I swallow the lump in my throat and wet my bottom lip. The shadow’s massage halts for a moment, as if I’ve done something to bother it. Then it moves closer, pressing against my back as if it were completely solid.

I look down at his chest, then at his bulge, then slowly make my way back up to his concealed face, taking my time to relish every inch of his body. The pulsing between my legs springs back to life with new vigor. “May I?”

A low chuckle resonates through the forest, and he fulfills another one of my fantasies: He makes a necklace out of his hands by wrapping his fingers around my throat, only he doesn’t squeeze. The veins in his arms move and pulse under the candle light. I let myself give into temptation and skim the masculine ridges of his forearms, making his hold around my neck tighten.

The shadow shifts its large hands to knead my breast and send more heat to my core. The shadow’s hand practically covers my whole chest, making me feel small and—dare I say it—dainty.

“Lilith. My sweet night monster. I told you that I would taste you. I told you that you would be screaming my name.” I swear I can hear the grin on his face in his words “I did not say that I would fuck you.”

Embarrassment turns my blood cold. I’ve been a dark cloud since the accident and have done practically nothing to be appealing or even feel sexy. Even the Faceless Man in my dream doesn’t want me. Evan doesn’t, so why should Letum—if that’s even his actual name—find me attractive with all my scars.

He presses his soft lips to mine, and the smell of morning dew and a summer’s breeze wafts over me, dissolving my doubts. His warm breath fans the shell of my ear as he says, “I have longed for the taste of you, and now that I have it, I will never know another. When I fuck you, there won’t be any candles. It won’t be in a dream. When I claim you, it will be on my terms. But it will not be tonight.”

I let a whimper escape my lips, after being left high and dry. He can’t seriously just leave me a wet and needy mess and deny me the simple pleasure of a second orgasm, especially when my raw nipples are still getting the shadow’s undivided attention.

Letum taps his symbol that is hanging around my neck. “You were made to wear me.”

“Please,” I whisper, grinding my hips into the bed to reach another release.

“Please?”

He’s taunting me, I know he is. He wants me to become completely his, just so that I can give him all of me while he gives me nothing in return. But this is just a dream. He’s not real. I remind myself.

“Please,” I beg, “Letum.”

He growls in approval as the shadows’ attention to my breasts becomes rougher and more hungry. I’m too distracted by the shadow to notice that Letum moved his hand until he pressed a heavy thumb right on my clit, sending electric fire straight to my core.

“Go on.”

He wants me to say it, to voice my needs. That’s the opposite of what has always happened between me and the Faceless Man. I don’t voice the troubles on my mind to anyone other than Dr. Mallory. Even then, I don’t tell her about my issues with getting food into my cupboard or paying for things. Letum has known exactly what I need without me having to say it. Whether it’s to hear that I look beautiful, or just to know that someone recognizes my pain.

“Please, Letum. I want to come again,” I beg, voice low and meek.

He does nothing for a moment, then he finally leans in and kisses me. It isn’t hungry or demanding, isn’t filled with lust or need. The kiss is one of silent understanding and mutual connection, but also like he’s proud of me.

Then he pulls away. Before I can blink, I’m thrown onto my hands and knees. Just as before, the shadow stays behind me. Except this time, a thick finger slides through my wet heat, then pushes into me.

I throw my head back and groan, my eyes automatically rolling to the back of my head. The Faceless Man takes the opening as a chance to grip my hair to force me to look up at him.

One of the shadow’s fingers is bigger than two of Letum’s. I grind my hips, drawing pleasure from the shadow as his finger slams into me. What does it say about me that the thought of being finger fucked by a shadow that has no real features other than a silhouette is the hottest thing I could ever think of? I want it to be Letum’s cock that I’m riding, but my god, the fact that the shadow is near invisible is doing more to me than it should.

I’m whimpering and mewling, teetering on the edge of release, when the shadow’s pumps slow, though the hold on my hips doesn’t falter. “Relax, my love. I’m not done with you yet.”

I frown, only to scream when another finger pushes into my pussy, stretching it to the point of agony. Tears of both pain and pleasure pricks my eyes. It’s larger than anything I have ever been with.

“Take all of it.” The shadow slowly slides his fingers in until he reaches his knuckle. I moan as I try to accommodate the size and just how deeply inside of me he is. He doesn’t start moving again until I curl my back to take him even deeper. “That’s it. All of it.”

A sharp sting of pain makes me hiss, but I’m too caught up in each thrust to do more than just scream and moan. If this is only a dream, how does it feel so real?

Movement just below my line of sight catches my attention. I try to move my head but his grip in my hair stops me from getting far.

“What are you doing?” I gasp, biting my lip as I pant and try to hold back another scream.

Somewhere under the darkness of his hood, I swear I see a sinister smile flash across his seemingly non existent face. “It’s only fair that you taste me too.”

My eyes widen before my head is pushed straight down onto his cock. My mouth barely fits around him, still he pushes further inside me. He doesn’t make it far before I gag, but he doesn’t relent, the sound not a deterrent but an encouragement.

“All of it. Just like I told you to.” His voice is firm, not revealing if he feels as undone by me as I am by him.

Tears stream down my eyes as I’m filled so completely by two beings I’ve never seen the faces of. My jaw aches from how wide I have it open. I try to relax my throat and Letum pushes in deeper.

“My sweet flower, look at you. So beautiful on your hands and knees for me. Tell me, is this what you dream of?”

He tugs on my hair to pull out of me completely, and raises me higher so that my upper body is held up by his grip. Tears wet my cheeks, and saliva drips down the side of my mouth. With his thumb, he swipes the drool and pushes it back into my mouth.

“Is it?”

Never in my wildest imagination would I have thought up the shadow. Now, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The answer would be a confident yes. Daydreams, at least.

His letter that asked what I would feel like when I finish on him had such a visceral impact on me that I still haven’t forgotten about it half a year later. The mystery of the unknown was a kink in itself, not knowing what he looked like or when I might find him. It made my mind think of things that would certainly make Dr. Mallory up my dosage.

The shadow’s fingers pull out of me, leaving me empty and incomplete. I whimper and almost reach back to get the shadow to put his fingers back, or else I’d be finishing the job myself.

“I asked you a question,” he warns.

“Keep fucking me, please,” I beg. When he doesn’t answer, I say, “Please. I need it. Fuck my face, fill my pussy. I just need you to fill me. Please.”

Letum’s body visibly softens. “You’re so beautiful when you beg.” I cry out when a sharp slap hits my ass so hard that white dots appear in my vision. “But that was not my question.”

Why does he have to make me admit those things? This is a dream! I should be the one in control. Though, what’s the worst that could happen if I admit it? All that will happen is that I will be ravaged by guilt in the morning.