Wild Things Wait

Tobi's POV

Standing once again in the familiar clearing, I realized I had come to know this place too well. The tall trees loomed like sentinels, their branches whispering secrets in the cold night air. It was always night here, always eerily still.

I looked down at myself grey track pants, bare chest, bare feet. Same as always. It seemed whatever I wore to bed carried over into the dream. Maybe tomorrow I'd fall asleep in a three-piece suit, just to see if the dream would play along.

The thought almost made me smile.

Almost.

There was nothing to do but wait. Bored and restless, I searched the ground until I found a sharp rock, worn down to a crude point.

Carrying it over to the nearest tree, I began to scratch at the thick bark, carving slowly and carefully.

T + L

I stepped back to admire my work, a childish gesture but it grounded me somehow. A promise etched into the dreamscape.

Maybe next time I came here, it would still be standing. Maybe it meant something.

The wind shifted. My whole body stiffened. She was close.

I could feel her before I saw her, her scent wrapping around me like silk and wildfire, threading through my blood, igniting every nerve.

I turned, heart hammering.

Lila stepped out from behind a tree, barefoot, wearing nothing but a thin white tank top and panties that clung to her like a second skin. Her long caramel hair spilled down her back in loose curls, glowing in the moonlight.

Her pale grey eyes locked onto mine and in that instant, I was lost.

Frozen. Helpless. God, she was beautiful. Radiant and wild and breathtaking.

I stood rooted to the spot, drinking her in, feeling the steady, agonizing pull between us.

Without hesitation, she crossed the clearing in a few bold strides and launched herself into my arms. I caught her, her legs wrapping around my waist, her arms around my neck. My hands gripped the soft curve of her ass instinctively, lifting her higher to meet my lips.

She didn't waste a second pulling me down into a kiss that shattered every last restraint I had.

Her mouth was warm, desperate, open for me. The feel of her body pressed against mine soft breasts, warm thighs, the heat of her sex grinding into my core unraveled me faster than anything ever had. I kissed her like a drowning man, tasting every inch she offered, losing myself in her touch.

I knelt, still clutching her against me, laying her gently down onto the grass without once breaking the kiss.

“I love you, Tobi,” she whispered, fingers threading through my hair.

My heart stopped and so did the rest of the world. A choked sound escaped my throat as I pressed my forehead to hers. I trailed kisses down her neck, slow and reverent, lingering at the place where one day soon I would mark her.

She trembled beneath my mouth, a soft whimper escaping her lips that made my body harden painfully.

“I love you, Lila,” I gasped against her skin. “I’ve loved you since the moment I first saw you.”

She moaned my name, her voice full of need, and I captured her mouth in a ferocious kiss, pouring every broken, desperate feeling I had into it.

One hand slid beneath the thin cotton of her shirt, cupping her breast, thumb stroking over the tight peak of her nipple. Her nails raked down my back, spurring me on. I ground my hips into hers, feeling the sweet friction, the dangerous building heat.

I kissed my way down her throat again, frantic, desperate to claim her, to bind her to me in every way possible.

“Tobi, stop,” she whispered, her hands pressing lightly against my chest.

I pulled back immediately, propping myself above her on my elbows. My heart thundered.

“What’s wrong, love?” I asked, voice rough, terrified I had crossed a line.

She blinked up at me, vulnerability written all over her face. A single tear slipped from the corner of her eye.

“I’m scared,” she admitted.

“I’m scared this is just a fling for you… that one day you’ll go home, and I’ll be nothing but a memory you left behind.”

Her voice cracked on the last words, shattering something inside me.

No, she didn’t understand she couldn’t understand. She was my home. My soul. There was no life for me without her in it. I cupped her cheek with a trembling hand, brushing the tear away with my thumb.

“I could never leave you,” I swore, the words ripping out of me like a prayer.

“You are my mate. You are everything. Even if you decided right now that you didn’t want me… I would stay by your side anyway. I'd spend every day trying to be whatever you needed, in the dumb hope you'd want me again.”

Tears burned in my own eyes now and when she reached up to gently wipe them away, I broke. She pulled me back into a kiss, tender and aching, and our souls wrapped around each other in the darkness.

I didn’t care if this was just a dream. It was real to me, all of it.

A strange tingling started to spread through my body, everywhere her skin touched mine. I pulled back, startled, staring down at her. She smiled sleepily up at me radiant, trusting and then, like smoke caught in a breeze, she began to fade.

“No,” I whispered, panic rising.

Her fingers slipped through mine.

“No, no, no—"

Within seconds, she was gone.

The clearing was empty. Only the ache in my chest remained. Rage boiled up inside me, helpless and wild. I punched the ground with everything I had, over and over, until my knuckles split and bled into the dirt.

