Dahlia

by Tabitha Barret

  He leaned closer and looked into my eyes. “I was afraid for you when I realized you were upset. Once I understood that there was more going on than a sprained ankle or giant spider, I was really worried about you. I had to find a way to help. Things got scary when I heard you muttering about being a disappointment and an embarrassment to the family for being cursed. I knew you were channeling my father. It was the only explanation. That’s why my possessive side came out. I wouldn’t allow my father to hurt you or make you feel like less of a person. He couldn’t have you. He couldn’t take you away before I had the chance to get to know someone special like you. I’m sorry if I overstepped my bounds.”

  I reached up and put my hand on his cheek. “If you’re father were here now, I would dick punch him for you.”

  He laughed so hard that his chest rubbed against my nipples in just the right way. I clenched my teeth to keep from taking him to the ground and begging him to fuck me.

  Despite not feeling horny when the dream started, being in Daire’s arms had definitely put me in the mood.

  He noticed the lust in my eyes and he wet his lips. “Is that why you looked like you wanted to kiss me? You reached out to touch my face, or at least I think that’s what you were doing. You could’ve been trying to kill a bug in my hair or wipe some jelly off my mouth.”

  I laughed at dream Daire for being just as insecure as the real Daire.

  “No, I definitely wanted to kiss you, though I wasn’t thinking, gee he’s cute, I should kiss him. It was more of a desire or an instinct instead of a rational thought.” I stared at his lips as his body heat coiled around me, warming everything from head to toe.

  His eyes glazed over and his lips parted. “I’m not used to making appearances in the dreams of hot women, so I’m not really sure what to do here. All I can say is that I thought you were adorable the first time I stepped on you. You mesmerized me with your sultry gray eyes. I wasn’t sure I would feel the same way if I ever saw you again. Then lo and behold, you were the owner of Lady Blue Tattoo. I liked your feistiness when you realized who I was. You were cute. I quickly ran around assessing the studio so that I could hide how giddy I was to see you. I wanted you to stop hating me.” He lightly ran his fingers down the edge of my hairline and down my cheek to my neck.

  I smiled. “I’m not mad anymore. You redeemed yourself when you made sure I was okay.” Pressed up against his lean body, I was more than willing to forgive him for a silly misunderstanding. Lifting the back of his T-shirt, I ran my fingertips over his lower back and felt a humming sensation spread up my arms and race across my skin. It grew in strength until all I could think about was feeling his weight pressing me into the cold snow. I wanted his lips, his mouth on me more than I wanted anything else. “God, why am I so turned on right now? I rarely have sex dreams.”

  “I’m not sure, but I can’t stop my brain from telling me to lick every inch of your skin.” His breathy response made my stomach clench.

  He leaned down and lightly ran his lips over mine, sending chills up my thighs. I grabbed his brown curls and pulled him into a deep kiss, unable to take any more flirting. His strong arms pulled me flush against his entire body as he took control of the kiss and slowly ran his tongue over mine. When I pulled away to catch my breath, he nibbled on my lower lip.

  Gazing into his bright blue eyes, my hands slid down to grab his ass. “Mmm, you have the perfect ass for squeezing.” I kneaded his backside while grinding my hips into his growing erection.

  His body tensed and trembled, but not from the cold this time. His eyes searched my face as if he was trying to decide how far things should go. Panting, he stared at my lips. “Please tell me we want the same thing here. I don’t want you mad at me again if I make assumptions. Tell me what you want.”

  I thought it was adorable that he was assessing my expectations. Dream Daire was a really nice guy.

  I went up on my toes and licked his earlobe, sending a shiver through his entire body. A groan escaped his throat.

  “I want you on top of me, riding me fast and hard. I want to melt this entire tundra.” I licked down his jaw and kissed his neck.

  He gulped as his eyes glazed over and his voice deepened. “It would be my pleasure, Dahlia.”

  Falling backwards with Daire in my arms, the tundra changed into a bed with a green comforter and light green sheets. The tundra landscape turned into a masculine bedroom I had never been in before. Thankfully, our clothing had been left behind in the tundra.

