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I sit at the end of her bed, running my hand over one smooth calf as she wiggles in sleep, apparently ticklish. She makes a chuffed sort of sound in her sleep when I trail my fingers up the back of her thigh, smoothing my palm over the round curve of her ass before whispering her name.

“Key?”

“Mm.” She presses her ass into my hand, but otherwise doesn’t stir. “Lachlan.”

I still when I notice her eyes are still closed, realizing that she’sdreamingof me. It makes the beast in me positively feral, and I feel an itch in my fingertips as my claws threaten to spread. How quickly she pushes me into the monster just by being near me.

“Keyanna,” I murmur again, gliding my hand under her shirt to ruck it up, exposing her soft stomach. I lean to press a kiss under her navel, peering up at her all the while. “Wake up.”

“That feels nice,” she answers breathily, eyes still closed.

“Does it?” My lips quirk as I hook a finger into her shorts, exposing her hip bone and kissing there too. “Wake up, and I’ll make you feel better.”

I press my nose into the crease of her thigh, finding the scent of her arousal already growing, making me doubly curious as to what she’s been dreaming of. I lick at her skin, sucking a kiss there and gripping her thigh tight until I finally hear a gasp above me.

“Lachlan?”

Her pretty green eyes are heavy with sleep, blinking down at me as she tries to make sense of my being here.

“Someone slept in,” I tell her.

She groans. “Grandpa cornered me again. Didn’t know how to say no.”

“How hinging are you?”

She shrugs. “I made sure not to have more than one of those poisonous toddies of his.”

“Probably good for your health, that,” I chuckle.

She shoots up in bed suddenly. “Oh! Rhona said something last night.”

“Did she?”

“She said this is myfather’sold room.”

My eyes widen, looking around the space. “Is that right?”

“Don’t you know what this means?”

I cock my head, eyeing her curiously. “What?”

“The journal could behere.” She points at the floor to drive home her point. “It could be hidden in this room somewhere.”

My mouth parts, and I let my eyes sweep across the ordinary-looking room once more. “It could be,” I tell her. I reach to grab her arm, squeezing gently. “But let’s not get our hopes up. I don’t want you disappointed if it isn’t, aye?”

“It has to be,” she urges, looking stricken. “We’re running out of time. I can feel it.”

“Shh, love,” I coo, pulling her into my chest. “Don’t fret. It will be all right.”

“We don’t know that,” she mumbles against my shirt. “I feel like shit that we still haven’t found it.”

I rub her back, hating to see her so stressed.

“Maybe I could make you feel better,” I murmur, kissing her hair. I grin then, remembering. “If you tell me what you were dreaming of.”

Her cheeks immediately go pink, her mouth parting in surprise. “Dreaming?”

“You said my name, love,” I tell her, dipping to kiss her cheek.