“How can anything ever be better than that?”
He laughed into my neck and then his body tensed on top of me. “Did you hear that?”
“No,” I panted.
His expression became grave and worry etched the corners of his mouth. “Someone was calling my name.”
“It wasn’t me?”
“No.” Just like a figment of my imagination, he flickered in front of me. Like a hologram, his body was solid and then it shimmered. My hand went right through his chest and I screamed.
My body jerked upright and I was in my bed. Alone. Once again, I was wet and naked, but this time, I was covered in red sand.
6
For the first time since I moved in next-door to Hannah, it was me banging on her front door in the early hours of the morning.
“Someone better be dead or I’ll be committing murder.” Hannah yelled through the locked door. “Who the hell is it?”
“Me. Open up.”
“Maddie? I heard the thud of the deadbolt and the door swung open. “What in the name of sweet Jesus is wrong? Your hair is wet. You’ll catch your death. Come inside.”
“No, you have to come to my house. You have to see this.” My heart slammed so hard in my chest it echoed in my ears.
“Calm down and tell me what’s wrong?”
“I brought something back with me from the dream.”
Her honey eyes widened. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“No.”
“I have to put something on.” She jogged into her bedroom wearing a black T-shirt and in only a few minutes, she returned wearing leggings, a hoodie over her T-shirt and white furry slipper booties.
She followed me into the house and then into my bedroom. Thank God for white sheets, because the red sand stained the bedding like blood.
“What is this?” She touched the red grains between her fingertips.
“The sand from the beach.”
“That’s impossible.” Her face looked stone cold angry. “That’s a horrible joke, Maddie. She glanced at my bedside clock. “It’s not even six in the morning.”
“This isn’t a joke.”
“How is it possible?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then I’m dreaming,” she barked.
I pinched her on the arm. “Ouch.” She yanked her arm away and rubbed the spot I pinched. “Dang, Maddie, that hurt.”
“Then you’re not dreaming. Come on, I’ll put on a pot of coffee.” She followed me out of the bedroom into the kitchen and I made us coffee so strong that it would probably give us the jitters all day. But my head was pounding and I needed to clear it from the fog of the dreams.
“What happened in the dream?”
“Dreams. There were two, again.”
I explained about the nightmare turning into the dream of Rami, the sex in the red sand and then how he just started to fizz out.
“Sugar, I don’t know what to tell you.”
“You think he’s really a person?” I wasn’t planning on voicing that idea out loud, but it was in the air before I’d even realized I’d asked.
“I don’t think so, honey.”
“What about the red sand?”
“That could be anything.”
“Like what?”
“Umm . . . Your nails are red, maybe the paint chipped off and crumbled. They do look horrible.”
“Its not nail polish.”
“Red velvet cake crumbs?”
I rolled my eyes and pinned her with my stare. “No.”
She took both my hands between hers. “Maybe not, but I don’t want you to think he’s out there and it’s all real. The disappointment of another loss like that could really set you back from all the progress you’re making. You need to stop mourning – they wouldn’t want you to stop living, sugar. Maybe you should see someone about the nightmares. You can’t let them dictate your life forever.”
The weight and impact of her words sat heavy on my heart. I nodded my head and got to work pouring coffee, taking out the cream and started making breakfast without even asking if she wanted some or not. I was making it because I couldn’t sit still and I couldn’t voice the anguish ripping through me.
I understood Hannah’s point of view. I knew the idea he was real was farfetched, but I wasn’t able to process the fact that she could be right. Not yet, maybe not ever.
7
The salty sweet seawater scent was so different compared to the aroma of the freshwater lake back at home. The waves crashed with more enthusiasm and even the bird’s calls varied from the familiar. Before I even opened my eyes, I knew I’d returned to Rami. Excitement pricked my skin. Even in my subconscious mind, I knew that something was really bizarre with these dreams, but my eagerness outweighed my concerns at the moment.
