Emma nodded and stopped the recorder as he got up, answered the caller and paced toward the window. She couldn’t have welcomed the interruption more. Inside she was a mess. It would probably be polite to go to the back room and give him some privacy, but the thought of moving overwhelmed her. All she could manage was to sink back in her chair like a boneless blob.
This guy’s dreams were worthy of the Dream World Hall of Fame…if there were such a thing. His recollection of the detail was remarkable.
She blinked.
Too remarkable, she figured, now that she wasn’t too hot and bothered to think about it. She swung a suspicious glance his way. He stared out the window as he listened intently to the caller. Of course Brenda had told her he was the perfect candidate for that reason. But still…
“Sorry about that.” He turned off the phone, stuck it back in his jacket pocket and sat down. “No more interruptions.”
“No problem,” she murmured, and started the recorder.
“I left off with her drying me with the towel, right?”
Emma nodded, amazed at his lack of self-consciousness. He could’ve been discussing the weather.
“Okay, she was kneeling down, and…” He paused, shrugged, showing the first sign of being uneasy. “How else can I say it? I was poking right at her face and she kissed the head. Lightly, trying to tease me, and then she finished drying my legs.
“Of course I was ready to explode and when I tried to get her to take me in her mouth, she stood and told me to be patient again. I reached under her kimono to try and convince her otherwise, and she was so wet I thought I had her, but she wouldn’t give in. She pushed me away and told me to wait for her on the hammock in the sunroom.
“I did as she asked, but I wasn’t happy about it. It’s weird because I knew exactly where the room was without her telling me. There were lots of glass windows and a bunch of plants, mostly tropical ferns. The hammock was strung up near a bay window overlooking the pool outside.
“She’d already put on an Eagles CD and placed another silver ice bucket with champagne in it alongside the hammock. It was getting dusky outside but only two candles were lit. Still naked, I climbed into the hammock, laid back and closed my eyes, listening to ‘Take It to the Limit.’ I don’t know how long I laid there before she came back, but when I opened my eyes I saw her standing in the shadows. I motioned for her to join me, and she untied the kimono and let it fall to the floor.”
He stopped and frowned at her. “Is anything wrong?”
“Wrong?” She straightened, clutched her pencil as if it were a lifeline. “No. Why?”
“You look a little peaked.”
“I didn’t get much sleep last night,” she murmured, tightening her slackened jaw, and hoping he didn’t get the wrong idea about her reaction. Which, of course, would be the right idea. She just didn’t want him to know how incredulous she was, and helplessly turned on.
“Join the club,” he said, sounding totally unaffected.
“Excuse me?”
“You said you couldn’t sleep last night. Me, neither.”
She laughed. “When did you come up with all this?”
He looked startled. “What do you think woke me up?”
“So this is the end of it?” she asked, hopeful and disappointed at the same time.
His slow, sexy grin was her answer. “Ready to continue?”
“Ready.” She glanced at the recorder. It was still going.
“Okay, so the kimono fell off.” He frowned, as if trying to remember what came next.
Sure. He was probably reliving the whole thing.
“Okay, that’s right, she was totally naked, all of her skin shaved smooth, and her breasts were enormous, much bigger than they’d looked before.”
Of course. Emma sighed.
“Did you say something?”
She shook her head and pretended to write a notation.
He waited for her to look up again. “I told her to come join me in the hammock, but she wouldn’t budge. She said there was something else she wanted me to do first.” His gaze carefully held Emma’s. “She told me to jerk off, and then she slipped her hand between her legs.”
7
NICK WASN’T MISTAKEN. He saw the burning hunger in Emma’s eyes. She was turned on. That hadn’t been his intention. He’d thought she’d be embarrassed, maybe even ready to deem him an unsuitable subject and release him from the study. Instead, her reaction created a new problem. If she so much as crooked her little finger, he’d have her on her back in seconds flat.
