Chapter 22 Dreamwalking
DREAMWALKING
RAE
The lights flickered overhead, and I glanced up at Zeke. He’d fallen silent some time ago. I didn’t know if his panic was under control or if the flickering lights would steal him away again.
He rested his head against the elevator wall, eyes closed, oblivious to the change.
I let out a soft sigh, my muscles relaxing when he pulled me closer. The scent of honey and vanilla filled my senses.
The pain in my leg had subsided, and an unexpected wave of sleepiness dragged at me. Adrenaline from my encounter with infernals and Zeke’s meltdown should have kept me awake. Instead, my thoughts were clouded and sluggish.
I glanced over to check on Ash but blinked when I didn’t find him against the far wall. Where did he go?
“Zeke?”
“Hm?”
“Where’s Ash?”
He lowered his face to my neck and inhaled. “Not here,” he whispered against my hair, voice low.
“What? Why?” I tried to sit up to shake the brain fog, but Zeke tightened his hold, hands splayed across my stomach, keeping me close to the warmth of his body.
He didn’t answer, stroking the sliver of exposed skin where my shirt had come untucked.
“Zeke?” My head lolled to the side as he kissed the skin of my neck. “What’s going on?”
The scent of honeyed vanilla thickened the air, wrapping around me and intensifying the fog in my head. I found it hard to remember why I needed to stay alert.
Zeke pulled the collar of my shirt aside, his breath ghosting my skin as his lips moved down my neck and across my shoulder.
“We can’t do this,” I whispered, blinking slowly.
“Why not?”
“Cyn…”
“Cyn’s not here,” he mumbled against my skin, fingers inching my shirt up my belly. “Let me thank you.”
I gasped when his fingers brushed over my nipple through my bra. “For what?”
“Taking care of me.” He paused, kissing my shoulder. “Can I take care of you in return?”
Part of me felt guilty after sharing a kiss with Ash last night. The memory of his lips still lingered, but Zeke’s hands on my skin were electrifying—a stark contrast to the emptiness I’d felt for so long. Every touch sent shivers down my spine.
When I nodded my consent, head heavy and slow with the movement, he raised my shirt above my breasts, tugging my bra down, exposing my hardened nipples to him.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispered against my neck, voice low and smooth. He twisted my left nipple between his index finger and thumb. I gasped at the small bite of pain when the move pulled on my piercing, morphing into pleasure hot-wired straight to my core.
I shifted, pressing my legs together, desperate to calm the ache building between them.
“Don’t hide.” His voice was husky and coaxing, keeping me in the drunken state his scent caused as his hands slid lower, skimming over my tights, careful to avoid the wound. Every inch of my skin tingled where he touched.
I yelped when he gripped my thighs and spread my legs open, draping them over his thighs, skirt bunching around my waist.
His fingers returned to my nipples, tugging and rolling, while his other hand traced slow, heated paths along my inner thigh and over my aching core. A flush of embarrassment burned through me as my hips lifted, chasing his touch when he shifted to the other side, wanting more.
He nipped my earlobe. “I’ll give you what you want,” he murmured.
I gasped when his claw grazed my skin before slicing through my tights and panties, baring me to the empty elevator. When I caught my reflection in the elevator’s mirrored wall, I squirmed, wanting to hide myself.
“No,” he whispered against my skin, eyes locked on mine in the distorted reflection. “Look how beautiful you are.”
Heat flushed my face, but any shyness dissolved when Zeke’s fingers slid over my center, drawing a moan from me.
My eyes flew open when a low growl rumbled through the elevator that didn’t come from behind me. “Zeke?”
His touch circled my clit before he rolled the bud, making me buck my hips against his hand, distracting me from the growling. If he wasn’t panicking, neither should I. Then he slipped lower, teasing my entrance with the tip of one finger before sliding inside.
We both groaned in unison.
“You’re amazing,” he murmured against my neck, thrusting deeper, his thumb still brushing over my clit.
I moaned and whimpered, needing more. “Another,” I said, gasping when he pushed deeper, adding another finger. My insides clenched around them.
“That’s it,” he said, smiling against my neck.
The closer I approached the edge, the more those earlier sensations curled around me. I’d never done drugs, but I imagined this was what it’d feel like.
My back arched when he left my nipple, his fingers working my clit in quick circles as my hips lifted, chasing the high as I moaned.
He withdrew, only to curl his arm beneath my thigh, sinking deeper from below. His quick breaths against my neck created goose bumps across my skin.
“Zeke,” I whined.
“You can come,” he said, kissing my neck again. “I’ve got you.”
As if my body only needed permission, his words sent a shudder through me and I cried out, my walls clenched around his fingers as I fell apart in his arms.
