I blinked, startled by the shift. Then gaped at the three shirtless men in Kols’s bed.
“This must be a dream,” I whispered to myself, noting their chiseled features and gorgeous faces.
Kols with his auburn locks of thick hair and golden irises.
Zeph with his dark strands and forest-green eyes.
And Shade with that perpetual smirk and icy gaze. He sat against the bedpost at the foot of the bed, his legs clad in a pair of black boxers.
Kols and Zeph were against the headboard, the silky sheets low on their hips and leaving a suggestion of nudity below.
I glanced down to find myself similarly dressed in a threadbare tank top and boy shorts, nothing else. My lips twisted in consideration. “I’m usually naked in our dreams.”
“We’re ensuring that we don’t deviate from the purpose of this dream,” Zeph said.
“Oh.” I cleared my throat. “Well, you all are…” I waved a hand at their bare chests and cleared my throat again. “Sorry. What’s the purpose of what now?”
Kols chuckled. “I think she’s fine, Zeph.”
“Come here, pixie flower,” my Warrior Blood mate demanded, holding out his arm.
Normally, I’d balk at him, but I really wanted to comply this time. So I shuffled toward the bed and crawled on top of him to steal a much-needed hug. Although, I couldn’t remember why I wanted one. And touching him had my eyes welling up with tears.
I buried my face in the crook of his neck, inhaling his familiar scent, and shuddered against him.
“I don’t think she’s fine at all,” he said, his arms closing around me in an embrace underlined in heat and power.
Safe, I thought. I feel safe here.
Among my mates.
Except, it wasn’t real. This was all in my head, and that caused my heart to ache with a sense of acute loss. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” I admitted, swallowing thickly. “I… I… feel… I feel so sad.”
“He’s enchanted her mind,” Shade murmured, his voice low. “I can see the bands of his magic threaded through her thoughts.”
“He?” I repeated. “He who?”
“Zakkai,” Zeph said, palming my cheeks to pull my gaze to his. “He’s taken you to a paradigm. I could feel your pain. Did he hurt you?”
“P-paradigm?” I recognized that term. But I couldn’t define it. Just as I knew Zakkai, yet his description remained just out of reach. “This…” I trailed off, frowning.
Everything was so dreamy and perfect and pretty.
My mates were mostly naked.
Mmm, I wanted to lick them all.
Wait, I thought, shaking my head. That’s not right.
I’d gone from… from something… to… Did they all have to be so distracting? “You all need clothes.”
Kols reached for me, the inky lines along his arms writhing with hypnotic power. Zeph released my face, his hands dropping to my hips. I glanced down, noting how I straddled his thighs.
Why am I wearing clothes? I wondered, biting my lip. That’s not the point of dreams. I should be naked. But didn’t I just tell them…?
I flinched as Kols’s palm met my cheek. His skin burned against mine, his power a shock wave that yanked a gasp from my throat. “Oh!” I arched upward and nearly fell, but Zeph’s hand landed on my lower back, holding me steady.
Energy hummed through me, magic warring deep inside my soul.