Drained: The Lucid by E.L. Blaisdell, Nica Curt

permission.”
    “I don’t recall ever agreeing to this,” Morgan countered.
    Riley bit her tongue. She couldn’t tell her any more details without revealing the true nature of her job or Trusics. A million questions plagued her mind, but she settled on one. “How are you capable of asking these questions?” she inquired. “This is your dream, your fantasy. We’re supposed to be gettin’ it on, doin’ the deed … you’re supposed to be getting lucky.” Her words were almost rhetorical. “Something mindless, fun, and sex related.”
    “Don’t your other victims talk?”
    “Mostly groans, the names of deities, and many unintelligible words, but they don’t ask real questions.” Riley frowned as a particular word sunk in. “And they’re not victims .”
    “With romantic charm like that,” Morgan shot back, “how could anyone resist?”
    Riley fiddled with the watch clasped around her wrist. “I can’t believe I’m doing this, but give me a chance. I’m not that bad in bed. In fact, I’ve been told I’m rather good at it.”
    Morgan rolled her eyes. “Everyone thinks they’re a good lover.”
    The succubus hummed. “At least I can rule out a fantasy where you’d like for someone to beg to sleep with you.”
    “I would have thought my greeting last time would have been enough to keep you away.” Morgan’s eyes narrowed. “Your kind never stops do they?”
    Riley flashed a dimpled grin. “You mean the sexy, sensitive, playful, be-whatever-you-want-me-to-be kind?”
    “Horndogs,” Morgan said under her breath. “All of you. Guys. Girls. All the same.”
    “What do you mean ‘all of you?’”
    “Don’t play dumb,” Morgan said, shaking her head. “I mean demons.”
    “There you go again, casually throwing the word ‘demon’ around.” Riley blinked, offended and a bit dumbfounded. “That’s where you’re wrong.”
    “So you’re not a demon trying to drain my sexual energy until I become a lifeless corpse?”
    “Well …” Riley hesitated. “I am, but not the corpse part, and not the demon bit either. I’m a hundred percent human … ish .” As the words continued to escape her mouth, Riley inwardly cringed at how she must have sounded to the other woman. “It’s not like I have horns and a tail.”
    “Well, invading people’s dreams and stealing their energy seems pretty demon- ish to me,” Morgan countered stubbornly.
    “When you put it that way, it doesn’t sound great,” Riley admitted, her voice tapering.
    Morgan spread her hands. “So put it in a good light then.”
    “Um.” Riley’s brain spun and churned. “That’s not the point.” 
    “Right …”
    “Jesus Christ.” Riley shook her head in frustration. “Who are you, and how do you know what I am?”
    “I’m Morgan. But you probably already knew that about me, demon ,” she drawled the last word on purpose.
    “You know, Morgan ,” Riley mimicked the same tone, “for someone who went to an Ivy League school, you could sure use some more research before you start spouting nonsense.”
    Morgan pursed her lips. “Hey, insulting me won’t get you any closer to this,” she noted, gesturing to her body.
    At the suggestion, Riley took in the slender curves of Morgan’s silhouette. She’d been unable to appreciate her figure the first time she’d visited her in the realm, getting physically beaten and all. Riley swallowed down a primal impulse. A lithe waist and subtle flare of hips hid beneath an oversized grey cardigan that nearly touched the tops of her thighs. In spite of Morgan’s attractive physique, the clothes were all wrong: grey cardigan, pale lilac camisole, and black yoga tights. Most of Riley’s clients dressed in high-end labels or nothing at all. In comparison, the woman seemed dressed for a day in with a book, not a passionate tryst with an ideal lover.
    Morgan snapped her fingers, pulling Riley out of her admiring stare.
    “This is the most twisted fantasy I’ve ever