completely neutral and hope that Gregory has the tact to do the same.
“May I?” I ask, holding out my hand.
He blinks his pale blue eyes at me, so light they are almost white. He shakes his head.
He is built like a male but one so hideous, it’s no wonder he floats around as a misty Mare. His skin is marred, scarred as if he has been burned.
“Let Gregory go, and you can take what you need from me,” I whisper to him, inching closer.
“You have no fear. Not even of me,” he whispers back.
I slowly raise my hand higher and cup his cheek. I rub my thumb over his cheekbone and give him a soft smile. “Let him go and you can take whatever you need from me.”
“Why?”
“I am the Demon Queen. I care about you.”
“How can I trust you?”
“I won’t hurt you, Sid. Let Gregory go and never hurt him, and I will give you what you want.”
“You can’t,” he complains.
“I can. Take my essence directly.”
“How?” He gives me a confused look.
I step even closer to him and look up into his grotesquely beautiful face. “With a kiss,” I murmur.
“Annabelle,” Gregory hisses me.
“Let him go,” I repeat.
Sid waves his hand and Gregory disappears, leaving me alone with the Night Mare.
“Why would you do this for me?”
“I know you don’t want to hurt me, Sid. Am I right?”
He nods.
“You feel like you owed Razor for freeing you. But you don’t need to repay him. He wants to hurt me, Sid. He wants to use you to hurt me. You don’t want that, do you?”
“No,” he whimpers. “I hate this. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Let me make you whole and you can rejoin the Demons in Hell.”
He looks back at me, unsure. “I don’t know why you want to help me.”
I can’t tell him it’s because I’m trying to protect Gregory. I brought him into this by being with him when Sid pulled me into this nightmare. Well, what is supposed to be a nightmare. It hasn’t exactly gone the way I thought it would.
“I’m your Queen,” I say again. “I want to help you regain the life you had before. I don’t want you to be used by snake Demons who think they can push you around.”
“I know your secrets,” he says harshly.
I feel that I’m losing him, so I scramble. “I trust you,” I croon, stepping even closer. “I feel close to you, Sid. You know me like no other being has ever known me. You’re special to me.”
“I do know you, Annabelle,” he rasps.
“Then let me make you whole.” I tilt my head back and move my hand to the back of his neck. I put pressure on his nape to bring him closer to me. He isn’t that much taller than me in my heels, so his mouth reaches mine easily as he doesn’t resist but doesn’t assist either.
“Take what you need, Sid,” I murmur and press my lips to his.
I sweep my tongue over his scarred lips, making him whimper with need.
I push my tongue gently into his mouth and find his.
I feel the tug on my essence, and I stifle my grunt as he pulls it out of me and into him.
Feeling a rush of air, I open my eyes and find myself back in Gregory’s room, underneath him as we share a passionate kiss that has fired up my lust in a massive way after the tense dream state.
I close my eyes again and cling to him, clawing at his back as our tongues duel fiercely. We devour each other’s mouths. I wrap my legs around him, pushing my hips up against the huge bulge in his pants. His hands tangle in my hair as he presses me into the bed.
I go lightheaded and my eyes fly open.
Gregory looks back at me, but it isn’t him. His eyes aren’t the kind, shy ones that I’ve grown accustomed to but instead, wary eyes filled with untold horrors.
“Sid,” I breathe. “You said you’d leave him alone.”
“I promised no such thing,” he replies. “But I’m not hurting him. I’m just using his body so that you have a pretty face to look at.”
“I’m giving you what you want,” I say, unwrapping my legs and pushing on him to get him off me.
“Yes, you are. You are strong, my Queen. It is a rush to draw on your raw essence. I crave more.”
“Leave his body and I’ll give it to you.”
He shakes his head. “You desire this