I collapse back, panting, but Reve is already moving forward again, ready to give me more.
But something’s different, and there’s a mischievous look in his eyes as he glances up at me. “Dream mate, I have something to tell you.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Yes?” My voice is still raspy from release.
He kisses my sex gently. “I’m ready to start my mate pursuit.” He starts to lick over me again, but I push back instantly, getting as far from him on the bed as I can.
I knew this moment was coming, but I’m still unprepared for it.
Besides, after weeks of doing this in my dreams, I don’t know how to give him up.
But I can’t give him what he wants either.
He came to this world with two friends. And he has had his friend Jerrek doing safety surveillance, so he knows nothing about my life.
He said he wanted to go into the mate pursuit blind and learn everything about me then.
And there are some pretty important things he doesn’t know.
So I can never be with him outside the dream realm, and… I had hoped we’d have longer before this moment came. While Lorien was pursuing his mate, who is my friend, Tess, Reve said he couldn’t yet start his mate pursuit.
Maybe I hoped Jerrek would go next, give me more time with Reve. More time to explain things or even figure out what to explain.
I don’t want to disappoint him. I look over his gorgeous hair, his gorgeous face, and that kind smile, those lips that always ask me what I’m wanting and then give it to me.
“Dream mate, are you all right? Jen?” He shakes his head. “I’m sorry, it’s hard to get used to. I’ve been calling you dream mate in my mind for almost a thousand years.”
That’s the other thing I feel terrible about. How long he has waited for me.
I didn’t know he existed, so I didn’t wait for him.
I push my dress back down over my legs, heart pounding, still flushed from orgasm as I try to figure out what to say to him.
“What is wrong? I thought you’d be happy,” he says, reaching up to brush my hair behind my ear.
When I don’t respond, he moves forward and picks me up, cradling me in his lap like I’m tiny. Like I’m helpless.
But I’m not. In my real life, everything is on my back.
Still, I sink into him and enjoy his warmth a little longer before I say what I inevitably have to say.
“I’m sorry, Reve,” I say. “I can’t be with you in the real world. Please don’t leave me, though.”
“I couldn’t leave you, dream mate, not in a million years. But why? Why can’t we be in your world?” He’s slightly pale as though the news is definitely affecting him.
“I just—” I push back with one hand against him, regretting it when the heat in me only starts again. He gets a wicked look in his eyes, and I stifle it with a sad look at him. “There are things you don’t know about me. Things you can’t know. Things I don’t want you to know.”
“I could never do anything you don’t want, soul bond.”
“What is that?” I ask, resting against his chest again for as long as I can. “You call me dream mate or soul bond, but how are they different?”
“Dream mate refers only to dream fae. To the mates they see in their dreams at the completion of their training.”
“That’s right. You train to do things like this, don’t you?”
He nods. “Very hard.” He bites his lower lip, thinking for a moment. “Soul bond is more complicated. It’s the deepest bond a fae warrior can have. But in other kingdoms, fae mate by resonance. Just a feeling of their magic calling to another. You are my soul bond, and I do resonate with you, but aside from that, you are my dream mate. My one and only.” He strokes a hand through my hair and goes to kiss me again.
I let him, heat surging through me. Safety falling over me, urgency filling me.
I wrap my hand around his neck and kiss him passionately, letting us just fall into each other.
“I will wait a little longer,” he says, brushing against my lips lightly, tickling me with his breath. “But dream mate, you have to let me into your world. It is hard for you there. I could help you—”
I jerk back to look at him. “You haven’t—”
“I know nothing,” he says, stroking my hair and cradling my head firmly as he brings me back to the kiss. His lips cover mine, and I settle in against him, letting out a pleased moan. “I’ll do as you wish, dream mate, and stay in your dreams for now. But eventually, I am going to see and know your world. I just don’t know why you won’t let me.”
I brush his cheek, savoring the soft skin there, touching his surreal hair.
If only we could be in my world together. But I guess this will only last as long as I can keep him from knowing the truth.
That he waited a thousand years for me, but I didn’t wait at all.
And the proof of it is waiting at home. And that proof is the center of my world, the reason I do everything.
It’s too bad my two loves can never meet.
“Let’s not let it ruin the moment,” I say, looking into his teal eyes. “I need this. This time with you—”
“Then I’m here as long as you need me,” he says, moving his lips to brush my neck, making me shudder in anticipation. “But if you would let me into your world, I promise I could help even more.”
“I don’t want to talk about my world,” I say. “Please, don’t take this moment from me.”
He smiles at me. “I could never. After a thousand years, I’m just grateful every time you’re in my arms.” He releases me and lays me back,
