by Dani Dundee
“Goddamn, babe...” He slammed in hard, his hips notching against hers and rocking her steady, while the base of his cock against her clit coaxed every last shudder from her body. A handful of strokes later, his fingers dug into the tops of her thighs, his jaw ticked hard, and he spilled himself deep inside.
She held on tight, her hands coasting up and down his back while they caught their breath. “I’d take a brown haired baby too, you know,” she whispered after a few moments and he pushed up, looming above her, eye to eye.
“I don’t care what our kids look like, as long as I’m making a family with you.”
“We already have a family.” Another round of emotion seeped into her eyes. “I don’t need anything more than this.”
A crooked grin turned up at one corner of Tony’s mouth. “There is one more thing you need, babe.”
“Not really—” She stopped when he put a finger to her lips and turned her face toward the nightstand.
A small, bright pink box sat nestled beside the lamp.
“How did you get that in here?” She’d been with him the entire time they’d checked into the new room…
“You still think all this bad luck we have is coincidence?” he chuckled, pulling himself from her body and walking his sexy, naked ass to the bathroom for a washcloth. After he’d cleaned her up, he pulled her upright and handed her the pretty box.
“There was no snake, was there?” she laughed and pulled the cover off the box. “You’re so—” She paused as Tony pulled her legs to the side of the bed and got down on his knees between them.
“I’m what? Tell me.” He tapped the box and she finally glanced inside.
“Oh, my God. You…you…” This couldn’t be happening, could it? Was he really going to make all her dreams come true? “You’re in love with me.”
Tony threw his head back and laughter filled the big room. “And you’re in love with me. Now give me that box.”
She did and, from it he took a stunning, silver-banded diamond solitaire.
“I’m just a regular guy, Nic. You’ve know that from the beginning. I fuck up, I do my damnedest to fix what I’ve wronged, and I love even harder when I’m done. But I’m never gonna be done with you. I’m never gonna get sick of the quick kisses we share as you’re walking in the door and I’m walking out.
“What we have is fucking perfect. You love me unconditionally and I love you because you don’t ask me for anything more than I can give. You never have. The thing is, babe, I wanna give you everything and, if you’ll let me, I will. Even if I have to connive a little bit to make it happen.” He winked and she hiccupped through her tears. “Say you’ll marry me, beautiful. Say you’ll live this simple life with me forever.”
“There’s nothing simple about what we have,” she whispered, because the pressure in her chest wouldn’t allow anything more. “But you’re right about one thing—it is perfect. So, yes. Yes, I’ll marry you. But only if you promise to keep those hallway kisses coming.”
“Anything for you, babe.” And he slipped the ring on her finger.
***
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About Molly McLain
Molly McLain lives in a tiny little town in Wisconsin with her husband, three kids, and a sassy dog. She loves fountain soda, jellybeans, Luke Bryan and Avenged Sevenfold, thunderstorms, and camping at quiet lakes. She's been scribbling down love stories since she was old enough to dream about happily ever afters, and now she writes sexy, small town romance for real.
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Table of Contents
Red Hot Candy
Table of Contents
The Things I Never Said by Jo Raven
Perfectly Equipped by Lacey Silks
Billionaires in Disguise: Rae, Kidnapped by Blair Babylon
A Fan-TAB-Ulous Night by Olivia Rigal
Take it Easy by Daisy Prescott
Before Flesh by Sky Corgan
Scorched into Submission by Daizie Draper
Pandora's Box by Sarah M. Cradit
Braving Love by SJ Mayer
Always Enough by Molly McLain
Mine In Dreams by Olivia Hardin
Like Home by Mira Bailee
Unshakeable by JC Valentine
Yearning to Yield by Pavarti K Tyler
First-Class Scoundrel by Liv Morris
Mated in Bearfield by Jacqueline Sweet
Le Moulin by JC Andrijeski
Jesse's Girl by Alison Foster
Dude by Gillian Cherry
Biker Billionaire's Bitch by Layla Wilcox
Swaying Fate by Irma Geddon
Gender Studies 101 by Dani Dundee
Disclaimers and Copyright Notices
MINE IN DREAMS (A BEND-BITE-SHIFT PREQUEL)
by Olivia Hardin
MINE IN DREAMS (A BEND-BITE-SHIFT PREQUEL)
by Olivia Hardin
MINE IN DREAMS (A BEND-BITE-SHIFT PREQUEL) © Olivia Hardin 2013
Pain, joy, death, life, magic… All of it fits…
Alongside the human world exists a place of magic and mysticism: the faery realm. Although the worlds are bound to one another, their people are forever divided by the golden door. But some fae can use their magic to reach out to those on the other side.
For Daeglan, dream jumping is a part of his life. He never expected that one day, he’d meet someone like Meggie. From the moment he first steps into her dreams, he knows that there is something special about this young woman. The pull between them is so strong that no rules can keep them apart. But what price will they pay for their love?