“I didn’t think I’d see you again. I didn’t think I’d see anyone.” His somber tone was completely different than the one he’d had when we first met. Gone were the humor and insatiable sexual hunger. Now he wore dark faded jeans that hung low on his lean hips and cuffed at the ankles. The fitted T-shirt he wore was the exact shade of green as his eyes.
“Where are we? I keep coming to this place.”
He sat next to me in the same spot we’d made love on the sand. “Judging by this,” he scooped the red grains in his hand, “I think we’re still in Fantasy Cove.”
“Still?”
“Yeah, it’s like I’m stuck in some kind of fucked up vortex and I can’t get out.”
“Aren’t these dreams?”
“I thought so, but then . . .” His voice trailed off.
“What?”
He mangled his unruly hair. “I heard voices. God, I sound crazy.”
“No, you don't.” I placed my hand over his trembling fingers. “What kind of voices?”
“Familiar voices, but they’re so far away.”
His strong fingers locked within my own and I placed our joined hands in my lap. “What’s the last thing you remember?”
“Before I saw you at the pool, I’d been roaming the beach for a long time – at least a few hours. It’s like everything is the same on this resort, but everyone has disappeared.”
“What do you remember before that?”
“I came to the island for a construction job.” His eyes gleamed with pride. “The biggest construction job Yaldo Brothers has ever gotten.” He hesitated and his expression darkened.
“What is it?” I rubbed his back in slow, comforting circles.
“I remember flames, I just don’t know what happened,” he whispered. Confusion and fear etched his face and my heart stung.
“Maybe if you take off the mask, you’ll remember?”
There was hesitation in his eyes when he shrugged his shoulders. “I tried that while you were gone – nothing happened.” The unease in his expression broke my heart. I wanted to save him, shelter him from the pain that was evident in the depths of his green eyes.
I cupped a hand full of sand and then dumped it between us. “I brought this back home with me from the last dream.”
“The sand?”
“Yeah, but my friend doesn’t believe me. She thinks its nail polish chips or red velvet cake crumbs.”
“You don’t think so.”
“No. This dream. You and me. It feels too real. Doesn’t it? But I don’t know how to prove it.”
He reached inside his polo shirt and retrieved the stunning silver and black diamond cross and chain from around his neck. “If all this madness is real, you’ll wake up with this around your neck.”
The heavy weight of the necklace fell between my breasts and I grasped the charm between my fingertips. Hope filled me. I wasn’t a bible hugger, but used to have strong faith before the accident. But after I lost my parents and then Aunt Mary, anger and resentment replaced my faith. But because of Rami, I wanted to start praying to find him outside of these dreams. I wanted to get on my knees and pray that all this was real. But most of all, I wan
ted to thank God because that gaping hole in the center of my chest was beginning to fill again.
Stretching out my hand to him, I stood and tugged him along with me. “Why don’t you show me around this gorgeous island?”
I was blessed with one of his incredible lopsided grins and my chest nearly exploded with pleasure.
His warm hand laced with mine and the waves splashed around our ankles, leaving our footprints in our wake. “Is Maddie a nickname?”
A lump tightened in my throat. “Yeah. My real name is Madison, after my mom.”
“Were you close with your mom?”
“Yeah . . . ”
His hand tightened around my fingers. “I’m so sorry.” He brought our joint hands to his mouth and his soft lips stroked my fingertips. “We lost my dad to cancer – the pain eases as time goes on.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
He squeezed my fingers in acknowledgment. “This is the back of the hotel we built.”
My eyes traveled between the two structures parted by pools, bars, and sun chairs. Each structure had four floors of little pale blue bungalows stacked in rows of three and faced the ocean. The windows were floor to ceiling and framed in white trim. Each bungalow had its own balcony and matching patio furniture, but they weren’t all identical. There was something special in each one that made them all unique, but still sleek and striking.