It wasn’t just the story making him harder than Mount Fuji, or even the memory of seeing her half-naked—it was the way she kept moistening her lips, and breathing so hard her chest rose and fell in hypnotic rhythm. She’d be mortified if she knew her reaction was so obvious, but he doubted she was aware of any of it.
His gaze moved to her hands and the way she lightly scraped her nails across the notebook paper. He could almost feel them raking his back, encouraging him to go deeper.
He swallowed, and forced his thoughts away from the foolish web his mind recklessly wove. Nothing was going to happen between him and Doc. She wasn’t the type who’d be satisfied with a dinner out now and again, and casual sex on the side. And he wouldn’t be happy with anything more.
It was strictly business between them, and hopefully that wouldn’t be for much longer.
His gaze drew to her glistening lips. Unless he could convince her a little casual sex never hurt anyone. “You know, Doc, I could really use a drink of water.”
She blinked, and her hands stilled. “Me, too,” she said, and abruptly stood.
He waited until she was out of the room to adjust the front of his jeans. They’d gotten unbearably tight, and no amount of rationale had dampened the eagerness beneath his fly. Man, was he a first-class idiot, or what? If this scheme to get out of the study backfired on him, it would serve him right.
“I’m afraid it’s not—”
At the sound of her voice he shifted positions. But it was too late. She had to have seen him fixing his jeans.
“Um…” She noisily cleared her throat. “The water isn’t very cold.” She returned to her chair, and keeping her gaze averted, pushed a bottle of Evian across the desk at him. “I didn’t put them in the refrigerator soon enough.”
Her face grew steadily pinker as she opened her own bottle and guzzled half of it.
“No problem,” he mumbled, and gulped down most of his. “Do you want to take a break, or anything?”
Her gaze flew up. “Is there much more?”
“Not really.”
“Then let’s go ahead and finish up.” Her eyes narrowed. “Unless you’d like a break. That would be okay.”
“No, I’m fine.” Dammit. He didn’t want them to be uncomfortable with each other. “I gotta ask…do you want me to continue with as much detail?”
She was torn. Indecision showed in her eyes, and the way she nervously shoved up her glasses made him sorry he even asked.
“Go ahead with as much detail as you’re comfortable with describing. If you’d prefer, summarize and hopefully I’ll get the picture.”
Their eyes slowly met, and Nick stared for a moment, trying to figure out if he’d picked up the right signal. Was she interested? If she wasn’t, she was a damn tease.
Or maybe naive? No, he didn’t think so. Which meant all bets were off now. He was going for it. If she wasn’t interested in a harmless fling, she had to tell him.
At the thought, adrenaline surged and he had to concentrate to get back into the dream. “Let’s see…I believe I left off with her telling me to, let’s say, please myself. I begged her to come and participate and she reminded me I needed to be patient. In the meantime, she was doing a good job of getting herself off, and I couldn’t stand it a second longer and I started to do as she’d asked.
“I stroked myself slowly at first so it wouldn’t all be over too soon. But she was really getting
into it, rubbing her hands all over her breasts and belly, between her legs, moaning until I couldn’t stand it. I was about to come but she rushed over and stilled my hand, and told me it wasn’t time. And then she ordered me to turn over.
“I wrapped an arm around her waist and tried coaxing her in beside me by sucking her nipples, kissing and licking the skin between her breasts. When I tried to put my finger in her, she stepped back and demanded I turn over.”
Nick paused to take another sip of water. He wasn’t thirsty but if he kept watching Emma’s heated reaction, he was not going to be able to hold on to his restraint.
She grabbed her own bottle of Evian and took a big gulp. No, she wasn’t about to dismiss him. He’d bet she was just as horny as he was. The idea was distracting, making him dwell on when he should make his move rather than on the pseudo dream.
Her expectant look reeled him in, and he set down the water and took a deep breath. “I turned over as she asked, and since this was one of those woven, net-type hammocks, you can pretty much guess what happened since I was already saluting the flag. I poked right through and just hung there. I saw her get to her knees before she ordered me to bury my face in the pillow, and I knew what was coming. Or at least had high hopes.”
