by Alice Brown
Kevin thanked Jennifer for staying with Erica, and then sent her back to her suite. He was in his own bedroom changing when he heard Erica gasping for air. Afraid that Shawn had somehow managed to sneak past him, he flew into her bedroom. The frightened, wild look on her face sent a pain through his chest. He was sure she’d had a nightmare, so he sat down on the side of the bed trying to comfort her.
Erica had been sleeping peacefully when the nightmare invaded her slumber. She dreamt that Shawn had found her, and although there was blood everywhere, he was refusing to let her die. He seemed to be taking great pleasure in hurting and torturing her. She woke up gasping for air, and immediately heard Kevin’s voice.
“Erica, it’s me, you are safe. Shhh, you are okay. Did you have a bad dream?” he whispered anxiously, while gently brushing her hair back away from her face.
“Yes, it was horrible. Oh God, Kevin, please don’t let him get me! He will kill me!” Erica rasped out with a deep, bone-jarring shudder running through her as her mind automatically recalled several scenes from the nightmare.
He hugged her tightly. “He is not going to get to you, baby. You are safe. Trust me,” he whispered as he concentrated on throwing a calming atmosphere around her.
“I want to go back to sleep, I’m tired.” Erica peeked up at him through her wet eyelashes and sighed deeply. “I just don’t want to see him again.”
The fear in her voice alone had the effect of a hot knife slicing through Kevin’s chest. “Erica, I need for you to trust me on this. Think of something else, baby, something pleasant. Put yourself in whatever you are thinking of, your favorite beach, favorite holiday, or your favorite memory. Keep yourself there as you drift back to sleep, and I promise you he won’t invade your sleep again tonight.
In an effort to get her mind off of her dream, he inquired, “Did you and Jennifer have a good time watching movies?” He kept his voice pitched soft, all the while maintaining a calming atmosphere around her.
“Yes, yes we did,” Erica replied softly, and Kevin caught a slight smile play on her lips as her memories shifted to the evening’s events.
“Tell me about your evening with Jennifer. What did you watch?” he continued.
“She brought some popcorn to go with the movie,” Erica stated, and then yawned. “We started with Twister, and then watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding.”
“Ah, I’ve seen both of those movies, and I bet Twister was good on the Blu-ray.” He replied smoothly. Unbeknownst to her, he was still in her head, pulling the memories of the nightmare and burying them way back in her subconscious.
“Yes, it was,” Erica mumbled in reply, and then frowned upon realizing her words sounded completely garbled to her own self. Whether Kevin could understand her, she would never know. She was too tired to worry about it. She felt herself falling under a deep sleep, and didn’t have the energy to fight to stay awake.
She heard Kevin chuckle lightly, as she felt his warm, soft lips brush lightly across her forehead, before succumbing to a deep sleep.
Friday morning arrived, and for the first time, Kevin actually saw Erica’s true smile. It was a happy smile, a true smile. Not the one she had been putting on for him lately, clearly trying to cover up the pain and agony she was in. This morning, she looked well rested and content. He absently wondered if she had any idea what her smile did to his heart. Probably not, he mused. The more time he spent with her, the more he felt himself falling for her. He wanted to get to know her so much better. His inner beast was howling for him to get on with it, and make her his mate. Kevin restrained his beast, however, knowing it was important for him to take it slow, give her time to recover both emotionally and physically, as well as give her time to learn to trust him. His instincts were screaming to show her how much he loved her, by pampering, spoiling, and protecting her, and again he knew he would need to go slow on this also. Erica needed a friend she could trust, and he knew that if he proved to her she could trust him, everything else would work out on its own. At least he hoped it would.
