chapter 116
I didn't know when I fell asleep.
One moment, I was lying beneath the blanket, staring at the ceiling of the tent and trying very hard not to think about Rhaevan. The next, I woke to the feeling of the mattress shifting beside me.
"Hey."
I opened my eyes to the sound of Rhaevan's gentle voice.
He was lying beside me, his head propped up on one elbow.
Wait.
Why was he shirtless?
And why was I wearing the same clothes I had been wearing when I fell into the lake?
"Who changed my clothes?"
"I did."
"You what?"
"You looked beautiful in them. I wanted to see you wearing them again."
Why had he suddenly become so bold?
He leaned closer, his voice growing softer.
"You scared me today. How are you feeling now?"
"I'm feeling fine."
My face flushed as I answered.
I remained lying there, watching him as he leaned closer. He studied my face for a moment, and this time, I found myself looking back at him without the usual instinct to look away.
His eyes seemed darker than usual.
"You know," he whispered, "I've always wondered how my lips would feel on yours."
He looked intently into my eyes, his gaze occasionally drifting toward my lips.
"You have no idea what you do to me, Cassie."
Then he closed the distance between us.
His lips met mine, and the kiss was intense enough to make me forget everything else. I instinctively reached for him, threading my fingers through his hair and pulling him closer as he kissed me again.
His hand settled gently at my waist, drawing me closer as his lips moved from mine to my cheek and slowly along my jaw. I felt his warm, unsteady breath against my skin, and my heart began to race.
His hand moved to my shoulders, slowly pulling my top down, while his lips trailed from my jaw to my neck. He gently pulled the fabric aside, exposing my shoulder, and pressed a kiss against it. He slid my top farther down, leaving a trail of kisses over each newly exposed part of my body.
"Cassie... so beautiful..." he whispered against my lips as he kissed me once more, tasting me while his hands roamed over every inch of my bare body.
I bit down on my lip to suppress a moan, heat pooling between my thighs.
"Ahh... Rhaevan..." I breathed, pulling him closer.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Then something cold touched my back.
I frowned.
Another drop landed against my shoulder.
I barely noticed it at first, still lost somewhere between the passionate moment with him.
Then another followed.
And another.
I opened my eyes.
Water was dripping through the tent, and Rhaevan suddenly disappeared from my arms.
I looked around, only to realize that water was rising around me.
What the fuck?!
For one disoriented second, I couldn't understand where I was. The tent had disappeared, replaced by darkness. Water surrounded me, creeping higher and higher until it completely engulfed me.
I gasped and jolted upright.
My hands flew to the blanket.
Dry.
I froze.
There was no lake.
No Rhaevan.
Only the familiar canvas walls of the tent, the faint light filtering through them, and my own breathing coming far too quickly.
I looked down at myself.
I was drenched in sweat.
My hair clung to my forehead, and my heart was pounding so hard that I could feel it against my ribs.
I sat there for several seconds, trying to make sense of what had just happened.
Then everything came rushing back.
Rhaevan.
His voice.
The way he had looked at me.
His lips.
His hands roaming over my body.
That was when I realized I was wet between my thighs.
I covered my face with both hands.
"Oh, gods."
I had just had a wet dream.
A very wild one.
About Rhaevan.
My eyes widened as the realization fully sank in, and I stared at the tent ceiling in absolute disbelief.
No.
No, no, no.
This couldn't be happening.
I had dreamed about Rhaevan.
Not some vague, harmless dream where we happened to be standing together. My brain had apparently decided to take everything I had spent the entire afternoon trying not to think about and turn it into that.
I pulled the blanket over my face.
What was I supposed to do now?
How was I ever going to look at him again?
He was sitting outside the tent right now, completely unaware that I had just betrayed myself in my sleep.
And worse, I had no idea how I was supposed to stop my face from turning red the moment I saw him.
I groaned into the blanket.
This was a disaster.
"Cassie? Are you awake?"
His voice came from outside the tent.
Crap.
Shit.
Shit.
Shit.
I sat bolt upright, clutching the blanket to myself.
What do I do?
What do I do?
I opened my mouth, but no sound came out.
"Cassiane?"
His voice sounded more concerned this time.
"Are you all right? Are you in pain? I thought I heard something."
Oh, gods.
Just kill me now.
I might have moaned in my sleep.
And how exactly was I supposed to explain that I wasn't in pain? I had simply been having an extremely vivid dre-
"Cassiane? Are you all right?"
I buried my face in my hands.
I was spectacularly, catastrophically not fine.
"Cassie, I'm coming inside."
I heard him reach for the tent flap.
"No! Stop! I'm not dressed!"
I squeezed my eyes shut.
The silence that followed was somehow even worse.
Oh, the heavens and hell combined. Please swallow me whole at this moment!
Why did I say that?
I could practically feel the question forming in his mind.
"O... okay. I'll be outside," he said in a small voice.
I heard his footsteps shuffle away from the tent, growing quieter until they finally stopped.
I stayed completely still beneath the blanket.
I was going to have to move to another continent.
I had just told Rhaevan that he couldn't come into my tent because I wasn't dressed.
After waking up from a dream about him.
There was no way I was ever recovering from this.
Author's Bullshit ??
Fun fact: this scene was NOT in the original draft.
But while rereading the story from a reader's perspective, I found myself screaming, "WHY CAN'T THEY JUST KISS ALREADY?!"
And the author in me went, "Nope. They need to suffer." ??
So I had to balance my reader-self's desperation with my author-self's love for making these two miserable... and somehow, this chapter happened.
Hope you guys enjoyed it. Hehehe. ??