Page 41 of Night Fae (Monsters of Veridia #3)

Later that night, Malik stood by the window in their chamber, gazing out at the night sky of Veridia. Even with the aurora gone, the stars shone brighter here than they did back home.

Zev moved behind him, arms sliding around Malik's waist. "What are you thinking about?"

"Yuri," Malik admitted. "I can't stop thinking about what Leon told us."

Zev rested his chin on Malik's shoulder. "That he threw worlds into chaos because he lost someone he loved?"

"Yes." Malik leaned back into Zev's embrace. "I keep wondering what I might have done in his place."

"You would never have killed anyone. You don't have it in you," Zev pointed out.

"No." Malik turned in Zev's arms to face him. "But if I'd really thought I could bring my family back?"

Zev's violet eyes studied him. "What then?"

"I think…" Malik licked his lips. "I would have been tempted. Anyone would be. But grief can twist our perception of what's right."

"It can make monsters of us all," Zev agreed softly. "When I lost Rhys, I wanted to burn the world to the ground. And today I finally got to kill my father and grandmother."

"That was different," Malik said firmly. "You were protecting everyone, including me."

"Is that how you see it?" Zev's lips lifted at the corner. "I would have killed them regardless. I was not raised to hesitate when an opportunity presents itself."

Malik placed his hand against Zev's cheek. "Your father and grandmother deserved what they got."

"I agree." There was no hint of regret in Zev's features, but he turned contemplative once more. "If someone offered to bring back Rhys or your family right now, in exchange for the kind of destruction Yuri caused?—"

"I wouldn't take it," Malik said with certainty. "Not anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because I've found something worth protecting in the present." Malik's eyes held Zev's gaze. "And I think the people we've lost would want us to choose life, not destruction in their name."

Zev was silent for a long moment. "Rhys would have liked you," he said finally.

"You said that in the Fields," Malik reminded him with a small smile.

"I meant it then. I mean it now." Zev drew him closer. "His strength was finding joy in the darkest circumstances. In creating something new rather than dwelling on a past that couldn't be changed."

"Sounds like a wise man."

"He was." Zev's voice held no pain now, only quiet acknowledgment. "He would have wanted us to be happy."

Malik felt the truth of it through their bond, warm and certain. "So what happens now? Do we stay here? Go back to Earth? Leon said the paths would remain open for us."

"Does it matter where we are?" Zev asked, his arms tightening around Malik. "As long as we're together?"

Malik laughed softly. "You're turning into a romantic."

"Don't tell anyone," Zev murmured, leaning down to press his forehead against Malik's.

Malik grinned at him. "I won't if you seal my lips."

Zev's mouth quirked into a half-smile as he leaned in, capturing Malik's lips with his own. The kiss was gentle at first, then deeper, making low heat spread through Malik's body.

This was what he wanted.

Now that the crisis of worlds merging had been averted, now that they had nothing left to fear, they could finally focus on each other.

They could finally just be .

"Come to bed," Zev murmured, leading him toward the massive four-poster that dominated the chamber.

Malik followed willingly, anticipation building as Zev started helping him undress.

"You must be tired," Zev said.

Not quite the words Malik had expected to hear. "What do you mean?"

"Just what I said," Zev replied, taking off his own clothes. "We should sleep. It's been days since either of us had proper rest."

Malik blinked. "Sleep? Just sleep?"

Something mischievous flickered in Zev's violet eyes. "Were you thinking of something else?"

"You know I was."

Zev brushed his knuckles against Malik's cheek. "Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do."

"Then sleep," Zev said, guiding Malik beneath the covers. "And let me meet you in your dreams."

Understanding dawned, finally.

Zev wanted to…

Oh.

Well, this was going to be different.

"Dreams have certain advantages," Zev said, sliding in beside him.

"Such as?"

Zev's lips curved against Malik's neck. "No physical limitations. No interruptions. And I can do things to you that wouldn't be possible in the waking world."

Heat pooled in Malik's stomach at the promise in those words. "I didn't know dream sex was a thing."

Zev's hand traced a path down Malik's side, gentle but possessive. "It requires a very intimate connection."