* * * *
Kevin silently snuck into Erica’s room to check on her. Standing over her, watching her sleep, he marveled at how peaceful she looked. He left her in Jennifer’s capable hands again tonight while he worked, happy to see the two young women getting along so well. His fingers twitched until he finally gave in and gently stroked her cheek with the backside of his fingers. Her skin was soft and smooth, and he loved the way it felt against his fingers. Unbeknownst to Erica, he had made himself comfortable last night after she had her nightmare, lying right next to her, watching her sleep the remainder of the night. He maintained a calming atmosphere around her, as well as kept a close watch on her brain activity, in order to keep her nightmares at bay. He made certain he was up and out of her room before she awoke in the morning, knowing all too well the trust issue was not that good, yet.
Now, while softly stroking her cheek, he quickly invaded her mind, justifying his actions by telling himself he was assuring she wasn’t having any nightmares. He knew it was only an excuse, though. A smile played on his face as he quickly invaded her brain waves and realized she was having a dream about him. Now this is interesting!
He left her bedside momentarily, and quickly made his way back out to the living room to retrieve a book and a chair. Quietly setting the chair next to her side of the bed, he sat down and reached over to gently take hold of one hand. Reentering her mind, he held back for just a moment, just observing her dream. Then, he joined in.
They were sitting on the couch in his living room. The television was on, and they were watching a movie. A bottle of wine sat on the coffee table in front of them. “Would you like some wine?” He asked solicitously, as he reached over and poured a bit of the dark red liquid into two glasses. Out of habit, he sniffed the contents, just to be assured it was pure wine they were drinking, and not a blood mixture.
“Are you trying to get me drunk?” She asked softly as she glanced up at him through her lashes.
Not necessarily drunk, but loosened up couldn’t hurt. “Would it help?” He whispered seductively in her ear.
He watched as she closed her eyes and a light shiver went up her spine. He leaned towards her, placing a gentle kiss on the side of her neck. A slight “mmmm” vibrated up from deep within her throat.
He let his tongue swirl around the spot he had just kissed, as he listened to her heart beat pick up in intensity. She turned her head in his direction, as he lightly nibbled his way to her lips. When he reached his destination, he started their kiss tenderly, seducing her with his lips as he went. He waited until she was comfortable enough to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him tighter against her, and then he picked up the intensity.
Although it took a minute, she quickly gave herself over to him, returning his kiss with relish. When his tongue seductively begged for entrance into her mouth, she willingly complied. Within minutes he had her panting for air. He released her lips, but continued trailing kisses down the other side of her neck, moving on down to her chest. His finger lightly caressed her skin just above the top of her breasts, and was quickly followed by his tongue. The two top buttons of her nightshirt were undone thanks to his teeth, and he trailed his tongue down the dip between her breasts.
“Oh God, Kevin, I want you, but I….” she started, as she grabbed both sides of his head, forcing it upwards.
Because he was participating in her dream, he had access to all her thoughts and feelings. Her sudden fear was a palpable thing. It would take some time for her subconscious to learn to fully trust him.
“Shhh, baby, I am not going to hurt you. I won’t do anything you don’t want to do. You are in control tonight. Just tell me to stop, and I won’t go any further.” His words came out as a seductive whisper as he trailed kisses down her cheek. Yes, he was well aware of her cautiousness, but he was also a man on a mission.
He waited, allowing her to relax in his arms again. He didn’t need to wait long. As he continu
ed running his fingers lightly through her hair and across her forehead, she seemed to melt into him. “That’s it, sweetheart, just relax and enjoy. I’ll always take care of you.”
After a moment she turned her head openly seeking his lips for a kiss. He complied, kissing her softly as he moved her so that they were both reclining on the couch, bodies pressed against one another. He enjoyed the feel of her breasts being pushed up tight against his chest. His rock hard cock nestled firmly between her thighs. He stroked her cheek, as he kissed her lips tenderly, enjoying the wonderful sensations of just being able to kiss her, to hold her.
He reached over to the coffee table and picked up her glass of wine. Bringing it to her lips, he stated, “Take a sip. I want to taste the wine on your lips.”
