Figment of Dreams
Chapter 27: Defense is the best offense

The next defense class with Ash was going to be awkward after our Paramirage thing of last week. I had been avoiding him for seven days already. Not glancing his way during lunch. I had avoided him at the football game last Tuesday and even ignored his texts. He had commented on a few Rivelbook posts, but I had not responded to that either. Kai was over it already but I was still fuming. Obviously.

I reluctantly entered his classroom that day. I dropped my bag at the mirror and turned around with a pout. I really did not want to be here.

There he was, all white hair falling around his shoulders, a devilish smirk around his full lips. Arms and muscles glistening with sweat. I could still remember how his lips felt and how he tasted.

I rolled my eyes at him. He was waiting for me to speak first.

‘So…’ he casually stepped forward. I stood my ground coolly scowling at him. He came all up in my personal space. Almost nose to nose.

When I looked at him once more I could clearly feel his lips on me again, like it had really happened. The way he tasted, smelled, the way he held my body. All of it.

‘Are you feeling well Miss Elmrose? I’m quite tempted to take that lower lip and leave my mark again.’ He stated casually, referencing when he bit my lip in the Paramirage session. His eyes drifted over my lips, clearly searching for a fight or a fuck. I huffed.

’Now it’s Miss Elmrose? Last week you mind fuck me and now you are not even using my nicknames anymore?’

He took a step back and glowered at me. ’Well, since you are pretending I don’t exist anymore and that you don’t know me. I suppose we are starting over miss Elmrose.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous Asher.’ I was getting frustrated already. Only five minutes into this class. I was ready to pummel him into the ground and release some of this pent-up tension. The entire week has been shitty. With Kai acting like nothing was wrong, when his entire family hated my guts and I had essentially cheated on him. The fact that he was so blasé about all of it made me feel less appreciated somehow.

My headache was acting up again and I flinched.

His eyes shifted to my hurt expression and he relaxed his cold composure a bit. ‘You okay?’

I nodded. ‘Just been having this headache all day.’

He tried to touch my forehead but I slapped his hand away. Instantly the mood shifted again.

’You don’t allow me to touch you now. After everything? That’s going to be a challenge to fight you without touch.’

’Well you mind fucked me without touch, so that won’t be such a challenge now won't it?’ I bit back.

He slowly clapped his hands together, not breaking eye contact. ‘Well, you got me there.’

‘I’m quite ready to slap the shit out of you, so should we get going?’ I was dead serious.

He smirked. ’You can try, as always. But don’t go crying to Kai when I hurt you a little too much.’ He made two crying notions with his fists against his eyes. Clearly hinting at Kai who had cussed him out like a madman last week, defending my honor. That had been the one time all last week kai had shown some emotion and a day later I saw the two of them happily chatting at the football game like they were long-lost friends.

‘Oh please. You know I kicked your ass last time.’ He could be such a baby for a grown-ass man of 28 years old.

He rolled his shoulders back and got ready in his fight stance. As I was doing the same a sharp protruding pain went straight through my forehead. I yelped in surprise, clutched my head, and fell to the floor trying to reduce it.

It was all-consuming, blinding. It kept going on and on. My ears started beeping, my eyes watering. I was vaguely aware of Ash holding me. I even heard a voice somewhere deep inside my mind, probably my self-consciousness telling me something. Then it suddenly stopped

Out of breath and woozy I sunk back on my ass. Ash was feeding me some of his water. ‘Here drink this….’ I drank a little and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. ‘Shit… I have no idea what that was.’

With shaking hands, I tried to screw the lid back on but I couldn’t get it. That concerned him a lot. ‘That’s it, you are going with me to the sick bay.’ He was crouched on his heels in front of me. His brows drew together in a worried frown. Some of the white hairs that he had tucked back in a bun had come loose.

He stood up and offered me his hand. I tried to rise by myself but the whole room turned and I landed back down on my ass with a big grunt. He exhaled. Reached down and picked me up like he did the night of the welcome party and took me to the sick bay. We stayed silent the entire way.

I saw the doctor, Chris, which was Oak’s best friend. Same age group and he looked like a modern-day Viking. All blonde hair, facial hair, chest hair. The complete works.

He gave me some painkillers and described some rest. Apparently Paramiraging for the duration I had done with Ash and Oak this week, could cause me some problems. I needed to be careful.

Kai came to pick me up. He wasn’t even angry with Ash. They were having a casual laugh all the way back to my dorm. That pissed me off. As Ash walked away and the door slammed shut I turned my anger on my boyfriend.

’So it’s okay for that guy to have mindfucks with me? You are not the slightest bit offended by that?’ I was hurt because he was not at all jealous. Since every time Jax and I looked at each other, it was an all-out war for Kai. But Ash could do all kinds of things to me and he barely cared. Last week he had gone to Ash’s apartment at the teacher’s quarters, to tell him to never do this to me again and that had been it.

Kai shrugged. ‘It wasn’t real… so why should I?’

‘It felt real though!’ I screamed at him. ‘I can still feel it… feel him.’

Kai frowned. ‘Really? Like…?’

‘Yeah, like vividly recall everything he did to me in the Paramirage!’ I squeaked. ‘I could tell you all the freaking details. Every smell. Every touch. It’s driving me insane!’ I dropped down on the bed, head in my hands. I felt like sobbing.

‘I didn’t know you felt so violated. Otherwise, I would have thought differently about it.’

’I don’t feel violated. I… I liked it. That’s the stupid part.’ I can’t believe I’m admitting this to my boyfriend. But he asked for full transparency about everything. So here you go Kai, I’m still thinking about another man’s body.

‘So you liked it. That’s good right?’

What the fuck was he even saying?

‘If it actually happened!’ I screamed at him. ‘You are not getting it, Kai. I think you should leave.’ I was so angry I could cry. Which I did. I ran into the bathroom and slapped it shut behind me.

‘Babe, don’t be like that.’ Kai followed me in there. ‘I was trying not to push you into anything. But if you want to have sex. We can have sex.’

This made me cry for real. He really didn’t get it.

He hugged me. ‘I’m sorry you feel hurt. You need to understand that we Rainers don’t really feel that bad about all things sex-related. We are really open. As long as nobody hurts you I’m cool.’

‘I got that…’ I sniffed into his chest. ‘But it’s difficult for me to be here when all of the Rainer population just sleeps around and doesn’t care.’

Kai grunted. ‘Not everyone sleeps around. I sure as hell don’t.’

I glanced up into his eyes and softly smiled. ‘You better not.’

‘Well… I do get one kiss though.’ I wanted to kick him in the balls.

The Rainer Way.

I had learned pretty quickly they had this code on this alien planet, it basically was an eye for an eye.

You are not Rainer-worthy if you don’t pay it back. It was the Rainer code they all lived by.

‘Don’t you fucking dare, Welkin.’ I spit between closed teeth. I was not a Rainer and like hell he would be kissing someone else like I had kissed Ash.

He laughed. ‘I was just kidding babe. I could never.’

As he was sleeping next to me that night I couldn’t help but let my mind wander to Ash. He had awoken something from deep within me with that kiss. It’s like I had gotten my first hit from a drug I couldn’t kick. He had gotten me addicted to something I couldn’t put a label on yet, but all I knew was that Asher Briareves' presence was something I needed in my life like I needed air to breathe. He was a newfound addiction and I needed to go to therapy to break the habit.