Dahlia

by Tabitha Barret

  He picked me up so fast, that I barely had time to grab onto his shoulders. His mouth was all over me, trailing kisses along my neck, my collarbone, my ear and finally my mouth. Wrapping my thighs around his solid waist, I lost all sense of control.

  “I know you’re a moaner after listening to your dream about Daire, but if you can be quiet, I can be inside of you, rubbing you in all the right places and making you come before anyone even notices what we’re doing.” Breathing in through his nose, I could tell that he was taking in my scent.

  I should have been embarrassed that he’d overheard my sex dream, but all I could think about was having him inside of me.

  “As long as I can bite you, I think I can stay quiet.” I licked across his lower lip, causing him to let out a sound similar to a growl.

  His eyes grew darker as he stared at my mouth. “Say that again and I might just come in my jeans. But, yes, you can bite me anywhere, honey.”

  Giggling, I pulled off his shirt and quickly unbuttoned his jeans while his hands slid under my shirt and bra to fondle my breasts possessively.

  Everything about Aiden was rough and aggressive, which made me pant for more. There was no hesitation or second thoughts in his touch. He was confident in what he wanted and even more confident in pleasing me.

  Leaning in to kiss his ripped chest, he stripped my shirt and bra off in seconds. I paused when he crouched down to remove my pants. Once my underwear was off, he ran his tongue across my clit and took in my scent. “Holy shit.”

  Groaning, he stood up so fast, that I barely saw what he did.

  Overwhelmed by the glorious sight of him naked, all I could do was whimper.

  He kissed me and slowly bent to put his arms under my knees. “Hold on, baby.”

  I threw my arms over his shoulders and tried not to scream when he lifted me off the floor.

  Holding me securely in his arms without much effort, he positioned me over his rock-hard cock. I reached down and guided him into my body. Feeling him inside me, I nearly blacked out. How did I not know that soulmate sex was better than anything I had experienced before? I would have waited to find these men instead of giving up my virginity to Mark Thomas in the back of his broken down Geo Metro.

  True to his word, Aiden’s cock rubbed me in all the right places. It was almost impossible to stop myself from screaming at the intensity bursting through my core and thighs.

  Vampires must have some serious strength because Aiden never faltered or slowed until I found myself biting his shoulder to keep from informing the entire neighborhood that I was being fucked by a vampire in a way I never thought was possible.

  After the third orgasm, I nearly blacked out from the sheer force of it. Sweating, I held on until my entire body tensed up and I swore I envisioned the cures for cancer and world hunger and came up with new lyrics for a Top 40 hit.

  Aiden growled as he came so hard that he sent me spiraling again.

  Panting, we stared into each other’s eyes. “That was very good.” I patted his cheek and sighed.

  He laughed as he nuzzled my nose. “Well, I guess I have to strive to do better next time and earn a great or fucking amazing.”

  I shook my head. “Nope. No need. I think I would end up in a coma if sex was any better than that.”

  Chuckling, he carefully put me back on the ground. My legs were so shaky that they folded under me and he had to catch me.

  He held me against his chest and kissed the top of my head. “Sorry. Are you okay?”

  I pressed my lips to his chest. “Oh yeah. I’m good.”

  He sighed contentedly. “I so wanted to bite your lip ring, but I stopped myself.”

  Nuzzling his chest, I giggled. “Next time.”

  He looked down at me as his smile fell into a frown. “I want to be honest with you about something. Daire came to the house last night when he saw the glow. We fought each other because he thought I had killed you and I thought he was there to hurt you after your dream of being chased. Anyway, once we agreed to a truce, I explained what happened to you last night. We came to an agreement to watch over you and protect you.” He paused to put his hand on my cheek. “I know you were dreaming about him last night. I’m not upset that you love someone else. I just want to make sure that they love you back. Daire is weird, but he was willing to fight a vampire to save you. I think he’s a good guy.”

