Chapter 209
Ellie's POV
I didn't fall asleep until I was certain Dominic had.
His breathing had gradually settled into a slow, steady rhythm, the quiet rise and fall of his chest barely visible in the moonlight. Only then did I finally allow my own eyes to close.
When sleep claimed me, it brought dreams.
Strange dreams.
Not frightening.
Not painful.
Quite the opposite.
They were the sweetest dreams I'd had in a very long time.
In every one of them, Dominic was... different.
He still had the same dark hair.
The same striking blue eyes.
The same quiet confidence that always seemed to surround him.
But something had changed.
He was softer.
Gentler.
The sharp edges I'd grown accustomed to were gone.
The first dream began in a garden.
Summer sunlight bathed everything in warm gold. The air was heavy with the scent of flowers, and cicadas sang lazily from the trees overhead.
Dominic lay stretched across a picnic blanket, propped up on one elbow with his face turned toward the sun.
I sat beside him, laughing.
I couldn't even remember what he'd said.
Only that it had been clever.
Ridiculously charming.
The kind of joke that made my stomach ache from smiling.
A basket of freshly picked wild blueberries rested between us.
I popped one into my mouth.
Sweet.
Juicy.
Perfect.
Another laugh escaped me.
Dominic opened his eyes.
The way he looked at me made my heart flutter.
Not with desire.
With peace.
"Ellie."
I smiled.
Without thinking, I picked up another blueberry and held it to his lips.
He accepted it with a grin.
The berry matched the color of his eyes.
Then the dream shifted.
We were sitting in the academy library.
My favorite corner.
Golden hour was fading, and the last rays of sunlight filtered through the tall windows, filling the room with dancing dust and amber light.
I was trying to read.
Trying.
Dominic had other plans.
Every time I reached the bottom of a page, he flipped it before I could finish.
I glared at him.
He only smiled.
A smile so full of mischief that I couldn't stay annoyed.
"Ellie."
Before I could protest, he snapped my book shut.
"Dominic—"
He laughed, wrapped an arm around my waist, and effortlessly lifted me into his lap.
I complained.
He ignored every word.
His laughter echoed through the quiet library.
And somehow...
I found myself laughing, too.
The dream changed once more.
Our wedding.
But this time...
There was no blood.
No knife.
No screams.
Only music.
Dominic held my hand as we danced across the ballroom floor.
He twirled me with effortless grace, as though we'd practiced together a thousand times.
His eyes never left mine.
Not once.
The room faded away until it felt like only the two of us existed.
Then he scooped me into his arms as though I weighed nothing at all.
The guests erupted into cheers.
Flower petals drifted through the air around us.
Laughter.
Music.
Happiness.
He carried me toward the doors.
Toward our future.
Toward a life I'd once dreamed we would have.
"Ellie..."
He gently laid me down on a bed.
Then leaned over me, his body warm against mine.
His embrace felt safe.
Comforting.
His skin smelled faintly...
Like blueberries.
I woke slowly.
Reluctantly.
The warmth lingering from the dream refused to leave me.
For several blissful moments, I wasn't even aware I was awake.
All I could think about was Dream Dominic.
His smile.
His gentle hands.
The way he'd looked at me.
He wasn't cold.
He wasn't distant.
He wasn't the man who had broken my heart.
He wasn't the man who had trapped me in another marriage through contracts and obligations.
He wasn't the Alpha who had accepted our bond out of duty instead of love.
He was kind.
Patient.
The man I'd spent two lifetimes wishing existed.
My prince.
My safe place.
Or maybe...
Just a boy with bright blue eyes who knew how to make me laugh.
Then another sensation slowly entered my awareness.
Warmth.
Weight.
An arm resting comfortably around my waist.
Still half asleep, I absently brushed my fingertips across the skin covering that arm.
Tiny hairs lifted beneath my touch.
Dominic.
For one beautiful, dangerous moment...
I forgot everything.
I forgot the dreams weren't real.
I forgot the pillow I'd placed between us.
I forgot the years of betrayal.
The hurt.
The fear.
All of it disappeared.
Without thinking, I relaxed against him, nestling back into the warmth of his chest.
My eyes drifted shut again.
Just...
A few more seconds.
Just a little longer.
Then reality struck.
Something firm pressed against me.
Every trace of sleep vanished.
My eyes flew open.
Heat rushed into my face.
With a startled gasp, I shoved Dominic as hard as I could.
He let out a surprised yell.
The next second, he tumbled off the bed with a loud thud.
"Ow!"
He groaned from the floor.
"What the hell?"
His hair stuck out wildly in every direction as he looked up at me with sleepy confusion.
"What was that for?"
I scrambled backward until I was standing on the opposite side of the bed.
"You touched me while I was asleep!"
I pointed accusingly at him.
"I trusted you enough to share my bed, and you moved the pillow!"
Dominic blinked.
"What?"
"And..."
My face grew even hotter.
"You have a boner!"
His eyes widened.
Then, very slowly, he looked down.
Color flooded his face.
Without a word, he snatched the nearest pillow and held it awkwardly in front of himself.
"I had absolutely no control over that."
I folded my arms.
"Sure."
He sighed.
"Ellie, that's literally—"
"I don't want to hear it."
Lifting my chin, I marched past him and slammed the bathroom door behind me.
The moment I was alone, I looked at my reflection.
My face was bright red.
I closed my eyes.
The truth hit harder than I wanted to admit.
I wasn't really angry at Dominic.
I was angry at myself.
Because for those few blissful moments after waking...
I'd been happy.
Happy to be in his arms.
Happy to lean against him.
And that terrified me.
Even worse...
A faint warmth still lingered low in my stomach, betraying feelings I desperately wanted to deny.
I could still remember the solid warmth of his body behind mine.
His confession from the night before echoed in my mind.
"I do want to be intimate with you."
Now I knew he had meant it.
And realizing that some part of me had responded to those feelings made me furious.
Weak.
Foolish.
Everything I'd been trying so hard not to become.
"Pull yourself together, Ellie," I whispered to my reflection.
Determined to erase every lingering thought, I turned the shower to its coldest setting.
Then stepped beneath the freezing spray.
The icy water stole my breath instantly.
I stayed there until my teeth chattered.
Until goosebumps covered every inch of my skin.
Only then did I finally step out.
Wrapped in a towel, I brushed my teeth, combed through my damp hair, and walked toward the bathroom door.
I cracked it open.
"No peeking," I called. "I forgot my clothes, so I'm coming out wearing only a towel."
Silence.
No teasing reply.
No sarcastic comment.
Frowning, I opened the door wider.
The room was empty.
The door had been repaired.
The bed was neatly made.
Dominic was gone.
I should have been relieved.
That was what I'd wanted.
Distance.
Space.
Freedom.
So why...
Why did the empty room make my chest ache just a little?
No matter how hard I tried to ignore it, disappointment settled quietly beneath my ribs.
And somehow...
That frightened me more than anything else.