He grinned.
Doc didn’t look amused. In fact, she started to look irritated. What brought that on?
“The woman showed no mercy. She closed her mouth over me and sucked relentlessly, retreated briefly and then started over again until I couldn’t hold back any longer. But even after I came, she wouldn’t let go. She tongued me, slow, even strokes up and down my shaft until I was hard again. I thought I was going to explode, and I begged her to join me on the hammock. She stopped sucking, but let her tongue trail over the tip and then started a swirling motion.
“I couldn’t stand it. I knew I’d come again without pleasing her so I pushed off the hammock. I surprised her and I was able to catch her around the waist. We both sank to the floor and I parted her thighs, and found her wetness with my mouth. She struggled for a moment, but as soon as my tongue touched her she went limp. She grabbed my hair and pulled me closer, forcing my tongue to slide deeper inside.
“She sounded like she was about to come so I raised myself and thrust inside her. She was wet and slippery and I sank so deep she screamed. And then I felt her convulsing around me, her muscles gripping me until I came again.”
He’d been staring off toward the window as he relayed the “dream,” but his gaze slowly met Doc’s. She looked somewhat stricken. He suddenly wasn’t feeling so hot himself. Scratch that. He was hot, all right. Even his blood pressure rocketed out of control.
He took a hasty sip of water, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and realized he wasn’t so steady. How the hell was he going to finish the rest of the story? He’d already done a ruthless job of editing the original version. “That’s it. I woke up.”
She didn’t move, only stared at him with wary misgiving. A faint pink tinted her cheeks and she’d drawn her lower lip between her teeth. She put a hand to her flushed throat and loosened her collar. “This sounds an awful lot like fantasy.”
He shrugged, hoping his pants would start to loosen. The only way he’d stand up right now is if someone yelled fire. “Most of my dreams are.” Her abrupt frown had him adding, “I’ve always been pretty superficial in that department. Hell, Doc, how many men do you know who wouldn’t want to find themselves in that situation?”
She gave him a bland look. “We obviously travel in different circles.”
“Right.” His short bark of laughter brought annoyance to her eyes. “Then you have some pretty strange male friends.”
Or maybe she didn’t have any. The thought nagged him. “Doc, do you have a boyfriend?”
“That is irrelevant, and none of your business.”
“Yeah, I know. Do you?”
She made a sound of utter exasperation. “Can we finish this up?”
“Sure.” He gave her a lazy smile that seemed to heighten her annoyance. “I assume you have questions.”
She returned a measuring look before lowering her gaze to consult her notes. The thing was, the top page of her notebook was blank. He watched as it took a few seconds for her to realize she hadn’t taken any notes, and when she finally met his eyes again, anger and humiliation sparked like the Fourth of July across her face.
He said not a word, but waited patiently for her to gatherher wits. It didn’t take her long to regroup. Amazing, the way she calmly checked the point of her pencil, and then lifted her chin and stared back at him.
“I want to do something a little different this time,” she said coolly…so coolly it made him nervous. “We’re going to diagram your dream.”
He frowned. “How?”
“It’s very simple. Tell me the dream again—” Her eyebrows shot up. “Not in detail. Summarize it, and we’ll highlight the different elements of the dream.”
“Huh?”
“Almost every element of a dream can be placed in one of six categories: setting, people, feelings, objects, animals and action or situation. If we break these down, it’ll be easier for you to record your future dreams and to interpret them.”
The hair on the back of Nick’s neck reached for the ceiling. She was obviously back in control, the consummate professional. And she was up to something. Was this some sort of payback?
She met his intense, probing stare with a look of total innocence.
Or maybe she liked hearing him describe the sex. Maybe it made her so hot she wanted to replay the whole thing. Maybe he’d get lucky.
“I thought I was doing a pretty damn good job of recording my dreams already.” He carefully watched her face, looking for clues, hoping she was ready to take the leap. His sheets were clean and ready. “How much more detail do you want?”