  “Thank you for telling me that. I’m sorry he attacked you, but I’m glad that you came to an understanding. I think he’s a good guy too.” I was grateful that Daire and Aiden had worked things out. Now all I needed was for them to trust Ian.

  He bit his lip. “Well, I attacked him first, but we didn’t hurt each other too much.”

  Chuckling, I could see that he was sorry about what happened. “Just don’t do that again.”

  He shook his head. “I would never hurt someone you loved.”

  “Thank you. I’m happy that you want to make this work and are willing to give Daire and Ian a chance.” I was relieved to hear that he wasn’t planning to feed on Daire or Ian, and leave them for dead somewhere.

  I bent over to get dressed as he stood and watched me with hunger in his eyes. Once I was dressed, he sighed. “I should get back to work. I’m not getting paid to sleep with the boss.” He winked at me as he threw on his clothes.

  I laughed. “No, you get paid and you get to fuck the boss any which way you want.” I winked at him and wiggled my ass at him.

  He smacked my ass and kissed my neck. “Oh God, don’t do that or I will have to take you on your desk.” He stared at me with such longing and compassion that I pulled him into a hug.

  “Stay with me, Aiden. I know you don’t have anywhere to live right now and I would feel better having you near me.”

  Hugging me, he pressed his lips against the sweet spot on my neck, sending chills through me. “Thank you, Dahlia. Thank you for trusting me.”

  Completely flushed and mentally jumbled, I turned around to pretend to care about the work I was supposed to be doing. By the time I sat down, he was gone and I was left with a stupid grin on my face.

  Staring blankly at Daire’s proposal, that I fully intended on paying in installments, my mind drifted back to the first night I met Aiden. I remembered how scared I had been by the ominous footsteps behind and the pain of the twisting sensation in my stomach. I worried that I would always feel Aiden’s hunger pain when he was starving.

  My heart stopped when I realized that I couldn’t feel anything from Aiden while touching him or fucking him. If I couldn’t feel his lust, why would I feel his hunger?

  Shit. Maybe I was confusing things.

  I thought about Aiden cleaning the studio yesterday and remembered how he blended into the paint on the walls. I never heard his feet shuffling across the floor at any point. Why would I hear him walking behind me that night?

  I stopped breathing when I considered that it wasn’t Aiden’s footsteps I’d heard, or his hunger that gave me such sharp pains. Even though I’d had the stomach pain after Ian’s tattoo, it was possible that something else had triggered them. Or, someone else.

  Chapter 19 Daire

  Doug and I finished the install in record time. He wasn’t happy about doing it for free, but I did tell him that Dahlia could be our spokeswoman who talked up the system and convinced others to buy it. I just had to convince Dahlia to be our spokeswoman.

  After I ran a few systems diagnostics, I was confident that the cameras were working as they should. I did a quick spell to change the color of my shirt from blue to orange and immediately felt my phone buzz with an alert telling me that someone had performed a glamour.

  “We’re set.” I turned around to face Dahlia and hand her the remote and user’s manual. “There’s a list of quick instructions so you don’t have to read the manual. Your phone is all set to receive the text messages if something goes wrong. You have your personal access code and your employee’s pin numbers. I can do a quick rundown to show you all
the features if you want.”

  Looking into her gray eyes, I had trouble focusing on what I was saying. I wanted to grab her and hug her, but I was still in professional mode with Doug standing next to her in her office. He was still staring at me as if I was insane.

  She nodded at Doug. “Thank you for helping today. You guys were definitely quick and efficient. I appreciate it.”

  Doug smiled. “I’m glad we could be of assistance.” Sensing the odd tension in the room, he quickly headed for the door. “If we’re done here, I’ll be cleaning up and heading out. Nice to officially meet you, Dahlia.”

  He waved and left us alone to deal with the tension.

  We both started speaking at the same time and laughed.

  I pointed to her to go first. “This really is something I need, so I’m grateful for the fast service. I will be paying you, so don’t object.” She held up her hand to keep me from arguing.

