Drained: The Lucid (20 page)

When Madison didn’t respond, Riley cleared her throat and returned her attention back to the clothing rack in front of her. “I know you’re not her biggest fan, but …” She numbly thumbed through the selection of sexy bra sets. “Forget I said anything.”

“No, no. You said it. It’s done. No takebacks.” Madison shoved Riley’s shoulder in warning. She was picking up on Heather’s physicality. “I think saying ‘I love you’ to someone you actually feel in love with is the most natural thing that can come from you. It isn’t forced, it’s felt.”

Riley stopped her browsing and paid attention to the words her friend was sharing.

“I think that when you have to debate with yourself about if you should or shouldn’t say the word, there’s a bigger issue at hand.” Madison sighed, her own shopping forgotten. “I know I tell you the relationship is doomed and I condone a wandering eye, but that’s because I don’t believe Amber is ‘the one’ for you, and I don’t want to see you waste your time.”

“Even if time is some—”

“Let me finish.” Madison lifted her hand. “The way I see it, everyone of us is capable of falling in love; some of us will be lucky to find true love once, others with find it multiple times. Some find it early in life, while others may find it much later on. Then there are those of us who will never experience it.” Madison paused and her ever cheerful expression faltered for a brief moment. “But when you’re in love, it will hit you so hard with feelings that you’ll need to reapply your face.”

“I see.” Riley smiled in amusement, and Madison’s grin returned to its rightful place. “And you don’t think Amber is my true love?”

“We wouldn’t be having this conversation if she was,” Madison boldly asserted. “Everlasting love is like finding the perfect flower in a field of them. It’s luck if you find it. But I think you’ll know once you have it, and then, the love part will be the most natural thing. That and the need to protect it until your dying breath.” Madison’s attention turned to focus on an item she spotted on a nearby mannequin. “That is so friggin’ adorable.” She squealed in excitement and Riley grinned.

“Did you find something you love?”

“See, a flower in a field of them.” Morgan gestured her hand to address the other garments. “God, if clothing could be my mistress, I would have been in love over a thousand times in my life.”

“Mistress, huh?” Riley arched her eyebrow.

“With the clothes I look at? Slips, teddies, garters … those are all feminine. So, clothing would be my mistress.” Madison exaggerated a sigh. “And we make the perfect couple. She looks fab-fucking-tastic, and she makes me look even better.”

“Okay, maybe you should let up on the time you spend with Heather?” Riley cleared her throat and folded some of the items that Madison had placed to the side. “I’m starting to see signs of her in you.”

The words of concern flew past her blonde friend. Madison was in her zone. Riley could see how focused she was in studying the items she touched.

“Sometimes I wish I played for the same team,” Madison chirped.

“Why’s that?” Riley picked up a purple satin slip, and Madison snatched it from her hands. The blonde shook her head in disapproval and thumbed through the sorted piles on the display case. When she found what she was looking for, she tossed a black garter slip at Riley. The dark lace garment was a better selection. It even had an orange bow to be festive for Halloween.

“Can you imagine if I had a girlfriend that wore the same size clothing and shoes?” A dimpled smile appeared on Madison’s face, and she brightened. “Our home would be one giant closet.” She became lost in her thoughts for a moment. “But sadly, the path of lesbianism wasn’t meant for me.”

“Well, for what it’s worth, I happen to think the path you’re on is wonderful.” Riley placed the black slip into a mesh shopping bag and Madison added a handful of underwear that she had selected on top. “And thanks for the advice.”

“Oh, no problem. I’ve been binging on romances lately. Movies and audiobooks.” Madison smirked. “Oh! Speaking of audiobooks, you want to read the new manual to me? I’m pretty sure I’ll pass out if I try to read it myself.”

“Sure, I’ll read some of the new stuff to you.” Madison continued to add more items to the bag hooked on Riley’s arm. “Am I buying these for you?”

“You’re my boyfriend for the day. I think it’s only right.” A devious smile crossed Madison’s features. “And if you’re going to be a manager soon, you’ll need someone to spend all that extra money on.”

“So I guess that means I’ll go to bed with you tonight?”

“Really?” Shock overwhelmed Madison’s features. “Like, you mean an us-only girls’ night?”

