We both waited for a moment, and when it seemed we were as alone as we could get, I swooped in to kiss her again.
“This is the best surprise of my life, besides finding out that you were my mate.” My lips whispered over hers again. “Are you doing okay?” I’d heard as much from Ciarán, but I needed to hear it from her lips. To see her face when she gave me her answer.
“As well as I can be without all of my mates safe by my side.”
I dipped my head and lightly pressed my forehead against hers, closing my eyes and just enjoying the moment. Our breaths intertwined as our magic danced together, fainter than it would have been if she were truly in my arms. It was those little inconsistencies that reminded me this wasn’t reality, but it was close enough and the best I was going to get, so I didn’t give a flying fuck.
“Soon,” I promised, deciding it was time to tell Ciarán I was ready to leave, though I knew it wasn’t that easy. We had spies embedded in different areas of the commune, and I wouldn’t leave them behind.
Gripping my shirt, Nix pulled me after her as she stepped back, the scenery changing again as colors bled and mixed until we were standing in a large room with a rustic bed in the center and a low fire burning in the fireplace.
“Nix,” I warned, “don’t show me anything of importance that someone could glean from my thoughts.”
“I’m not,” she promised with a sly smile tipping her lips. “This is a room I saw once in an ad for Alaska back when I was first planning to move across the country. Since dreams let us create whatever we want, I thought it would be a good choice.”
Biting her lip, she glanced down, took control of the dream, and willed my shirt out of existence. My Basilisk hissed his approval, eager to claim his mate. In a brazen move, Nix placed her palms against my chest, her fingers flexing against my bare skin, and pushed me until the backs of my knees hit the side of the bed. Reclining onto the soft blanket, I met her gaze as she followed me down, her eyes shy even as she boldly straddled my waist. We hadn’t had much time to be together intimately, but I wanted to know this part of her, to physically show her how much I loved her. There was no need to be shy or hesitant.
Her dark, silken hair slipped off one shoulder to create a veil around us. The tresses were so long they brushed against the white comforter as she leaned over me. I gripped her hips, unable to resist the seduction of my gorgeous girl as I angled her over the erection I got the second I saw her.
I was so damn hot for this woman. I stared at her hungrily, my attention trailing down her body as I took in the generous curves of her breasts, the dip at her waist that gave her an hourglass figure, and the flare of full hips that led to an ass I wanted to worship. I wanted to will her clothing away and see all of her. I’d spent countless nights wondering what her breasts would look like, what she’d taste like when I finally got the chance to thrust my tongue between her sweet, luscious thighs. I’d imagined the feel of her silky heat more than once while I’d stroked myself, patiently waiting for the day we’d get to reunite and pick our relationship back up where we’d left off.
Nix gently rocked against me in a tantalizingly slow grind so innocent in nature, I grew impossibly harder.
“I need you, Joshua. I... I want you to come home... or here, I mean,” she stuttered, hastily trying to correct what she’d said.
“Nix.” I released her hip and reached up to cup her face. She nuzzled into my palm, staring down at me with a watery sheen in her eyes. “You are my home, honey. It doesn’t matter if we live in a ridiculously large mansion, a tent just big enough to fit the seven of us, or in that house in Anchorage you all share. The place doesn’t matter to me. As long as I have you and the guys… my family… I’ll always be home.” I guided her down and captured her lips, reveling in their pillowy softness before I tilted my head and deepened the kiss. Her tongue played with mine, teasing the sensitive spots she knew I loved so much. We nipped and dove and devoured each other as my hands roamed under the hem of her shirt to run over caramel skin, grazing softly over her back, then down until I gripped the curve of her ass as we writhed together.
“Pl... please,” she gasped, as I canted my hips into hers, loving the way her eyes were glazing over. “Come home to me,” she urged.
Shifting my hold, I let the pads of my thumbs tease her nipples through the layers separating us, loving the low moan she released as she closed her eyes.
“You have to come for me first,” I deflected, knowing I couldn’t promise her the answer I desperately wanted to give.
Adding my own bit of magic to our dream, I used Nix’s trick against her, divesting her of her shirt and jeans. The lacy underwear and bra she wore did it for me, and I groaned at the sight of her bronzed skin against the white fabric. I trailed my fingers down her body, slipped them inside the panties she wore, and stroked over her sex. She was slick and ready for me when I thrust them inside her heat, a rosy blush glowing in her cheeks as she gazed at me with a pleading love that stole my breath.
“Come home, Joshua,” she begged again.
We lost ourselves to the ebb and flow of pleasure, teasing, taking, and giving, and when she told me she loved me again, I soaked up every word, knowing that no matter how much time passed—a second, a day, a month—before I got to see her again, it would be much too long a wait.
“I love you, Nix.” The words were vehement on my tongue as the stars in the dusky night sky twinkled above. “And I’ll spend the rest of my life showing you just how much.”
The promise stayed with us until the dream faded like ash on the wind, becoming a mantra that gave me just enough hope to get through another day.
“I’ll be home soon,” I whispered, as the darkness of sleep claimed me.
I just needed to survive first.
Three
Nix
The dream slipped away like smoke waning on the breeze, lingering just long enough to keep me happy and comfortable until it was nothing more than a wisp that disappeared into the abyss.
I missed Joshua. My heart ached in my chest like a physical wound, and my soul yearned for his. It had been two long months since I’d laid eyes on him in real life, and these stolen moments were all we had getting us from one day to the next—thanks to Ciarán. Not long after we had begun our residence in the rebellion, Ciarán had approached me with an offer. Though we weren’t certain it would work at first, Ciar had been practicing linking minds and souls. I wasn’t sure how he managed it, but after nearly two months of honing his skills, he’d told me it was time. Since he had to speak to Joshua daily to get updates on the Council, all he had to do was pull me into the dream as well. While it hadn’t been exactly like reality, I’d fully taken advantage of getting to see my mate for the first time in weeks, eating up the sight of Joshua, feeling his lips on mine, and… other things. As embarrassing as it was that Ciarán had the ability to peek at our intimate moment, I knew he did his best to give us privacy, and though I would blush more frequently in the Celt’s presence, my embarrassment wasn’t thick enough to force me to pass up the opportunity. Surprisingly, Ciarán hadn’t teased me about it tonight—not a single fluffle comment. I wasn’t sure if it was because he was as embarrassed as I was, or if Rini had forbidden it—the two had been spending time together almost nonstop since our evacuation.