Like ours . Even the thought made Malik's heart beat a little faster as he settled against Zev.

How was he supposed to fall asleep like this?

The events of the past days had left him bone-tired, but now excitement warred with exhaustion.

"Just relax," Zev whispered, his fingers threading through Malik's hair. "Let yourself drift. I'll find you."

There must have been some magic in that touch because Malik's lids felt heavy, suddenly, and the last thing he felt before sleep claimed him was Zev's consciousness brushing against his mind, a gentle caress that promised much more to come.

When Malik opened his eyes, he stood in a garden unlike any he'd ever seen. Colorful flowers bloomed around him, shifting subtly in the gentle breeze. The sky above wasn't blue but a deep violet, scattered with stars.

"Do you like it?" Zev's voice came from behind him.

Malik turned toward it, drinking in the sight of him. He looked exactly as he always did: beautiful and deadly and entirely irresistible.

"I do," Malik answered. "But where are we?"

"A place of my choosing," Zev explained. "Where nothing bad can ever happen. Where we're free to do as we please without worrying about anything else." He smiled at Malik. "I thought you might need it after everything that's happened."

"All I need is you." As soon as he spoke the words aloud, Malik wondered if they sounded trite or silly, but he didn't have time to worry about it. Zev stepped forward and kissed him until his head swam, leaving his thoughts scattered to the wind.

"You'll have me," Zev promised. "For all your days."

Malik shivered, desire sparking through him as their gazes met. "Show me what you can do here."

Zev's lips formed a wicked smile, and then he pushed Malik back onto the grass and kissed him again, harder this time. There was nothing sweet or gentle in the way his body moved against Malik's, and the sudden intensity made Malik gasp for air.

The fact that their tumble to the ground didn't hurt reminded him that this was a dream—but everything else felt very real, every shift and press of Zev's muscles, every point of contact. The scent of Zev's hair filled his lungs, the warmth of his breath tickled Malik's neck.

Zev pulled back enough to look down at him. "Do you want to be wearing this many clothes?"

Malik blinked. He was wearing a shirt and jeans. Something he hadn't taken conscious note of before Zev had mentioned it, but now that he was aware, the clothes were very much in the way. He focused on the idea of being naked, and suddenly, his skin was bare under Zev's touch.

"Better?" Malik teased, arching up into Zev with a smile.

Zev's eyes went dark with want, and he pressed another hard kiss to Malik's lips. "Almost perfect."

He shifted closer, and suddenly, there was no space between them. No fabric separating his skin from Zev's hot, bare cock. The feel of it sent sparks racing down Malik's spine.

Zev rolled their hips together slowly. The drag of his cock against Malik's own was delicious torture, and Malik couldn't help the soft moan that fell from his lips.

He didn’t even try to muffle it.

Why would he?

This was a space just for them. No one but Zev would hear him.

"I love the sounds you make," Zev murmured, kissing the spot where Malik's jaw met his throat as he rocked his hips forward. "But I wonder what other sounds I could coax from you."

Before Malik could form a reply, Zev slid his hand between their bodies, closing it around Malik's cock and stroking slowly.

The sensation was overwhelming—the firm, sure touch coupled with the pressure of Zev against his hipbone.

Pleasure spiraled outward through Malik's whole body, making him shudder helplessly.

He was vaguely aware of Zev murmuring something against his neck, too distracted by the slow glide of Zev's palm along the length of his shaft. Then Zev's thumb flicked over the sensitive tip of Malik's cock and he shuddered again, gasping out loud as pleasure spiked sharply through him.

"Still not loud enough." The words vibrated against Malik's skin, sending shivers across his body. "Let's change that, shall we?"

Before Malik could process Zev's words, Zev was moving away from him and sliding down the length of his body…

Malik gasped again as Zev's lips enveloped his cock, heat and pressure wrapping around him. The dreamscape grass beneath him felt like silk, soft and warm and just textured enough to heighten every nerve along his spine. Above him, stars shifted lazily in the violet sky, but Malik couldn’t look at anything but Zev—kneeling between his legs like some beautifully dangerous thing, lips stretched around his length, violet eyes watching him.

