Wicked Game

Author's Note: If you haven't already, please read Taken by a Stranger and The Girl Who Played Asturias first. Thanks! -M.N.

What a wicked game you played to make me feel this way

What a wicked thing to do to let me dream of you

What a wicked thing to say you never felt this way

What a wicked thing to do to make me dream of you

Henry dreams of his beautiful stranger.

The longer he goes without finding her, the harder it becomes to forget her. Her memory sinks into every inch of his waking life. He can still smell her sensuous scent. He can feel her body against his. If he's quiet enough, he can still hear her cries of pleasure, and her ultimate goodbye.

He feels like he's losing his mind. Every day spent without her is utter madness. His mind is on the fringe, and now, now he's beginning to think that Daniel may be right.

But then…the dreams…the dreams are so real…

And…he can still smell her scent.

Yet for all the reasons he could come up with to prove that the beautiful stranger existed, he still hadn't located her – on-campus, in town, downtown, and out-of-town. As much as he desires her presence and prays for her return, she always remains out of reach.

Well, almost. In his dreams, she haunts and seduces him. She begs for him to kiss her and to touch in the most intimate of ways. He is all too eager to oblige.

They make fierce, passionate love in her hotel room for hours and hours. He grabs her, holds her tightly, and begs her not to go, to stay a little longer. But the dream never lasts forever, and the grip of reality is always tighter than anything else…

And when he awakens, desperate claws away at him. He has to find her, has to see her again. He has to know that she's real and he has to know that he didn't imagine the whole thing…

And more importantly…why? Why did she leave him all alone in that room? Why didn't she stay with him?

Henry didn't understand his feelings sometimes. Technically, it was a one-night-stand – the mysterious stranger leaving him all alone in the middle of the night was par for the course. He should have just pocketed the memory of sex with a beautiful woman with fond feelings. Instead, agitation gripped him. His heart rotted little by little each day he went without finding her.

The stranger took so much more from him then raw, amazing sex.

She took his sanity, too. Everything was okay until she tempted him that night.

Now, life, for lack of better words, was fucked up.

Once again, in his dreams, the seducer and the one he seduced are locked in that intimate embrace.

Once again, they come together, holding each other as they desires are satiated.

He begs her not to go. He clings to her apparition with every fiber of his being…

And awakens in his room, frenzied by his struggle.

I really am losing my mind.

Sweat cakes his forehead, and every nerve in his body stands to attention. He sits up in his bed, fighting to catch his breath. This can't go on. The madness can't go on. If this keeps up, he'll truly go lose his mind. There's no telling how things will end up if this goes on.

Knock, knock, knock.

He barely hears the sound. He isn't expecting anymore, and his roommate, Daniel, is probably out chasing panties somewhere. Also, he never tells his many "ladies" where he lives – a pre-caution that comes with breaking many, many hearts.