The Pledge (Virtus Book 5) #MFRWhooks

"Beaten at my own game...and by a woman no less!"

With a gasp, Chris woke up. The room was in darkness, the sole light coming from the embers in the cold fireplace. Outside,no sound broke the stillness of the night.

Shaking his head, he looked around in confusion.It had been a dream, another one, vivid and powerful, yes, still nothing real.Too bad it had left him wide-awake and with a nagging heartthrob that required getting up, and fast, too. Careful not to wake the others, Ylianor in particular who was pressing on his side, he left the bed and went to the main room. Wearing only a shirt, it was dead cold and too dark for his tastes, so he headed straight to the fireplace, filled with black cinders on top of a few pale red glints. Not a problem, though, not with the wood neatly stacked on aside. Nothing easier to stir the embers, blowing on them, to heat up everything, then let the flames hypnotic pull drag him into their special magic, the same he used to fall for when he was a kid and dreamt--

"Can't sleep, Angel?" The soft tone at his back made him spin around.

"Just a dream, nothing serious." Smiling broadly, Chris approached Duncan and placed a soft kiss on his lips. "Go back to sleep."

"A dream of...her?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." To hide his lie, Chris returned to watch the flames dancing more vigorously now that the fire had picked up.

"Angel, what's wrong?" From behind, Prince Caldwell embraced him at the waist.

"Nothing, really."

"Don't lie to me." With a firm clutch, he spun Chris around to face him. "Come on. If you can't talk to me, who can you talk to?"

"What's there to talk about?" Chris sighed."And, yes, it's about her. Everything lately is always about her."

"I know, and you're getting obsessed worst than I ever was about her."

"Me?" Chris took a step back. "No, I--"

"Come here." Prince Caldwell brought him to the couch and waited for him to sink in the soft cushions before plopping down next to him.

"She's so goddamn frustrating. Every time I look in her eyes, it's like looking at myself." Chris leaned forward to stress his point. "She's so fucking similar to me all I want to do is punish her..." When not crush her to bits. "But the more I do, the less I can hurt her."

"Would it be better if she hated you?"

"Yes, I can relate to that."

"Bullshit!" His lips curved in an ironic snarl."You just want to fuck the shit out of her while your knife shreds her to bits." Firmly clutching his shoulder, the leader held on to him. "Isn't that why you've been acting like an ass lately?"

"Just because I keep my distance--"

"Oh, no, I'm talking in the dreams."

"How do you know?" Angrily, Chris pushed him back.

"I was in both of them--when you threw her into your fire and this last one."

"As if all our sharing wasn't enough! Do we also have to spy on each other's dreams now?" Chris snapped. "Isn't staying together the whole damn day not enough anymore?"

"For you, it isn't." Fending off Chris's hands,Duncan grabbed his arms. "'Cause you're the one sending those dreams out of your hunger to possess her in a way only you can."

"So what if I did?" Defiant, Chris struggled to get free without much success. "I can't help it, same way I couldn't when I massacred an innocent kitten."

"Was that your first time?"