Page 152 of In Somnis

Absolutely nothing.

I shift my weight and switch the lollipop to the other cheek, staring at the crystal even harder, watching it bounce between her tits—up, down, up—like it’s mocking me with physics.

Okay. New plan. I’m going to wake her up. End this before I do something irreversibly stupi⁠—

“Ridge.” My name in her mouth, in that voice, stops every thought I’ve ever had.

My eyes find hers, and they’re open, locked on me. Hazy, pupils blown wide, dark enough that the kitchen light barely reflects in them. There’s no surprise or confusion, only raw, glassy want.

Is she lucid?

I watch her as if she were a bomb. Her gaze stays on mine, soft and unfocused at the edges. She’s not scanning the room or questioning why I’m here. She’s just… reaching. One hand sliding across the marble toward me, fingers trembling, while Shaw keeps that steady, deep rhythm, and she keeps making those greedy, throat-caught sounds.

Fuck.

“I see you’re having fun,” I say, because sarcasm is the only muscle still working. “Don’t let me interrupt.”

She moans again and stretches farther.

I take one involuntary step closer. “Are you…” I yank the lollipop out, voice rougher than I want it to be. “Are you lucid, Lennon?”

No answer. Just those eyes drinking me in, while her thighs part wider around Shaw.

The wet sound of him moving in her is obscene.

My hand drops, the heel of my palm grinding hard against the aching length of my cock through my jeans because the alternative is coming in my pants like a teenager.

She’s not lucid. She’s dreaming me here, pulling me into her fantasy as if I’m a prop, which should piss me off and make it easier to walk away from.

“Ridge… please…”

Jesus Christ.

“Hey.” I move beside her, close enough to see the sweat beading along her collarbone and lock my eyes on her face. “Lennon, I need you to question this, okay? I can’t leave. Your dream’s got me pinned. I swear, I’m not here on purpose, and I’m really fucking trying not to make this worse, but⁠—”

Her hand closes around my wrist and drags the lollipop to her mouth.

Her lips wrap around it, her tongue curling slowly against the sour edge, sucking with the same lazy greed she’s giving Shaw. A tiny hum of pleasure vibrates through the candy and straight into my bones.

I stare down at her.

She stares up, her eyes soft and heavy-lidded as she pulls off with a soft pop, lips shiny, and whispers, “I need you too.”

I’m going to die here.

“Lennon.” My voice comes out low. “Question it. Look at your hands. Don’t you want to ask yourself why you’re getting fucked on a kitchen counter and sucking on my… shit.” I pull the lollipop back with a willpower I didn’t know I had. “Is this a memory dream? Did he actually…” I glance at Nevan with what I hope reads as clinical detachment. “Did you guys fuck in waking life?”

She just rolls her hips, chasing the thrust, eyes never leaving mine.

I have to give the boy credit. His stamina is actually impressive.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

“Ridge,” she breathes. “Please. Need you.”

She wants me.

Even not lucid, even dreaming with another man inside her, she’s reaching for me. That lands somewhere I’d prefer it didn’t.