Waking Wrong

"Dreams are supposed to be an escape. In Clivilius, they're just another way the place gets inside your head."

Movement in the water stirred me from my half-sleep.

I lay on my back near the lagoon's edge, close enough to hear the soft lapping of waves against the shore but careful to keep my body on dry ground. The lessons of my first encounter hadn't been forgotten — the lagoon's waters did things to you, things that bypassed consent and rational thought and left you gasping and humiliated in front of people you'd rather not have witnessed your complete loss of control.

A small wave reached further than expected, the water brushing against my toes before retreating.

The sensation hit me like a live wire.

Pleasure jolted through the tips of my feet, electric and immediate, racing up my legs and settling somewhere in my groin with a promise of more to come. I sucked in a breath, my body already responding to that brief contact, that teasing hint of what the lagoon could offer.

I opened one eye, then the other, my gaze sweeping across the still surface.

A head was emerging from the water.

Red hair appeared first, plastered to a face I knew better than my own reflection. The strands clung to her cheeks, framing features that had haunted my dreams since the moment I'd fallen through that portal. She rose slowly, deliberately, water cascading down her skin in rivulets that caught the light and turned her body into something luminous.

"Brianne?"

My voice came out cracked, disbelieving. I pushed myself up onto my elbows, my heart slamming against my ribs with enough force to bruise.

"What the hell? What are you doing here?"

The question was absurd. She couldn't be here. There was no way she could be here. And yet there she was, rising from the lagoon like something out of mythology, her hazel eyes locked on mine with an intensity that made my mouth go dry.

"Shh," she hushed me, one finger pressing against her lips.

That smile. That coy, knowing smile that she wore when she wanted something and knew exactly how to get it. I'd seen it a thousand times — in our bedroom, in the shower, in the back seat of my ute that one time we'd parked by the river and steamed up all the windows.

Larger ripples spread outward as she began walking toward me, each step slow and deliberate, her hips swaying with a rhythm that seemed designed to short-circuit my brain. The water level dropped with each pace forward, revealing more of her body inch by excruciating inch.

My gaze travelled down from her eyes, following the curve of her neck to the small purple bikini top that struggled to contain her breasts. The fabric strained against her curves, the swell of flesh threatening to spill over the edges with every breath she took.

They fit so perfectly.

The thought arrived unbidden, and I felt myself grinning like an idiot. God, I'd missed her. Missed the sight of her, the smell of her, the feel of her skin against mine. Two days without her felt like two years, a drought that had left me parched and desperate.

Water ran down her stomach in lazy trails, following the contours of her body like fingers tracing familiar paths. As she continued her approach, her thighs brushed together with each step, the motion drawing my attention to the flimsy triangle of fabric that covered the junction of her legs.

I needed to move.

The realisation cut through my arousal with a blade of self-preservation. Whatever was happening here — dream, hallucination, impossible miracle — I didn't want the lagoon's influence contaminating it. The feelings surging through me needed to be real, needed to be about her and not some supernatural aphrodisiac working its way through my bloodstream.

I slid backwards across the dust, putting a full body length between myself and the water's edge. My movements were clumsy, graceless, driven by a desperation that had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with wanting this moment to be pure.

Brianne reached the shore, her body fully revealed, and stopped. The water barely covered her feet now, droplets still sliding down her calves and disappearing into the shallows.

"The lagoon's waters don't simply influence our physical sensualities," she said, her voice low and husky, the sound of it vibrating through me like a tuning fork. "It doesn't diminish any part of your being, it enhances what already exists within."

Her hand moved to her chest, palm pressing flat against the swell of her breast, fingers splayed across the damp fabric. The gesture was intimate, possessive, a reminder that this body belonged to her and she could do whatever she wanted with it.

A shiver ran through me despite the warmth of the air.

"I do love you. Very much," I heard myself say, the words thick with emotion that went beyond the physical hunger clawing at my insides.

"I know," Brianne replied.

Her hand began to move, trailing down from her breast, tracing the curve of her waist, following the flare of her hip. When it reached her stomach, she paused, her palm pressing flat against the slight swell there.

"I am carrying your child."

The words hit me somewhere deep, a place that the lagoon couldn't touch. Our daughter. Growing inside her, protected by her body, waiting for a father who might never make it home. The ache of that thought mixed with the desire still pounding through my veins, creating something complicated and raw that I couldn't begin to untangle.

Brianne's left hand extended toward me, fingers curling in a beckoning gesture that sent heat pooling in my groin.

"Come here, Kain."

I shifted uncomfortably, my body responding to her invitation even as my mind threw up warning flags. The memory of what had happened last time — the overwhelming sensation, the loss of control, the mortifying conversation with Uncle Jamie afterward — was still fresh enough to make me hesitate.

"I'm not sure I should go in the water," I managed, my voice hoarse with a mixture of want and wariness.

My cock was already straining against my shorts, the fabric doing nothing to hide the obvious effect she was having on me. If I stepped into that lagoon now, with my body already primed and aching, I wouldn't last thirty seconds.

