AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His father’s chair shifted on the other side of the desk. He darted around the furniture to find Aura lying face up on the floor. Soaking wet, her dress clinging to her body. Her violet eyes peered at him and narrowed. Then a cough wracked her body and water gushed from the corners of her mouth. Rush took a step closer with the intent to help her sit up, but she dragged in a ragged breath and waved him away with her hand.
“What the fuck happened to you?” he asked, his voice rising in surprise, and he perched on the edge of the desk. This was only a dream, after all. She wasn’t in any real danger of death. Permanent sleep was another issue…
She groaned as she sat up, her chest heaving. “I fancied a swim.”
Rush arched a brow. “In my office?” All of which was perfectly dry.
Aura scowled up at him. “I’m dreaming, aren’t I? Or no, maybe not…” She peered around the room. “If I am, what are you doing here?”
“You are. I came to make certain you were all right.” He looked her up and down, assessing. She seemed fine enough, and yet… “You’d only just woken so it was worrisome that you fell asleep so soon.”
“I shouldn’t be falling asleepat all,” Aura snapped. She gripped the arm of the chair and hoisted herself to her feet. “How terrible that your mysterious spell isn’t going according to plan. Yoursecretplan.”
He glowered at her. What happened in her dreams had never occurred to him before—the spell only said she would sleep and never wake when things were completed. “Is this always what happens? You come to my office for a … swim?”
“No. Occasionally, I visit other places for a swim and—” She slammed her mouth shut. “And it’s terrible.”
“Only if you don’t like getting wet, it seems.” He looked around the room and sighed. “Otherwise, it’s all rather dull.”
She frowned. “Yet you’re the one who put me in this oh-sodullpredicament, Your Majesty. Although, I would rather choose dancing in the ballroom over nearly drowning, wouldn’t you?”
Rush pushed off the desk, every muscle in his body tight. Memories threatened to break through. Memories he refused to face. Water had left the perfect outline of her body on the yellow rug. His dragon curled in on himself and Rush wished he could do the same, demanded it. Sorcha… Drowning… A death she’d bestowed on herself…
Instead, he rolled his shoulders to loosen the muscles and smirked. “I knew I was making you wet while we danced, then while I was settled between those pretty thighs of yours, but I didn’t realize you wanted my cock this much.”
“Excuse me?” she hissed, her eyes widening into full moons.
“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Dreams use our emotions, though this is rather literal.” He reached for her, and she moved from his touch. “We could continue where we left off.”
“You ass.” Aura stared at him, radiating silent fury, before she stormed from the room. Only to appear back at Rush’s side again. “What…?” She glanced at him as if it were his fault.
Rush chuckled. “Sorry, kitten. It seems your dream has you trapped here.”
Her hand soared toward his face, but he only laughed as he woke himself up. He lay on the bed beside Aura for a moment, not moving. Each breath was labored and harsh. Something in his chest ached. An old, unhealed wound that he’d been ignoring for two years.
Turning his head on the pillow, he watched Aura sleep. She seemed peaceful now that the screaming had stopped, but he knew she was raging inside her head. At him, for being a complete prick. At the spell. He ran a hand over his face. He always did this—retreated to being a bastard when confronted with reminders of his pain.
Did Aura nearly drown every time the spell made her sleep? He knew in his bones why this was happening…
Fuck.
It couldn’t be helped.
It didn’t matter if he was starting to feel something for her. He could fuck his way through Moonstone if he chose, butdamn it,she lingered in his mind. Shoving the fickle emotion away, Rush would wait for the spell to work.
Chapter Fifteen
Aura
Rush had slithered his way into Aura’s dream, then vanished as though he hadn’t been there at all. Of course he had—he liked to invade her personal space when possible. Hot and cold over and over again. Somewhat nice and concerned, then letting filthy words fly out from his shapely lips. The ballroom dancing hadn’t gone as planned either. She was only able to lure the king so far, barely touch him at all, before she fell under another spell.Hisspell.
The taste of brackish water still coated her tongue, no matter how many times she tried to swallow it away. This time she didn’t slip into her dream easily—it had begun with her dangling in darkness before choking on water, the same way Sorcha had when she’d seen her last. But Aura’s lungs were now clear as she stood alone in Rush’s office. Only it wasn’t his office per se…
Aura had passed it almost every day when walking down the halls. The stained-glass window held another dragon’s eye color, and instead of black cloaking every aspect, the room’s hues resembled a forest. A mixture of emeralds, deep browns, and golds. Vibrant paintings covered almost every inch of the walls, but she didn’t bother to look at each one.
Where was Sorcha? The few times she’d dreamt, or at least remembered her dreams, the girl had made an appearance. She grasped the handle of a door near the back of the room, only, when she opened it, a stone wall blocked her entrance. With a frown, she opened the curtained balcony door, and a matching stone wall was visible. She tried the one out of the room, just as she had before, but another wall of stones lingered.
Aura made an unintelligible sound between clenched teeth. “Sorcha!” she called out. “Sorcha, are you here?” The girl had to be there … somewhere? Or maybe not... Perhaps when Sorcha was choking last, her flesh turning blue, death had taken her from whatever place she was trapped in.
