My chapters always end up being so much bigger than I want them to be... -_-

Anyway, some tiny mature content here. On the same level as chapter 17 I guess. Nothing explicit.

Chapter 26 Haunting my sleep

"What is he doing?" Bashu asked to Mathias as both of them watched Kenneth, sitting a few meters away on a rock. He was hunched over and brushing the ground below him with a tree branch. His head rested in the palm of his hand as his thumb brushed absently against his cheek.

"I don't know. He's...drawing in the sand..." Mathias replied with an unusual seriousness in his voice.

"He's been sitting there all morning, scribbling with that stick. He looks fucking dead. What the hell happened?"

"Well, I'm just guessing, but I think it's probably related to Verica's journey."

"Still, isn't his reaction a bit excessive?" Bashu said with a shrug. "I mean, he looks like a child whose dog just died, trampled by a peco peco."

"What kind of comparison is that?" Mathias asked with a frown, turning his head toward the brown haired man beside him.

"I'm just saying he looks like shit." Bashu replied as he buried his hands in his pockets. "I warned him last year that it would be hard to let her go. He didn't listen to me. Now he's paying for it." He sighed as he turned around and left, leaving Mathias alone to spy on Kenneth.

He watched him for a few more minutes before sighing deeply and walking toward him, announcing his presence to his depressed student. The younger man didn't make any movement to acknowledge his teacher until he was right beside him.

"Hi Mathias." He said, his eyes not leaving his scribbles on the ground.

"Hi boy..." Mathias replied. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing fine."

"Don't give me that bullshit." Mathias said, louder than he intended. Kenneth looked at him from the corner of his eyes lazily. He sighed before straightening up, erasing his drawing with his foot.

"What do you want old man?" He asked, not doing any effort to hide his annoyance.

"I think you need to talk."

Kenneth snorted and threw his stick on the ground. He put his hands on his knees and pushed himself off the rock.

"That's very thoughtful of you, but I don't need to ta-"

Mathias put his hand on his shoulder and pushed not-so-gently on it, forcing him to sit back on the rock. Kenneth raised his pale blue eyes up at him in exasperation.

"Alright..." Kenneth said with a sigh. "What do I need to talk about?"

"You know what." Mathias said, taking a seat beside him. "I want to know why you've been sitting here all morning with that grieving face, despite the fact that no one is dead."

Kenneth ignored his sensei's question as he rested his arms on his knees and looked absently into space, obviously having no intention of talking with Mathias right now.

The older man sighed in annoyance. "Don't be a baby." He took Kenneth's chin in the palm of his hand and forced him to look at him, more forcefully than necessary. Kenneth moved his head away to get out of his grip and glared at his teacher. He hated when he did that. Mathias simply gave him a blank gaze in return. "What's wrong?" he insisted, withdrawing his hand and putting it on Kenneth's back.

Kenneth took a deep breath as he closed his eyes. He immediately regretted it. The alcohol in Mathias' breath reached his nose and it made his stomach twist slightly. Just enough to annoy him.

"You only came back this morning and already your breath stinks. You want to talk about my problems? Maybe we should talk about yours."

Mathias removed his hand from his back and leaned forward to rest his arms on his knees, mimicking Kenneth's position. He chuckled deeply as he smiled. "I'm happy with my problems. You're clearly not."

Kenneth couldn't help but laugh at this. This man was so comfortable with his faults and vices. He often found himself jealous of that. Must be nice to do whatever you want without feeling guilty afterward...

"Talk to me boy." Mathias whispered.

"I don't know what to tell you sensei." Kenneth replied honestly. "I don't understand anything anymore."

"Just say something and give me the illusion that I'm actually helping you." Mathias said as he reached inside his pocket for his small bottle of rum.

Kenneth chuckled. "Stupid old man."

"Well, at least I'm making you laugh. I guess I'm not completely useless." Mathias said with a smile.

The two men remained silent for a moment. Mathias held his bottle out to Kenneth, who declined the offer with a disgusted face. The younger man looked up at the sky and sighed.

"Sensei."

"Hm?"

"When I left for Juno, how did you feel?" Kenneth asked as he looked back at Mathias.

"Well, I was worried about you, of course. But I had faith in your capacity. I knew you'd make it."

"Yeah but...how did you feel, personally? Didn't you feel like something was missing?"