“DAMMIT!” I roared into the silent woods, the sound tearing from my throat like a wounded animal.

And still, it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough until she was truly mine.

Lila's POV

My alarm ripped me out of sleep at 7:30am, the harsh beep drilling through my already frayed nerves. I groaned, dragging my arm across the mattress to silence it, but the weight in my body didn’t lift.

Another night, another dream of Tobi but this one...

This one had been different. I lay there staring at the ceiling, the images still seared into the backs of my eyelids.

Tobi’s mouth on mine. His hands on my body. The desperate way we clung to each other like drowning souls.

I squeezed my eyes shut, willing the memory away but it only sank deeper into my bones, making my skin prickle and my heart race.

God, I had wanted him. Wanted him in ways I wasn’t ready to admit out loud. Even now, just thinking about the way he had whispered he loved me made something hot coil low in my belly. I curled my hands into fists against the bedsheets, trying to get a grip.

It was just a dream, not reality just a dream. We might have confessed things in that dream, but it didn’t mean anything in the cold light of morning.

Did it?

I sat up, rubbing my face and forcing my legs over the side of the bed. My body felt heavy, like I'd run a marathon overnight. My mind, meanwhile, was racing a thousand miles a minute.

Shower, I told myself. Reset. Get a grip, Lila.

The cheerful ding of a text message chimed from my phone, but I ignored it for now. I needed a shower before I could face the world or my own heart.

I stripped out of my pajamas and turned the water up as hot as I could stand. The spray pounded against my skin, but it did little to wash away the lingering feeling of Tobi's hands on me.

The phantom weight of his body against mine. The way his voice had broken when he said he loved me.

I leaned my forehead against the cool tile, willing myself not to cry. It was just a dream, I repeated silently. It wasn’t real.

When I stepped out twenty minutes later, my skin was red from the heat but my heart still ached. I towel-dried my hair, pulling it up into a high, messy ponytail dressing mechanically. I swiped on some mascara and a bit of lip gloss, smiling faintly at my reflection.

"You’re still standing, Delila Alden," I whispered to myself.

By the time I grabbed my brown leather crossbody bag and slung it over my shoulder, it was just past 8:00am early enough to sneak downstairs for coffee and some breakfast.

The Witches Hat’s little café was already humming with soft music and the clink of cups. I ordered a latte and a ham-and-cheese croissant, breathing in the comforting smell of fresh coffee and buttery pastry. Cradling my breakfast in my hands, I found a seat by the window and finally pulled out my phone, my stomach flipping nervously.

Maybe Maggie or Thea finally replied, I thought.

Maybe they cared.

Maybe they missed me.

I unlocked my screen to see one new message.

From Tobi:

Hey Lila, how did you sleep? Any more weird dreams?

I froze.

Of course it would be him.

Of course it would be the one person I both wanted and dreaded hearing from this morning. I took a large gulp of coffee, burning my tongue slightly, stalling for time.

How much should I tell him?

Could I admit that last night’s dream had been so intense it left me aching for more? That I could still feel the ghost of his touch? Even the thought of it made my cheeks flush scarlet.

No.

Better to keep it vague, safe. I tapped out a careful reply.

From Lila:

Yeah, I had another weird dream. Why?

Almost immediately, he responded.

From Tobi:

Were you and I in the clearing again?

My breath caught in my throat. The clearing. I scrolled back through our messages, heart hammering.

I was sure I hadn’t mentioned the clearing to him before. I had only said “the woods.”

I never said clearing, so how did he know?

A shiver ran down my spine, the implications sinking in deeper than the morning chill. Could he be dreaming the same dreams too?

No.

That was impossible.

Maybe he guessed.

Still... a part of me, the part that had kissed him under the stars last night hoped it was more. I bit my lip, thinking fast. Better not give too much away. Better pretend everything was normal. I tapped out another vague reply.

From Lila:

Yes. Anyway, gotta go. Doing some sightseeing today. Hope your meetings aren’t too boring.

I hit send before I could overthink it. Then I stuffed my phone back in my bag, grabbed my croissant, and stared blankly out the window as the town of Lenweil stirred to life.

I should have felt excited.

I was living in another country. I was meeting new people. I was supposed to be free. Instead, all I could think about was a boy I wasn’t supposed to want.

A bond I wasn’t supposed to feel, and dreams that left me lonelier than ever.

"Get it together, Lila," I muttered under my breath, forcing myself to stand and face the day.

Whether the dreams were real or not...

Whether Tobi ever really meant the words he said...

I had a life to live.

And no matter what it cost me, I wasn’t going to lose myself chasing something that might only ever exist in dreams.