Riley nodded her head. “If that’s what you want, I can’t say no to making you happy.”

“This is like the best day ever. Your perfection will be blogged about.” Madison placed a couple more basic garments into the bag. “So, after this, we’re satisfying my shoe fetish.”

“Shoes?” A piece of Riley died inside. The shopping trip was going to kill a portion of her day and her line of credit, but Riley couldn’t bring herself to deflate Madison’s gleeful expression. “That sounds wonderful.”

• • •

Riley flashed into the interior of the house and confidently strode down the hallway, fully knowing she’d find Morgan sitting in her usual spot in the kitchen. She wasn’t disappointed when she reached the back room. The woman in question sat at the small kitchen table cradling a ceramic mug and staring out the back window.

Riley felt a snarky comment come to her lips, but the words died when she looked out the picture window to see what Morgan was gazing at. She stared outside in disbelief. “Is that …” She pulled the curtains to the side to get a clearer view. “Is that
sunshine
?”

In the months that she had been visiting, she had yet to see the weather be anything brighter than an overcast day without rain.

Morgan stood from the table and shuffled to the counter. She silently placed her empty mug in the kitchen sink. The human was usually quiet, but this time she seemed more reticent than ever.

Riley, out of curiosity, tried the back door. Her eyes never left the view of the backyard. She feared looking away would bring back the perpetual rain whose dampness, even in normal hours, she felt linger in her bones. The handle, unlocked, easily turned in her hand. Riley’s eyes went wide as the door swung open.

“Morgan?” She turned toward the other woman, looking for answers.

Morgan shrugged, wordlessly, and walked past Riley. Their shoulders barely brushed as she walked outside, leaving her visitor behind. “You coming?” she tersely asked without turning back.

Riley hesitated within the house barrier and watched Morgan silently pad deeper into the yard. She didn’t know what was happening, and Morgan wasn’t being forthcoming about the abrupt change in weather. Finally, with a sharp inhale, Riley broke the threshold plane and followed outside, blinking into the high noon sun.

“This is beautiful,” Riley whispered reverently.

The backyard was surrounded by a high wooden fence, covered in a variety of vines and crawling with flowering plants. It could have felt like a prison—they’d been trapped in the house for so long, it should have. But instead, it looked like a serene retreat. The yard was alive with fresh grass and vibrant, full shrubbery. The gardens were filled with bright red and yellow flowers that Riley recognized, but didn’t know the names of. Fat, hard-working bumblebees hovered over one flower to the next. Twitching chickadees fluffed their feathers and hopped around, looking alert, partially hidden by the leafy branches of a blooming lilac bush.

Riley bent to pluck a flower from the earth. She handed it to Morgan, who arched an eyebrow in amusement.

“That’s a weed.”

Riley turned the yellow flower around in her hand. “Or maybe, it’s just a plant that’s a little wild?”

Morgan twisted her lips. “It’s a yellow woodsorrel.” She continued to eye the small blossom but didn’t move to take it.

Riley shrugged before casting the wasted flower into a shrubbery. “I thought it was pretty.”

“Hey.” Morgan bent down and retrieved the flower. “If you’ve already picked it, don’t toss it like it’s nothing. Be mindful.”

“You do realize they don’t have feelings.”

Morgan remained silent, but she carefully placed the flowering stalk on the back window sill. Her gaze returned to the patch of wild yellow flowers that Riley had picked at. “You and your kind, you’re all weeds. Beautiful weeds,” she admitted, “but still weeds.”

“I recant my previous statement then.” Riley fiddled with her watch, a nervous habit. “Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them. Be mindful, right?”

The grass was damp against her bare ankles as though it had only stopped raining a short while ago. A blazing sun, however, beat down on the private yard, making the air slightly muggy.

“This is new,” Riley observed, touching her fingers against the twine of the free-standing hammock.

Morgan’s hazel-green eyes shifted. She’d always kept Riley at a distance, but she’d never behaved so awkwardly. She stood beside the succubus and touched the nylon hammock, making it swing slightly. The metal chain that held it to its free-standing apparatus creaked.