"Sorry boy. I'm not sure I understand. Is that how you're feeling? Like something is missing?"

"It's more than that." He paused and looked absently in front of him. "I feel empty. I feel cold. I don't know what to do with myself anymore." He sighed deeply and rubbed his face with his hands. "I'm ridiculous. She just left a few hours ago and I already miss her so much. I just can't get her out of my head."

"You two were very close. I think it's normal for you to miss her. You were so used to be with her." Mathias remarked.

"Maybe. Although I can't help but think it's more than that. This morning...I looked at her walking away from me and I swear my heart stopped beating. I felt so many things at the same time I couldn't even understand all of them."

"Aren't you overreacting a little to all this boy?" Mathias said with a raised brow.

Kenneth sighed and ran his hand in his hair, keeping his hand on his head afterward as if he suddenly had a headache. He wished he was overreacting. Truth was that he missed her so much already. Their last moment played in loop in his head. Her dark and sensual gaze looking straight into his soul, her heart beating against his own through her breast, her soft and warm lips on his cheek, her smile...the most adorable smile he had ever seen in his entire life, directed at him.

Just thinking about it made him feel lightheaded again...and warmer in the lower part of his body.

So many memories of her that seemed so inappropriate, yet he couldn't stop them from rushing to the front of his mind. Was this really Carly's fault? Had her actions really awakened this inside him? Had she really made him so weak and needy that he was projecting his desires and lust on Verica? Was it being projected on her by coincidence because she was the closest woman to him or was it some kind of sick repressed part of his mind getting off on some perverted student cliché? Oh God, please don't let it be the latest...

Or maybe was he overreacting to all this? Giving indecent meaning to normal feelings? Misinterpreting them?

"This is not how a teacher feels when his student leaves..." Kenneth whispered, shaking his head in disapproval toward himself.

"You and Verica were more than teacher and student Kenneth. You're her family. I would say a father, but she's a bit old to be your daughter. But you're not really a brother either...Now that I think about it, your relationship with her is hard to define." Mathias said with a thoughtful expression, remembering how he had found them in each other's arms this morning. He had never realized just how close those two were. "But I think your reaction is normal, even if it's a bit exaggerated. But that's just who you are. Things often seem more serious than they really are for you. You shouldn't worry so much." He finished as he chuckled in his bottle.

Kenneth sighed deeply as he looked at his ex-teacher and nodded. "Yeah...you're right. I suppose I'm just nervous to know if this was really a good idea. You know, to let her leave like this." He said, trying to convince himself as he nervously rubbed his hands together.

"Well, you shouldn't ignore your intuition either." Mathias remarked.

"What do you mean?" Kenneth asked with a frown.

"I'm not going to tell you what to do boy, but everything happened so quickly." Mathias said as he took another sip of his poison. "If you feel so uneasy, maybe it's because you have a feeling that something's going to go wrong. Maybe it's justified, maybe it's not. That's your call to make. If you think she should come back, go after her and bring her back. If you think your reaction is just emotional and there's really nothing to worry about, stay here and let her spread her wings for good. But please, stop sitting here like a dead man." Mathias finished with an exasperated smile as he got up from the rock.

Kenneth sighed again with a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to look so depressed. But you're right. Sitting here all gloomy won't do any good." He chuckled as he looked up at Mathias. "Thank you old man. I suppose you're not as senile as I thought."

"It's all thanks to my remedy." Mathias said as he pointed his bottle of alcohol. "Keeps me young and dashing!"

Kenneth tried not to laugh, but he failed pathetically. "You're such a fool."

"That's how you love me, don't try to deny it." Mathias said as he raised his bottle in the air in an imaginary toast before drinking. Kenneth's smile faded as his eyes locked on the small bottle.

"You know you can't expect your liver to keep up with you forever." He whispered, his expression grave and worried all of a sudden

"Good God, look at the time!" Mathias exclaimed as he looked up at the sun. "I would LOVE to stay here and discuss the imminent failure of my internal organs with you boy, but I have so much important things to do that can absolutely not wait. I'm afraid I'll have to go." He yelled above his shoulder as he walked away with hasty steps.

Kenneth watched his teacher walking away as he smiled and shook his head. Stupid old man...

Now...what should he do?

