I was already close—embarrassingly so. The combination of sensations, of being watched, of his dark promises about what he’d do when this was real, was pushing me toward the edge faster than I’d thought possible.
A thicker vine pressed against my entrance, not demanding but offering. When I tried to shift my hips, tried to take it inside, it pulled back teasingly.
“Please,” I begged, pride completely abandoned.
“Please what?” His hand moved faster on himself, and I could see how close he was too—muscles tense, jaw clenched. “Tell me exactly what you want.”
“I want you inside me. I want—”
The vine thrust in, and I screamed.
“That’s my good girl,” Kaelren groaned. “Taking it so well. Looking so perfect spread out, desperate and dripping for me.”
The vine began to move—slow, deep strokes that made me shake in my bonds. The one on my clit intensified its rhythm, and the venus fly traps pulsed in time with the thrusts. It was too much, too intense, too perfect.
“When I fuck you for real,” Kaelren growled, his control fraying, “I’m going to make you come just like this. Tied up, at my mercy, begging me for more. And I’ll give it to you, Elle. I’ll give you everything until you can’t remember anything but my name.”
“Kaelren—” I was right on the edge, every nerve singing.
“Come for me,” he commanded. “Now.”
I shattered.
The orgasm ripped through me in waves, made more intense by the vines that didn’t stop, that carried me through the pleasure until I was sobbing with the intensity of it. Through the haze, I heard Kaelren groan my name, watched him come with his eyes locked on me, claiming me even from a distance.
The vines lowered me gently, releasing their hold but remaining close like a living blanket. Kaelren moved to me immediately, gathering me against his chest, both of us breathing hard.
“When we do this for real,” I said against his skin, “I want everything.No holding back.”
“You’ll have it,” he promised, his voice rough. “All of me. Every dark, corrupted, possessive part. And you’re going to love it.”
“I already do,” I said with absolute certainty.
We stayed tangled together as our breathing slowed, as the alcove filled with softer light.
But then the alcove began to shake.
“What’s happening?” I asked as cracks appeared in the moss, as the waterfall’s light started to flicker.
“You’re waking up,” Kaelren said, regret heavy in his voice. “The dream’s ending.”
“No, wait, I’m not ready—”
“Elle.” He cupped my face, forcing me to meet his eyes. “Remember this. Remember that we’re possible. That we can be more than destiny’s puppets.”
“Kaelren—”
The world shattered like glass.
I jolted awake with a gasp, my heart pounding, my body still singing with phantom sensations. I was back in the monastery, lying on soft moss, covered with a blanket that smelled like pine.
And Kaelren was beside me, his hand still clasped in mine, his eyes snapping open at the same moment mine did.
We stared at each other in the dim phosphorescent light, both breathing hard, both knowing without words that we’d shared the same dream.
“That wasn’t—” I started.
“Just a dream,” he finished, his voice rough. “No. That was something else.”