She quickly complied, taking two swallows. His lips were replacing the wine glass almost before it could be moved out of the way. She tasted decadent. She tasted divine.
He wanted to show her that not all men were monsters. She hadn’t told him yet, but he knew that Shawn not only abused her and used her as his primary food source, but from what he had extracted from her memories, Shawn Harper was an unusually cruel man in bed. Kevin seriously doubted that Erica had ever been shown what real love making was all about.
As he kept her busy kissing her, he allowed his hands to explore her perfect body. When he moved his hand up under her nightshirt, he felt her belly muscles clench. He went slowly, allowing her the time to get accustomed to his touch before continuing. He slowly climbed upward, until he reached the underside of her breasts. Each filled one of his hands, and he marveled at their weight. His thumb slowly stroked over her nipple.
And then he decided to turn things up a notch. Because he was controlling all aspects of this dream, he had the luxury of paying attention to more than one body part at a time. In dreamland, the fact that his hands were tied up playing with her breasts didn’t stop him from adding an imaginary set of fingers slowly trailing up her leg until they reached her mound. Sifting through the curls, they worked their way down until they found her clit.
She stiffened, her breath caught in her throat. Instinctively, she attempted to clamp her legs shut.
“Baby, I promised you I wasn’t going to hurt you. Open back up baby. You’re going to like this, I promise.”
The look of confusion was clearly on her face. “I don’t know…” she stopped there, unable to speak because Kevin’s tongue had snaked back into her mouth, exploring every crevice he could find.
After another minute or two, her legs seemed to open up of their own accord. Kevin grinned. Her subconscious might still have reservations, but it seemed her body was going to override it. His hands were still busy playing with her pretty breasts, so he added an imaginary tongue into the dream.
Controlling the tongue, he had it gently touch her clit. She jumped, but immediately relaxed back into his kiss. He had the tongue sweep downward, wiggling it in her little hole. She opened for him even more, as her need to climax began to override all else.
He took the tongue back up to her clit, starting with little wiggles in a side to side motion. It didn’t take long. Within a minute her breathing picked up as she opened her legs completely, using her feet to brace up against the bed to push her little clit harder into the imaginary tongue that was doing such a fine job of bringing her to the brink of release.
Knowing she was close, Kevin released her lips and traveled his way downward, stopping when he took one of her nipples into his mouth. He sucked the swollen tip into his mouth, laving the underside with his tongue. She exploded.
Even in her sleep, her body reacted to her orgasm. He could smell the cream being released from her body. Her head was thrown back against her pillow, feet still braced on the bed for traction, and her ass raised up in the air. Kevin eased up with the touch of the tongue, just giving her gentle licks as she came down off her orgasmic high.
She sighed in her sleep as Kevin reached down and gently straightened her legs back out. She rolled on her side, a look of pure bliss on her face. He grinned as he swept the loose hair off of her face. She had been beautiful in the throes of her climax. He would not have missed a chance to show her how good it could be between the two of them for anything. As he sat down in the chair next to the bed, he glanced down at his own hard-as-nails erection. He had managed to get so worked up being a part of her dream, that his very real life erection was downright painful. But tonight wasn’t about him, it was about her. It was about trying to conquer at least a few of her fears. He made a quick decision to spend the night right where he was at. He would make certain he was reading (or act like he was reading, anyhow) in the morning when she awoke. He chuckled quietly to himself. “I am going to be interested in seeing your reaction tomorrow morning, darling,” he whispered quietly to her sleeping face. Leaning back into the chair and placing his feet up on the side of the bed, he made himself comfortable for the night.