It was already 2 hours past noon when Verica came to a stop and put her bag down on the ground with a sigh. She had already stopped a few hours ago to eat, but her lack of sleep from the past few days was starting to show, making her feet heavy. She settled down on the ground and after checking her map to make sure she was going in the right direction toward Al de Baran, she decided to take a break.

She sat at the base of a tree and closed her eyes. She listened to the wind in the tree leaves and the birds singing in the distance. As she sat there, alone and with nothing to do but be with herself, she felt a pang of loneliness all of a sudden. She wasn't used to this. It had been so strange just to eat alone. Now here she was, in the middle of the forest, with no one around. She'd never been alone before. This was so strange...

She yawned as she rested her head on the tree trunk. She hadn't slept at all last night and she felt so sleepy. She hadn't been able to sleep because of the stress. She also couldn't stop thinking about Kenneth all night long. Even now he wouldn't leave her mind, but she was partly to blame for that. She raised her fingers and caressed her lips slowly, the feeling of his skin lingering on them. She felt so frivolous and bold from what she had done this morning. She was so pathetic. Compared to the erotic encounters the heroine in Alek's book had, this was so innocent and childish...

But she had to stop thinking about it. This was not the time to dwell in memory. She was leaving to get away from him. She was leaving to clear things in her head. It wouldn't work if he plagued her mind like that. She had to get a hold of herself. She was on a dangerous and important journey to seek inner peace and enlightenment to become a champion. This was no time for superficial thoughts, such as the sad state of her desperate heart. Her stupid heart clinging to a man oblivious to her. A man still attached to a dead woman, no matter how hard he tried to show otherwise. Maybe he had moved on about her death, but Verica was sure it would take a lot to ever get him to open up to another woman...

But this was not the time to think about it...

She sighed in exasperation with herself. She was unable not to think about him. But she'd only been away for half a day. She would need a lot of time to stop thinking about him obsessively like this.

She closed her eyes a moment, taking deep breaths and trying to block images of pale blue eyes looking at her.

Then she heard footsteps coming from her left.

Her eyes snapped open and she reached inside her pocket for the studded knuckle. She looked toward the noise and tried to feel a presence, but didn't feel anything. She got up and waited, her body ready to jump on any enemy.

Then a man emerged from the trees and looked straight at her.

And her heart stopped.

"...Sensei?!" Verica said in disbelief as she put her weapon back in her pocket.

"Verica..." Kenneth replied as he tried to catch his breath. Obviously he had been running.

"...W-what are you doing here?" She asked.

"I, hum..." he walked toward her slowly. "I'm not entirely sure, actually."

Verica stared at him with wide eyes, feeling her heart beating faster and faster as he moved closer to her. Was she hallucinating now? No, she could feel his presence getting closer to her. He really was there...but how? Why?

"I suppose I just...couldn't let you leave."

"W-what do you mean?" Verica stuttered.

"I don't know Verica." He said as he came to a stop right in front of her. "When you left this morning I just...I don't know. Something broke inside me. I don't understand it. I...I'm pretty confused right now honestly..." He laughed nervously as he rubbed the nape of his neck. "A-all I know is that I couldn't stop thinking about you. About you and what you mean for me and all those strange moments that happened between us in the last few days..."

"I-I don't understand." She stuttered in confusion and anxiety.

"I'm sorry. I can't really explain it either. No matter how much I thought about it, it only left me more confused a-and..." He sighed and looked away from her. "I thought and thought and thought and then I just...ran. I ran as fast as I could to catch up with you. Because I didn't know what else to do. I didn't understand...and I still don't understand what's going on. The only thing I know is that no matter how hard I try to control myself I... gah, this is so maddening." He said as he snorted and shook his head. "Even after you left, even now, I still feel your lips on my cheek and..." He paused and looked straight into her eyes. He was so close to her she just had to lean forward a little to touch him. The air was suffocating around her.

Kenneth sighed and closed his eyes. "Why did you kiss me this morning?" he whispered, his voice pleading for answers.

"I..." Verica hesitated a moment. "I don't know."

"Really?" He asked after he opened his eyes and raised a brow in disbelief.

"I just...wanted to do it." She continued, her heart beating in her ears and making her almost deaf.

"I think you wanted to do more than that." He whispered. His husky voice made her shiver, despite the heat spreading in her cheeks. She felt cold and hot at the same time.

