CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
MAEVE
“That was one sexy dream last night,” Flynn grinned as he slid into his seat at the breakfast table.
There was an icy breeze outside this morning and ominous grey clouds, so Rowan arranged the breakfast table in the slightly less formal dining room near the kitchen. Today’s delights included two loaves of fresh-baked seeded bread, spreads, cheeses, and salami and pickles Rowan had made himself. It was amazing, and it all tasted like cardboard because I was too busy trying to hide my flaming face from the guys.
“Let’s not talk about it,” I mumbled, stuffing my mouth full of bread and trying not to remember what it felt like to have Blake’s cock stretched against my lips.
“There was another dream last night?” Corbin said, his voice impassive. “I’m sorry I missed it. Pass the cheese.”
“You should be, mate.” Flynn waved the wheel of brie under his face. “It was something special. All five of us and Maeve. And you and Rowan shared a particularly steamy kiss. I must say, I don’t swing that way, but in the heat of the moment you two locking lips was fecking hot.”
CRASH.
“Sorry,” Rowan whispered from the doorway. A pitcher of orange juice lay shattered at his feet. “My hand slipped.”
“Were you in this dream, Rowan?” Corbin asked, that same friendly tone in his voice. “Or was this supposed kiss part of Maeve’s depraved imagination?”
“Hey,” I piped up. “I resent that. I may be depraved, but I am a scientist. I don’t have an imagination.”
“Rowan?” Corbin tilted his head to the side.
“I…er…no…I was in the kitchen, baking bread.” Rowan bent down and started collecting the pieces of glass. His dreadlocks fell forward, hiding his face.
“I’ll help,” Corbin slid his chair back and bent down beside Rowan. As soon as his hand touched the first piece of glass, Rowan leapt up. “I’ll get the broom and dustpan,” he whispered, darting off, leaving a trail of sticky orange juice footprints on the flagstones.
This makes no sense. I didn’t instigate that kiss. It wasn’t part of the fantasy. One of the guys must have done it. But if Corbin and Rowan were both awake, then who?—
I realized something I should have seen right from the start. Jane had seen it. She’d told me about it and I’d laughed it off, but she was right.
Rowan was in love with Corbin.
From the way he talked about Corbin with such reverence, to how he acted when I first told him I’d slept with Corbin, it all fit into place.
Rowan was lying about being in the dream, of that I was now certain. He returned then with the broom and dustpan. I tried to meet his eyes, to let him know that while Flynn was an insensitive wanker, I wouldn’t reveal his secret. It wasn’t mine to reveal. But of course, he didn’t look at me once.
Flynn was still talking. “—the best dream I’ve ever had. I’ve never done anal before, but that arse was so bloody tight, it was like a protestant’s purse strings?—”
Arthur’s face flashed. “Bloody hell, Flynn, could you be any more crass?”
My face flamed. “Remember, they’re just dreams. They don’t mean?—”
“They mean you’ve got a filthy mind, dream walker,” Flynn grinned. “Can you dress in a Catholic school uniform next time? Be still my wee Irish heart.”
“I’m sorry.” My face was on fire. “I didn’t mean to make everyone uncomfortable?—”
“Please do not apologize. I thought the human world was going to be boring as fuck.” Blake shovelled another forkful of cheese into his mouth. “Your dreams remind me of the best parts of the fae realm – the orgies.”
“I need to go into the village,” Corbin shoved his chair back, his tone indicating that he sought a change of subject. “I ordered some more books about fae magic from one of the local occult stores, and they arrived this morning.”
“Are there books on magic that you haven’t read?” I asked teasingly.
Corbin shrugged. “Scholars in other countries have made studies of the fae, especially in the Black Forest area of Germany and in Scandinavia. If there’s anything about the Slaugh or fae magic that can help us, we have to try.”
“I have to pick out a baptism gown for Connor.” Jane frowned as she tried to get Connor to eat a spoon of pureed carrots.
“You could get a new dress, as well,” I suggested.
