and Nightmare’s shadows or maybe his fingers wrapped around Matty’s cock at the same time.

Matty whimpered at the touch.

“Relax, sweet,” Nightmare soothed. “Let me in.”

It was hard to do. Matty was too impatient, too desperate. Nightmare nipped at his chin, then at his neck. He laved Matty’s nipples with his hot tongue, his teeth just barely scraping the tender buds, one hand tugging Matty’s leg up and around his hip. “I have you, Matteo. Let go.”

Matty let out a long breath, and Nightmare’s finger slid inside him. It was a strange pressure but also…good. Good because it was his demon, and Matty wanted his demon everywhere. And then good because there was another finger, and a specific spot and— Oh.

Matty arched up, and Nightmare’s hand started pumping his cock with more of that warm, slippery stuff. “There you are, sweet,” he crooned. “Find your pleasure.”