Drenched
My eyes snapped open. I was lying there in the cool darkness of the bedroom, drenched with sweat and breathing rapidly.
Helloooooooooo, nurse.
That was…something else. Or rather, it was something I hadn't felt in a good, long time. I'd just been so exhausted playing at Labyrinth monarch all by my lonesome (okay, not playing exactly, but let's just say the Faerie mantle of power I'd assumed took some getting used to, and I definitely needed more practice). But to feel that… shuddering wonder of ecstacy, to wake up from a dream of deft, silken fingers touching all the right places, the heated rush of skin to skin, of my body wrapped in every possible way around his…
It was nice. Painful beyond words because I missed my Jareth like whoa, but physically very, very nice. I felt a little frisson pass from head to toe just remembering that last moment before I woke up. The aching hole that was my grief sunk just a little tiny bit into the background.
You need this. Let yourself enjoy it a little more. The Labyrinth's presence flopped comfortably in my mind, turning on its metaphorical back for a belly rub.
I extended a mental hand to rub a metaphorical belly, and smiled a little at the Labyrinth's rumbling mental purr. So you think it's healthy to subconsciously enact sexytimes with my iron-poisoned ex-husband?
He was neither iron-poisoned nor your ex-husband in that dream, was he?
No.
Well, then. Perfectly healthy. And good to see some of yourself coming back.
What do you mean?
The years of the iron-poisoning were difficult for us all, but hardest on you. You've been flattened by the weight of caring for everyone and everything else. Flattened beings don't feel anything for themselves. But now you're feeling again. Very decidedly.
I blushed. How much of my dream did you see anyway?
I got a metaphorical lick on my mental fingers. Does it matter?
Nope, not really. My dignity is already shredded.
Don't worry. It'll grow back. That Faerie mantle is exceptional at regenerating regal dignity.
Good to know.
The Labyrinth flopped onto its metaphorical side and curled into me. That's what I'm here for.