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And so did my body. Scrubbing at my tears, I tossed back the blanket to find my panties were off. I felt sticky between my legs, my thighs still damp from how turned on I’d been in my dream. A slight twinge in my neck had me covering the spot with my hand where my dream lover had bit and sucked. Jumping out of bed, I rushed into the bathroom.
Holy shit.
Did I pinch myself? That was the only thing I could come up with to explain the bruise on my neck, the slightest hint of a scratch where Dream Vaughn had marked me.
It was official—I’d lost my damn mind. My obsession with him had gotten so twisted that now I was hurting myself in my sleep to mimic the man biting me. I’d had issues with doing weird, sleep-drunk things since I was a kid. Once, I’d walked from my parents’ house to Hayat’s grandparents’ house. Two miles away. She had been spending the night with her Gammy and Poppy, whom I loved like my own grandparents. It was the middle of the night. In December and freezing rain. We all lived in the same gated community, but it still had terrified my parents.
Hayat and I thought it was hilarious at the time, but my dad’s face turned gray every time that night was mentioned.
To me, it didn’t seem like a big deal. I always remembered what happened, even if it felt like it was more of an out-of-body experience. Almost as if it was happening to someone else and not me, as if I were in a trance or hypnotized, taking a back seat while my subconscious took control.
But this was different.
What if I actually left my dorm and went to Professor Vaughn’s house? I wasn’t sure I would ever live down the embarrassment if that happened.
Groaning, I took a quick shower and got ready for my run. I needed the de-stressor more than ever. Making sure the spot was covered by my hoodie, I grabbed my phone and let the door slam shut behind me as I turned for the stairs.
Maybe I should take the summer off after all. Distance would help whatever this was.
Infatuation.
Love…
No. Nope. I couldn’t be in love with my professor. That was ridiculous.
And so was waking up to what looked like a hickey on my neck because I’d dreamed of him marking me. But even as the thought of taking the summer semester off filled my head, I pushed it away.
I couldn’t be away from Vaughn for that long. My heart hurt more at the thought of not being close to him than it did waking up without him beside me.
I had my phone to my ear before I reached the stairwell door. “What’s wrong?” she demanded groggily. “Who do I need to kill?”
Some of the tightness that lingered in my throat from my earlier tears eased. “I keep having those dreams.”
“Abigail St. Charles, did you wake me up just to tell me about the wild sex you had in your dreams with a hot-as-fuck guy?”
I paused halfway down a flight of stairs, sniffling. “Y-yeah.”
“Okay, give me like two seconds for my brain to boot up,” she said without another moment of hesitation. There were a million reasons why Hayat was my best friend, and the fact that I knew she wouldn’t let me down when all I needed was someone to listen to me talk nonsense was only one of them. She’d never let me down. “But first, was it at least good dream sex?”
Laughing, I bounced down several more steps. “It was fire.”
CHAPTER TEN
vaughn
Being raised as the ultimate weapon to eviscerate the woman who’d supposedly destroyed the lives of my two surrogate mothers, I’d never had a moment of peace. For thirty-five years, I didn’t have an understanding of joy or contentment other than what Polina and Daria told me I should be feeling as a child.
If Anya was happy, I was told I was enraged.
If Anya was suffering, I was told I was glad.
Like the good soldier they thought I was, I nodded my agreement and then slipped back into the shadows, to watch. Daria thought she could use me to ruin Anya’s happiness. I had no doubt she could. If I allowed it.
While she liked to think she’d created the perfect emotionless killing machine, one who could move like a ghost, blend into any environment like a chameleon, she’d forgotten one thing.
I was Cristiano and Anya Vitucci’s son. Being a soldier was not part of my DNA. I allowed Daria and Polina the illusion that I was with them, while making plans of my own. If they assumed I had loyalty to them, that was their mistake. A fatal one, as they would soon learn.
Kissing Abi’s shoulder, I quietly stood. My favorite part of the day—waking up beside her—was always followed by the worst part. Having to leave her. It was one more reason to put a bullet in Daria’s head. If she and Polina were dead, the war between them and Anya would be over, and I wouldn’t have to hide my wildfire away.