  I nodded appreciatively. “That will make Doug very happy, though I will throw in another discount. Thank you.”

  She stepped closer and ran her fingers down the buttons of my now orange shirt. Wetting her lips, she looked up at me with those fascinating eyes. “Right now, I’m more concerned about my personal security. More specifically, I need my bed, my breasts and my clit safeguarded from harm.”

  I blinked a few times, trying to figure out if I had heard her correctly. Was I playing Mad Libs in my mind and changing the words, or had she said, bed, breasts and clit? God, I hope I wasn’t misinterpreting things.

  “I just need to clarify one point. You are asking me to take you home and fuck you the way we did in the dream last night, right?” Please say yes. Please say yes.

  Her seductive eyes changed to frowny eyes and she took a step back.

  “Wait. How do you know about the dream? Did Aiden tell you?” She held up her hand to put the brakes, dashing my hopes of reliving the dream.

  Biting my lip, I knew I was about to ruin everything. “No. Well, yes, he mentioned it, but that’s not how I knew about it. I was in the dream with you Dahlia. It wasn’t exactly a dream. You somehow pulled me into your dream about the snow. I guess you were really cold and thought about someone to warm you. You chose me. I wasn’t sure what was happening last night, but I quickly figured out that my subconscious was in your head, speaking to you.”

  She stared at me for a second before her face turned bright red. “Holy shit. We had real sex last night. Or rather, my mind made love to your mind. Is that what happened?”

  I nodded and shrugged, unable to come up with a better phrase. “Sort of yes. For the record, I asked for consent.”

  She burst out laughing. “Yes you did.” She shook her head and looked around. “How did I do that?”

  I blew out a breath. “It’s a rare gift, but I’ve heard it can be done by truly gifted psychics, though it can be dangerous. The mind is fragile and you can hurt someone if you do it to the wrong person. I’m a witch, so my mind is a little different. I’m used to the unusual. Honestly, I was just so happy to see you last night that I agreed to have sex with you. Well, it was less agreeing than falling to my knees and screaming yes to the heavens, but I agreed.”

  She crossed her arms and tapped her foot. “That’s why you were scared when it was over and I couldn’t wake up. You knew I was really in your head.”

  I stepped forward and rubbed her shoulders. “When I saw us standing in my bedroom, I was convinced it was real. I was afraid that you would panic and get stuck in the connection.”

  She blew out a breath and started pacing. “This shit is so complicated. Why can’t I be normal?”

  I held up his hands. “Stop. Without these gifts, you wouldn’t help people. I know it’s scary and confusing, but I can help you. I’m sure Ian can help too. Together, we can make this less scary.”

  She slowly nodded and threw her arms around me. “Okay. I will accept the fact that I’m not normal and embrace my weirdness as long as you and Ian can get me past the scary parts.”

  I ran my hands down her back and kissed her shoulder. “I promise to do what I can.”

  Holding her, I let go of my hatred for Ian, knowing that we had to work together for Dahlia’s sake.

  She pulled back and smiled at me. “Now about that personal security…”

  I let go of her and quickly scooped up my jacket, briefcase and keys to head to the door. “Are you coming?” I winked at her and waited for her to grab her purse.

  Once we were in the car, I made a quick call to the Black Dawn Conjurers Coven and got Ian to explain how to do the spell to keep Dahlia from seeing visions when she touched me. I refused to have my father critiquing my sex life just as he did with the other aspects of my life. I followed his instructions and performed the spell.

  By the time we hit the stairs, we had ditched most of our clothing and were kissing our way to her bed.

  I glanced around to look at her room, happy that we were in the real world this time.

  She hopped on the bed and spread her thighs wide for me. It was the most spectacular sight I had ever witnessed. God, I loved this woman.

  Jumping into bed, I pressed my eager erection into her and smiled at her. “If I cry when we’re done, please don’t judge me. It just means I’m happy to be with you.”

  She kissed me and ran her nails down my ass. “I would never judge you for something like that.”

