Chapter 23 #3
Everything in me wants to lean into him, to close that final distance and lose myself in his promise. In his kiss. He’s not the monster Chase painted, not at all.
His thumb traces my lower lip, and heat blooms low in my belly, an ache that feels both foreign and inevitable.
I think of the way Chase kissed me earlier, and I tell myself I should step back.
Should remember not only Chase, but his every warning against this charismatic man who—yes—truly entices me.
I need to turn away. I need to leave.
I don’t.
And when Adric leans closer, his breath warm against my lips, all rational thought dissolves.
“My queen,” he whispers, and then his mouth is on mine, and so help me, I lose myself in this kiss that’s wild and intense, and nothing like Chase’s delicious exploration.
This kiss is claiming, consuming—like being pulled into a riptide of sensation I have no hope of fighting.
His lips are firm and demanding, and when his tongue sweeps across mine, I melt into him completely.
One hand tangles in my hair while the other pulls me flush against his chest, and I can feel his heartbeat thundering as wildly as my own.
I lose myself in the taste of him—dark and rich and utterly addictive. This is what drowning feels like. This is what it means to be utterly, completely claimed.
Then the library wavers violently, and I feel the sharp tug of my own realm yanking me back to waking with painful intensity.
“No,” I breathe against his lips, not ready for this to end.
His eyes are sad, but his smile is smug as the dream begins to dissolve around us. “Until next time, my darling,” he murmurs, his voice following me through the fading realm. “And there will be a next time. You have my word.”
I wake gasping in my dorm room, heart pounding and lips still tingling. My entire body feels electric, alive in ways that have nothing to do with the dream magic, but everything to do with desire.
I close my eyes, the memory of the brush of his lips over mine filling me with a sweet longing.
And, yes, with guilt.
Guilt and uncertainty because I’m genuinely attracted to both these men.
And though I tell myself I don’t need to feel guilty about a kiss in a dream, I also know that—even though Adric lives entirely in a dream world—what I just experienced wasn’t a dream at all.
It was real. Toe-tingly, girly-parts-throbbing real.
Oh, god. I’m horrible. Because it’s not just the kiss. It’s the way he made me laugh. The way he talked about his library. Like it wasn’t about seduction or prophecy. It was just us. Just talking. Just…him.
I draw in a breath, envious of the way Tia is sleeping so peacefully in the next bed, undisturbed by the complications of a supernatural seduction. And, yes, thankful that she’s asleep. Because I’m not sure I’d be capable of talking to her right now.
I touch my lips with shaking fingers, and I swear I can still taste him—dark and addictive and completely wrong. The memory of his hands in my hair while his mouth claimed mine sends heat pooling low in my stomach despite my mind screaming warning after warning after warning.
I draw in a breath, then another as I try without success to settle. It’s well past midnight according to the cat clock Tia bought a week ago, but sleep is impossible now.
Four realms existing together. A proven track record. An empire that actually works.
And the devastating realization that maybe Chase has been wrong about everything.
For over an hour, I lie there staring at the ceiling, my mind spinning between Adric’s silver eyes, Chase’s warnings, and both of their kisses.
By the time the clock shows nearly two, I’ve reached one terrifying conclusion—I need to see Chase.
I need to suss out the truth, yes, but it’s more than that too. With Chase, I know it’s really me he’s seeing. Not some cosmic destiny or ancient bloodline. Just me. And right now, as I drown in the aftermath of Adric’s intoxicating promises, I need that more than my next breath.
I slide out of bed as quietly as possible, then slip on some sweatpants and a long-sleeved tee. I grab my shoes on the way to the door, relieved when Tia doesn’t stir. I’m not surprised, though. She usually sleeps like the dead.
The campus is eerily quiet as I make my way across the quad, then down the street to his place.
As I walk, streetlights cast long shadows that seem to reach for me.
And though I know I shouldn’t be out here alone, I keep walking anyway, because the questions churning inside me feel more dangerous than anything that might be lurking in the shadows.
My heart hammers as I reach his door, each beat seeming to underscore my certainty that this is either the best or worst decision I’ve ever made.
I need to know if what I feel for him is real, or if it’s just some manipulative tug from a millennia-old prophecy. And I need to know—to feel—that Chase sees me as more than a job, a duty, a bloodline to protect. Or to use.
More than that, I need to know if the choice between these two men in my life is even mine to make.