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Deja Vu

Author: Dallas Ryan
last update Last Updated: 2024-08-25 00:05:37

Ailith

My mind woke slowly like a gentle tide, lapping at the shores of my mind. Warmth enveloped me, a cocoon of comfort that made me want to burrow deeper into sleep. The scent of pine and woodsmoke filled my nostrils, familiar and soothing. I shifted slightly, nuzzling into the warmth beneath my cheek.

It took several heartbeats for my sleep-addled brain to register that the surface I was lying on was far too firm to be a pillow. And it was... moving?

My eyes snapped open, my body tensing as realization dawned. I was sprawled across a broad, muscular chest, rising and falling with steady breaths. My makeshift pillow had crisp hair that tickled my cheek and radiated heat like a furnace.

Oh no. Oh no, no, no.

With painstaking slowness, I lifted my head, my gaze traveling up the expanse of bare torso under me. The weak light seeping into the room cast shadows that accentuated every ridge and plane of well-defined muscle. My eyes widened as they landed on an intricate tattoo spanning o
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