She flushed. “I’m trying to make things easier for you to keep focused on the structure of the dream and possibly enable you to recognize parallel situations or feelings in waking life.”
“See, Doc, there you go.” He shook his head. “Assuming I want to know what all this crap means. Which is absolutely nothing, in my opinion.”
“Fine. Then do it for me, okay? It’ll help make my job easier.”
“How so?”
Her color deepened. “It’s difficult to explain. Can we continue now, or were you planning on staying all night?”
“I don’t know, Doc. What did you have in mind?”
She scrunched up her mouth in a cute, disapproving pout. She didn’t say anything though. He figured she was thinking of a way to best him. And here he’d been a good sport in not pointing out that this diagramming crap was a shield, a reminder to her to be professional.
Finally, she gave him a slow, tolerant smile. “Why, Nick? What did you have in mind?”
He mentally applauded her spunk. “Well, Doc, are you sure you want to hear it?”
She moistened her lips, her tongue darting out in a nervous swipe that left her glistening wet. God, she was killing him. “If it pertains to your dreams.”
He smiled. “I’ll tell you what I think last night meant. I went to bed horny. I dreamed about great sex. You get the picture.”
“Okay, now we’re getting somewhere.” She straightened, the interested gleam in her eye making him edgy. “You didn’t know the woman, right?” He nodded. “So the sex was anonymous, just like in your other dreams.”
Ah, shit! “I know where you’re going with this, Doc. You’re wrong.”
She gave him one of those serene, tolerant smiles that got on his nerves. “Tell me.”
“Yeah, right, like I’m gonna waltz right into your trap.”
She reared her head back in genuine surprise. “Trap?”
“Don’t give me that innocent look.” He eyed her with distrust. She’d obviously been talking to Brenda. “You think I’m commitment phobic.”
“I see we share the same conclusion.” The tolerant smile broadene
d to one of satisfaction. “You’re starting to get the hang of this.”
He snorted, tempted to tell Her Smugness she was analyzing a fictitious story out of a magazine. “I like having a good time. I’m not ready to be tied down. That does not make me commitment phobic.”
“Okay, so maybe phobic is too strong a word, but the fact that you never know who any of these women in your dreams are does suggest that— What?”
“Nothing.” He shrugged a shoulder. “You look cute when you have that superior act going on.”
“Hmm.” She leaned back and stared thoughtfully at him, her brows slightly furrowed over the ugly black glasses.
“Hmm, what?”
“Nothing.” She smiled, and then hunched over her notebook to scribble something.
He tried to see what she’d written but her arm blocked his view. He’d be damned if he’d ask, though. Why should he? That would indicate he gave a rip about her misguided conclusions.
“Let’s get back to the diagramming.” She stopped writing and leaned back. Whether intentional or not, her hand obstructed his ability to see her notes. “Of course I need your cooperation.”
“Haven’t I been cooperating?” He gave her a persuasive grin, the one that usually sucker punched women, no matter what their mood.
Doc lifted one dubious brow. Her lips didn’t so much as twitch. “Here’s what I’d like you to do—form a couple of summarizing sentences about the gist of your dream and then dissect it by breaking down the elements.”
He groaned. She was so damn serious all the time. “For example?”
She leaned back and glanced at the ceiling as she thought. Even through the ugly glasses she had pretty eyes. Green and golden flecks kept them from being merely brown, and he’d noticed that the green deepened when she was annoyed with him.
“I have a suggestion, Doc. Summarize the dream I just gave you as an example.”
Her eyes widened slightly, and she shoved the glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Okay,” she said, slowly, evenly. “Let’s see…it would go something like this— After work one day, I met my girlfriend, who’d been waiting for me with a special surprise. While she made us dinner, she had me soak in a candlelit bath and then—” She faltered, her throat working with a nervous swallow.
Extra Innings and In His Wildest Dreams Page 27
