Chapter 16
Sixteen
Rose
I dream that night of Soren.
He’s waiting for me, lounging on some ridiculous velvet fainting couch like a villainous duke from a Regency romance.
The room is all soft, golden light, and I realize we’re in something like the boudoir of a very high-end brothel.
Soren fits right in with his suit, but no tie, shirt open indecently, and his eyes that impossible black, already locked on me.
Dream me crosses my arms.
He grins, lazy and lethal. “Missed me?”
“Don’t flatter yourself.” I glance around. “Nice of you to spare the time to come and see me.”
He stands up, his movements lithe, closing the distance in three steps. “I always make time for you, little witch.”
“Funny, because it feels like you’ve been avoiding me.”
Soren’s smile fades just a touch. “Have I? Like I once said to you, all you have to do is ask.” His hand comes up, thumb tilting my face. “You want me here?”
I shrug and look away.
“No games tonight, Rose. Not unless you beg for them.”
I don’t get a chance to fire back. His mouth is on mine, and just like that, I’m gone.
It’s a hungry, almost punishing kiss, with nothing sweet about it, like he’s trying to make up for time. His hands are everywhere, one in my hair, the other on my ass, dragging me up against him until there’s no space.
He growls, deepening the kiss until my knees threaten to give out.
Somehow, Soren walks us backwards, never breaking contact, until the back of my thighs hit the edge of a bed. (Oh, there’s a bed now, high-thread-count sheets and all. My subconscious is such a wanton harlot.)
He pushes me down, following me with his body, boxing me in with arms on either side of my head. “You know,” he murmurs, “if you needed attention, you could just ask.”
“I’m not needy,” I snap.
He grins against my skin, teeth grazing my neck. “You’re a liar, Rose. But I like that about you.”
His hands slip under my shirt. Correction—my shirt is gone, not even a memory. I’m naked under him, skin tingling with anticipation, every nerve desperate for touch. Soren palms my breasts, thumbs teasing my nipples until I moan, arching up into his hands.
“That’s better,” he says. “Let go for me.”
I want to argue, but he’s already moving down. He kisses down my throat, then lower, tongue swirling around my nipple before sucking it between his lips. I shiver, grabbing fistfuls of his hair, needing to hold on to something.
Soren loves this, loves knowing he’s got me undone. He switches to the other nipple, biting just hard enough to make my hips jerk. “Fuck,” I growl.
He smirks up at me. “You taste so good, even in dreams.” He’s already sliding lower, and lower still, mouth kissing down my stomach, hands spreading my thighs wide open.
He settles between my legs like he’s never going to leave, then his tongue is on me, and I can’t think. He licks a slow line up from my entrance, then circles my clit, teasing, relentless. I buck under him, but he just pins my hips, holding me down while he works.
Soren knows exactly what he’s doing, and every flick, every lick of his tongue is calculated to wreck me. He alternates between gentle and rough, soft and brutal, building me up just to let me crash back down. I’m thrashing and moaning now, shameless, not even pretending to be in control.
He glances up, eyes black and shining. “Tell me what you want, Rose.”
“Don’t stop.”
He smiles wickedly, like the sinful devil he is. “As you wish.” Then he goes harder, tongue and lips and teeth, and I come undone, shaking apart in his hands.
The orgasm tears through me, and I scream his name, legs clamped around his head until I’m spent and limp. I open my eyes and see him looking up at me, his eyes glowing as he feeds on my release.
Soren doesn’t let up. He keeps going, softer now but still teasing, until I’m oversensitive and begging him to stop. He finally crawls up my body, mouth finding mine again.
He bites my lower lip.
I flip him onto his back, straddling him. “My turn,” I say, voice ragged.
He laughs, delighted. “There she is.”
Clothes are a non-issue in dreamland—he’s already naked, cock hard and dripping between us, hot against my thigh. I wrap my hand around him, stroking once, twice, dragging the tip against my clit just to watch him shudder.
“You want me, Professor?” I taunt.
He grabs my hips, fingers digging in hard enough to bruise. “Ride me.”