"I-I don't know what you're-"

"I don't know what I'm doing Verica." He interrupted her as he raised his hand to his student's face. He brushed a lock of hair away from her face and his fingers brushed against her cheek. "I just know that...I want to do it..." His fingers moved down to reach her lips and his hand shook when he touched them as he whispered in a sigh. "And that I like it..."

She saw his eyes close and his hand moved behind her head to bring her to him, his other hand cupping her cheek. She held her breath and her eyes widened in shock. She opened her mouth to say something, but his own lips prevented her from voicing any kind of thoughts.

He pressed his mouth on hers gently; both of his hands keeping her head in place. This strange feeling of static his aura always caused was everywhere around her. She couldn't think, she couldn't smell, she couldn't breath. All she could do was feel the pressure on her lips and the butterflies thrashing around in her stomach. She felt so confused. This was too strange. She didn't understand. What the hell was going on? She raised her hands up and pushed on his chest as she forced her head out of his grip, the air feeling colder on her lips all of a sudden.

"Wait, I...what are you doing?" She said as she tried to breathe normally and stay calm. She needed answers. This was too sudden.

"I have no idea." He said in a low voice. "But don't tell me you don't like it, because I won't believe you."

Verica gasped as she blushed furiously and looked away. "T-that's not..."

"You want this as much as I-"

"Sensei..." The title tasted bitter in her mouth. "Even if you...even if I want it, it's not so simple. It's not right to-"

His lips crushed on hers again, more forcefully. He moved forward, forcing her to back off until her back hit the tree behind her. She felt his tongue brush against her lips. It was so warm and the way it danced lightly on her lips tickled her. She didn't bother to try and keep her mouth shut. She felt so dizzy it seemed the world was spinning around her. She had no idea what to do but her body reacted on its own when his tongue touched hers.

It was intoxicating. The sound their mouths made sounded so dirty to her ear it made her blush. His tongue played with her inexperienced one languorously, rolling in her mouth and coaxing her to respond. Her hands fisted in his coat as she moaned softly under him. She tried to move with him, keep up with him, but he pulled away before she could get used to it. His thumb brushed slowly against her cheek as he pressed his forehead against hers, his breathing shallow and his gaze hooded.

"I really don't care about what is right at this point." he said, his breath tickling her lips. "I don't care if it's wrong. I've never wanted something so much in my life. I think I'm going to go crazy if I don't do something now. I'm already going crazy..."

His right hand left her head and grabbed her thigh, quickly followed by his other hand. He lifted her off the ground effortlessly and pressed her firmly against the tree. His breath tickled her neck as he moved up to her ear and licked her earlobe. He rolled his hips slowly between her legs, forcing a whimper out of her lips and a shaky sigh out of his own.

She didn't know what to do. She'd never felt things like this and didn't know how to react. Things were going too fast. For a moment, the pressure between her legs scared her more than his tongue aroused her. Fear clouded all her other emotions and she gripped his shoulders, pushing him away feebly as she squeezed her eyes shut and moved her head away. Kenneth stopped immediately and withdrew his head to look at her. His hands squeezed her thighs gently as he whispered to her in a low, smooth tone.

"It's alright Verica. You know you can trust me."

Verica's hands shook on his shoulders as she looked up at him. Of course she trusted him...

He smiled warmly before laying butterfly kisses on her face. She closed her eyes as she breathed heavily, feeling his hands massaging her thighs and his warm lips on her skin. The heat in her stomach grew deeper the more he kissed her as her mind went numb. She gazed up at his face when he pulled away and stared at his lips, getting accustomed to the pressure between her legs. The sensation was so overwhelming.

She grabbed the collar of his coat hesitantly and brought his face to her. She pressed her mouth to his lips tentatively. Immediately he took charge, pleading for her to open her mouth with his tongue. She could feel groans of excitement vibrating in her mouth, making her melt under him. He rolled his hips against her again as he slipped his left hand under her to help keep her in place. His other hand tugged at the big rope serving as her belt, untying it quickly and easily. She didn't care about anything anymore. No matter how strange this was. No matter how, deep inside, she feared it; she couldn't make it stop. She didn't want it to end. It felt so good. It felt good everywhere in her body.

