Nightmare in Steam (Alliance of Silver and Steam Book 1)

by Lexi Ostrow

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Eliza. I would want you anywhere.” She let her eyes drift over to him and she stopped breathing. He was fully naked, muscles hard and taut all exposed for her to see. She didn’t waste any time lowering her gaze to his crotch. The bulge she saw at the pub was nothing compared to the mouth-watering erection he sported now. Easily twenty-five centimeters long, he was thick and round, a drop of wetness seeped from the tip of his prick and she had the strangest urge to lick it off, to see how salty he would taste and then take him into her mouth.

  She shook her head, trying to get control over herself. She’d been in this position with him before. But never with him stark naked in front of her. Her eyes peeked toward him again and she inadvertently sighed, wanting to touch him.

  “I want that, Eliza. I need that. Look what you’ve done too me.” Slowly he turned, exposing his arse to her and her mouth watered at the tight, firm butt cheeks that he presented her with. “Do you see that blasted mark? That infuriating little circle with a little girl’s heart in it? Well that’s your fault that it’s there. And frankly, I’m tired of not getting everything that should come with a mark like that.”

  “How - how do you keep doing that? Reading my mind, answering things I know I’m not saying out loud?” Her voice shook with her barely restrained lust dying to break free. He’d proven his point. This must be a dream. She’d never seen him unless some sort of sexual play was involved and there was no such thing as magic, nothing that could’ve made a room disappear and a new one appear.

  “Why not? There are demons aren’t there? And besides, I’ve answered that question. Twice now I believe and I’d like to think you’re a smart enough girl to not need it answered a third. But just in case, just this once, I’ll oblige you.”

  She had no idea what he was talking about and didn’t even care, she was utterly lost in a haze of lust and wanton thoughts. He’d turned around and started walking toward her. Each step made his cock bob against his stomach and when he took himself in his hands and squeezed the head of his cock she almost came undone. He pressed his lips to hers and kissed her hard, his tongue pressing impatiently past her own lips as he ravaged her mouth with his. His cock pressed against her hands that were still in front of her, and she itched to wrap her fingers around it like she had so many other times. He bit her lower lip, then licked it and pulled away.

  “Because it’s a dream, Eliza.”

  That was all it took. One final confirmation that there would be no consequences to her actions. Three bed partners would likely be enough to set her parents on edge, a complete stranger would kill them.

  “But it’s a dream, Eliza.”

  She dug her hands into his hair and twisted and pulled him down to her. “Yes, yes it is.” She went to kiss him, to lose herself in the taste of whiskey that lingered in his mouth, but he pulled back.

  “Lucius. You need to know my name because it’s going to be very important to you when I’m pleasuring you to the point of seeing stars.”

  She didn’t doubt that he could do that to her. Lucius, a respectable name. He could be from a family with wealth. Someone my parents would certainly approve of. If you weren’t about to fuck him purely for the way he set your insides to a molten heat level.

  “Yes.” She wasn’t sure why she said it, but his lips curved into that smirk again and she didn’t want to wait any longer.

  Her body crashed into his and she felt his hands tear the shirt away before they grabbed onto her breasts and began to knead them. His hands, the ones that had seemed so small holding the glass, were perfect and warm as they touched her. He shuffled slightly, his cock dragging across her breeches and she bit her lip to not scream with need. He stopped then, his body a warm wall of heat behind her and tugged her backwards him to him. Her arse hit his cock and she realized suddenly that she was naked and froze for a moment.

  “Shh, shh now. It’s all a dream. Of course you’re clothes are off, Eliza. I want them off. I need them off.” His mouth trailed close to her ear and she wanted to turn and claim them, take control of the situation because she felt so helpless, so lost in her need for this Lucius.

  But he hadn’t kissed her again, not yet and she whimpered, wanting to feel his mouth on hers again. His breath was warm against her neck. His lips were soft, barely a whisper along her skin as he kissed a fiery path. He placed gentle kisses along the long column of her neck. He was so cold, so brutal and calculating out of this dream, she could tell from the soulless look in his eyes, the look he sometimes got when he thought she wasn’t looking anymore. Yet here, in this dream room, he was heat and desire as he stood behind her. Match for match as her own selfish heart called for his touch knowing that this was nothing more than a dream. She didn't let the details concern her as she felt him press against her, naked flesh to flesh. His cock, a rock hard reminder of what would come, pressed into the small of her back.

  “Come with me Eliza, let me please you. Let me take you this time. No holding back, no forcing yourself awake. Just you and me. Here and Now.”

  His voice was so beautiful, so familiar and curled around her as she assumed a real lover might. The city was so beautiful though. She was startled for a moment as she realized she could indeed see the flickering lights of the city. But how?

  “A dream, Eliza. Nothing more than a dream. You like the city, the way it gleams in the night and so I created it for you. Created this window with which you can look out while I take you because I cannot wait much longer, love. I need to be inside of you like I need to be in your dreams.”

  The sentence confused her and stole her breath at the same time. He was a figment, a made up persona to be what she wanted him to be and yet, she would give him anything he wanted right now.