Brianne inhaled deeply, her chest rising with the motion, drawing my eyes back to those perfect breasts barely contained by purple fabric. Her right hand, which had been resting on her belly, began to move lower.

I watched, transfixed, as her fingers slipped beneath the waistband of her bikini bottoms and disappeared from view.

Her eyes fluttered closed. A soft moan escaped her lips, the sound throaty and unrestrained, a purr of pleasure that went straight to my cock and made it twitch with desperate need.

"Shit," I breathed, wiping at my forehead where sweat had begun to bead despite the fact that I hadn't moved.

The moan faded into a satisfied sigh as Brianne opened her eyes again. The hazel had darkened, pupils blown wide with arousal that matched my own. Her hand was still hidden beneath the fabric, still moving in small, subtle motions that made her breath catch.

"I'm ready," she said, her voice commanding despite its softness. Her free hand reached toward me again. "Come and fuck me, Kain."

Her tongue traced across her lower lip, leaving it glistening and red and absolutely irresistible.

Something snapped inside me.

I was on my feet before I'd consciously decided to move, my body operating on instinct that overrode every cautious thought my brain tried to generate. Two steps, three, and then my hands were on her, sliding behind her back, pulling her wet body against mine.

The contact was electric.

Her damp skin pressed against my shirt, soaking through the fabric in seconds, the chill of the water quickly warming against my heat. The lagoon's influence hit me through the soles of my feet — I'd stepped into the shallows without even noticing — but I didn't care anymore. The pleasure that surged upward was just an amplification of what I already felt, an enhancement of the desire that had been building since the moment I'd seen her emerge from the water.

"Embrace it," Brianne whispered, her breath hot against my ear. Her hand found its way into my shorts, fingers wrapping around my cock with a grip that was tight, possessive, exactly what I needed. "Let the waters enhance what's inside."

A gasp tore from my throat as she squeezed, her palm sliding along my length with a familiarity born of countless nights together. She knew exactly how to touch me, exactly how much pressure to apply, exactly when to speed up and when to slow down.

My cock sprang free of the fabric, the cool air a shock against the heated flesh before her hand reclaimed it, guiding it toward her body. I brought my face closer to hers, our breath mingling, my eyes locked on the glowing intensity of her gaze.

I let go.

Let go of the fear, the caution, the constant vigilance that had become my default state since arriving in this place. Brianne's hand pulled me forward, and I felt the silky material of her bikini brush against the head of my cock, the friction sending sparks shooting through my nervous system.

Her breath was warm on my neck, her tongue tracing circles around my ear, leaving trails of sensation that made me shiver despite the heat building between us.

"Enhance yourself inside me," she breathed, grinding against me, the motion creating a delicious friction that had me groaning with need.

Then she pulled the fabric aside.

Her hand guided me forward, and I felt the tip of my cock press against her entrance, the slick heat of her welcoming me home. A moan ripped from my chest as she began to lower herself, taking me in slowly, inch by agonising inch, her body opening around me like she'd been made for this moment.

"Deep inside me," she gasped, sinking down until I was fully sheathed, the tight wet heat of her surrounding me completely.

The sensation was indescribable. The lagoon's influence combined with my own desperate need to create something overwhelming, something that burned through every nerve ending and lit my entire body on fire. I thrust upward, unable to help myself, chasing a release that was already building at the base of my spine.

"Fuck!" I hissed.

My eyes flew open.

The lagoon was gone. Brianne was gone. I was lying on my back in the dust near the dying embers of the campfire, my legs clenched together, my entire body trembling with the force of what was about to happen.

Did I stop it in time?

The answer was no.

I rolled onto my side just as the orgasm crashed through me, my hand fumbling with my trousers, yanking my cock free and pointing it away from my body as the pressure released in hot spurts that disappeared into the dust. My hips jerked involuntarily, my breath coming in ragged gasps, the pleasure still rolling through me in waves that seemed to go on forever.

Another shudder. Another pulse. My hand was sticky and wet, my stomach muscles cramping from the intensity of the contractions.

I lay there panting, staring at nothing, trying to piece together what the fuck had just happened.

A dream. It had been a dream. Brianne hadn't actually appeared in Clivilius, hadn't actually walked out of the lagoon like some kind of erotic mermaid, hadn't actually let me—

Christ.

I wiped my hand across my abdomen, grimacing at the mess, grateful for the darkness that hid my shame from anyone who might be watching. The embers of the fire provided barely enough light to see the shapes of the tents, the outlines of sleeping bags arranged around the campsite.

I wasn't alone out here. That realisation hit me with a wave of fresh embarrassment. I'd passed out by the fire instead of making it back to a tent, and now I'd just—

A low, rumbling growl cut through my spiralling thoughts.

Lois.

The sound was deep and menacing, nothing like the playful yips she'd been making earlier in the evening. This was a warning, a primal announcement of threat that made every hair on my body stand at attention.

I froze, my hand still pressed against my stomach, my cock still hanging exposed from my hastily opened trousers.

Something was very, very wrong.