I let out a shuddering breath. I’d suspected the same. “We could leave the castle now. We just got here. She won’t expect it.”
“She’ll have guards stationed throughout the castle to prevent us from leaving. Even if she isn’t in the thrall of a god, she just got her son back. She’s not letting Toryn go anywhere until he’s fulfilled his duty.”
My blood curdled in my veins. “I can’t believe this kingdom is just as wicked as Oberon’s was.”
“Wicked or not, we need them,” he said tightly. “Tomorrow, we’ll try to find out what’s going on inside this castle. We’ll ask for a tour and keep an eye out for any signs that something is off.”
“Like what?” I frowned. “There weren’t any signs with Oberon other than that damn necklace.”
“He took it from a vault, though. If Tatiana has another god-prison necklace, perhaps there’s a vault here, too. Perhaps there are more of them around the world where the others are held.”
It was a good idea. Oberon’s gemstone necklace had been locked up by his ancestors thousands of years ago. The vault had been meant to protect the world from the god’s essence. His father, the king before him, had shown it to Oberon with a warning: never open the vault, never use it. And yet, when Oberon’s desperation had reached a crescendo, he’d done the only thing he thought he could.
So maybe there was another vault, and it was here. That might explain the weird feeling that scraped through me at times.
“Oh, love, I hate that we have to do all this,” Kalen said, taking my hand and tugging me back to him. He cupped my cheek and ran his lips along my collarbone, sending a cascade of shivers down my spine. “All I want is to take you to my bed and spend hours ravishing every inch of your body.”
My core clenched as he ran his hand down my shoulder, across my back, and then softly against my backside. Leaning in, I pressed against him, and my nipples hardened and ached. His lips brushed across my ear, sending a wave of pleasure crashing through me, and a desperate moan escaped from my mouth.
“I wonder,” he murmured against my ear, “what it would feel like to fuck you in your dreams.”
A hungry need took control of me. Winding my arms around his neck, I lifted myself into his arms and wrapped my legs around his hips. The hard length of his cock pressed against me, reflecting the aching desire clenching the delicate spot between my thighs.
He chuckled against my ear and pulled back. His eyes dropped to my parted lips and darkened. “Tell me you want me.”
“I want you inside me,” I breathed, dropping my hand to my thighs. “Here.” And then I dragged my finger up to my mouth. “And here.”
“Is that so?” he practically purred.
A jolt of desire tightened my core, and a slow, seductive smile curved my lips. “I’ve been wondering how you taste.”
The ballroom faded away as I knelt before him and unbuckled his belt. In its place, a cave shimmered around us, filled with the warm light of a crackling fire. Through an arched stone wall that led outside, I spied a brilliant night sky lit with stars. There wasn’t a hint of mist anywhere, except the soft fog that drifted from Kalen’s skin.
Kalen groaned as I wrapped my hand around his length, gently stroking from the hilt to the tip. He gripped my braid in his fist and shuddered against me, and the sound and feel of his pleasure formed an ache between my thighs. Deep down, I knew all this was happening inside our own minds, but it felt heart-shakingly real.
And so I leaned forward and took his swollen tip in my mouth. He tasted of salt and of mist, an intoxicating mixture that made my toes curl. With one hand still stroking him, I dragged my tongue across his head, teasing and sucking and tasting as much of him as I could.
“Fuck,” he groaned when I gripped him harder.
I looked up to find him gazing down at me with a heat that nearly seared my soul. Need curling through me, I took his cock deeper into my mouth. I was rewarded with a roar.
Beneath my dress, I could feel my wetness coating my thighs. The more he rocked against my mouth, the more I craved him, the more I ached to feel him filling me with every exquisite inch of his cock. His tip hit my throat, and still I took him deeper, stroking him faster and faster until his release poured into my mouth and his growl echoed down the cavernous halls behind us.
I swallowed every last drop, holding on to him until his throbs began to slow.
A moment later, he collected me in his arms and carried me over to the fire, where he gently laid me on a blanket that seemed to appear from thin air. Heart pounding, I gazed up at him as he slowly undid the clasps around my shoulders and slid the dress off my body. He took his time, gently removing my undergarments until there was no longer anything between us but the warm, soothing air from the campfire.
With a tender touch, he began to trace his finger along my collarbone in slow and steady circles. There was something different in this moment, something softer than what had come before. As his caress moved to my breast, he lowered his lips to mine. And this kiss—this one stolen moment in the depths of our dreams—made every fear and every hurt drift away.
I ran my fingers along the ridges of his abs as he shifted his body on top of mine. He pulled back, and something tightened in my throat from the look in his eye. Somehow, I knew exactly what he was thinking. I could read every word he did not want to speak out loud, and I felt those words echo in the once-hollow parts of my heart.
I smiled up at him, my eyes suddenly glazed with unshed tears.
He shuddered and slowly slid inside me. “So fucking good.”
My nails dug into his shoulders as he shifted back and then thrust once more, burying his cock inside me. I arched against him and cried out. He stretched my walls wide, and the tip of him reached the very depths of me.
The bond snapped tight, and I knew I would never again be the same. Kalen Denare had dreamt his way into my life, and he had changed me. Judging by the look in his eye, I’d changed him, too.
