Oliver

Would it be wrong to say I was looking forward to sleep for the first time in a long while? I spent most of my life waiting for one woman. When she crushed me by deciding to stay with my enemy, it was hard to deal with. No, we aren’t of the world she grew up in, and no, she didn’t even know about me. But I knew of her. I knew she would be confused when she came here and wouldn’t know anything about us. I wanted to show her everything. I wanted to be hers. She was already mine in my mind. Too bad fate had other plans for me. Is Addi a part of that plan? I can’t help but wonder.

No other woman has ever made me feel anything for them, until her. With Ali, it wasn’t the same. She never wanted me, never kissed me. My heart and pride took an arrow, but maybe I can finally move on.

What I feel for Addison, I cannot put a name on. When we touch, there is a spark that rushes through my entire being. It’s addictive and I want to feel it again and again. There’s also this mysterious air about her, which I want to figure out. She’s so much more than the tough exterior she projects. With Addison on my mind, sleep finally claims me.

I’m on the border of the Pine and Azure. No one is around. No sounds of animals scurrying underfoot, not of horse hooves in the distance, or dragon wings overhead. I don’t want to move and risk not seeing Addi. Of course, this could all be for naught and she won’t appear at all. There is no way to know for certain.

Deciding it’s best to stay put, I lean my back against one of our towering pine trees and wait for her. Then she appears within the mist that’s gathered across the field. She’s walking slowly toward me; her hips swaying from side to side in the most seductive way. Her long, chestnut hair is lying straight over her shoulders. In typical fashion, she’s wearing a navy blue, long-sleeved shirt and black pants. Looking down, I notice I’m no better in a deep green shirt. Not the exact colors of our kingdoms, but both respectively blue and green and shades we, and our people, wear often.

She stops a few feet from me. “Oliver.”

“Addison.”

“How do I know this isn’t a regular dream?”

I push off of the tree and walk to her, stopping just shy of our bodies touching. My eyes gaze down into hers. “Whose dragon did you fly back on after we were almost attacked by the trelktik?”

Her eyes widen. “Elliott’s.”

“And what did I do to the one who almost got you, while you were on your way to safety?”

“You burned it. Well, you didn’t. Your dragon did. But you could just be saying this in my mind. You might not really be here.”

I reach out and take her hand in mine. The current between us flares to life. “And this?” I look down at our hands.

“I can’t explain it, but it’s very real.”

I nod. “And now you know this isn’t an ordinary dream. This is us meeting in each other’s minds while we’re sleeping. Us, not a version of us we have no control over. What happens here, in this space, is all our doing.”

“So you’re saying everything I do while here, is because I want to. Not because my mind conjured something up.”

“Yes.”

“And no one will see us?”

I look around; still not a soul in sight. “Appears that way.”

She starts walking around me in lazy circles, while her fingers comb through her hair. Each piece looks like silk and I have the urge to run my fingers through it. “I don’t know if I should be talking to you,” she states. “Even if this is only a dream. I can’t easily forget all that has happened between our kingdoms. Death brought by your sword to our men.”

I stop her by gripping her wrist in my hand. She looks up at me with those eyes, which resemble a clear blue sky. “Why the change? Earlier you were all too quick to accept my kiss. Yet now you want to dance around me as if this is a game. Is that all I am to you? A game?”

She jerks her hand free from my hold and her body takes on a hard stance. This is the Addison everyone knows of. The one who doesn’t back down; who can hold her own. “It certainly is not. I don’t go around kissing multiple men, Oliver.”

“That’s right. Only Wesley. You are with him, aren’t you?”

“I am, not that it’s any business of yours.”

This time I don’t go for her wrist. I wrap an arm around her waist and pull her body flush against mine. “Does he make you feel like I do?” She starts to struggle, but it’s not done in earnest. The moment my lips touch her skin, she becomes pliant in my arms.

I bend and trail kisses along the soft spot below her ear then down her neck. She shudders slightly beneath my touch. “Does your body react to his, like it does mine?”

I kiss a path back up to her jaw and lightly graze her lips. “Does he make your blood burn with yearning when he’s near?”

My tongue traces the outline of her mouth. She parts her succulent lips, allowing me access to her. She begins to explore my mouth. Our tongues touch and dance a wild beat. My mind has checked out; my body is in full control now.

She moans into my mouth as my hands begin to rove her lush body. Her slim waist flares slightly to her hips and her round, yet firm buttocks. Taking ahold of her, I pull her into my pelvis and shamelessly move my body. She feels so good in my arms, so right against me. I want to remove all her clothing and explore every inch of her.