“You wouldn’t want to … I don’t know … go in it with me?” Morgan’s gaze followed the bowed structure’s soft sway as she tucked a loose strand of brunette hair behind her ear. When she finally regarded Riley, she did so with an expectancy that caught both women off guard. For the first time since the succubus had arrived, Morgan truly looked at her.

Riley swallowed hard. Those eyes. She couldn’t get enough of them. And for the first time since she’d met Morgan, she caught a glimmer of vulnerability. Uncertainty. The succubus had visited since their first shared kiss, but neither of them had brought up the subject, and they had not returned to Morgan’s bedroom since. It had remained an unspoken embarrassment. This request, however, this felt like they were finally moving forward.

Riley, dumbstruck, nodded.

She held the hammock still as Morgan climbed in. There was no hesitation as Morgan scooted to the far side to make room. Grey-green eyes observed the narrow space that was left open, and she bit her bottom lip. Riley wanted to comment on how if the human had gone through the trouble of creating a hammock, she could have at least made a larger one. But she bit back the unnecessary criticism that she would have let fly with anyone else. She couldn’t complain about being closer to Morgan.

Riley placed both hands on the edge of the hammock. “How do I …”

Morgan smirked. “I thought you had skills.”

“They didn’t train us for this.” She blew errant strands of hair out of her face.

“Hammocks?”

Riley nodded. “And you.”

Morgan’s eyes slanted away, and Riley thought her cheeks pinked slightly, but it could have been a trick of the sun warming Morgan’s porcelain features.

“No really, how do you suggest I get in?” Riley asked with a nervous laugh. “I don’t want to squish you or smack your nose with my elbows.”

“And here I thought the hammock was your way to get revenge.”

The unexpected comment caught the succubus’s attention, and she arched an eyebrow at the hazel eyes staring at her.

“For that backpack to your precious face?” Morgan reminded her with a cheeky grin.

Riley laughed at the reminder of their first meeting. “How could I have forgotten?”

Morgan hummed. “Indeed.” She rolled her eyes, and her nervousness became a distant memory. “Jump in, Riley. You’re overthinking this.”

The hammock wobbled unsteadily as Riley moved to climb in.

“I hope this thing can handle our weight,” Morgan mumbled under her breath as she watched Riley, all arms and legs, finally maneuver herself into the tight confines of the hammock.

“Hey, you made this thing,” Riley noted. “It’s all on you if we break it.”

Morgan shook her head. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Then what’s up with the sunshine?” Riley pointed out. “It’s been rainy every single dream.”

Morgan shrugged. “You would know better than me.”

A gust of wind rustled the surrounding flower beds and lifted a perfumed scent into the air. Riley inhaled the flowery sweetness through her nose and exhaled heavily out her mouth. Somewhere in a distant, nonexistent yard, a lawnmower started.

Riley smiled to herself as she relaxed under the slow moving clouds. It was a beautiful day, a lazy one—the perfect re-creation of what she would enjoy on her own free time. A comfortable silence blanketed both women.

Riley’s watch beeped with an incoming message.

“Time to go already?” Morgan frowned.  

Riley thought she felt the lightest patter of raindrops of her face, but they quickly went away. “No. It’s only an e-mail.” She switched screens on her watch with the press of a button. The watch was designed to receive messages from her Trusics e-mail address. Smart phones and other devices were impractical to bring into the realm, especially because the clothing Riley typically wore lacked the material for pockets. But mainly, agents didn’t want the temptation of their personal lives to intrude on their time within the realm; it would have been bad for business to check on virtual crops or to level characters when the focus should have been sex.

“You are a work-a-holic.”

“But I do love my job.” Riley playfully batted her eyelashes.

Her features furrowed as she accessed the e-mail. It was from Josh. He’d been able to track down who had previously accessed Morgan’s dreams. The message was straightforward and provided Riley with the exact information she had been looking for, but that didn’t mean it was welcomed information.

Client EP1606707 has only been engaged by one other active agent, an incubus no longer employed with Trusics named Sean Marshall.

Riley stared at the e-mail in disbelief. Josh wouldn’t have known about their shared past, which was why the e-mail had been so succinct. Sean. It had been Sean who had nearly destroyed Morgan. “Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s perfect,” Riley replied a little too quickly. She deleted the message and manipulated her watch to its original timekeeping settings.