Page 38

Matty

M atty was stuck in a long, narrow hallway again.

There was a light at the end of it, but as he walked down along it, each step only seemed to get him further away, that little light he was heading toward never getting any closer.

There were doors lining the wall along either side of him. They were quiet and still, although Matty had learned that if he listened closely, he could maybe make out what was behind them.

He pressed his ear to one now. It sounded like a litter of puppies on the other side, whimpering and snuffling and letting out cute little barks.

Matty grinned. That was sweet to hear, although he wouldn’t want one for keeps. The shadows might get jealous if he picked up any other pets.

Matty pressed his ear to another door, one on the opposite side of the hallway. There was the dull throb of pulsing music, the kind that played at the Lighthouse on dance nights. Matty would bet his friends were behind this one, writhing under those flashing lights, waiting for Matty to join them.

But Matty kept going, and before long he crashed into a familiar warm body, the force of it sending Matty to the ground, though his landing was anything but harsh.

He looked up and up, past elongated, spiderlike limbs, to the toothy, grinning skull miles above his head.

A rush of affection ran through Matty at the familiar sight, and then a rush of… pleasure, a tightening swirl of heat in his belly.

Matty cocked his head. “What are you doing to my body out there?”

The skull mask grinned wider, its fangs dripping some dark, viscous substance.

“Delicious things,” it rasped. A long-fingered hand came up to cup Matty’s face. “Time to wake up, Matteo.”

Matty woke up mid-moan, his back arching off the bed. There was hot, wet suction around his cock, and he managed to crane his neck enough to see Nightmare between his legs, his mouth on Matty’s dick and three fingers stuffed inside Matty’s ass.

“Mm,” Matty moaned again. “’S’nice.”

Nightmare must have been playing with him for a while already, because Matty’s whole body felt flushed and heavy and already too close to coming.

Way too close.

“Scary,” he whined, clutching his fingers into the bedspread.

Nightmare let out a low growl, the sound vibrating along Matty’s sensitive, overworked cock. At the same time, he mercilessly crooked those long fingers, petting along Matty’s inner walls.

“F-Fuck!” Matty curled up with a cry, shooting his release into Nightmare’s waiting mouth.

His orgasm lasted forever—Nightmare swallowing every last drop—and Matty was left panting, trying to get his bearings, only to find his legs folded up against his chest and a broad, blunt cock pressing at his entrance.

“Yes, Scary,” he sighed, not caring that he’d just emptied his load ten seconds ago. He was a horny little beast in his early twenties—there was always more where that came from. “Fill me up.”

And Nightmare really must have been doing delicious things to Matty for ages already, because he slid in so easily, all the way to the hilt.

And then Matty was surrounded by his demon in the way he liked best: Nightmare’s thick cock filling him and his broad form pressing Matty’s legs to his chest, those glowing white eyes hungry above him, Nightmare’s warmth and smoke and shadows hiding the morning light from Matty’s eyes.

“G-Good morning,” Matty managed to say between breathless little pants. He wrapped spaghetti-noodle arms around Nightmare’s neck and drew him in for a kiss. The price of Nightmare waking him up with sneaky blow jobs was dealing with Matty’s morning breath.

Not that Nightmare ever seemed to care about that.

He started driving into Matty as Matty sucked on his tongue, not bothering with a slow build or teasing strokes. He must have been getting impatient out here, to have invaded Matty’s dream just to wake him up.

“No—no latching,” Matty reminded him, rocking his hips to meet every thrust, desperate for the way that fat head rubbed inside him. “We have to be at the docks.”

Nightmare let out an exasperated, grunting huff, but he started placing hungry, hot kisses along Matty’s neck and chest, so he couldn’t have been all that put out.

It was a sloppy, rushed sort of fuck, and it was Matty’s very favorite way to wake up.

He loved that Nightmare got hungry for him while he slept, that his demon could never seem to wait until Matty woke up on his own to start toying with Matty’s body.

Loved that he craved him as badly as Matty craved him in turn.

The shadows seemed just as impatient this morning, squeezing and sucking at Matty’s cock as Nightmare drove into him, getting Matty hard and then beyond hard, to the point where he was going to come before Nightmare did. Again.

Or maybe not.

Broad palms slid to the backs of Matty’s thighs, folding him into a little sex pretzel, and then Nightmare was grinding his hips against Matty with all his substantial weight, his rhythm stuttering as he growled loud enough for the whole block to hear.

Matty clenched around the incoming heat, his own cock spilling into the shadows, crying out in protest when Nightmare withdrew too soon.