Her arms snake around my neck, holding me tight. I break the kiss to make my way down her neck again. With slow steps, I walk her backward until we are shrouded in the pine trees, her back pressed against one of their trunks.

“Does he make you moan while you still have your clothes on?”

“Oliver, please,” she says in between short pants of breath.

“Please what, love?”

“Please touch me.”

Lifting her shirt, my hands slide along her soft skin, as my mouth kisses a path along the top of each plump breast. My hands glide up to cup her mounds; my thumb skims along the fabric over each nipple before hooking into the cups and pulling them down to expose her to the warm air. My lips find one of her taut peaks, sucking it into my mouth. Her skin is sweet like honey and I want more. I swirl my tongue over her nipple, as my other hand teases her other breast, causing her to arch into me.

Delicate hands grip my face, pulling me up to meet her lips once again. My pelvis grinds into her stomach and it’s my turn to moan. I want this woman badly, but I’m not taking her now, and not in a dream.

With all the willpower I can muster, I pull back from her and rest my forehead against hers. “I will not go any further with you.”

She’s trying to catch her breath; her chest heaves between us. “Why not?”

“Because if, and when, we are together, it will be in our real lives, not in a dream. It will also be when you are fully mine and no one else’s. You can either be with him or be with me. There is no in between.”

Shoving me, she pushes off of the tree and walks away, stopping only when she gets to the tree line. I follow her, not willing to let this dream end yet. I cannot stand being this close to her and not touch her. When I reach her, I stand at her back and wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her into my chest.

“You know as well as I do that there can be no us,” she says, as she looks out to the grassy hills. In the distance, the mist has cleared and I can barely make out the azure flowers which grow wildly.

“Everything is different now. The peace treaty has been signed. We are one realm, no longer divided.”

“You’ve killed my people, Oliver.”

“I’ve killed members of your army for trying to end my life and those of my men. It’s what happens in war.”

“I’m well aware of what happens in war, but that doesn’t cleanse the blood from your hands.”

My eyes squeeze shut. “If you only knew of the memories I have, and how those lives which I took still haunt me, but I made a vow, Addison. I vowed to protect my land and my king. I’ve led our men in many battles. It was them or us.”

She turns to face me. “And what about Ali? Have you forgotten about her so soon? I seem to remember you pining over her, even when you knew she was to be wed to my brother.”

I have two choices. One, I can pretend that Alison no longer matters. Or two, I can tell Addison the truth. I choose the truth. Lying to her will get me nowhere.

“What I’m about to tell you is something I don’t go around speaking of. It’s something I keep to myself and is very private. The reason I’m telling you is because it does involve Alison, but also you.” I close my eyes for a brief moment and hope I’m making the right decision. There’s something between Addison and me, which I’m not willing to let go of.

“As you know, Ali was promised to me long ago. She may not have known I existed, but I sure knew of her. She was to be mine. You can imagine how I felt when I found out she was finally coming to our realm, yet when she got here, she didn’t end up choosing me. Since the moment I laid eyes on her, I wanted her to be my wife.” Addi turns from me, however I gently move her face back. I want her to see that I mean what I’m about to say.

“I thought the day of her wedding was going to be the most painful day of my life. It wasn’t. Do you know why?” She shakes her head. “You. I touched you, and everything changed. Ali was blocked from my mind in that moment and only you existed. Since then, I can’t stop thinking of you. Do I have moments where I think of Ali, as well? Yes. How could I not? The pain of losing her is still there, but each encounter I have with you, whether awake or asleep, you take up more of my mind. I want to see and touch you. I want to feel the current race through my body when my skin meets yours. I’ve never been with a woman, Addison. Not intimately. I saved myself for Ali. Only she might not have been the one I was waiting for.”

She gasps. “But that means…not any other woman? None at all?”

“Don’t look so stunned, love. It’s not as if there weren’t any opportunities. I know I can go back to my castle and easily find a woman who wants to be with me. I’m the head of the king’s army. Women practically throw themselves at me.”

With narrowed eyes, she asks, “Is it necessary to tell me that?”

“I think it is. You see, I don’t want those other women. Not when I have you in my arms.”

“I’m not yours, Oliver.”

I cock my head to the side. “Maybe not yet, but I do enjoy a challenge.”

“I’m not something you win. I’m a person.”

“Believe me, I know. You are a gorgeous woman, full of fire and passion. One I want with an unbridled need.”

“We can’t keep doing this. Nothing good will come from us being together.” She shoves at me, and I let my arms fall to my sides as she walks past me. For now I’ll let her go. She has a lot to digest after all I’ve told her.

She stomps deeper into the forest. The mist appears again. Before I know it, she is gone from my dream and I’m left all alone.