"Alexander's body reacted, even as he fought to control it. His hands clenched the sheets, fingers grasping for something, someone. The taste of a name on his tongue, a ghost of desire. It was as if his body was remembering something his brain could not—a touch, a taste, a sound. And every time he tried to grasp it, it would slip from his fingers, leaving him panting on the edge of awareness…"
his body still humming from the echo of sensation. His skin burned where no hands had been. A low, helpless sound escaped him—part sigh, part plea—and he pressed the heel of his palm against his thigh, trying to ground himself.
But it was useless.
The dream always left him like this: restless, undone, aching for someone he didn't know existed outside his sleep. And tonight… tonight felt different. Stronger. Closer.
Like *he* was near.
Somewhere beyond the castle walls, in another kingdom wrapped in silence and stone—Prince Sebastian opened his eyes in the dark… and whispered a single word into the cold air:
"Alexander."