  Daire didn’t seem to notice. His mouth was too busy exploring my body.

  Feeling him at my entrance, I shivered in anticipation.

  “Please tell me you’re a good guy.” Dream me didn’t want to be disappointed in my choice of sexual partners.

  He raised his head to look into my eyes. “I try to be, but no one’s perfect, Dahlia. I want to get to know you, the real you, not the smile you put on to hide from people. I saw the fear and loneliness in your eyes and it killed me. I wanted to talk about what happened to you but I didn’t want to upset you. You need to let people in.”

  I shook my head. “I get hurt and made fun of when I do that.”

  Smiling, he wiggled around and pressed just the head of his erection into me. “Tell me something private and I will prove to you that you can trust me.”

  Gasping, I licked my lips. Was I ready to play this game? “When I was little, I drew pictures about death. My mother encouraged me to draw, but it upset my father, so I stopped.”

  He leaned down to kiss my neck. “You were just drawing what you saw. Did your drawings ever help anyone?” He slid a little further into me.

  I gripped his arms to control my thoughts enough to answer his question. I nodded. “I once saw an accident happen before it happened. My mother told me that she was able to prevent it, though she didn’t give me the details.”

  He trailed kisses down my breast to suck on my nipple. “What else have you done?”

  Wrapping my legs around his back, I was desperate to pull him into me all the way, but I took a breath. I wanted to trust him.

  “Ahh, once a lady came in asking for a tattoo of a heart for her grandmother. Instead, I sketched a cardinal holding a buttercup in its mouth. The lady burst into tears because it was her grandmother’s favorite bird and buttercups bloomed in the grandmother’s backyard. She absolutely loved it. I had no idea why I drew it, but I knew it would make her happy.” I tried to slow my breathing even though my body was on fire, eager for Daire to fill me.

  He chuckled. “See, it’s not all bad.”

  He gave me a little more cock as a reward, which hit my g spot. Shivering, I tightened down on him.

  Tensing up, he laughed. “Oh God, you are so ready.” He took a few shallow breaths. “One more question and I swear I will ravage your body. My knees are shaking, so answer fast. You believe that you’re cursed, but I believe that you can learn to control this curse so it can become a gift. You just need someone to help you do that. Will you let me help you turn this curse into a gift?” His sincere eyes searched my face, waiting for my response.

  God I wanted someone to show me how to live my life without worrying about splitting headaches and visions of things that terrified me. In a moment of weakness, I nodded at dream Daire. “Yes.” I doubted my dream would lead to a montage of moving things with my mind and fighting crime with my superpowers, but I was ready to let someone into my hidden world.

  He sighed in relief. “Thank you for trusting me, Dahlia.” He surged forward and gave me every amazing inch of him.

  I threw my head back and let out a deep groan. Holding onto his shoulders, I let myself go and enjoyed every deep thrust and every subtle change in speed. I trusted Daire more than I had trusted anyone.

  Kissing him, I rolled him onto his back and sat up so I could repay his kindness. I bounced up and down on him as I held his hands over my breasts. I watched his eyes roll into his head and his mouth fall open.

  I kept up the pa
ce until he suddenly sat up and grabbed my ass. “I love watching you fuck me, but I promised to ride you fast and hard.” Nipping at my breast, he winked.

  He put his hand around my backside and pulled me against him. Popping his hips up, he used the bed to build up his speed. With him hitting the perfect spot and riding me hard, I clenched my teeth as an orgasm that I felt down to my toes tore threw me. I held onto his shoulders as quick, intense orgasms came one on top of the other until I couldn’t breathe.

  Daire let out a yell that would have scared the dead and came so hard I was afraid he would pull a muscle.

  Falling back onto the bed, he panted uncontrollably and blinked controllably as if he might pass out.

  “Breathe.” I ran my hand down his chest.

  Chuckling, he looked up at me. “Easy for you to say. I was doing most of the work and that was fucking hard.”

  I chuckled. “Yes, but it was worth it.”

