Page 102 of Ex Somnis

“Oh, do we?” The corner of his mouth tilts up.

“Yep.” I hold his gaze, and something shifts in his expression. The overwhelmed look softens into something else entirely. “I also have a new rule.”

“You made rules with my subconscious?”

“No. I want to make one with your lucid mind.”

“Okay.” He reaches up and strokes a strand of hair from my forehead. “What rule?”

“Never question that I want you.”

He hums, then lets his thumb glide over the bridge of my nose. “Rule four. Never question that I love you.”

I look at him with wide eyes, but he immediately kisses me before I can respond.

Coward.

I kiss him back anyway.

And then I feel it. A thread, coming alive in my chest, thin at first. Something that hums whenever he touches me.

My breath catches because I know this feeling. Not exactly, but enough. It’s the same feeling as the thing that pulls me toward Tessa. The thing that made me drive across the country. The thing that refused to let me leave.

Oh.

Oh.

I pull back enough to stare at him. “Nev.”

His hands settle on my waist. “What?”

“You’re my tether.”

“I don’t know what that is, baby. But I’m everything you want me to be.”

I laugh and lean back in to kiss him harder.

“How sweet.”

I freeze.

Lucien’s voice comes from behind us, and I turn to look at him. He’s standing at the edge of the cloud floor with his hands loose at his sides, watching us with something that isn’t quite a smile. His green eyes move slowly over my face, then over Nevan, then back to me.

“How long have you been here?” I ask as I get off Nevan’s lap, step in front of him, and cross my arms.

Nevan’s hands find my hips from behind, gently pushing me to the side as he stands.

“I just arrived.” A slight tilt of the head.

Nevan glances at me. “Who is this?”

“Oh, that wounds me. I spent years in your subconscious, Nevan Shaw. And you don’t even remember my face.”

“I don’t,” Nevan says, eyes flicking to me again.

“But I remember you, and all the fun we had together.” Lucien’s gaze slides to me. “I mentioned to our Lenny that I’d been feeling bored. I thought perhaps we could have a little more fun.”

“Leave,” I say flatly.