This feels so right.
No, more than right. Necessary.
I drag him closer. Ashwin inclines me back, lowering me to the floor, and presses his body against mine. I splay my hands across his shoulders, and a vision overwhelms me.
Ashwin and I live in the Turquoise Palace. We sleep in late and stay up into the night. We take our meals in his private atrium and rule our people from twin thrones. I bear him an heir, a son, a Burner who will someday rule the empire justly and with compassion for his people, an example set by his father. Ashwin loves his son as much as he loves me. He defers to me in all things and honors me before his court of wives and courtesans.
I am his singular favorite, his kindred and only love.
The strong image is irrefutable. But it is not mine. The palace looks different than I remember. A fine duplicate but missing details that authenticate the vision. The vivid picture transitions.
Ashwin and I are entangled in the sheets of an enormous bed. He wants more heirs. He wants me.
“Marry me,” he whispers against my lips.
His hand slides up the back of my tunic. Before I can stop the vision from returning, we are in a bed once more in my mind’s eye. Ashwin’s hand creeps higher, tugging up my tunic, both in the Claiming chamber and in the palace. I want him to stop, but I am locked in two realities.
No.
I’m not in the palace, and this is not my dream. My dreams always include Jaya and Deven.
Always.
He kisses across my cheek, down my neck. “Marry me, Kalinda. Be my kindred. Fulfill my heart’s wish.” He nibbles at my throat. I push him away and leave my hands against his chest to prevent him from coming closer. His complexion is flushed and his lips damp. His hooded eyes still project the dream that played inside my head.
“What did you say?”
“Be my wife.”
“No, the part about your heart’s wish.”
“You fulfill the wish of my heart.” He leans in for a kiss.
I hold him back. My insides rattle apart. I twist from him, resting my forehead against the cool tile floor. “Oh, gods. I should have seen it before. Your heart’s wish. I’m your heart’s wish.”
“Kali—”