He continued slow, shallow thrusts as I came down from the most intense orgasm I’d had in a long time. My body sank against his, eyelids fluttering closed.
He’d acted so differently from the playful Zeke I’d met. I didn’t know what to make of it.
“You’ll be okay now,” he whispered, his voice distant, his lips brushing the side of my head.
I didn’t understand what he meant, but the scented haze dragged me under before I could question him.
“How’s she doing now?”
I stirred awake at Ash’s voice. “When’d you get back?” I yawned, sitting up between Zeke’s legs and wincing when pain shot through my thigh.
He pulled me back against him again. “Don’t move around; you’re injured.”
I rubbed my eyes, the fog still heavy in my head as I focused on the shallow gashes across my thigh. They weren’t deep—I’d avoided the worst of the claws. I was surprised it hurt now when it hadn’t earlier before I fell asleep.
Ash knelt in front of me. “Let me take a look.”
I shifted and stretched out my injured leg.
His large hand curled beneath my thigh while the other tore through the tattered, blood-soaked fabric, reminding me of Zeke’s claws between my legs.
Ignoring the rising heat in my cheeks, I said, “I don’t know why it hurts so much. It’s not deep.”
Ash bent low, his nose screwing up as he sniffed the wound. “We need to get the venom out.”
“Venom?” I bolted upright. “Like a snake bite? Am I gonna die?”
“Easy,” he said, steadying me and easing me back against Zeke’s chest. “This kind of venom won’t kill you.”
“What? How do you know?”
“I recognize the smell.” When I gaped at him, he added, “We’ve trained for years to recognize the dangers we might face outside Elyrdin’s walls.”
Zeke ran a hand over my arm, lacing our fingers. “Trust us, you’re not going to die.”
“So if it isn’t gonna kill me, then why do we need to get it out?”
Ash looked down at the wound. “I don’t know how strongly it’ll affect a human, but it makes Shyrlivi violently ill within twenty-four hours.”
“It doesn’t look deep enough to scar,” Zeke said.
“No, she’ll be fine once we can clean it and treat the venom.”
The elevator light flickered again, and Zeke’s fingers tightened on mine. He’d seemed fine earlier—so what changed?
I looked up at Ash. “Where did you go?”
“What do you mean?”
“Earlier when you left us. How’d you get out?”
“I didn’t—”
With a long sigh, Zeke’s forehead dropped against my shoulder from behind. “He didn’t leave.”
“What are you talking about? You know he wasn’t here.” I twisted to sit sideways to see him better.
He shook his head. “You were asleep.”
“Oh,” Ash said, as if he understood.
I definitely didn’t.
“Is someone gonna explain to me what’s going on?”
Zeke looked away, saying, “You were having a nightmare. Probably about what happened before we got stuck in here.”
“You fell asleep after Zeke calmed down,” Ash added. “Likely an adrenaline crash.”
“Well, yeah, I fell asleep after we… you know,” I mumbled, cheeks hot. “But I don’t remember a nightmare.”
Zeke shook his head. “No, earlier. We…” He clenched his fist on the floor. “We didn’t do anything.”
“What are you saying?”
Shame pressed down on me at the thought he might be lying to keep Ash from knowing. Did he regret it?
“Do you remember how I told you I can manipulate someone’s mind?”
“Uh huh,” I said, dragging the words out, trying to ignore the tightness in my chest.
“You were having a nightmare, and I wanted to make it better because you helped me.” His blue eyes met mine, raw with emotion. My eyes widened, realization chasing away my discomfort. “Do you understand now?”
“You mean everything we did was a dream?”
He nodded, lips pressed into a tight frown.
Looking past my injury and confusion, I realized my tights and panties were still intact.
“So you entered my dream and…”
“No.”
I looked up at him.
“With dreams, I can only suggest a dream of something you already desire. I can’t force you to dream of something you don’t already want.”
My mouth dropped open, and my gaze jumped to Ash.
He lifted his hands as if he had no idea.
I looked at Zeke. “So that really wasn’t you?”
“Whatever you saw, it was what your subconscious wanted you to see. A dream.”
A dream… I wondered how the real Zeke might have acted.
I shook the thought away, almost laughing at the ridiculous notion he’d ever be interested in me sexually.
He’s not human, my brain reminded me.
But in truth, species didn’t matter—I avoided hookups with humans as well.
“And you know what I dreamed about?”
He licked his lips, swallowing hard, cheeks flushing.
Oh, my god. “How?”
“I was there,” he mumbled.
“I’m so confused.” I winced when another pain went through my leg.
Ash sat down in front of us, drawing my leg onto his lap and kneading my calf. “A distraction from the pain. We’ll get out of here soon.”