  Sighing, I slowly worked her into a frenzy. Even though I had connected with her in a way I never thought possible, I still preferred having the real Dahlia in my arms.

  Chapter 20 Dahlia

  “Okay, focus on the photo while you hold the hairbrush. Think about the name Agatha Yowell. She was last seen wearing a sundress. Block out all the other sounds except for my voice. Allow me to guide you through this so you don’t get lost. Tell me what you see and feel as we go. Don’t leave out any details.” Ian’s calm voice explained everything I needed to do to find his missing coven member while Aiden’s strong hands on my shoulders kept me firmly grounded.

  I knew Daire was fiddling with the final touches on my home security system on the other side of the room. Ian wanted him close in case I needed to pull Daire into my mind. Since we already had a connection, it would be easier to bring him into a vision if I needed help. I wasn’t convinced that I could mind dive again, as Ian had called it, but if I were scared enough, I assumed I could figure it out.

  I stared at the young woman with the old-fashioned name and focused on her. She was in her early twenties, but she was already a talented conjurer, capable of doing complicated spells. Ian had kindly given me some details to focus on, which was more than I usually had to work with.

  Letting my mind wander, I listened to Ian’s soothing voice tell me how to expand my mind so that it would drift through the cosmos or the town or where my mind usually went to when it decided to show me skull cracking visions.

  Because I was allowing the vision to happen instead of fighting it, supposedly it wouldn’t hurt as much. I wasn’t so sure about that, but a girl could hope.

  Staring at her face, I realized that she looked familiar. Even though she was wearing a sweater and jeans in the photo, I swore I could see her wearing a sundress. More specifically, a yellow sundress.

  I dropped the photo and looked up at Ian. “I know her. I mean, I’ve seen her. And she’s seen me.” I wasn’t sure how to explain what I was talking about as my fear overwhelmed me.

  Aiden squeezed my shoulders and Daire spun around to face me.

  Ian held up his hand to make me take a breath. “Slowly tell me how you know her.”

  “I keep having the same nightmare. It’s been happening for a few weeks. I can’t see anything but fog the entire time. I have some guy yelling at me, saying that he will hurt me. I open some kind of door and a person jumps out at me and points their finger at me.” Tears streamed down my face when I remembered the dream.

  “Calm down. Tell me what you remember.” Ian put his hands on my knee
s to comfort me.

  Biting my lip, I shook my head. “I’m so sorry Ian. The woman with the blonde hair and yellow sundress isn’t alive anymore. She’s walking and moving around in the dream, but she’s dead. I know she’s dead.”

  His expectant face fell when I gave him the bad news. He stood up and wiped his face.

  Daire sat down next to me. “Are you sure, Dahlia?”

  I nodded. “I’ve found people who look like her before. I’m not sure why she was moving around and pointing at me, but I’m sure she’s dead. I’m sorry.”

  This was the worst part about my visions. They didn’t always come with good news.

  “You did a good job, Dahlia. I’m not upset with you. We feared the worst for Agatha, but now we know for sure. I need to make a phone call.” He headed out to the front porch to call his coven.

  Aiden came around to look at me. “Can you still find her? It might help if we know where she is. Someone did this. You might be able to stop them from hurting anyone else.”

  His hopeful expression made me feel a little better. While I couldn’t save Agatha, I might be able to save someone else from getting hurt. If only I could see through the fog, I knew I could find her.

  Hearing my phone ding at the same time as Daire’s we looked at each other, confused.

  We pulled out our phones to see a text message from the system in the studio. A motion sensor had gone off.

  “Someone broke in.” Daire whirled around to my home system and pulled up another screen on the video monitor to review the cameras in the studio. “We can see what’s going on there, while still recording what’s going on here.”

  With a few clicks on the keyboard, he pulled up the live camera in the studio. Using a remote, he flipped through images of the doors, the windows, my office, the tattoo rooms as well as different angles of the reception and waiting area.