Lucid Dream*

Someone was staring at me again while sleeping and I was sure of it.

Even though I was still so tired I felt glued to the mattress, my eyes snapped open on its own and my head whipped around.

I saw Gabriel with his head cradled in one hand as he watched me watch him. Correction, he was lying in bed with me in it.

"Is this another dream?" I gasped as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

"Would I dare in real life knowing your mother might freak out if she finds us in bed together?"

"So, is this dream yours or mine?"

Before Gabriel could answer, I willed myself to manifest a weapon and indeed, I successfully pulled out a rapier under my pillow.

I smirked, "I think this dream is mine."

"It's funny how you found that out quickly."

I stabbed him and Gabriel rolled over with lightning-quick reflexes.

"What the---" Gabriel lets out a string of curses as he struggled to grab the weapon out of my hand and threw it to the side. "My God, Cass. Did you just try to kill me?"

"Guess." I shrugged, my jaws clenching. I kept my eyes trained to his stance as I anticipate his next move.

"If I die in this dream, my dead-ass astral spirit could not go back to my body." Gabriel gritted his teeth as he looked up and met my eye.

"Well, isn't that nice, then?"

The force of his glare almost knocked the air out of my lungs.

I dove on top of him, straddling him and pinning him down tightly between my knees. His hands gripped my forearms, stopping me from raining blows down on his head. Each of his hands was trying to wrap around each of my wrists in the dark.

I froze, overwhelmed by this new sensation. Gabriel sat up under me, our faces inches apart in the dark.

"You are testing my patience, Cass." Gabriel breathed softly. "If you could read my mind, you'll probably run in the opposite direction right now."

"What are you thinking?" I responded quietly.

Gabriel's lips brushed against the hypersensitive patch of skin between my ears and jawbones, and the dusting of hairs across my cheek. I could smell his scent and it made me feel quiet and still, almost drowsy.

I reached out to touch his mouth as if he was summoning them. My fists relaxed and fell from my combative posture, drifting down uncertainly until my palms came to rest on his warm thick shoulders.

"You're so beautiful, Cassandra." Gabriel murmured and his hands ran down my back to cradle my hips. "I want to keep you for myself if I could."

Gabriel began to take labored little breaths and his head fell towards me, inch by inch, until his lips grazed lightly against my own. His mouth was a sweet candy flavor I couldn't quite place but I wanted to swallow whole.

I pulled his lower lip to my mouth to take a bigger sip of him, catching his face in one of my hands so I could tilt his mouth towards mine.

I didn't know how he managed to move above me but in a blink of an eye, he had the upper hand. He slid my arms up over my head, pinning me under him.

Gabriel bit his lip slowly as he smiled at my stained cheeks and swollen lips.

"You're quiet." He breathed into my ear and it sent delicious tingles down my spine.

I felt a hot blush stinging my cheeks and had to tone it down. "Did you just compel me to kiss you?"

A boyish, surprised expression stole across his face for a second but then, he kept his face blank. "No, I didn't."

I could see the color rising on his cheekbones and I felt waves of heat coming off his skin. Gabriel placed his hands on my waist but he didn't say another word. To my surprise, he pulled me against him and held me.

"You are turned on by controlling people's emotions, Gabriel?" I seethed. "What kind of other kinky stuff are you into except getting a rise out of me and making me kiss you senseless?"

"It's you who is getting a rise out of me." I was confused by what he meant at first but then I blushed harder when I felt something hard moving below my abdomen.

"I-- I d-don't know what you meant." I edged away from him and fanned myself, clutching the coverlets to hide.

Waves of irritation radiated out from him as he replied, "I could only amplify emotions. Not control them. So, kissing is all on you. You turned me on... and yes, this all your fault."

"And now you're blaming me, you motherf*cking son of---"

I kicked Gabriel in the chest hard and he fell off the bed as I wiped my lips with the back of my hand vigorously.

"Did you kiss your girlfriend today the way I ended up kissing you?" I said in a flustered daze feeling cornered and frustrated as the realization sunk in. "Does it mean that I just kissed Ms. Bitch McBitcherson indirectly?"

He sighed a really big sigh. "Technically, I don't have a girlfriend."

"Lauren, remember?" I reminded him. "My sworn enemy you introduced at lunch in front of your friends?"

Gabriel raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Are you jealous?"

"I'll kill you!" I huffed, nearly breathless with a shock when I remembered Lauren. I kissed him when he's Lauren's boyfriend! "You jerk, you kissed me when you have a girlfriend!"

I jumped out of the bed and dove for the rapier again on the floor near my bedside drawer. Gabriel saw that and he swiftly kicked it under the bed with his foot.

Now I had to crawl if I wanted to get it back.

His eyes were so honest and so blue that I felt if I didn't force me to look away from the start then I'd get stuck and never stop staring at him.

"I did it to protect you. The curse is broken somehow and like me, the Knights wouldn't be able to recognize your soul either. But if they still wanted to fulfill the prophecy and one of them decided to kill the prophet then the others will decide to kill Lauren first. They wouldn't be able to figure out that it's you in the prophecy. You told me how much you hate her right? If any of them are in the mood to kill a prophet then at least Lauren will be the first in line to the Underworld."

I might hate Lauren too much but sending her to the Underworld he's talking about?

"It's a bit extreme don't you think?" I asked but still happy to hear that even in my dreams.

"You don't know how to defend yourself." He stated. "Better to put Lauren in danger than you."

"You are a dangerous enemy to mess with, Gabriel."

"You should be smart, Cass. You should not make an enemy out of me. And I'd also like to warn you that Lysander can persuade a person into doing something they didn't want to with his voice so you best be careful." Gabriel kept his voice flat and cold. " He's much more dangerous than you think. I told you to stay away from Lysander didn't I?"