I sink down on him in one stroke, taking him to the hilt. It’s too much, too full, and I sigh, riding the line between pain and pleasure. Soren’s hands steady me, but he lets me set the pace.
I move, slow at first, then faster, chasing another orgasm. His hips thrust up to meet me, and the friction is perfect. Every time I grind down, he hits the right spot inside me.
“Look at you,” he groans. “So fucking gorgeous.”
His words make me lose the rhythm, and I just slam down on him, desperate and wild. His hands are guiding me harder, faster, until I’m right at the edge again.
He leans up, mouth at my ear. “Come for me, Rose. Come on my cock. Now.”
My body explodes. There’s a rush of heat, magic sparking around us, and I’m sure that in this waking dream it’s happening for real.
Soren thrusts up, once, twice, then shudders, coming hard. I feel him pulse inside me, and it’s the best thing I’ve ever felt. Better than real life. Better than anything.
We collapse together, my head spinning, as Soren strokes my hair, gentle now. “Missed this,” he says again, quieter. “I’m yours in here, Rose. Always.”
We lie there, and the dream starts to shift. The bed dissolves into a softer darkness, and for a second, it’s just us, floating somewhere outside of time.
I speak first. “Are you ever scared?”
Soren’s fingers trace idle lines on my ribs. “Of what?”
“That I’m going to fuck everything up because I can’t decide who to trust, or who to love.” It comes out in a rush.
Soren is quiet for a moment, but he knows what I mean without saying the words. “Ash is a bastard, but even he’s not immune to you. You scare him, Rose. He wants to break you, but deep down, he wants you to survive him.”
“That’s comforting.”
“You’re stronger than you think. Stronger than any of them.” Soren’s eyes go silver for a second. “You just have to stop fighting yourself.”
I close my eyes. “That’s not as easy as you make it sound.”
“Nothing worth having ever is, Rose.” He sighs. “You know what I like about you?”
“I’m dying to know.”
“You don’t back down. Not even from me. You’re hungry, you’re angry, and you refuse to let anyone else write your story.” His lips brush my temple. “That’s rare, in any world.”
I think of all the times I’ve felt small or powerless, all the times someone tried to put me down and I just kept getting back up. Maybe he’s right. Maybe I don’t know how to quit. “Can I ask you something?”
“You can try.”
“What are we? I mean, there’s this—” I gesture between us, “—thing. The connection. It’s not just sex, right? Not just you being an incubus and feeding.”
He goes still, which is very un-Soren like. “You’re not just prey to me, Rose. Not anymore. When I fed from you, something changed. There’s a bond. I feel you, even when I’m awake. Even when you’re with someone else. You’re always there, under my skin.”
That sends a weird, hot thrill through me. “So what does that mean? For you?”
“It means I’d tear the world apart to keep you safe.” His tone is light, but the words are anything but.
I believe him. Maybe that’s the scariest part.
“What about you?” he asks, voice softer. “What do you want from me?”
I almost say I don’t know, but that’s a lie. “I want you to keep wanting me. Even when I’m pushing you away. Even when I’m scared, or angry, or fucking up left and right. I want you to keep coming back.”
He smiles, slow and dangerous. “You’ll never get rid of me, Rose. Even if you ask real nice.”
He kisses my shoulder, then my neck, then lower, and I wonder if we’re about to go another round.
But something shifts. The dream starts to thin out, going hazy at the edges. I feel a coldness seeping in, a familiar chill, like winter air on bare skin.
Soren tenses, head cocked like he’s listening to something I can’t hear.
“What is it?” I ask, suddenly uneasy.
He brushes hair from my face. “It’s time for me to go, and for you to wake up, Rose.”
I reach for him, but my hands pass through his chest, my dream already kicking me out of the scene.
Soren leans in, mouth at my ear. “Remember what I said. When you want me, all you have to do is dream.”
Everything goes white, then dissolves.
But for a second, I can still feel Soren’s hands on my skin, and his last words echoing in my head.
All you have to do is dream.
I wake up in my bed, feeling simultaneously hot and freezing. The room is ice cold, like a window is open letting in the wintery night air, and I know, without looking, that Drake is here.
I say a silent thank you to Soren.