But right. No latching. They had plans today.

Nightmare rested his forehead against Matty’s, panting into his mouth in a way that Matty enjoyed immensely, and then he rolled off him. Matty immediately curled onto his side, grinning at him. “Puppies and besties? Really?”

Nightmare smirked at him. “That was your dream, little human. I merely interrupted.”

Matty snuggled closer, tossing a leg over Nightmare’s hip. “Should we cancel? See what other interruptions you can come up with?”

Nightmare’s white eyes gleamed. “Yes, sweet. Let’s cancel.”

Matty immediately sighed, shaking his head. “No. We can’t.”

He hopped out of their king-size bed before he got too tempted by Nightmare’s nude, sexed-up demon form.

He scurried to the bathroom, hastily cleaning up what the shadows hadn’t gotten to, and then brushed his teeth, the shadows nipping around him, clearly feeling playful this morning after their little sex romp.

It wasn’t long before the biggest shadow of all loomed behind him in the mirror, and then Nightmare was there, wrapping his arms around Matty’s chest, bending to rest his chin on top of Matty’s head, his antlers jutting out beyond the mirror’s reflection.

It was a good thing the cottage had high ceilings.

But of course it did because it was perfect. Almost as perfect as Matty’s demon, and Matty loved it almost as much. His first real home, one without any bad memories or ghosts to haunt it. Only Matty’s creature of the dark lurking in its shadowed corners, as he should be.

When Matty was as freshened up as he was going to get, they dressed for the day.

They were supposed to meet everyone down at the docks soon.

Cooper and Chaos and Ivan and Nix were all visiting at the same time for once, and Sascha had decided this was the year he was learning how to sail.

He’d commanded they be there for his first solo excursion, as was their duty as his family.

Matty was pretty certain they were going to capsize by the end—by Chaos’s hand if no one else’s—but he supposed that was what life jackets were for.

The morning sun was lovely, the days getting warm again as they approached another summer, and Matty was comfy enough in only his T-shirt, his hoodie left at home today.

The change of season meant ice cream and sunshine and more time at the beach, but Matty had learned this year that winter was his very favorite, and he was a little sad to fully let it go.

The town had emptied out like it always did come fall, and the days had been short and dark and cold.

Matty and Nightmare had holed up in their cozy cottage, fucking and snuggling and watching every horror movie ever made.

More than once, Sascha and Kai had been forced to come banging on their door to get them out of the house.

It had been perfect.

Matty had even come out of it with his GED, and next fall he was going to start taking a few college courses online, just to see what sparked his interest.

Matty was no longer Matteo Caruso either. Ivan had procured documents for Nightmare, and ever since the courthouse wedding, Matty was Matteo Night, married to Sarkaron Night. And if anyone thought it was weird he called his husband by their shared last name, no one said anything about it.

It was a small town, after all. There were bigger kooks than Matty and Nightmare running around.

Matty had worried a little bit about Nightmare managing with such prolonged domesticity, but it seemed it was basically impossible for his demon to get bored.

If Nightmare ever got restless within the confines of Seacliff, he stepped into the dream realm and fed on human terror.

And when he returned, he’d share the weird, horrific visions he’d been part of, if Matty was in the mood for them.

It was like having new horror stories always on tap, whenever Matty wanted them.

Matty’s favorites were when Nightmare found particularly vile, rotten souls, ones who were a danger to all the innocents around them. Then Nightmare would ask Matty for his desired retribution, and he and the shadows would deliver it the next night.

So maybe Matty was still a little bloodthirsty at times, even with Dominico long gone. Nightmare didn’t seem to mind.

Not every day started out perfect. Some mornings Matty woke up and forgot Dominico was dead, old terror vibrating through his bones.

But on the rare occasion Nightmare wasn’t already in bed to soothe him, the shadows were, a perfect reminder of everything that had changed since Matty had been that sad, scared, lost boy.

“I love you, Scary,” Matty said now as they walked together in the sun. He liked to say it every day when he was at his happiest, and right at this moment, he was feeling pretty damn happy.

Nightmare pressed a kiss to their clasped hands. “My heart,” he crooned.

Maybe one day Matty would want to travel as often as Cooper and Chaos did.

Or perhaps he’d want to try living in a city again like Ivan and Nix.

But for now, he was content to finally have a home that didn’t scare him.

To have neighbors to say good morning to and locals who knew him and his mate by name.

And most of all, to have his demon—his soul’s perfect match—always at his side.

It was the kind of life dreams were made of, and Matty was going to enjoy every minute.

The end.