“It’s stunning.” I pointed at the beautiful queen sized cabanas in the center of the beach that were framed with drapes of sheer fabric. “This is where we slept that night after the waterfall.”
He’d stopped walking and pulled me against him. His hard muscle pressed against the soft curves of my frame.
“Yes, just thinking about that night makes me so fucking hard.” His lips moved over mine with delectable soft kisses, teasing at first, then slow long strokes. Heat seared my skin. His rough hands roamed my body over the silk of my nightgown and his erection pressed against my abdomen. My body instantly softened and ached for him.
“First, how about a dip in the hot tub?” He pointed toward a glorious circular pool. The sun had set and the air had just the right amount of bite for a hot tub.
“Well, gosh, I don’t want to ruin my silk nighty.”
“You’ll just have to take it off.” His fingers slid beneath the silk and I moaned when he cupped my ass and squeezed.
I pulled back and played with the lace hem of the blue silk.
“Dimples.” He licked his lips. “Quit toying with my heart.”
Instead of pulling it over my head, I let the thin straps fall and slid the soft fabric over the swell of my breasts and my hardened nipples. “Your turn.”
“You’re killing me,” He groaned. With one quick motion, his shirt was over his head in that sexy one-handed guy move.
“It’s on you, Dimples. Show me that sexy ass.”
Pleasure ripped through me as I turned my back to him. With a small tug the soft silk pooled at my feet and I surveyed him over my shoulder. The desire in his expression sent a shiver down my spine. Bending my knees, I let the thong join the material at my feet. I was so glad I’d remembered to wear something sexy before bed.
With one last glance over my shoulder, I took the last few feet toward the hot water and eased into its warmth. He’d followed and was seated at the edge of the tub, completely naked. His arousal too delicious to ignore, I moved toward him with a renewed purpose. The need to taste him consumed me. I slid between his spread legs and grasped his erection.
“What are you doing, Dimples?” His voice thick with lust, he watched me beneath hooded lashes.
“My turn to taste you.” I licked the hard pulsing tip of him and savored the salt flavor of his arousal. “Just as delicious as I thought.” I took what I could of his girth in my mouth. He moaned and thrust his hips forward. A wicked moan foreign to my ears escaped my lips. I took more of him between my lips until I’d become full of him. Pumping his shaft with my hand and my mouth, I savored his erection with firm pulls of my tongue.
He cupped my face and drove into my mouth. I felt him deep in back of my throat.
“Fuck, Maddie.” With a sharp tug on my hair, he released in my mouth. I swallowed some and used my hands to milk him. He marked my breasts and stomach, but he was still hard as a rock.
“This time, I’m coming inside your sweet tight pussy.”
He jumped in and roughly bent me over the shallow end of the hot tub. He smacked my ass and my body jolted with lust. The sting of his hand was eased by the kiss of his lips on my cheeks and his fingers teasing my clit. He went down on me. Oh holy freak, licking me from tip to tip. Every nerve ending in my body stood on end. The pleasure of his mouth and his fingers in my most tender places had me ripping at the seams. He filled me in every way possible. Both pleasure and pain tugged at my core until I was unraveled. In the mist of my orgasm, he filled me with one smooth stroke of his hard cock.
My core tightened around his erection and waves of pleasure poured over me. Our bodies collided and water splashed in a rhythmic pattern. His strong hand gripped my hips while the other teased my nipples. Tugging. Pinching. Caressing. Driving me to the brink of pleasure – just to slow down and extend the tension building inside me. I was close to losing my flipping mind as he continued to torture me.
“Please.” I begged.
“I got you, baby.” His hand slid between my legs and the growing tension soared to new heights of pleasure. Each stroke of his erection matched the stroke of his fingers on my clit.
A moan that almost sounded like a hum ripped from my lips.
“Come for me, Maddie.”
My orgasm shredded through me with a vengeance, bringing him with me. My knees buckled and his arms tightened around my waist while he turned us. He cradled me in his lap and sat on the seat of the hot tub.
