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“Do you want to?”
“No… I mean, it’s not that I don’t. It’s complicated.” I try to untangle myself from her without letting my hands wander, regardless of how much they itch to do so.Fuck, I want to feel every curve of her body, watch her skin flush at my touch. Mydragon stirs, mocking me, likely chuckling to himself, admiring a job well done.
“I don’t feel any different. Are you sure?” She turns to face me and I suck in a breath, regretting it the moment fire spills into my stomach.
I turn onto my back, finally unraveling from her, and hide my face in the crook of my elbow. “Yes. Without a doubt. From what I understand, you won’t feel any different. It’s just the unmated shifters around you that will.”
“What helps? Should I move away, leave the room?”
A hushed laugh has my lips pulling into a smile. “Unfortunately, I don’t think going anywhere except out of the cave would make a difference, and I’ll be fine. I just need a minute.”
She curls onto her side facing me, hands tucked between her head and the pillow. “What helps ease it when Vik goes into heat?”
I meet her gaze, letting my hands rest against my stomach, just below my ribs. “Honestly, it’s not as bad as it used to be with her. She’s developed a pretty solid system. Usually, she sleeps with Ellie if we’re home, Faelor if we’re not, or does things on her own to ease the effects a bit. Sometimes, if it’s really bad, Faelor lets her mark him or vice versa, but they’re incredibly stubborn and have learned how to resist the pull to return the bite. The first time they tried that, we had to send Faelor to an entirely different island.”
“I thought sex enticed shifters to mark someone more.” She stares at me with such curiosity, it’s hard not to divulge her every whim.
“I think it depends on the people involved. It can either ease the ache or make it worse. It’s kind of like craving chocolate. For some, they can have a bite to curb the craving and then they can go on their way. For others, they try to take a bite, thinking it’llbe enough, but tasting the temptation just adds to the desire for more.”
Calamity traces the design on the quilt as she speaks. “So which is it for you? How do you curb your cravings?”
“Usually, I take care of them on my own until things are far too numb to react at all.” My cheeks burn, flushing bright.
“You seemed pretty comfortable a few minutes ago. Did touching me make it easier?”
My gaze travels down the shape of her, taking in every inch, “Yes and no. It was hard to stay still, my hands wanted to roam, but having your skin pressed against mine made it easier to breathe. Why are you asking this?” I arch a brow quizzically.
Without a word, she lifts, sliding out from underneath the blanket to come straddle my lap, her gown bunching at her hips. Her weight presses down on me and a deep sound comes out of my mouth, riding an exhale.
“What are you doing?”
“You took away my nightmares. Now, I’m helping you.”
“Oh.” My voice breaks and a sweet smile tugs at her lips. The light catches her eyes, turning them molten. She curls up against my chest, tugging the quilt over us. I’m not sure where to put my hands. If I put them around her, she might think I’m trapping her here, against me. If I play with the silky strands of her hair, she’ll read into it. So, I do the only other thing I can think of, I let them fall naturally to her thighs, resting on either side of me, then let out the breath I’ve been holding in my lungs.
“I thought you were going to kiss me,” I whisper, staring up at the stone ceiling, trying to force my breathing to stay calm, but she smells so good–so fucking delicious–it’s hard to keep my mind off it.
Still, her proximity does help, having her close to me is the second best thing to sinking my teeth in her throat. It doesn’t take all of the urges away, in fact, my pants are obnoxiouslytight to the point I fear they’re cutting off circulation, but it does ease the pressure in my chest. It lessens the vice grip around my heart, and instead of fluttering chaotically, it slows to a steady rhythm again.
Calamity lifts just enough for her face to hover over mine. “Why did you think I’d kiss you? You think I want to kiss you?”
"Calamity—" I start, not sure what to admit and keep to myself, but the rest of my words are lost in the pull of her gaze, in the heat of her body so close to mine.
Her cheeks flame as she lowers, and I close my eyes on instinct, my stomach spinning as I wait for her lips to land on mine, only they never come. When I open them again, her grin is wicked, the golden rings of her eyes so bright they burn straight through me.
“You wantmeto kissyou,” she says, the amusement in her tone infectious. It’s not a question, not a theory. It’s a statement, and one I don’t think I can argue with… At least, not now. I’ve been caught. Oddly enough, Idowant to kiss her. I want to do a lot more than that, thanks to the swarming pheromones saturating the air, but it’s wrong of me to act on such desires. Not with what I know, with who she is, with who I am. It wouldn’t do anyone any favors.
When I don’t answer fast enough, or perhaps she just didn’t get the reaction she was expecting, she braces her hands on either side of my head, elbows locked. Her hair falls around us like a veil, pooling on the bed beside me. “Unless….” she trails off, studying my face.
“Unless what?” I blink up at her. No matter how hard I try, I can’t keep my eyes from drifting to her full lips or stop my hands from rolling over her thighs. The motion makes her hips rock slightly, and the friction of her body against mine shoots a spark through me. My stomach vacuums against the bed, my muscles flexing. I clamp my teeth together, exhaling through my nose. Ican feel my nostrils flare, and the crease that forms between her brows, tells me she noticed it too.
“Your magic, how does it work?” Her jaw locks, and gone is the playful ring to her voice. “Do you go into the dreams you give people? Was that actually you?” she asks, putting the dots together.
It was me in her dream last night, who she tried to kiss. I’m just not sure how to tell her that without her thinking the worst.
“Normally, I just project a thought, an idea for a dream into someone’s head, but something happened last night. I dream walked without trying to. I was sucked into your dream, and it wasn’t until you tried to kiss me that the connection weakened enough to let me out. But I did leave.”
“So it’s not just you being in the room, then…” Her golden eyes darken to a delicious amber and I lick my lips, trying to keep my hips glued to the bed, to keep from rocking hers. Despite how intoxicating it is to breathe her in, and the fire that only seems to burn brighter in my middle, I doubt grinding against her would make this any better. In fact, it might get me smacked.