"Don't leave." He whispered against her lips between kisses, opening her coat with haste and tearing away the brooch holding it in place at her neck. "Not now. Not when I finally realized how much I care for you. Not when I need you so much."

His mouth left hers and brushed across her cheek to reach the soft skin under her ear, sucking gently down to the base of her neck. Her body tensed from the sensation and she arched under him. She felt his gloved hand sneak under her strapless tank top to squeeze her waist. He kept moving up until he touched the piece of bandage covering her breast. He moved over it and a finger brushed against an erected nipple through the bindings. She gasped and gripped the tree trunk behind her, throwing her head back as she opened her eyes. She closed them again quickly when another finger grazed her more firmly, rolling on the small bud through the thick layer of fabric. Every stroke made her shiver and move her hips forward to press herself even more against him, desperately. He captured her lips again as he started to struggle with her bindings, trying to remove them clumsily. She ground against him, trying to get rid of this maddening pressure building up between her legs, by any means possible. She could feel him everywhere around her; moaning on her lips and driving her crazy...

And then everything stopped.

His mouth disappeared from hers along with his hands and the pressure between her legs. She felt disoriented all of a sudden as she made a small sound of protest. She opened her eyes slowly, feeling as if the world was spinning around her.

She saw her legs crossed under her.

She blinked a few times and raised her head to look around her. She was still sitting under the tree, her back leaned against its trunk. The sun had moved in the sky.

A dream...

Verica took her head between her hands as she yelled in exasperation. This was a fucking joke. Stupid brain. Why was he doing this to her. God, she was so angry at herself right now!

She sighed and hit her head on the tree behind her. This was crazy, he was hunting her sleep now. How ridiculous. And not only that! She had seen this before. Or rather she had read it. What just happened in her dream was a scene from 'The bed of roses'...

She really had to stop reading that book...

She rubbed her forehead in annoyance and frowned. She was so ashamed of herself. She should have realized something was off. Kenneth was so "by the book". He would never do something like this. Even with Julian, he married her before bringing her to his bed. For him to... And with her... That was impossible.

But as she layed there under the tree, she felt a surge of panic and doubts rise inside her. "Don't leave. Not now" Kenneth had said in her dream. She really wondered if this was some kind of message. Maybe she shouldn't have left. Maybe it was a sign that she should go back.

She looked in the abbey's direction with a frown.

Was this really what she wanted anyway? Was she even able to do it?

Kenneth took a deep breath as he opened his eyes slowly. He saw the sun going down in front of him, disappearing behind the ocean at the southern cliff. He looked down at his joined hands as he uncrossed his legs and sighed.

He had meditated all day, thinking about Verica, again and again. The more he thought, the more he felt confused. The only thing he was sure of was his worries. He had honestly no idea if letting her leave was a good idea. It all happened so quickly.

He almost got up and left earlier. He almost got up and left the abbey to go see her. But he didn't. Because then what? She wanted to leave so badly. How would she have reacted if he had just ran to her like that and tell her he missed her? She already knew that. And she probably missed him too...

Somehow he hoped she missed him as much as he missed her.

He was so fucking selfish...

He shook his head and let himself fall on his back. He was probably thinking too much into this. He was being too emotional. He just needed to let her go. Let her fly on her own. His own feelings would fall into place eventually. He sure hoped so. His worries were not only caused by Verica's absence, but also by his own feelings. It worried him because he didn't understand them. Didn't know why she plagued his mind like this. It wasn't normal was it? No teacher should feel like this toward their student, no matter how close they were and no matter how...wonderful that student was. The more he thought about it...the more it felt wrong...

"Sensei..."

Kenneth turned his head quickly to his right. His body tensed and his eyes widened as he quickly raised himself up on his elbow. He frowned and narrowed his eyes in disbelief at the young woman before him.

"Verica?" He whispered, almost scared to say her name. "W...how...th-" He tried to speak but his brain refused to cooperate.

The young woman remained silent where she stood. She looked at her feet, her hands joined on her chest as she shifted nervously from one foot to the other.

"W-what are you doing here?" He stuttered as he quickly got to his feet.

"I'm so sorry sensei..." She whispered as she removed her bag from her back and let it fall on the ground. "I couldn't do it."

Kenneth stared at her with a puzzled gaze. How could she be here? Did she turn back halfway? She looked so nervous, almost scared. Had something happened?

