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“You can enter people’s dreams?” I was already having trouble dealing with him in reality. The last thing I needed was him wandering into my dreams. “Wait. You won’t do that to me, will you?”
The firelight brightened the room more than before. I caught his ghost of a smile.
“No. It doesn’t work that way. We can influence the dreams of someone we’re physically close to, though some of my clansmen can send messages, even visit the dreams of those we have a deeper connection with.”
“Oh.”
I curled my hands into the blanket under my chin.
“You won’t have any nightmares, Moira. I promise you.”
Feeling shy all of a sudden, I flipped over. I liked my name on his lips. His rough voice letting the soft syllables roll in a rumble made my heart trip a few beats.
I listened to the crackling fire and burrowed into the pillow, forcing my breathing to slow, willing myself to accept his promise as truth. So calm and serene in the warm room. There was a tug on my mind. Something pulled me away from reality, as if I were being carried into the other world of my subconscious. I drifted toward the world of sleep, floating in the tranquil place in between. Before I slipped over the edge, I thought I heard gruff, stern words.
“No one’s going to hurt you. I won’t let them.”
And I thought I felt the gentle touch of a heavy hand combing through my long hair. But surely, I’d already fallen into a soft dream.
Chapter Fourteen
Iknew he wasn’t in the bed from the moment my eyes opened. His presence had stamped itself clear and heavy on me. Wrapping a thick, down blanket around my shoulders, not yet ready to squeeze into my too-tight pants I wore last night, I then shuffled into the next chamber.
An alcove in the short corridor opened up to a spacious bathroom I hadn’t noticed the night before. Against a smooth rock wall, three wide-mouthed spouts jettisoned hot water into one waterfall with the turn of a black lever. Not feeling comfortable enough to shower in his place, I twisted a similar faucet above a deep black-marble basin, splashing my face and rinsing my mouth with warm water. There was no mirror of any kind in the stark room. After finding a towel in a dark-wood cabinet, I dried my face and went in search of my host.
The living room was empty, though the fire burned bright.
“Kol?”
I couldn’t hear the sound of rushing water. Stepping into the corridor leading to the waterfall entrance, I found a solid, metal door closed and alarmed. Though Kol lived in a home of natural elements, he still used modern technology for protection. Smart.
I wandered through the large living room, roving the bookshelf of texts—mostly historical, a few fiction works. I smiled, imagining big, bad Kol curling up with a novel. Something warm swirled inside my chest at the thought.
Strolling through the kitchen, grazing my fingers along the smooth, white-stone countertop, I surveyed the ceramic bowls filled with a variety of fresh produce—onions, squash, tomatoes, oranges. A butcher board and cooking knives stood on one end near the wash basin.
“He cooks?” I mused to myself, more impressed by the minute.
To wander the room filled with creature comforts like books, cooking utensils, soft blankets, a cozy fire, I’d never have pictured the owner of this pleasant abode to be stalwart, cold-as-ice Kol. I trailed a finger along the countertop.
“But he’s not cold, is he?” I asked myself.
No. The façade he showed to the world didn’t reflect the man beneath the frosty exterior. It took him mere seconds to get me all hot and bothered. I grimaced at my behavior last night, heat flushing my cheeks. Sure, he might have talents in the sensuality department, but I couldn’t let myself get carried away by a sexy man when I was on the precipice of what could be a stellar career. Especially not a sexy, Morgon man, who might have plans to put me in a pretty cage and keep me there. I had to stay focused on the job at hand—finding the Devlin Butchers, writing a career-changing exposé, land the coveted job at The Gladium Post, and start climbing my career ladder.
By the way, where was that sexy man? Had he left me here all alone?
Wandering farther into the kitchen area, I opened a wooden door I thought might be a pantry. A chilling draft swept in. Stone stairs led up, like a castle tower.
My boots stood by the fire. I slipped them on and pulled the blanket tighter, then shuffled up the spiral stairwell. There was no landing, only a continual climb around and around till my leg muscles burned from the exertion.
Ignoring the blast of cold air at the top, I stepped out through an archway. An alarm system was set in the stone wall. Kol had left the door open and unlocked.
I stepped through the rooftop entrance. He stood against a parapet, looking out. The entire space was wide and open, walled like a battlement, jutting directly out of the mountain that was his home. A few flakes of snow danced in circles on the stone floor. A slate-gray morning dimmed the rising sun, muting the sky into a diaphanous smear of cloud-cover.
“Did you sleep well?” he asked, continuing to gaze out over the woods far below.
“Yes.” I moved closer, cold wind nipping at my cheeks and nose. “Thank you.”
Some wall had been breached, some bridge had been crossed or burned. The shield of ice Kol erected to keep the world at bay had melted to a thin sheet. Still stoic and rigid and strong, there was a definite change in him. Though no one else might notice, I certainly did. I could feel it in the air. A fragile web-thin barrier between us could be swept away, colliding our worlds if we so chose.