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction; a romance as magnificent as that between Daeglan and Meggie could change their worlds forever.
DREAM ONE
The face of an angel. That was what stopped him. Her long lashes formed a dark shadow against the creamy white of her skin as she slept, cheek against her shoulder. There was a splash of pink across her cheeks, probably from the summer's heat, and her heart-shaped mouth was open just a fraction as if she might speak at any moment.
But no, she was asleep. There was a book open across her chest, and one hand had fallen out to her side, palm up with long manicured fingers that curled in such a way that invited his touch.
Daeglan closed his eyes and envisioned the invisible veil between the woman's dream-state and the faery realm where he resided. Exhaling a steady breath, he mentally crossed into her reverie, not in body but in spirit.
Her eyes fluttered open, and she twitched in surprise when she saw him there. He couldn't help the hapless grin that spread across his face, and he knew that his heart might very well leap out of his chest when she returned the smile.
"You startled me," she said, sitting up and allowing the book to drop forward into her lap. "It's very peaceful here beside this stream, but I didn't hear you walk up."
"Aye, that it is. Peaceful."
She blinked, tilting her head to the side. "Are you Scottish?"
"You coulda say that, aye. May I sit, lass? Willa ye invite me to stay?"
He was of the brionglóid fae, the dream faeries. Although he could step into her dream, he could only remain if she bid him to. She motioned with her hand to a grassy spot a few feet away. Relief washed over him when his spirit-self eased more fully into the dream, and he knew that even without words her invitation was true.
"I came here once with my parents as a child." She pointed to the running water, but his eyes were focused wholly on her, on the way her face glowed with the memory she shared. "Mommy said this was the place where faeries came to play. I always used to imagine the midges were actually little pi
xies dancing atop the water."
"Do ye believe in the fae?"
She wasn't in the least bit put off by the question. Her dark almond shaped eyes focused on him fully as she nodded her head. "Of course I do. I believe in many things."
When she turned her head quickly, as if listening for some noise, Daeglan leaned forward onto his knees so that he could be closer to her. He clasped one of her hands, skimming his thumb across her knuckles. She gasped, bringing her gaze back to him again.
"Ye're the most lovely woman I'va ever laid eyes upon. May I kiss ye?"
Her brows pinched together into a frown, then the muscles on her face eased and she smiled again. "Yes, kiss me." She closed her eyes and tipped her face up to receive him.
Daeglan released her hand so that he could cup her cheek, placed his weight upon the other palm and brushed his lips against hers. She tasted of peppermint and smelled of lilac. The onslaught of her on his senses seemed to put him under a spell, and he combed his fingers into her hair to deepen the kiss…
… and then she pulled away, peering off again in the direction she'd been looking only a moment ago.
Her body began to turn lax in his embrace, and he knew that she was slipping out of the dream and would wake up any moment. His heart constricted, and he willed her to remain with him, but there was nothing he could do. His spirit drifted away from her. When he opened his eyes, he found himself sitting in the cold moonlight, once again in the faery realm and very much alone.
***
DREAM TWO
Daeglan had never experienced a connection before like the one he'd developed with the woman after that single encounter. Dream jumping wasn't intended to be a repeat performance, but somehow he couldn't help himself. Some types of fae could peer into the human world easily and watch all that happened there. For dream faeries, their sight was only clear at times when the person slept.
Still, somehow he could follow the mysterious woman even outside her dreams. He'd learned enough to know that she wasn't just human but was in fact a witch. The fuzzy image of her form was haloed by a tremendous aura, a display of great power in her blood.
Many nights had passed since their last meeting. The woman had dreamed again and again after that daydream, but in none of them was her mind been open to invite. This night, however, was different. This night, she waited for him. He followed her from the safety of the faery realm, their minds a secret tether that he knew she could not even fathom.
And with a mere breath, he was there standing beside her.
"You again?" she said, excitement in her voice. "Have a seat."
In this dream she was standing before a stove, the handle of a griddle in one hand and a spatula in the other. Some sort of sandwich was sizzling in the pan. She flipped it over with the utensil and then glanced back at him over her shoulder.
"Hungry?"
"Aye. Aye, lass, that I am."
It was true. He was hungry, but not so much for whatever she was making. He was hungry to be with her for longer than a few minutes. He was hungry to kiss her again. To inhale the sweet scent of her.
"What is yer name, lass?"
"Meghan. You can call me Meggie."
He took three steps to get just behind her. "Grilled cheese?"
"Mmmhmm… my favorite."
"Have ye ever tried peanut butter and marshmallow?"
She shot him a quizzical glance. "Ugh? No, why would I ever try that?"
When she presented him with her back again, he ran his hand from the top of her head to her waist, though holding his fingers just above so as not to touch her. He was afraid physical contact might bring her closer to rousing, and he would rather deny himself just to be with her a little longer.
