Chapter 4 - In Our Dream

Jennah glanced out the window as she rubbed her hair dry.  The snow was falling from the dark night sky.  She hung the towel over the curtain rod and turned back to the mirror.  She hadn’t heard anything from Dominic yet and she didn’t know how to go about contacting him.  Did she go to bed and just hope he showed up while she slept—again? Should she try to concentrate and see if she could reach him?

Sighing, she walked out to the small sitting area and picked up her book.  Either way, she was going to go climb under the covers and relax.  She didn’t have to get up before dawn to go to work, and for the next twenty-four hours, she didn’t have to deal with crazed, holiday-afflicted people.

She climbed under the covers and sat back against the pillows.  Closing her eyes, she let out a slow breath and allowed all the tension from the last few days to ease out of her shoulders.  She slid down further on the pillows. Her book wasn’t even going to get opened.

“Hello, beautiful.”

Dominic’s deep voice moved right through her.  “Hi.”  She turned around to see him standing in the shadows behind her.  “I didn’t think I was going to see you tonight.”

He stepped toward her slowly.  “I was being selfish.  I wanted to wait until you were asleep so I could see you and not just talk to you.”

She laughed quietly.  “How did you know I was? You really have to explain how this works to me.”

“I said I would.”  He stopped in front of her and ran his hand lightly down her hair.  “You kept it down.”  His voice was lower.

Jennah tried to ignore the way her body responded to his voice.  “Before you distract me, you need to tell me how we’re here.”

He sighed and dropped his hand away from her hair.  “All right, let’s at least be comfortable while I do.”  His eyes roamed over her face.  “Picture your room for me, Jennah.”

She closed her eyes, and when she opened, them they were sitting on her bed.  She looked down to see she was dressed and not in her housecoat.  He chuckled, making her look back at him. 

“You control it enough to be dressed. So the rest should be easy for you.”  He leaned down on his side and watched her.  “I’m not sure how to break this down for you. I’ve been aware of it for a long time.”

“So, there are others?”  She leaned back against the pillows so she could study his face.  When he moved his head, she saw the swollen, red marks on his cheek.  She sat up quickly again.  “What happened?”  Gently, she touched the side of his jaw so he’d turn his head.

“Ah, I forgot to not think about that.  My face ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

She lightly traced the swollen flesh on his cheek.  “And where was that?”

He smirked.  “In front of a hard fist.”

She frowned and dropped her hand.  “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

He propped himself up so his face was closer to hers.  “I really don’t want to waste time with that.”  He moved his eyes over her lips before looking back at her eyes.

She searched his dark eyes and felt like she was being drawn into them.  “I’m normally not so complacent.”

He grinned.  “I’m normally not so evasive, but I need to be right now.”

She bit her lip.  “Tell me how to work this—what is this we’re doing?”

“I really don’t know the technicalities of it. I just know how to do it.”  He shrugged.  “We can only do it with others that have the ability, though.”

She sat back again, unable to think being that close to him.  “And we can do it awake or asleep?” She already knew the answer to both.

“Yes.”

She frowned.  “So, you can just pop into my head whenever you want?”

“As you can into mine.”

She bit her lip.  “Is there a way to prevent that?”  She shrugged.  “I may not always be in the mood for company.”

He grinned.  “Are you saying I’m not invited when you’re in the shower?”

She blushed.  “Something like that.”

He rubbed a hand over his jaw tentatively.  “Just picture a closed door inside your head.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Try it,” he coaxed.

She closed her eyes and thought of a door inside her mind, pausing only for a second to note how ridiculous it seemed.  When she opened her eyes, she was alone in her room and awake—wasn’t she? 

She sat up quickly.  “Dominic?  Dom!”  She gawked around.  “Oh fudge! Now what?”  Taking a deep breath, she leaned back, closed her eyes, and thought of the door opening again.

She was afraid to open her eyes and look, so she squinted and saw Dominic leaning on her bed, smiling at her.  She opened them.  “That was...” She laughed.  “Weird.”

He slid closer to her so he was leaning on his elbow a few inches away from her.  She stopped breathing as his hand moved slowly down the length of her hair.

“I believe we were interrupted last night.”

She watched his hand travel up her arm, leaving a path of shivers in its wake.  His soft touch glided over her shoulder and into the back of her hair.  With gentle pressure from his large hand, she let him pull her down toward him.  “How real is this?”

He leaned back into the pillow without releasing her.  His breath tickled her lips when he whispered, “As real as you want it to be.”  His warm mouth brushed over hers, once, twice, before his hold on her head became firmer.

She inhaled the dark, masculine scent of him when he stopped inches from her face and looked into her eyes.  His black eyes were heavy with the same desire she felt climbing inside her.  When his grasp tightened on the back of her head, she gasped and let him pull her mouth to his.