"What do you mean 'you couldn't do it'?" He said in a smooth tone as he walked toward her. "What's going on?"

"I was not ready to leave..." She replied as she closed her eyes. She was shaking slightly. It looked like she was about to cry. "I was not ready to leave you. This is not what I wanted. I don't know why I did it."

Kenneth came to a stop in front of her with a worried expression on his features. He took her chin between his fingers to make her look at him. The moment their gaze met, she blushed furiously and turned her head to get out of his loose grip.

"I'm so sorry..." She whispered. "I don't want to leave anymore..."

Kenneth's head moved back a little in surprise. No way...did she really come back? He silently thanked God as he smiled sadly at the girl before him, his heart suddenly feeling lighter. Bless this girl. She couldn't imagine how happy he was to hear that. All those hours of doubts and worries left his memories, as if it had never happened. It didn't matter now. She was back. She wouldn't leave. He was so happy that he didn't take the time to consider just how strange and odd the situation was.

"It's alright." He said with a warm smile as he put his hand on her shoulder. "Only fools don't change their minds you know. I'm glad you came back if you weren't comfortable. There is no rush for you to leave you kn-"

He was interrupted by her arms wrapping around his neck. She threw herself at him, pressing her body against his as she muffled apologies on his shoulder. Kenneth's eyes widen for a second before he smiled and rested his hands on her back with a small chuckle.

"It's ok girl. Don't worry about it. You'll leave when you're ready." His hands rubbed her back gently as he tried to ignore how warm her body felt. But it was getting hard as she pressed herself more and more on him. "You don't have to feel bad or anything about it. Anyway it happened so f-"

Suddenly he felt something hot in the crook of his neck. Like a breath. His hands stopped moving as a shiver ran up his spine, making his body freeze in place. The hot breath blew on his neck again, followed by wet and warm lips closing slowly on his skin. His hands twitched as he stared right in front of him, his breathing shallow all of a sudden and his pulse getting faster.

"V-Verica?" He breathed out shakily as another kiss burned his skin, closer to his ear.

"I couldn't stop thinking about you while I was away." Verica whispered, her breath tickling him once again. Her hands slowly moved up in his hair, rubbing her fingers on his scalp. "I tried to stop. I tried to get away. But I can't." Her voice was shaking, with desires or nervousness he couldn't really tell. He didn't really try to know either. His hands hovered over her hips, not knowing what to do with them.

He tried to speak, to ask her what she was doing, but the hot stroke of her tongue behind his ear made him suck in a breath and forget what he was trying to say. His hands clasped down on her hips and he closed his eyes, bowing his head slightly at the same time. He tried to control his erratic breathing as he tightened his grip on her, his body threatening to go completely numb if he didn't hold on to something.

What the hell was going on? Something was odd. He didn't know what exactly, but the big red light at the back of his head was flashing all over the place to warn him something was off. That, or to warn him he was presently being kissed by his student and that he should really do something to stop her. Whatever the red light was trying to tell him. He wasn't listening anyway.

"I don't want to be away from you." She whispered in his ear. "I can't imagine my life without you. I care too much about you. I want to make you happy. I want to make you feel good. Show me how, please..." She withdrew her mouth from his ear and pulled away slightly to look at him. One of her hand in his hair slided down his face to cup his cheek. The bright blush on her cheeks grew redder as she looked at him in the eyes. "Please, sensei. Teach me how to love."

Kenneth froze. Completely. His brain raised a big white withdrawal flag in his head and left him completely stunned and flustered. Did she really just say what he heard her say? Was she really looking at him with the sexiest stare he had ever seen in his life right now? Had she really called him sensei with that stare? Had he really...oh God...

She smiled as she pressed herself more firmly against him, her breast rubbing on his chest in the process. She closed her eyes and leaned forward with the evident intention to kiss him, a whimper that looked a lot like "sensei" leaving her lips at the same time. That was too much. That was too strange. Too impossible. He might not be the smartest of men, but he was not stupid either.

He needed to think. He needed to get blood back into his brain. He needed...to get away from her.

He moved his head back as his hands left her hips in panic. He took a step away from her, feeling his heart beating frantically in his ear. He stared at her with wide eyes as his chest moved up and down like he had been running for days. She returned his gaze with a blush and a wounded expression.