"You know . . ." She dropped the sandwich onto a plate. "There's something different about you."
He was enamored by the way her long brown hair glistened, high and low lights of different colors sparkling in the light. "Oh?"
She flicked off the stove and pushed the skillet away, then leaned back against the counter to assess him. "I can't see it. Your aura, I mean. It's missing."
Of course it was. For one, he was there in spirit and not in body. And two, this was a dream, which meant her powers wouldn't work, at least except as an expression of her imagination. His Meggie was, after all, a blood witch.
His Meggie.
"Ye're tryin' te decide what I am, eh?"
"You're fae."
Daeglan drew back, surprised by her assessment. She might have guessed any number of paranormals or even human. The urge to feel her skin again was too much. He grazed a finger up her bare arm as he inched in a little closer to her.
"Aye, I'm fae."
"And you're here in my dream."
He nodded, unable to speak as she placed her hands on his broad chest.
"I'm glad you're fae. The only other likely choice would have been an incubus. But even if you were a demon, at the moment, I wouldn't care…" She leaned up on her tiptoes and placed her lips to his.
Daeglan groaned and wrapped one arm around her waist, cupping her neck with his other hand. Their mouths opened simultaneously, breaths mingling as their tongues stroked one another. Never had any dream he'd entered been so real as this.
Meggie's fingers curled, her nails grazing his chest through his shirt. And any ounce of control he might have had was quickly waning. When she thrust her hips forward, he ground his into hers so that she moaned and dropped her head back.
He'd never before been intimate with any of the hosts to his dream jumping. No, those had been lighthearted experiences mostly. He would enter a child's dream as a little boy, playing and romping as in the days of his youth. Or he would step into a dream upon request when some human or fae made entreaties to the realm for help, usually in finding a lost object or searching for the answer to some riddle.
This was nothing like those dreams. This was wanton and desperate, and he feared that if she somehow woke up, he might very well not survive the loss of her. Please, lass, dinna wake. Dinna open yer eyes.
His hands cupped her breasts, thumbing the tips so that her nipples made hard pebbles beneath her cotton shirt. She leaned back, presenting her neck to him, and the beautiful length of it was too tempting to deny. His mouth nibbled kisses along her throat until she brought her face back forward. Her eyes fluttered open, and when they did he marveled at how dark they were, filled with her desire for him.
"I don't know your name," she spoke against his lips, so breathless she almost couldn't form the words.
"I'm Daeglan. And yer mine, Meggie. Yer mine."
She smiled just before the sensual tension in her body began to slip out of her limbs. "Yours…" She said the single word as the dream ended, and Daeglan was thrust back into the faery realm without her.
***
DREAM THREE
Her invitation was as clear to him as it would have been if she'd opened a door and pulled him inside. Daeglan inhaled as much as his lungs could hold and then exhaled as his spirit entered her dream. She was standing a few feet away from him, a sultry look in her eyes. She raised a painted fingernail and crooked it for him to approach.
He had to make his way through a throng of people, all of them bumping and moving on a huge dance floor. He'd been in enough disco dreams to know one when he entered it.
But of course this one was different.
Meggie was radiant, her hair flowing in waves down her back and across her shoulders. There was a bright orange band around her forehead, and it perfectly matched the orange and purple mini-dress she wore. Her legs, long and lean and as perfectly white as snow, were bending and moving back and forth to the beat of the music.
She was as alluring as the mythical sirens of the faery realm, and he was helpless to the beckoning he saw in her eyes. When he was close to her, she reached one hand up to his neck, and they began moving in unison.
"I'm surprised you can dance to this. I wouldn't think the faery realm would have many disc
os."
Somehow, even above the loud music and people, he could hear her words clearly, almost as if they were being spoken in his mind. "Aye, Meggie. Not a'one in the faery realm, but ye forget Ima dream faery. Many a'dream has been just as this."
"Not exactly like this," she grinned wryly. "Daeglan . . ." She stopped moving and looked up at him, brushing both her hands through his black hair. "Thank you for coming to me. Thank you for finding me."
He swallowed, finding a huge knot just behind his throat made it hard to breath.
The inhabitants of the dance floor disappeared, one by one bursting into little puffs of rainbow colored dust, then drifting up towards the strobe lights.
"This is a good one," she murmured, and he realized the music had changed to something slow and smooth. He had no idea what the song was, but the melody at once soothed this soul and stirred his body as she slinked up close to him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and swayed back and forth with her, their torsos close together.
"Meggie, ye've bewitched me."
"Hold me closer, Daeglan" she sighed, nestling her head against his chest. "Don't ever let me go."
He had no intention of letting her go, but the dream had other plans. His spirit drifted apart from her, and he thought half of his heart was being ripped away with it.
***
DAEGLAN’S HOME
