Page 31 of Sweet Dreams

I needed to be there for her.

I needed her.

Which meant, I needed to wait until later to lose control. When I knew that I had kept her safe. Then, and only then, would I deserve her. But, at the same time, I wanted to ask her what she meant. I was dying to hear it.

But first, her head.

I stroked my hand down Lulu’s sleeve until I found her cool fingers. Capturing them, I curled my hands around them, my much warmer body warming hers, even more so when I brought our combined grip up to my mouth where I could breathe out over them, as if this tiny little task might help throw the scales in her direction.

“Sweet girl,” her grandmother said softly, her magic settling over the pair of them. It was a vague itch at the back of my throat, goosebumps rising along my forearm. Her eyes jumped to meet mine, sharp assessment shining out of them. “You’re going to be just fine.” she said, voice solemn, each syllable weighted down in magic. My shoulders sagged, my body relaxing as her magic affected not only my mate, but myself as well.

“How do you know?” I asked, my words slurred as I leaned forward, my forehead coming to rest against Lulu’s belly. My lower half folded, letting me down to the carpeted floor. I was so relaxed, my body humming in delight at both the onslaught of my mate’s touch, coupled with the relief that she was going to be okay.

The old woman laughed, groaning as she straightened. From my limited view, I watched her move towards me. Instinctively, I moved away from her hands, but she ignored me, pressing her palms against my hair.

“Because, darling, you two are meant to be. I have seen what it looks like to deny yourself your mate, your true partner,” Her hands patted my head once again, “Don’t make the mistakes I made. You can’t keep hiding yourself from her.”

I remembered the dream we’d been in. The way her face had changed. When she recognized me. Because she had. There was no hiding that.

“I won’t. Not anymore.”

“Good job,” she said, a sigh filling the space between us. “You rest with her. I’ll wake you up if anything happens.”

I wasn’t sure what would happen, but I trusted her to keep us safe. And as my eyes shuttered once more, my mind focused on the one thing that I still couldn’t make sense of. Because if her grandmother was a witch, and she really was Lulu’s grandmother…that meant my mate wasn’t as human as she believed. And that meant there was more than one secret that needed revealing.

***

Lulu

Everything was fuzzy when I opened my eyes. At first, I was half-convinced that I’d thrown a sheet over my face in my sleep. But, I blinked, my hands moving up to push that sheet aside and found only warm, strong hands that sealed over my wrists. “Easy, easy. You’re safe. You’re at home.”

Zaldi was there, his grip softening as I blinked rapidly, letting the dregs of sleep pull away from my mind. “You’re here.”

His face came into view, his familiar little smile making my own lips curve. “I’m here.”

Gigi was there too, her hand smoothing my hair back from my face before pressing a kiss on top of my forehead. “There you are, Lulu. Glad you’re back in the world of the waking.”

I sighed, feeling the warmth of her presence wash over me, even as she pulled away. “Was it that bad?” But even as my hand moved back to touch the back of my head, Zaldi’s hand tightened on them, keeping me still.

“Z?”

“I’m going to leave you two to talk,” Gigi was saying, her voice fading. “We’ll be back late tonight. When we can talk.”

There was a click of the door closing, and I looked back to Zaldi. His face looked..different. I squinted at him, trying to bring him into focus, but it was like he was part of a trippy photo filter, his face fading in and out of focus, then darkening to a deep red. A moment later, it snapped back to the face I knew.

But…I’m remembering something now. Like ripples in a pond, memories began to surface. Zaldi’s voice, his laugh, his warmth, filtered into my mind like tiny droplets, until my mind was awash with him. But, these memories, they were filling in now, were moments with him far beyond our time here in Salus Glen. From my dreams.

I gently tugged my wrists out of his grip, moving to sit up on the sofa. He helped me, his hands still gentle as he guided my hips back until he rested his arms on either side of my closed thighs, his head tipped up to me.

“What do you remember?”

“You, I remember you.” I licked my lips, they were so dry, just like my throat. Suddenly, everything was tight, drawn severe in the moment as I stared down at this man I liked so much. “But not you?” My hand reached out, fingers ghosting across his cheekbone. In the wake of my touch, his skin showed a brilliant red.

I gasped, but didn’t pull away, letting my hand continue to trace across his skin, watching it change at my touch. I swallowed, trying desperately to wet my aching throat. “How long have you known?”

“Since you called me here.”

My lips jumped, tears pricking the backs of my eyelids. “I called you here?”