Without thinking, I moved my thumb and it brushed across his lower lip.
Immediately, he stilled. His hands still held me a shade too tightly, but it no longer hurt. His chest moved rapidly as he panted. He was poised between sleep and wakefulness.
“It’s Chloe, Lach. You need to wake up and talk to me,” I commanded softly.
Slowly, his eyelids lifted and he looked down at me, his eyes glassy. “Chloe?”
“I’m here, Ian.”
He collapsed on me then, his body trembling violently as he sucked in deep, broken gasps. I felt the dampness of tears on my shoulder and I wrapped my arms and legs around him, cradling him close. He needed my comfort, however I could give it to him.
“I’m here, I’m here,” I crooned softly. “You were dreaming. It’s okay.”
His hands released my hips and he shoved them beneath me, holding me so tightly I could barely breathe.
“Chloe,” he whispered. “Oh God, Chloe.”
I didn’t ask him what he’d dreamed about because I knew. His nightmares were always about the mate that he’d had and lost. The mate he would have given anything to hold once again.
My heart broke for us both because we were never going to get what we yearned for most—the other half of our soul.
Chapter Ten
Lachlan
Iclutched Chloetighter to me, my heart pounding so hard against my sternum that I was sure it would break free of my chest.
The dream had begun the same as it always had. Belinda and I were fighting off the wolves that had sided with the Faction. There were too many of them for me to take on alone and there was no way to escape. As I’d ripped at my opponents with teeth and claws, I could see the flashes of light as Belinda fought them with magic.
Just as I’d begun to believe we might win, that she would be safe, I heard her scream. I whirled in time to see a partially shifted wolf lift her in his grasp and give a sharp slash with his claws.
Howling with rage, I’d torn apart any shifters that tried to stop me from getting to my mate. The sight of her blood covering the floor and the wolf that held her drove me to madness. He dropped her body as I approached and bared his fangs at me.
Without hesitation, I pounced on him. In my fury, I raked at him with my teeth and rent his flesh with my claws. He couldn’t defend himself against the murderous rage that poured through me. I never felt his blows because I was consumed with madness and the compulsion to destroy him.
When he finally lay motionless beneath me, nothing left of him but blood and bones, I climbed off his body. With shaking hands, I lifted Belinda, cradling her in my lap as I brushed her hair away from her face.
This time the dream was different. The pale features that lay in the crook of my arm didn’t belong to my mate.
It was Chloe, deathly still, her body covered in the blood that had poured from her torn throat.
When her voice pierced through the haze of my dream, the emotions that roared through me were indescribable. She was here now, warm and alive, her arms and legs wrapped around me and holding me close.
I felt the tears falling from my eyes but I couldn’t bring myself to give a shit. All that mattered was that she was safe.
My body shook with violent shudders as the dregs of the dream faded away, leaving me cold and empty. Slowly, I became aware of the lean muscles of Chloe’s thighs where they cradled my hips and the lavender scent of her hair. Unlike the perfume on the note, this fragrance was lighter and carried the undertones of Chloe’s own scent.
I inhaled again, my nose brushing her shoulder, letting her presence soothe me.
Suddenly, I realized that my body was reacting to her. My cock began to harden. It had been nearly two years since I felt my blood stir this way.
Shocked, I released her abruptly, which was almost worse. The t-shirt she wore clung to her breasts and without my body pressed against hers, the cool air caused her nipples to harden. Her hair was spread around her on the floor as though she’d been lying beneath me for a very different reason.
“Did I hurt you?” I asked, my voice rough. I sat back, leaning against the bottom of the couch and bending my knees to hide my erection.
“No,” she whispered, slowly sitting up.
I wanted to reach out and help her, especially when I saw the way she winced and favored her ribs. Instead, I snapped, “I thought you said I didn’t hurt you.”