"Sensei..." Her voice was so low and honeyed, it was doing strange things inside him.

But as he took a better look at her, he noticed something odd. He narrowed his eyes at her body a moment and frowned before looking at her face again.

"I-is this a dream?" He asked between pants.

"What?" It was Verica's turn to widen her eyes in surprise. "I don't understand."

"Your breast." He said with a deep frown. "It's...bigger. Much bigger than I remember it to be..." He stated very seriously.

Verica stared at her teacher for a long moment before she started giggling, her blush disappearing from her cheek slowly. Kenneth watched her in confusion as his heart slowly took a more reasonable pace. She took a step toward him to close the distance between them again. She looked down at her breast with a smile and brought her hands up, cupping each one in her palms. "Maybe." She said slowly.

Kenneth looked away from her with a slight blush as his body tensed again. "Ok, it is a dream."

"Of course it's a dream sensei." She said as she gazed up at him with a seductive smile. The moment he looked back at her, she started massaging her breast slowly, her eyes not leaving his.

"Oh God..." He closed his eyes and brought his hand up to his face, removing the sudden sweat on his forehead. "Why am I dreaming of this?"

"Because this is what you want." She said as she removed her hands from her breast and put them on his chest gently. "This is what the perverted part of your mind wants. The part you managed to repressed so well all your life; the bad example of your teacher serving as a motivation to always be righteous. But you're just a man, sensei." She said before placing a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth. He kept his eyes close and tried to ignore her. A small voice at the back of his mind kept repeating that this was just a dream. It wasn't real. He could do whatever he wanted...

"There is a limit to self-restrain. And the more something is repressed, the more violently it explodes when the leashes are removed." She continued as her hands caressed his skin, following the patterns of the numerous scars on his chest with her fingers. She kissed his jaw slowly before bringing her mouth lower to reach his neck. "You've got yourself into something stronger than you this time. Something you're not going to be able to resist with sheer will alone." Her lips brushed against his collarbone as her hands ran over his abdomen.

"It's just a dream." He breathed out, trying to open his eyes and move his hands to push her away, without success. "It doesn't mean anything. It's just my mind..." He whimpered and paused as he shivered under her lips, his breathing and heartbeat out of control. "I-it's just my mind fooling around, because of my lack of sleep and the recent events. It doesn't mean anything..."

"You can deny it as much as you want sensei." She said as her mouth reached his sternum, burning his skin as she went lower and lower. Her hands passed over his big metal belt and rested on the front of his thighs. He opened his eyes slowly and looked down at her. He saw her place one wet kiss on his stomach before gazing up at him, her tongue slipping out to lick her lips provocatively. Then she whispered in a low tone. "But you can't control your mind. You can't keep it from going where it wants to be."

Kenneth's heart was racing and pumping too much blood in the wrong areas and not enough where he needed. He tried to think, he tried to move, but his body was completely paralyzed. He tried to convince himself it was because this was a dream and he simply didn't have control over the situation.

Truth was that he simply loved what she was doing too much to make it stop...

'It's just a dream' He thought.

He saw her drop down to her knees in front of him...

'There's nothing wrong in enjoying it...'

...and felt her hot breath through his pants...

'Just for a little while...'

...her dark eyes not leaving his all along as she...

'...Oh God...'

"Kenneth? Kenneth?"

The man in question opened his eyes slowly, feeling disoriented and slightly nauseous. He raised his head slowly as he woke up. He saw the sun almost completely down behind the ocean in front of him. He sighed in exasperation as he felt his body ache from the strange sitting position he had slept in. He groaned in frustration as he rubbed his head lazily.

Then he realized exactly what he had just dreamt about...

'Good God have mercy. Did I really just...oh God no. What is wrong with me?' He thought to himself as he shook his head.

"Are you ok Kenneth?" A feminine voice asked beside him. He knew that voice...

He looked to his left and his throat tightened when he saw Carly, looking at him with her deep brown eyes. He hadn't seen her since...the incident. Somehow it made him very nervous to look at her now.

"Y-yes..." He replied as he looked away and quickly got up, trying to regain his composure.

"Bashu said you were looking for me." She said with a smile.

"Hm, yeah..." He replied as he sighed. He took deep breaths to try to calm himself and bring the blood back into his brain. This was not really a good timing, after such a dream...