  Sitting back up, he laid his head against my chest and hugged me. “Yes it was.” He placed a small kiss on my breast and looked around the room. “How did we end up in my bedroom?”

  Confused, I looked around. “I’m not sure, but it’s better than the tundra.”

  He nodded in agreement. Looking back up at me, he ran his hand down my face. “You can do things I’ve never witnessed before. I want to help you. You just have to ask.”

  Surprised that dream Daire hadn’t faded away to turn into a nightmare where I forgot my high school locker combination, I was impressed by his determination to help me.

  Running my hands through his wild curls, I kissed his forehead. “I don’t know what I am and why I can do these things. It terrifies me that I have no control. People call me a witch, but that’s not possible. They don’t exist. I don’t want to be psychic or a witch. I want to be Dahlia.”

  I felt the tears coming and turned away to hide my face.

  Daire carefully pulled my face around and put his hands on my cheeks. “You are Dahlia. Nothing will ever change that, but you need to accept certain truths before you learn to control this thing. If you don’t like labels, that’s fine, for now, but you have to accept that you are different and believe that it’s a positive thing.”

  I wanted to do the things dream Daire was saying, but I was still afraid. “I don’t know how to accept myself.”

  He nodded. “Everyone has that problem Dahlia. I have that problem. The first step is believing in yourself and knowing that there’s nothing wrong with you. Just because the world sees you one way or calls you names you don’t like, you don’t have to listen. They’re the problem because they don’t understand. Have faith in yourself and no one can tear you down. Don’t give them that power.”

  I wiped away a tear and smiled. “Is that what you did when your father was cruel to you?”

  He snickered. “Well, I wasn’t as mature as I am now and I have the luxury of not seeing the bastard anymore, well, most days anyway. However, it’s because of him that I had to adopt that attitude. I get defensive when people call me names or look down on me, but that’s why I’m trying to use what I know to prove them wrong. My business is about showing everyone that I’m smart, talented and gifted and shoving it down the throats of those would look down at me.”

  I sniffled and laughed at his mature way of handling things. “I like that approach. You’re scrappy, I can tell. You might go down, but you don’t stay down.”

  “Nope.” He smiled and wiped my cheeks. He quickly kissed me and leaned back to gaze at me. “God, you’re beautiful. How did I get this lucky?

  “Lucky? I’ve thrown beer at you and practically threw you out of my studio. I haven’t been kind to you. I’m sorry.” I felt bad for what I’d done to the real Daire.

  He shrugged. “Believe it or not, I’ve had worse encounters with women, which is why I stopped dating. They, too, judged me for being nerdy and self-conscious or hated me because of what I can do. You are the first woman who let me into her world and trusted me enough to confide your secrets in me. That means more to me than anything. You don’t think I’m the devil or evil. You just see Daire, the awkward tech guy.”

  “I think you want to help people in general and that’s a good thing.” I kissed him one last time and untangled myself from his lap so I could stand. Looking around, I almost expected to find my clothes on the ground. I stopped when I remembered that the extremely detailed bedroom wasn’t real. Looking back at Daire, who was lying in bed with a gooey smile, I gulped when I realized how real he appeared. My dreams were detailed, but not with Dolby quality picture and sound. “Umm, why hasn’t the dream changed? Why am I still here?”

  Daire sat up. “I don’t know. I was happily watching you walk around naked in my room. Maybe you can click your heels three times and head back home.” He chuckled as his eyes roamed across my body.

  Crossing my arms, I tapped my foot. “Maybe I can walk out of the room.” I opened the door to find the hallway instead of the ocean or a petting zoo. I closed the door. “Hmm. That won’t work. Any bright ideas?”

  His face grew serious and his eyes darted around the room. “Wait.” He leaned down to touch the sheets. “Dahlia, you need to wake up. This isn’t a normal dream. The tundra was a neutral dreamscape, but you’ve never been here before, so this should look like a generic room or a place where you’ve been before. I was so excited to be with you that I didn’t understand what was happening.” He put his hands on my shoulders. “Think about waking up. Tell yourself to open your eyes and wake up in your bed.”