  As she stared out the window she saw his hand raise and land slightly above hers on the solid glass window. She must have touched it to confirm it was truly there. His low growl in her ear as he nipped the bottom of it sent wetness between her legs and she squirmed, pushing her butt against his cock and shuddering when he reached between them and held himself. She could feel him stroking his shaft, feel as his hand stroked up the thick length of him and bumped the small of her back.

  “Come now, Eliza.”

  His free hand wrapped around her waist and turned her to him. Her startled gasp changed to a sigh of pleasure as he turned her and ran a finger along her clit. Her hips bucked even as her hand fell off the window as she turned to him. The motion caused his finger to slip inside her folds. His growl was more like a purr as he stroked along the inner core of her. “Damn Eliza, you’re wet enough to bring me to my knees, to taste you and see if you taste of chocolate to match your smell.”

  Her head fell back as he used his knee to push her legs further apart. She trembled under his touch, shook with need and longing to complete what she wanted. Sex. It was a dream, no one would ever know and she wasn’t a virgin anyway. She wanted it all with Lucius and she wanted it in this dream; the heat, the desire, the pulsing of her sex when she came screaming his name. Small whimpers escaped from her as he rubbed the head of his cock against her entrance, small circles that had her seeing a multitude of colors instead of him. Reaching down she ran her finger slowly down his cock before wrapping her hand around him. She could hardly close it around his thick cock and the thought sent a wave of liquid between her legs. He grunted and pushed her, her butt pressing against the cold window.

  His hips bucked against her and he dragged his teeth along her neck before he swirled his tongue over the same spot. Her cry was a tangle of pleasure and need while his fingers stroked her and the head of his cock nudged her entrance and she spread her legs wider, sliding down a little as she got lower to the ground. He hesitated as she pushed against him, taking him deeper. His groan echoed in her ears and he took control back again as he buried himself balls deep inside her. His hand traced a path down her chin and pulled her eyes to his. She rolled her hips, urging him forward, knowing that if he stopped no
w she would shatter with or without him.

  Lucius’ hands grabbed onto her arse and pulled her up, her legs wrapping around his lower back, she cried out at the sensation. Her head spun from wave after wave of pleasure that built within. His roar caught her off guard and she felt his cock jerking inside her. Her body responded, seeking out release and she clenched around him, clenched and unclenched to drag out his pleasure and threw herself over and lost herself in her own release. She felt her body begin to throb with release and she cried out his name. Her head fell onto his shoulder as their combined breathing filled her ears. The sound so loud she could not rid her ears of it- and it got louder and louder...

  * * *

  Groggily, Eliza’s hand found the clamoring alarmed clock and shut it off. She sat upright in the bed and rubbed her eyes, trying to force them to focus. She was in her room. There wasn’t a big window looking out at the city, there weren’t any deeply luxurious sheets or sexy naked men doing wicked things to her. She groaned and hid her head under her pillow and let out a scream.

  It was morning of the third day, the beginning of her temporary dismissal.

  “It really was just a dream. Whoever Lucius is, he’s just a figment of my imagination. A product of working too hard and not looking for a husband probably.” She threw the pillow across the room with a curse. “And I have to go to my parents today. There is nothing worse.” Tossing back the covers she gasped. She was naked, head to toe in the nude and when she’d passed out she’d still had on the smoke smothered clothes she’d been wearing. “How ever did that happen?”

  She shook off any ideas that there had been a lover in her room to undress her. She’d been hot and removed them. She may have even awoken, no way of knowing now. She turned her head and snapped her fingers at Jessabelle. The dog happily jogged over to the bedside and sat next to it, awaiting some petting.

  Giving the dog a quick pat she focused on the clock. “Six in the morning. Of course I wouldn’t have set one for the train schedule.” Her shoulder still hurt if she moved the wrong way and she grimaced as she did so while petting Jessabelle. The burn on her hands was the only true lingering pain though.

  She continued to pat Jessabelle’s head as the dog followed her throughout the room and she dressed for the train trip. The corseted top was enough to make her want to die. She hadn’t worn one since last Christmas at the festivities and it was early May now, a long time past. She sucked in a deep breath and continued to snap up the front of the corset. She’d invented one shortly after realizing she couldn’t tie the blasted things on her own. The frilled skirt itched at her legs and she silently cursed the man who decided women ought to be tortured in such a fashion. Men liked women naked, she knew that, so why they buried them in heaps of clothing was beyond her realm of knowledge. Adjusting the small black jeweled hat that sat on her head, she stared at the mirror.

  She saw her mother staring back. Her hair was coifed in the back, her face freshly scrubbed in the small sink in the room before she dressed. Her eyes looked older, more mature than she’d last remembered them. But it was the lines of unhappiness that settled in just around her mouth that reminded her of Maria Dorley. Her mother loved the finer things in life, but when no one was looking, it was easy enough to see the annoyance in her eyes at many of her father’s actions. Another reason she was grateful for the initial cut off from her parents. They couldn’t have created an arranged marriage for her because they didn’t care about her. Now, she was past the proper marrying age and her parents had given up any hope for it. It made the once a year trip home all the more pleasant. Grabbing her work goggles off the dresser, she tucked them into her bag and turned to look at Jessabelle.