'...Wait'

A dream. He just dreamt? A dream that was not his usual dream? He didn't dream about his death in the desert with Verica eating his heart, like he did everyday for the past 8 years.

But why? Everyday he had this dream. Why didn't he have this dream just now?

"I heard Verica left for Juno." Carly said when she saw Kenneth wasn't speaking. "I'm glad for her. You must be proud."

Right. Carly. His thoughts about his dream would have to wait. He had other things to take care of right now. He had waited 2 days for that. Now Carly was right here in front of him and he needed to clear things out; between them and in his head at the same time. He wouldn't be able to withstand another dream like that...

He turned toward her and stared at her smiling face with a frown. Somehow he didn't feel all those unwanted desires like last time, when he was barely able to look at her without feeling his self control slip like soap. Well, he wasn't going to complain. It was as if her innocent smile was mocking him. He felt the anger rise in his chest slowly. If she had told Verica they were together, who knows to whom else she had told that? He sighed to try and calm his growing annoyance as he took a more aggressive tone than he intended.

"Speaking of Verica, why did you tell her we were together?"

Carly's face changed completely and her smile faded. She stared at him in the eyes for a second before smiling again, awkwardly. "Well, because we are-"

"No Carly." He interrupted her with a grave voice, his expression very serious. "There is nothing between us. You're my friend, you've always been. I don't want to be mad at you, so don't upset me more by lying like that."

Carly stared at him and remained silent; her eyes full of surprise from his overbearing tone.

"What you did the other day was wrong." Kenneth continued, getting more upset the more he talked about it. "It was wrong and you shouldn't have done it. You shouldn't have lied either. Why did you do that? Why did you do all that? What's wrong with you?"

"I just...I love you Kenneth..."

"There's a difference between love and what you did here the other day." He quickly replied as he took a step toward her. "Really it's not like you. What happened to you during your travel?" He asked, his voice pleading for answers. "I'm worried about you. You're not the same Carly I cared so much about. It's as if you're possessed by someone else's soul. You're not yourse-"

Kenneth paused as he realized what he just said. He stared at her eyes for a moment and frowned. He saw her eyes narrowed at him and her jaw clench a fraction of a second.

No...could she be...

He didn't have time to ponder on his thoughts before her face torn and she started crying.

"I-I'm so sorry Kenneth..." She whispered as she closed her eyes and bowed her head. She brought one of her hand up to her face to wipe the tears rolling on her cheeks, her other hand fisted at her side.

"Carly..." Well, that wasn't the reaction he expected.

"I don't k-know why I did t-this..." She said between sobs. She closed the distance between them and rested her forehead on his shoulder as she kept crying. Kenneth instinctively brought his hands up to rest on her back.

"Calm down Carly." He said awkwardly. God he hated when girls cried. He wasn't sure what to do now. "I just don't understand you. Why did you do...what you did? I...I'm just worried about you, tell me what's wrong..."

She kept crying on his coat as she remained silent, except for her loud sobs. Kenneth realized she wasn't going to answer him anyway so he just sighed and rested his head on hers, rubbing her back to comfort her. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This really wasn't going how he wanted...

"You're so kind...and so easily won over..." She whispered.

Kenneth frowned as he tried to reply, but instead he gasped and sucked in a breath. A sharp pain spreaded quickly in his abdomen. His vision blurred for a second as his hands fisted in Carly's coat and he leaned on her, unable to keep his balance on his own. He tasted iron in his mouth and he coughed, trying to get rid of it. He looked between them and saw her hand holding a knife, stuck deep under the front of his rib cage. She twisted the weapon inside him sharply, cutting through his flesh aggressively as blood spreaded on his clothes. His body spasmed as he groaned and squeezed his eyes shut in pain, his knees threatening to buckle under him any second. Breathing was incredibly painful all of a sudden.

"C-Carly?" He rasped through the blood in his mouth, the pain and confusion evident in his voice.

"I'm sorry pretty-face." Carly whispered in his ear before kissing it gently. "I'm afraid Carly's not available right now."

I was dying to write about the erotic dream since forever lol XD. I'm trying to hone my smut writing skills. Slowly. I'm trying to go a little further every time. I'm still learning. Be indulgent :P

Also, yay! confrontation Carly-Kenny! Finally :P

Next updates will take more times. School is starting again.