Enemy Mine

Chapter 18

I'd grown accustomed to waking up standing next to my bed, and I probed my brain for a memory of what happened during my sleepwalking adventure. I got nothing, but I stood there a moment enjoying the image of Vincent's naked form sprawled across the sheets. Even in slumber, he appeared to be thinking deeply on something, with his brow furrowed and his lips pursed. Maybe dreaming of a complicated corporate merger, like the one we were facing with his domus.

A shadow slipped past my peripherals, and I turned toward the window to find the silhouette of a winged beast beating out a rhythm on the other side. Was it gollum or demon? I padded across the room as my heartrate ramped up, and when I drew back the curtain, Christoph's face greeted me. He looked frightened, which freaked me out, and he signaled for me to open the window. Glancing over my shoulder, I checked Vincent's status on the bed. He hadn't moved, so I unlatched the lock and slid the window pane up, crouching down to speak through the screen.

"Christoph, what are you doing here?"

"Can I come in?"

"What's wrong? Are you in danger?"

"Yes."

The tension in his voice had my body snapping into action, and I opened the window as wide as it would go. Christoph quickly yanked out the screen with his talons, entering the room with stealth despite the small space he had to squeeze through. Once inside, he hauled me backward and pinned me to the wall, wrapping his wings around me in a protective cocoon. That's when I realized he was buck ass naked.

"Christoph, what the hell..."

Christoph silenced me with his lips, just like that night in the greenhouse, and the time on the beach when he wanted me to believe gollums were the enemy. I tried to fight him off as he forced his tongue into my mouth, exposing my lips to his sharp fangs. Vincent still had not woken up, and this fact had me more than alarmed. Had Christoph somehow drugged him? What was happening?

Christoph left my lips to tease the lobe of my ear with his canines. "I need you, Reese. I want to be more than friends."

"I'm in love with Vincent. Please, stop Christoph. Let me go."

"I can't. You're inside my head. I want to be inside you. Take off your panties."

"No."

"Don't force me to do it. I don't want to hurt you."

"Christoph, this is not okay. I love Vincent."

"Take off your panties, Reese, or I'll rip them off."

"I'm on my period."

"I don't care."

His kiss had taken over my brain, subduing me with a sedative fog, and I struggled to maintain a grip on reality. "What have you done to Vincent?"

"You're wasting your time with Vincent. He doesn't love you. How could he? Your veins run with the blood of the enemy."

"I am not the enemy."

I felt a sting at my hip as Christoph's claw tore through my lace panties. "Reese, don't make me do it."

I knew what he was talking about. He wanted me to pull out my tampon. "I'm not wearing..."

"Good. I'm going to make you forget all about Vincent." Christoph recaptured my mouth, and I tried to fight his siren call as he pressed himself between my legs. His possession had my blood pumping to my nether regions, and my head lolled against the wall as a final plea escaped my throat.

"Please, stop."

"I can't stop. I don't want to stop. Oh, Reese... Reese..."

Christoph repeated my name as he drove into me, sparking my desire as well as my guilt. Then he slapped my cheek and my eyes snapped open, but instead of Christoph's face, I found Vincent standing there, his skin a whiter shade of pale, eyes like silver blades. Christoph had vanished. It was only a dream.