Chapter 9: A Dream and a Nightmare.

Iris' POV

I woke up with a start the following morning. The blazing sun eavesdropped into a room I had no faintest idea how I crashed into. I had had the most unusual dream. At first, I had thought I experienced the fantasy I saw. But it felt too vivid to discard them off my memories.

Too true to be true. Too real to be real. For a moment, I had wished it was real.

I had sex with Ludovic in the dream. His touch over me was everything I wanted in a man. The mundane pleasure I derived from his silky lips smothering mine to stupor was a scene I can trade anything in the world for. I raised a finger to touch my slightly parted lips that carved a smug smile at the remote corner of my lips. It was too soft and plump to belong to a man.

Such an object of male seduction!

The way he dominated me, the way he suckled on my breasts, the way he nestled his head between my wet thighs... Damn it! I wished I experienced all the pleasure first hand. The mere thought of it alone made my thighs cringe. If only dreams come true at the mere thought of them.

If wishes were horses. Sadly.

My head ached as if a plane crashed into my skull. I sat up straight and tried to massage my temples, then attempted to peel my eyes open. I remembered running away from Gustav, and into a motel. I had met a vivacious bartender who doubles as the owner of the motel.

And there was something else. There was someone else I could never cut out of the long night. He had walked through the door, looking smashing hot as the fuck we had in our dream. He had danced with me after a little chatter about me, and... and... and... What happened after the dance with Ludovic?

My memory failed me to recall what transpired after the dance. It was then I blared my eyes open to scout the room i woke up in. How the hell did I get into the room.

Suddenly, I realized my dress wasn't clinging to my body anymore. My heart thumped beneath my rib cage when I peeped below the blanket to see my naked body. I shrieked, hugging the blanket tightly to my chest.

Had Gustav finally got me? Am I in Gustav's palace again? A barrage of frightful thoughts shot through my hazy mind.

I ferreted the room for my dress and saw it lying in a shapeless pool beside the foot of the bathroom door. I jumped out of bed, and made for my dress. But the other items I saw scattered about the room made my thoughts sprint wilder, as my heart raced faster.

If I suffered from a heart condition, that was the perfect fix to get me a heart attack.

They could only belong to one person. Ludovic.

I dragged my eyes to the bed, hoping beyond reality that I was wrong even when I knew I was right. I can never be more right. He lay on his back with his hands neatly tucked beneath the blanket. I tiptoed to his side, my heart pounding faster that I could hear the booming sound in my ears.

"No, no, no!" I cupped my mouth with a hand, while the other slapped my forehead. It wasn't a dream after all. It happened. I bit my lower lip and circled my hands below my bosom, taking a good look at his face again to be sure my mind wasn't playing some sick expensive joke with my mind.

He slept soundlessly like a baby in its cot. His ripped chest rose and fell peacefully in obedience to the rhythmic beating of his heart. His long wavy hair that I remembered to be packed right behind his head now lay loose. They were free from their bandy cuffs, with few strands lying lazily over his features.

Amber was right, he really is a cute baby boy.

I wanted to run my fingers through his waves, but reluctantly, I discarded the thought almost as quickly as it came. He may wake up and hold me prisoner against my will in only God knows where I am.

He's still a stranger; a stranger I wanted. But I knew better. What if behind his smiley face was a devilish mask that could flip over his when he wakes up? What if he was working for Gustav?

"No, no. Not again." I doubled back in fear and reached for my cloth between gasps.

I was about putting them on when a stray thought I termed wise crossed my mind. If I wore his clothes, it'll take him hours to get another change of clothings. I needed to buy myself all the time I'd need to cook up the smartest escape ever.

I can't go back to Gustav.

As quietly as I could muster, I stretched myselt into his denim jean, adjusting it to my size with his big brown belt. The last hole of his belt failed to hold the jean close to my tiny waist, but I managed.

It would be safer running around in a place I was unfamiliar with in comfortable clothes than in a short skimpy dress. It would also aid my guise if Gustav sent his minions after me. The least I wanted was for a fucking champagne gown to hinder my god-given escape.

My eyes strayed to were my cloth lay unperturbed, free, and unconcerned about the worries of the world I was struggling in. I shifted my gaze from it apologetically, it wasn't going to help me anyway.

I reached for his vintage shirt and slipped my slender arms into them, buttoning it up to the collar. I slanted my head forward to vacuum enough of his cologne into my narrow nostrils. Woody. A bold masculine choice for a sexy masculine captor.

Who knows how many of his female targets he had captured this way. I was one of a thousand, perhaps.

I tucked the oversized shirt into the denim jean, making more adjustments with the heavy brown belt to fit my small frame.

His boots were inches longer than my small feet could fit into them. Nonetheless, I dipped my feet into them, smiling at the comfort I derived from the warmth that greeted my toes. I tapped my toes against the inside of the boots playfully, sizing myself up in them.

I was about making for the door when I heard Ludovic grunt on the bed. His words came in whispers that got me curious. From the way he knotted his brows, and the sudden jerk of his head side ways like a troubles child having a nightmare, I couldn't just leave. I turned and walked stealthily to his side of the bed.

He was muttering incoherently in his sleep, with his hands grabbing the blanket in fistfuls. Trinklets of sweat ran down freely from his forehead and neck, wetting the pillow underneath his head. I was afraid now, and my curiosity metamorphosed into compressed worry.

His mouth quivered again, brewing my curiosity beyond my craze for a quick quiet escape. Why the hell was I bothered by what he was mouthing anyway? Was he reciting the location of where he was planning to take me so that he won't forget? Was he thinking of another fragile female target to mark off his hitman list?

But there was only one way to find out.

I leaned my ear close enough to his lips, and what I heard made me swallow.

"Mother!"

I straightened up, scanning his face for more answers. His cute face wore a mask of pulpable fear I had when I lost my parents. I was interested in Ludovic all of a sudden. There was something more about him that I wanted to know. I longed to know everything about him.

Suddenly, the veins in his arms became tensed, especially on his left arm where I saw a tear at the posterior of his bicep. The veins surrounding the tear were black, which got me narrowing.

His grip around the blanket became tighter as his head began to shake vigorously. My fears and worries for him doubled, but I thought against helping my casanova captor come out of whatever mystery he was suffering. I would watch... and pray for him from afar.

"Mother!" His voice was a little above a whisper this time.

I reached for his forehead to feel his temperature. The heat almost roasted my skin. He was running a towering temperature, requiring quick medical attention.

"Mother!" His eyes glowed blood red as he let out a loud growl. His claws dug into the bed, with his fangs jutting out of his mouth, scaring the broad daylight out of me.

"Oh no! He's an Alpha!" I whimpered, running out through the door as fast as my tiny legs could take me.