Chapter 26: Chapter TWENTY SIX — WET DREAM

Reign

Well, that was eventful. Sage prowled restlessly in my head as I dropped onto my king-sized bed, sinking into the white linen sheets.

It was late afternoon, seventeen minutes past four.

"Eventful my ass," I muttered, pressing my face into the sheets, wishing the image of Jayden spinning my mate around would stop replaying behind my eyes.

My body, heavy with exhaustion, sank deeper into the mattress. I barely managed to peel my shirt off before sleep pulled me under.

"Reign, baby."

A smile tugged at my lips at the sound of Deidre’s voice. I opened my eyes to find her on her knees, blinking up at me as she worked my pants down.

When had I gotten off the bed? Deidre pressed her lips against my cock, the little monster stirring to life, straining against the cotton of my boxers.

"You smell good, baby. Wet for me?" I rasped, running my tongue over my fangs at the scent flooding my senses.

Had Deidre changed her perfume? She smelled different. A fresh wave of her arousal hit the air and a hungry growl climbed my throat.

Her fingers curled around my cock through the fabric, stroking slowly. She leaned in, mouthing at me through the thin material, lips dragging along the outline of me. My hand slid into her hair, hips rocking forward in a slow grind. "Take it out, Deidre."

Why was she so quiet? Deidre was always vocal during sex, sometimes to the point of exaggeration, but I had never minded making her scream.

My boxers vanished and my cock jutted free, thick and hard and pulsing. A deep groan tore from me when her mouth closed around the tip, lips stretching as she took me deeper into the wet heat of her throat.

Heat surged through my veins, my cock throbbing against the roof of her mouth as she moved.

Fuck, yes. Just what I needed.

My fingers tightened in her hair as she dragged her tongue down the shaft, the pink tip flicking over the head.

"More," I groaned, winding her hair around my fists. I held her still, drew back, and drove forward, pushing deeper into her throat.

She moaned, choking around me as I set a punishing rhythm. My breathing fractured, my balls drawing tight, every sound she made sending hot jolts of pleasure crackling up my spine.

"Fuck, just like that, Little Dove—"

The nickname fell out of me half a second before my brain caught up.

Little Dove?

Her lids lifted and golden eyes blinked up at me, glazed and heavy with pleasure. The face looking up at me was not Deidre’s.

That scent — wildflowers, daisies. Those soft, broken moans were the ones that had embedded themselves in my skull on our wedding night. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

With a sharp grunt I wrenched back from her.

"Fuck — no!"

The floor lurched beneath me, my body pitching sideways, and with a strangled yell I jolted upright in bed, chest heaving, drenched in sweat.

My eyes swept the room. Her scent was gone. I was alone, soaked through my shirt, my cock straining painfully against my pants.

A wet dream. It had been a wet dream. My back hit the headboard, my chest still working hard, panic moving through my blood in slow, nauseating waves.

The clock read 5:15 pm. I had been asleep barely an hour and she had already colonized my dreams. The sheets were twisted around my legs. I looked down at my hands. They were trembling.

I pressed them flat against my thighs and breathed. One. Two. Three. They were shaking. Goddess, I was losing my mind.

"What the hell," I muttered, dragging a hand down my face. This had to stop.

Was the moon goddess playing with me? Or Sage? It had to be Sage, threading this maddening, relentless hunger for my brother’s killer through my veins.

Hypocrite, Sage bit out. What am I, some kind of dream walker? Those were your thoughts. Your desires. You wanted her. And you called her Little Dove. Again.

I stilled, hand still halfway down my face.

Don’t pretend you didn’t hear yourself, Sage pressed. Twice now.

Shut up, I shot back, pushing off the bed.

Where were my cigarettes?

Liar. You’re terrified to admit what you feel because of that vow you made with your brothers. A vow built on a version of events you’ve never actually questioned.

"There’s nothing to question," I said through my teeth, yanking open the bedside drawer. "What happened that night was clear."

My nerves were shot, my right hand trembling, and I needed to give it something to do before I lost all remaining self-control and gave in to the raging ache in my pants. Why wouldn’t Sage just let it go?

If it’s so clear, why do you have doubts? Why did you go looking for answers?

My pack of cigarettes tumbled forward in the drawer. I snatched it up along with the lighter.

I had gone looking for answers once.

What I had found hadn’t added up, no matter how many times I turned it over in my head. But nothing good would come from digging further.

I pressed the cigarette between my lips and lit it, drawing a long, slow pull of smoke. My body sagged as I exhaled, the nicotine unwinding something tight behind my ribs.

I needed to clear my head. I wiped the sweat from my chest. A swim, that was what I needed. Cool water and an end to this nonsense.

When I stepped out of my quarters, the sun was already sinking into the horizon, the sky bleeding through shades of amber and rose. The smell of smoke clung to my skin as I made my way down to the pool.

A loud splash reached me just as I climbed the steps to the deck. Then she rose from the water, copper-blonde hair whipping in a wide arc as she surfaced, face tipped up to the sky.

The dying light caught her skin, casting a warm glow across her, tracing the droplets of water running down her neck to the swell of her chest, rising and falling with each breath.

She was barely covered in the pink bikini she had on. My gaze tracked a bead of water down the plane of her stomach to where the thin fabric draped her hips.

My cock hardened instantly, pressing painfully against my shorts. I should leave. This was a trap and every rational part of me screamed at me to put some distance between us. So why were my feet carrying me to the edge of the pool?

Ooh, maybe I’m controlling your legs too, Sage drawled.

"Fuck you, Sage."

Three years ago, I thought, standing there at the edge of the pool like a man with no sense whatsoever, watching her surface and dip and surface again, I would have given everything for a moment like this.

Why did it feel like punishment now?