  “Time to get you to Felicia and Greyston, sweet girl.” She grabbed the twine leash off the hook on the wall and Jessabelle whimpered when she latched it. Eliza sighed and kissed the metal dog on the forehead. “I’m sorry, sweet girl, but you cannot come with me. There are rules against showing off the technology we create to the world and you would stick out like a red herring.” A cold, hard, metal tongue ran over her hand before Jessabelle barked once and stood up. “That’s my sweet girl.” Eliza grabbed the few bags she had packed and closed her room door behind her. If she was going to get Jessabelle in and out of the guild’s carriage without notice she didn’t have much time to spare, she wanted to check over things at her desk one last time before the train.

  Chapter 6

  Lucius wrapped his fingers around the brick wall in the alleyway. His body trembled from his release in the dream, and more so from the shock that a sexual release in a dream gave off any flicker of soul energy. He’d bedded women plenty of times in their dreams and he’d never gotten the energy high he had now. But more importantly, he couldn’t remember the last time his body had throbbed so hard with release and hardened back up at the thought of doing it again. His breaths punched in and out of his body as he tried to calm his thumping heart. “Fuck. Is this why there are some demons racing off to acquire the mating mark? Can’t say I blame the blokes.”

  He forced himself to stand upright. This close to the guild when all the members would be coming back he didn’t want to be detected as anything and who knew if they would come over to help a man who appeared to be in a drunken stupor. He’d shown up this evening ready to claim Eliza. He was going to knock on the damn guild doors and pray they didn’t get in his way. Because he wasn’t certain he wouldn’t have used his talents to kill them all if they had. But when he’d gotten to the guild all the lights were blazing. The building looked like it had suffered a catastrophe of sorts and there were coppers lining the sides of the road. By the time it had all cleared he’d watched seventeen hunting teams leave the guild and when he reached out to be certain she was in, he’d been greeted with the energy of her in a deep sleep.

  But he hadn’t been able to walk away. He was so juiced up thinking about finally being with her that the only thing he could do was demand she be with him in her dreams. “And she took the bait.” His words pulled from his mouth before he’d realized it and he caught the attention of a young boy, probably someone from the thieves’ quarter, running by with a loaf of delicious smelling cinnamon bread - he had a soft spot for the pastries and turned away and down the alley before he accidentally grabbed it from the boy. He didn’t kill children. Period.

  The walk was anything but reliving. His prick ached as if he hadn’t just slept with Eliza in some form. Sure the sex wasn’t real, but the sensations and the teeth chattering release he’d had were. The stain on his silk pants was more than enough confirmation of that. But he couldn’t get the idea of bedding her out of his mind. Would it stop once I do? Would it get a thousand times worse until I do nothing but sate myself on her day in and day out? Lucius growled and kicked at a glass bottle in his path. “Stupid fucking mating mark. Why the hell isn’t there a handbook on this somewhere?” He shoved his hands in his pockets and snarled. Of course he couldn’t actually reach his erection from the shallow pockets, but he’d damn sure been wanting too.

  The sun would be coming up over the city in a two hours, streaks of pink would muddle the black night into a muted grey and he was no closer to being able to get Eliza off his mind than he had been before spending a night with her. He hadn’t realized it due to the discomfort of walking with an erection, but he hadn’t headed back to his little hovel. In fact, he was standing outside of Greyston’s and the light was peeking through the night sky already, and yet he wasn’t tired as he often got closer toward morning. How could that even be possible? He shrugged and looked up at the sprawling mansion.

  “Well, I’m in front of the door of perhaps the one demon who can answer my questions. No harm in knocking.” Looking down at his wrist he wished he had a watch or pocket time piece made by the guild now. He’d walked so far he had lost all sense of time and he’d rarely been outside past dawn.

  Taking the front steps two at a time he made quick work of the eight step entrance and pounded on the doo
r. The knock echoed through the empty street and he winced hoping no one would be too angry. Greyston Westham was captain of the Royal Guard and as such the company he kept when he stayed outside the palace often had their panties in a twist over the smallest of things, like not getting enough beauty sleep to make the paint the women slathered on their faces cover how ugly they truly were. He lifted his hand to bang again when Steven, another Incubus Demon that lived with Greyston ,opened the door and looked rather annoyed.

  “Ah, mister Willan, what sort of trouble did your nasty habits get you into now?”

  He pushed past the annoying demon he’d never gotten along with and walked into the parlor, dropping down onto the suede green sofa to wait. “None that would be any concern of yours. Where’s Greyston? I’ve got business with him.” He thought about adding that part of the business was the leader of Hell wanted him dead. Better to save that for after he got the information he needed about being mated to a human in case Greyston didn’t believe Lucius wouldn’t kill him.

  A sharp moan cut through the air and it sent a wave of lust through Lucius and he crossed his legs uncomfortably. Steven looked at him with a smirk and started to walk out of the room. “I suppose that’s all the answer you need. When the moaning ceases feel free to knock. If I were you’d I just wait, he’s very thoroughly pleasing his betrothed.” Steven chuckled and walked out of the parlor and back up the stairs.