“I’m so glad I decided to add seating into the design.”
“I’m glad too. I don’t think I’d be able to stand right now.”
“You’re so fucking amazing.”
“Yeah. . . you really rock my world, Sandman.”
“Sandman, huh?”
“Yeah, it sounds better then dream boy.”
He laughed against my shoulder.
“Rami, what if were not really dreaming?”
“After you leave this dream, do you wake up at home?”
“Yeah, overexcited and undressed, but at home and wherever I’d fallen asleep.”
“Maddie, after you leave, I’m stuck here and I can’t get home – I’m all alone until you come back.”
“What if I could find you in the real world, would you want me to?” My heart pounded in my ears.
“Hell, yes.” He pulled me closer and kissed me. His fingers entwined with mine and he placed them over his heart. “You’re already mine, right here.”
“How do I find you? What’s your last name?”
“It’s Yal. . .” His words trailed off and his eyes widened. He slid me off his lap and searched madly in the quiet night around us.
“What’s wrong?”
“The voices, they’re back.”
“What are they saying?”
“I can’t understand them.”
I reached for his hand but it became translucent like the pool, liquid and fluid and flowed through my fingertips. Tears stung my eyes. He looked down at his hand and then deep in my eyes. “Find me, Maddie. Help me out of this hell.” His whole body turned into aquamarine blue water and then splashed into the pool.
With a start, I woke in my bed choking on my blubbering tears. I pressed my head back into the soft pillows. He was gone and I was sure I’d never dream about him again. Droplets from my wet hair dripped against my face and naked body. Pulling the coverlet over me, I let the trembling sobs pour out of me. His voice echoed in my shattered heart. Help me from this hell. I hadn’t been dreaming. I’d tasted his kiss and felt his callused hands on my body and my sex was still raw from him filling me. For heavens sake, I
was wet like I’d just gotten out of a pool or shower. With every fiber of my being, I knew he was real. But how? Cool metal caressed my bare skin and I leaped upright. The cross still hung around my neck.
I grasped the necklace tight. “Oh, my God.” He was real. He was somewhere in this world trapped in that place. My heart pounded in my ears. Happy and sad all at once, the sensations inside my heart fought against each other in an epic battle. The love of my life existed, but was trapped in an alternative universe I could only visit in my sleep. That’s even if he was still there. He’d just turned into liquid and disappeared before my eyes.
My body trembled inside and out. A hot shower called my name to both warm me and help me gather my wits.
After heating my frozen limbs in a hot scolding shower and mulling over the past few days and nights, I wished Ally was in a closer time zone so I could call her. She’d know what to make of these dreams. She’d always believed there was magic where we least expected it. She’d mulled over every magic book she’d gotten her hands on when we were kids. The spell book. My knees weakened.
Everything weird had happened after I’d gotten the package from Ally and read the spell out loud. With unsteady hands, I turned off the shower, wrapped my hair like a turban with a fluffy white towel and slid on my bathrobe. My legs were lead as I padded out into the living room bookshelf and pulled out the ancient red book. My pulse raced.
Returning to the page that Ally had marked for me, I scanned the instructions. It didn’t mention dreams or how soul mates would be reunited. Closing the book, I curled on the couch, warm tears rolling down my face. Could I really be losing my mind?
8
Finishing a mundane task like yard work was completely insufferable this afternoon. I’d gotten a full eight hours of sleep, but my body dragged like I hadn’t slept a wink. After I’d gone back to bed, I hadn’t dreamed of Rami, hadn’t dreamed of anything. The sun beamed on my forehead and sweat trickled down my back. I couldn’t stop thinking about him. How in the world could my subconscious create a man with so many dimensions? No longer was he just a sex dream – he felt real, his happiness, desires, and fears were much too vivid not to be real. Then there was his cross and the red sand coming back with me from the dream. How was that even possible?
Naughty Nightly Page 4