  Seeing how upset and nervous Daire was, I started to panic. He felt that something was wrong too. “Okay.” I closed my eyes and imagined myself waking up in bed. “Wake up. Wake up.”

  Daire muttered something in a different language and swore.

  My eyes flew open. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. I thought something might help but it didn’t. I need you to calm down and breathe. Everything is fine. You’re dreaming and you need to pull yourself out of the dream. Imagine your alarm clock going off or that you’re late for work, anything that will snap you out of the dream.” He stroked my cheek and slowed his breathing so that I would do what he was doing.

  I followed his lead and thought about my obnoxious alarm going off and how I would be late for the bus. I would miss first period if I didn’t wake up.

  My eyes flew open, and I rolled over to find that I was still completely dressed in my own bed.

  Letting out a breath, I wasn’t sure why I felt so panicked. I couldn’t remember if I was dreaming or if the painkillers had knocked me out cold.

  Breathing slowly, I looked over my shoulder to see Aiden passed out with his arm over his face. He’d taken off his shirt in the middle of the night, but he still had on his jeans.

  Damn. That was a serious six-pack he kept hidden under his hoodie. The urge to lick every one of his stomach muscles made me want to roll over on top of him and wake him up with a blowjob.

  Bad Dahlia. Leave the sleeping man alone. Calm down.

  I carefully rolled out of bed and crept across the floor to use the bathroom, which was a common occurrence at night.

  Still feeling panicky for some reason, I was too wound up to go back to bed. With Aiden there, I didn’t want my sexual energy to spill over to him. Instead, I went downstairs to make a snack.

  Grabbing some crackers and water, I sat down in my reading chair and glanced at my art books. Spying the corner of, “Love Blooms” by C.C. Pine, I grabbed it. I’d been meaning to read it since Calluna left it after her tattoo session with her guys, but I’d been too tired lately. I had no idea why she had left me a book to read, but I figured it was a good book based on the flirty way she interacted with her hot guys. Maybe it helped her get into the mood.

  I examined the cover that had four guys, one girl and lots of flowers. Wow! How was one girl going to have sex with that many guys?

  Eager to find out, I opened the book and skimmed the pages until I found one of the
good parts. Reading about the main character kissing one of the guys while doing other things to a different guy was exactly what I wanted to read.

  Suddenly, the idea of liking multiple guys at the same time didn’t seem so bad. If only Ian hadn’t turned out to be a dick.

  Even having Aiden currently in my bed seemed like a good thing.

  As I read further into the book, I couldn’t help but picture Aiden looking at me the same way the men on the cover looked at the heroine. I smiled when I suddenly remembered my steamy dream about Daire. He had done something similar during sex that the female character was talking about. I could practically feel Daire’s hands on my breasts while his mouth was on my clit and Aiden’s hard cock was in my mouth. For a half a second, I even imagined Ian joining in to finger me.

  I bit the inside of my lip to keep from moaning. If only they were interested in me enough to have this kind of relationship. And it wasn’t just about the sex. The guys in the book were so sweet and nice to the woman. She showed her appreciation in a number of different ways, which definitely gave me some ideas.

  Once I was at the point of needing Aiden’s cock inside me, I shut the book and put it back on the pile. I had to get my head out of the fantasy world. I was a freak who had terrible judgement when it came to men and could only fuck guys my age in my sleep. I was a disaster.

  Depressed, I took off my glasses and snuck back into bed without waking Aiden. I had no idea what to say to him tomorrow. Should I make him breakfast? Should I thank him for being my crutch in the middle of the night and toss him to the curb? Or, did I tell him that he was extremely sexy when he slept? I was seriously screwed.

  Chapter 12 Aiden

  Relieved that Dahlia had finally fallen back to sleep, I got out of bed as fast as I could. All night she’d been making moaning noises and calling out Daire Foxworth’s name. I smelled her desire, which drove me insane. Erections were normal when I drank blood, but an erection caused by a sexy woman who was having better sleep sex than anyone I knew was difficult to ignore.