Sweet Dreams

Nicolai couldn't help but smile as he approached the chair where Alessia had obviously fallen asleep. The book that had dropped from her hands onto the thick carpet was facedown, its title Twisted Shifters – Four Twisted Romances. One Very Good Time. He picked it up and flipped through the pages, chuckling. Cursed Dildos and AI that came alive indeed. A faint blush dusted her cheeks from the warmth of the fire and he imagined her reading the steamy passages, lost in a world of make-believe lovers.

As he settled into the matching chair across from her, he studied her face in the firelight. Her features were relaxed, her eyes gentle beneath long lashes, unlike the intense gaze she fixed on him when awake. The stress lines that so often creased her forehead and the corners of her mouth were absent, giving way to a peacefulness he hadn't often seen. Her lips were slightly parted, and he imagined the softest of sighs escaping them as she dreamed.

Alessia's hair was splayed across the armre