Chapter Five
Joran watched Nicole from a distance through the smoky white fog that always filled the area around them whenever they shared a dream. The strange white space seemed to be exactly nowhere, but she was always waiting for him at night.
It was the very place he knew she would be in the dream. Some might claim it wasn’t reality, but how could he deny the nocturnal connection linking him to his Vestal?
He’d seen the woman so many times now but still couldn’t quite figure her out. The dream Nicole seemed to contrast with the woman he’d dealt with in Eagle Ride. Here, Nicole was beautiful, just as she was outside, but also graceful. Long, flowing honey-colored hair cascaded down her slender frame. It was such a contrast from the strong woman he’d been talking to in his waking life just hours before.
Reality and fantasy. Both the dream and the waking life felt real.
Nicole turned to look at him, her deep green eyes pinning him. A smile played on her lips and sent a jolt right to his cock. Never in his life had he felt an attraction like this. There was just something about the woman that pulled him in, and no matter how much he told himself that he wasn’t there for that, he still felt the strength of the connection they shared pressing him to make her his.
She was his Vestal, the other half of his soul. He wouldn’t be complete until she had him, and the same for her.
In fact, in the dream space, the longing was stronger. He could feel the need pulsing through him, the call of the Vestal to her hybrid.
“You came,” Nicole whispered. She stepped over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Her warm form pressed against him, and despite himself, he pulled her more snugly against his hard body. Just having her curves fit against him was like being able to breathe again after suffocating for years. The feeling overwhelmed him for a moment.
Every alarm in his head always went off at the sight of her. The animal-like side of him knew that this could be dangerous each time they met, but his body always seemed to have a mind of its own, and his instincts took precedence.
Joran leaned in and breathed in a soft hint of lavender, a scent he’d come to know as hers. He craved the smell as if it were vital to his own existence.
“I always come,” he mumbled against her neck. “I will always come, Nicole.”
She shivered in her arms. Her nipples pebbled against his chest through her sheer green nightgown. He was playing a dangerous game, but he wasn’t sure if he cared.
Nothing had really happened between them the times they had met. Mostly they just reveled in the feel of the other person. On occasion they had kissed, but Nicole was shy, more so than he would have expected.
She pulled back to stare at Joran before leaning in and pressing her mouth against his. He sighed at the feel of her sweet lips and let her take the lead. The kiss was soft and chaste. It didn’t come with the passion the hybrid craved.
After a moment Nicole pulled back and placed her head against his chest. Her fingers traced the bright blue lines on his dark chest. In the dream, he didn’t have to hide his true nature from the world. They were just two people seeking something more.
“You always make me feel so…” Nicole began. She sighed and let her hand rest against his chest. For a moment, Joran wondered if she could feel how hard his heart beat under her palm.
“I know,” he said softly.
Nicole didn’t have to say it. He knew what she was thinking.
Complete.
Being near her gave him something he’d never had before and didn’t even know he wanted. A place to just be himself. In the group he had a role. In society, he had a role. But here, in the dream with her, he was free to be the man he wanted to be, not what he was told he needed to be.
It had been so hard to let Nicole leave the jail earlier. Two times in the night, she had been in danger in front of him. Just thinking about it made him worry all over again. Knowing she might be at risk again, the hybrid could hardly contain himself.
Unable to restrain himself any longer, Joran pulled back slightly and leaned down to capture her mouth. Unlike the kiss they had just shared, his was demanding. He teased the line of her lips with his tongue and groaned loudly when she opened to him.
Their tongues swirled together in her mouth. Her hands moved over his chest to his arms, teasing the muscles as she did so. The feel of it was all so very real.
His cock pressed desperately between them, aching to be buried deep inside of her. Even if it were only a dream, it all felt so real, and the emotional connection wasn’t a phantom. Nicole wasn’t a fragment of his imagination. She was real, and they were together, their hybrid and Vestal bond reaching past simple reality to something deeper.
Nicole reached around Joran’s neck and pulled him toward her, taking them both to the ground as he pressed his hard body between her open thighs, her breath quickening.
His hard length pressed against her heat, and he cursed the damned pants he was wearing. More than anything, he desperately wanted to watch her come undone in his arms, to scream and moan his name.
Nicole pulled her mouth from his, but he didn’t stop. Instead he trailed soft, wet kisses along the side of her neck, all the way down until he’d reached the hard peaks through the thin green material.
Joran glanced up her body. Her soft green eyes fixed on him.
Slowly he leaned down and covered her hard nipple with his mouth. Instantly she bucked under him, grinding her center against his thick cock as he nibbled the tender peak.
A low, deep growl filled his chest as she continued to move her hips against him. The wet spot on the front of her gown grew with her excitement. The scent of her wet heat lingered around them.
“Yes,” Nicole hissed. Her legs locked around him as she centered herself over him, desperate for a release.
Joran switched to the other nipple, his cock now eager to be released from its confines.
He nipped a little harder at her nipple and was rewarded with a small yelp as she came undone around him. Her whole body shook as her release ripped through her.
It was the first time he’d seen her like this. They’d always stopped just before, but tonight was different. Tonight, she was the one looking for more, and it was hard for him not to give her exactly what she wanted. The beast within him yearned to be with his other half, and he’d fulfill that need however he could.
Another low, deep growl reverberated in his chest as she reached between their bodies to stroke his still jeans-clad cock.
“More,” Nicole mumbled against his neck, her hot, wet mouth tasting the skin there.
Fuck, he was going to come right there if she didn’t stop.
“I don’t even care if it’s real,” Nicole whispered. “I don’t care if it’s a dream. I need you.”
The hybrid sucked in a breath and stilled. In his mind, they were one. It was clear they were meant to be, but this wasn’t how he wanted it to happen.
He wanted Nicole to know it was him, really him, and not just something she thought was a nighttime ghost in her mind. He needed her to look him in the eye and know that it wasn’t just a dream but forever.
Joran sighed loudly. It was time for the truth.
“Nicole,” he said. “I have something I need to tell you.”
The world around them shifted. The soft white around them faded, and a smoky haze replaced it.
The hybrid’s heart kicked up. He stood and pulled Nicole against him. A sense of foreboding and dread filled him.
Joran stared down at Nicole. He could see her fear written all over her face.
“Wake up,” he said. “It’s not safe here anymore.”
Nicole frowned. “What?”
Joran brought his face in closer. “You need to wake up, Nicole.” He glanced over his shoulder at the growing blackness behind him. “Now!”
As if his words had slapped her awake, Nicole blinked out of his arms. Joran turned once again toward the growing mass and stared deep inside. Two bright burning blue orbs stared back at him, and he knew instantly who it was.
“Erebus.”