Chapter Four
Erica awoke Saturday morning knowing something was different. She slowly opened her eyes, wary as to what she might encounter. Shock hit her as she immediately faced Kevin sitting in a chair right next to her bed. From the looks of things he had been there quite a while. He appeared to be deep into the book he was reading, so she took a quick moment to search her memory bank for answers as to why he was there. She remembered starting to have a bad dream, but it hadn’t lasted and the details seemed to elude her. She remembered waking up once during the night, and Kevin had been sitting on the side of her bed, whispering gentle, calming words until she turned to goo and fell back into a deep slumber. As she continued searching her memory bank, the only things that stood out were the details of two rather erotic dreams, both featuring her and Kevin. She stole a quick glance in his direction. If he had been there all night, did he know about her dreams? She had no idea if she talked in her sleep or not. Her face turned bright pink at that thought.
She glanced back over to him. He had stopped reading and seemed to be studying her with something close to amusement on his face. Oh no, he knows about my dreams.
“Good morning, sleepyhead.” Kevin’s voice had a deep gravelly pitch to it first thing in the morning, and Erica shuddered slightly, finding it very sexy. It did nothing to stop her mind from replaying last night’s erotic dreams.
He had surprised her when she woke up to find him sitting in her bedroom as if he belonged there. But what surprised her even more was the fact that she wasn’t having a panic attack. She realized she was not afraid of him.
“Did you stay up all night just because of me?” She asked as she worried her bottom lip with her teeth. Had he actually gone all night without sleep just to be near her on the off chance she needed him? And her two erotic dreams, did him spending the night in her bedroom bring them on? They had been dreams, hadn’t they? Surely she hadn’t lost all control, had she?
Then again she could feel an abundance of moisture between her legs. Her boy shorts felt wet. Had she actually had her first wet dream?
Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard him reply. “No, I was too pumped up after work last night and couldn’t sleep anyhow. So I decided to stick close by in case you needed me.” Wow, so there were still men out there in the world who actually cared for a woman. This family was one in a million, and the men’s chivalrous behavior was practically unheard of in this day and time.
She couldn’t seem to forget those damn erotic dreams from the night before, and the star of those dreams was sitting right next to her! She took a quick peek at his lips and wondered if they were as soft and sensuous as they had been in her dreams. Oh, who am I kidding? If the last four years had taught her anything, it was that men could not be trusted. They took what they wanted, when they wanted, and gave no regard for a woman’s feelings. Didn’t they? So why was her mind refusing to let go of those erotic images from last night? Would Kevin really be that gentle in real life? Was he really as good of a kisser as he had been in her dreams? Or was her imagination
on overdrive this morning?
She hopped out of bed and quickly headed for her closet. Maybe she would feel better once she had on a few more clothes. Unfortunately, there was very little to choose from. When she had left her old house a few days ago, she had only taken a small duffle bag, only a few items of clothing. She was also in need of a few personal items. As she headed to the shower, she decided to approach the subject with Kevin at breakfast.
“I need to pick up a few things. I was thinking about taking a trip to the mall,” she stated nonchalantly, hoping Kevin would just agree and she’d be on her way.
He glanced up from the newspaper he had been reading, his eyes turning so dark she swore they were almost black. This was not a look she was used to seeing in him, and it terrified her with its intensity. She sucked in her breath, as fear quickly paralyzed her. What in the world had she done to make him so enraged? When his hands moved to sit the morning paper down on the table, Erica slammed her eyes shut tight and held her breath, bracing herself against the blow she was sure was to come.
When nothing happened, she cautiously peeked through one partially open eye over to him. The look on his face had changed to one of upset and shock. “Erica,” he breathed. “I would never hurt you, sweetheart. You have no reason to fear me.” His voice came out as a tortured whisper, as he slowly reached over to ensconce her hand in his. “My concern is your safety. We have no idea where Shawn is at the given moment, and you stated a few days ago that your life would be in jeopardy if he found you.”
“I know, but I really don’t think he would do anything in the middle of broad daylight with plenty of witnesses. Besides, he doesn’t know where I am, right?” She honestly thought as long as he didn’t know where she was holed up, and she kept herself surrounded by people, she would be fine.
