The Autumn Prince

58. Dreaming

A painful spasm woke me long before dawn as I jerked awake from a rapidly fading nightmare, leaving me sitting upright, frightened and confused in the dark.

"Babe?" Katherine stirred, her words slurring through the fog of sleep. "Everything okay?" The previous night's acrobatics had kept us up well past midnight and we both retired fully sated and exhausted. My body had recovered just fine, but four hours of rest was far too little for my brain and simply forming a coherent sentence seemed beyond my ability.

"Thomas, what's wrong?" She sat up when I didn't reply and put an arm around me.

"I don't know. Bad dreams."

"I got that. I'm psychic now, remember?" Her attempt at casual humor fell short. "You're worrying me."

"I'm fine," I lied, and she knew it. My heart was beating so fast I felt nauseous. "Just need to shake it off." I slipped my legs off the side of her bed and braced myself against the edge of the mattress.

"I'll come with you."

"No, go back to sleep. I'm just taking a walk."

"That's not going to work for me," she said, kneeling at my side. "I won't be able to rest until you calm down. And if you apologize to me again, I swear I'll push you down the stairs."

I chuckled weakly. "Fine. Dress warm."

She nodded and began searching for the clothes she discarded the night before. "I'll meet you in the shower, right after I strip the bed." She pulled back the top sheet and made a face. "Good lord, maybe you're dehydrated."

I didn't bother dressing since the only person typically awake before sunrise was Amy, and she had made other accommodations for herself after our unexpected meeting. The water was warmer than usual, but I didn't adjust it and simply closed my eyes, letting the heat soak into my skin. It surprised me again how easy it was to get used to Meridian. The bath in my apartment was miniscule by comparison and though it had always been sufficient, using it for three days had felt like an ordeal, something we had to tough out. I wasn't sure I could get comfortable under a shower with walls again after the weeks we'd lived there.

"Hey hon," I greeted Katherine when I sensed the presence of another body under the water.

"Hey yourself, babe, but you got the wrong girl."

I cried out and spun on my heel, almost toppling over in the process. Rachel stood in front of me, water streaming down her naked body, running fingers through her long, black hair. I turned my head and tried to cover myself.

"Dude," she said calmly, "This whole bashful thing is cute and all, but we've already crossed this line twice. Shit, I was grinding on your cock just a few hours ago. I doubt rinsing off together will break any more of your rules."

"Why are you even out of bed?" I asked, flailing for something, anything, to distract me.

"I dunno, maybe it was your voodoo. That thing you did to put me to sleep is pretty hard core. I've been wide awake for half an hour."

"You could have waited."

"Yeah, but why? By the time I noticed the water was on your junk was already dangling in the breeze. This taking turns bullshit is pointless, Tom, we should just call Becca and tell her to join us."

"Don't you dare!"

Rachel was about to reply when Katherine called out from her doorway. She was also naked and trying to contain a fit of giggles. "Wow, I turn my back for one minute..."

"Hey princess, your man's a little high strung, you might need to talk him down."

"I don't know, he seems to be handling it fine. Parts of him, anyway."