His kiss was deep and gentle.  The roughness of his whiskers brushed against her cheek, and she welcomed the contrast next to his soft, firm mouth.  When he lowered his head again, she found herself quickly flipped onto her back with him leaning over her.

The few seconds he paused to search her eyes felt like long minutes as she waited for his kiss again.  His hand tightened in her hair as his mouth lowered back to hers.  This kiss wasn’t gentle and soft. His mouth crushed against hers and his tongue demanded entrance into her mouth. 

Her whole body flushed with need when he deepened the kiss and pulled her tighter against his body. She grasped the back of his head, not wanting him to stop.  His arm moved under her shoulders as he lifted his mouth from hers and moved it roughly down her throat.  She hissed out a breath when he leaned over her and placed his hard thigh between hers.  Her body was throbbing with need.

With one hand, he lifted her body into his and rocked against her. She could feel how hard he was through their clothes and wished for the material to go away.  In that instant, she found her bare waist pressed against the heat of his skin.  He growled, burying his face into her throat.

He moved his hand up over her bare hip and lifted his head so he could trail his mouth down the front of her.  She realized then that she’d imagined all her clothes gone but her bra and underwear.

 She ran her hands down over the hard muscles of his back and stopped when she came to material.  She’d left his on, as well.  Moving her hands back up slowly, she felt formed muscles in his back and realized he was as big as he appeared to be. 

He lifted his head and looked down at her with half closed eyes.  “It’s been so long for me...”  He nipped at her jaw lightly with his teeth.  “But I can’t be making noises in my sleep where I am...”  He ran his hand up to the bottom edge of her bra and skimmed his fingers lightly over it.  “You, on the other hand...”  His hand moved down over her waist and kept going until it was on the inside of her underwear.

“Dom...”  His mouth crushed down on hers and cut off any protest she was about to make.  As his hand brushed over the wetness, she moaned into his mouth and arched her hips into his touch.  He slowed the kiss to match the teasing strokes of his fingers. The slower he moved, the hotter her body burned.

Each time his fingers passed over her throbbing clit, he lifted his mouth away so he could hear her gasp quietly.  “So beautiful,” he whispered against her lips.

When he dipped one finger inside, she panted out a breath and grasped his shoulders.  He lifted his body away from hers and watched her through lowered lashes.  He pushed two fingers inside her and brought his hand against her swollen flesh as he did.  She groaned in the back of her throat and closed her eyes.

“That’s it, let me.”  His rasping voice was beside her ear and she could hear his breathing was almost as heavy as hers.  He moved his hand out slowly and then brought it roughly to rock against her flesh.

She pulled his mouth back to hers and kissed him with the desperate need she felt.  His hand connected with her flesh harder and she groaned, and then bit his lip.  Grasping her head in one hand, his mouth assaulted hers, driving her up even higher. 

With hard caresses, he pushed his hand into her over and over, and then lifted his mouth away from hers so he could watch her.  She panted and gasped, arching into him, needing what he was giving her.  She moaned loudly when the first waves passed through her and her muscles clenched around his fingers.  He just kept moving his hand against her and drove her over into the hardest orgasm she’d ever had.

When his hand stopped moving, he continued to hold it against her as he held her tightly against him.  She turned her head into his shoulder and lay there with her eyes closed for a few moments.  She could feel the tension in his body and the shaking as he tried to control himself.  “That’s...” She swallowed.  “Not fair to you.”

He took a deep breath and then kissed the side of her neck.  “I can’t right now, Jennah.  I want to more than anything else, but I can’t take the chance.”

She stiffened and moved back from him.  “You’re not married, are you?” 

He slid his hand out of her underwear and rested it on her stomach. “No.”  He leaned up to look down at her.  “I promise I will explain everything as soon as I can do it safely.”

She frowned.  “Are you in danger?”  She watched several thoughts go through his eyes as he tried to decide what to tell her.

“I’m as safe as I can be for now.”

She pushed herself up and studied him.  “Can I help?  I am a cop, remember?”

He chuckled.  “I remember.  No, you being a cop would definitely not make things safer for me right now.”  He turned his head as if he was looking at something on the other side of the room.  “I have to go.”  He sat up and leaned closer to her.  “Sleep well, beautiful.”  He brushed his mouth over hers, and then was gone.

She let out a long breath and opened her eyes.  It was dark, she was in her room, and she was alone.  She paused and realized she was still in her housecoat.  Frowning, she focused on her body for a minute and then blushed and buried her face into the pillow when she realized the dream or whatever it was, had really happened.

Glancing at the clock, she frowned.  Where was Dominic that he had to leave again and why was he in danger?