Zev didn’t need to breathe. Not in this dream. Malik realized that quickly. The night fae just just took him deep and held him there with a slow, deliberate suction that made Malik’s thighs shake.

“Zev—” His voice broke. “I’m gonna?—”

Zev pulled back just far enough to swirl his tongue around the head before swallowing him again. Malik gripped the grass at his sides, writhing, his orgasm teetering just out of reach.

He was right there. So close.

And then—nothing.

Zev’s mouth stayed warm and perfect, his hands roamed Malik’s thighs, fondling his balls, but that final push wouldn’t come. Something held him on the edge, panting and helpless, heat coiling tighter and tighter in his belly.

“Please,” he gasped.

Phantom hands answered.

Touches Malik could only feel but not see, teasing his nipples, stroking down his sides, across the sensitive skin of his inner thighs. Zev didn’t move except to deepen his swallow, letting Malik fuck into his throat in short, desperate thrusts—encouraging it, even.

Malik cried out when a ghostly touch slid between his ass cheeks, circling his hole with featherlight touches.

The sensation was too much. Not enough. It left him wanting, begging, trembling with need.

The pressure built, rising higher and hotter and more intense than anything he could ever have imagined.

He was going to die from this. Die from how badly he needed release and how impossible it seemed to find it.

He tried to beg again, but the sound that escaped was little more than a broken whine. A wordless plea for mercy.

But maybe it was exactly what Zev had wanted to hear, because suddenly, the touch inside him became tangible as two fingers plunged deep. They crooked inside him, seeking and finding that bundle of nerves that made white light explode behind Malik's eyes.

He came hard, crying out Zev's name, hips lifting off the grass as pleasure burned through him like fire through dry tinder. His cock pulsed in Zev's throat while his body clenched around Zev's fingers.

And Zev never let him quite come down from that high.

He withdrew from Malik's cock, but only to position himself between Malik's legs. In one swift move, the fingers inside Malik were replaced with the thick head of Zev's cock, pushing slowly but steadily inside him.

Malik gasped at the stretch, the fullness, his body still shuddering with aftershocks as Zev sank home.

The first slow roll of Zev's hips made Malik's vision go black for a moment.

He couldn't catch his breath, couldn't focus on anything beyond the feeling of Zev's body moving against and inside his, the steady slide filling him over and over again as Zev fucked him slow and sweet and so deeply that Malik felt it everywhere.

There was no pain, only overwhelming sensation.

Only connection.

Vaguely, Malik noted that he'd never gone soft after his climax the way he would have in the waking world. Here, it seemed he only wanted more.

Zev gave it to him.

He thrust into Malik with increasing force, each snap of his hips driving the air from Malik's lungs until Malik was dizzy and delirious, lost somewhere beyond reason, caught somewhere in between reality and dream.

He came again with his nails raking red marks down Zev's back, Zev's name on his lips, Zev's weight pressing him into the soft grass, their breaths intermingling.

But even that didn't satisfy the hunger inside of him. If anything, the orgasm only made his want sharper, deeper, hungrier.

It was as though all his pent up desires and needs were coming loose now, breaking free of every barrier he'd erected against them.

"I need you," he breathed, pulling Zev down for another searing kiss that made his toes curl. "I need?—"

"I know what you need." Zev kissed him again—and fucked him harder.

Malik's body trembled, oversensitive and needy all at once. He felt Zev’s control begin to fray, felt his rhythm falter, his thrusts grow rougher.

The bond between them sparked.

Zev's pleasure became his, layered over his own so completely he couldn’t tell where one began and the other ended. The pressure built one last time—more intense than anything before it. Zev reached for his hands, lacing their fingers together as he thrust hard and deep, once, twice?—

And they shattered.

Malik cried out, his orgasm ripping through him in one long, ecstatic wave just as Zev came inside him, the shared climax echoing through their bond until the dream itself seemed to dissolve under the weight of it.

He didn’t come down gently. He collapsed, boneless, trembling, his chest heaving for air he didn’t need. Zev followed him down, still inside him, arms tight around his body, anchoring them both.

“Holy shit,” Malik whispered after a while, his voice hoarse.

Zev chuckled against his throat. “Told you dreams had their advantages.”