Phoenix Rising I (37 page)

“I need you.” She had fallen asleep because rational, realistic Anna would never have made such an admission, even if it were true.

“And I need you. Come, I’ll show you.”

“No. I don’t want to talk of wars. I want to talk about you. About why you have haunted me for so long.” She stood before him in her golden dress, the same one she’d had in so many visions of him. It had a high empire waist with bell sleeves and swept the ground when she walked. As she moved toward him, she felt the cool night grass beneath her feet. Stars twinkled overhead, winking their secrets to them as they walked.

“My curious, Anna,” he stopped at the top of a moonlit hill. “You are the reason I haunt you. You are what I need. The talk of wars, reclaiming my land, it is all part of who I am, but you are part of me, too. You are the part I cannot live without.”

She looked deep into his eyes as he spoke. His sincerity showed and caused her heart to hammer out of control. If she trusted him … if she gave herself to him again … she shook the unspoken thoughts from her head.

“Tell me what you fear.”

“If you know me so well, then you know what I’m afraid of.”

“Yes. Loss of control.” The back of his hand ran along her cheek, and she closed her eyes to the gentle touch.

“Yes,” she whispered, feeling the truth of his words all the way down to her soul. Loss of control was the one thing she feared the most.

“I shall give you control. I shall give you an entire army, but first you must....”

“Have sex with you.” She finished his thought flatly, not sure why the thought of having sex with him was so complicated. It was just sex. Okay, so it was amazing sex, the best sex ever. And, damn it, didn’t she owe it to herself to have sex with him in a real surrounding instead of in some sleazy backstage office?

“You need me just as I need you.” He captured her in his arms, pulling her to him, pressing her head into his chest.

“You’re just a dream. Leave me alone,” she struggled against him but only halfheartedly. The truth was, she wanted Grey. Even if he was crazy, even if he was only some wild dream that she could have at night, she wanted him so desperately. But her heart sank every time he was near because she felt the weight of his depression, his defeat. He believed he was some sort of night god, and heaven help her, she couldn’t get her mind off having his arms around her.

“Come with me to my palace. It isn’t real, but in your dreams, just for tonight, I can show you what we once had. I can give to you your past.” His hand brushed against her face. The second his skin grazed against hers, the past appeared before them. Part of her recognized the misty image. Another part of her thought she was losing her mind. Unable to look away, she watched as a troupe of dancers stood frozen, as if stopped by some magical clock. The other side of the room beckoned to her, but walking from one side of the room to the other was like navigating a maze, and suddenly she was lost in the crush of bodies as they came to life.

Her heart hammered in her chest as wildly dressed dancers breezed by in party masks. All faces were hidden, and she could sense danger lurking beneath the scene. Inoco, if it existed, was here somewhere in the shadows with them, watching them. If it didn’t exist, then her imagination was working overtime because this felt more like a scene from a Poe book than from a fairy tale romance.

When a set of fingers wrapped around her upper arm, a scream lodged in her throat. She turned to see her masked assailant smiling, his green eyes twinkling wickedly at her. Wordlessly, she fell into time with the music, wrapped in his embrace. When the rhythm became too intense for her to follow, he swept her into his arms, leading her in the dance macabre.

“I can’t breathe,” she managed as her lungs threatened to collapse beneath the tight fabric of her rose-colored ball gown.

“Then let me loosen these ties for you.”

Her eyes widened as she looked up at him. The music had stopped, and the dancers had vanished. She stood before him in a large bedchamber beneath the soft glow of candlelight. The mask that hid his face only seconds ago was discarded next to the bed, and her ball gown lay in a rosy heap on the floor.

She turned as his fingers reached out to graze against her back. Slowly, they worked at the ties of her corset. Her breasts sprang free as the fabric fell forward and the cool air rushed toward her. Her breath caught in her throat as his hands reached around her body to cup her breasts. Skilled fingers flicked one nipple then the other as a moan escaped her lips.

“You are beautiful,” he murmured into her ear.

“It’s all a dream.”

“No. It is reality. A past reality. Something from another time. If you open your eyes, you will find that I’m here with you. I’m in your private domain. You have let me inside, and I want to make your fantasies, your dreams come true.” The words were more than just a spoken pledge, they were a vow said beneath the cover of night and had the power to send a shiver up her spine.

Morpheus, her night time lover, moved toward her, his naked skin glowing in the faint candlelight. Her breath hung in her throat as she knew what would come next. She had lived this dream so many times before. But now, there was something different about it, something that made every movement somehow seem real. There was no use fighting him anymore when she knew that he existed. Whether he wanted to call himself Grey, the reluctant rock star, or Morpheus, the ousted god of sleep, he was hers.

Her feet refused to move as she stood planted before him, helpless to the thousands of emotions that assaulted her, each willing her to give in to the man who had haunted her dreams for so long. Long gone was the man from Memphis whose soft, dark melody intruded upon her private domain. Now, he stood before her, warning her that a night with him would be like no other. If a man existed who could make her dreams come true, he was the god of dreams.

“You aren’t real,” she managed as he closed in on her, keeping her in his sights as he moved.

“Yes, I am. You feel me now. You’re asleep, but you feel me. Right now, you are moaning, tossing and turning in your bed. You can feel the emptiness next to you that should be me.”

His hand stroked her cheek as he spoke, and all she could do was close her eyes and will herself to wake up. She had gone too far with him tonight. It hadn’t been her intention to invite him into her dreams, into her private world and have him shatter it to pieces.
Noctourneau
. The word still haunted her even as his deep green eyes softened and his lips turned up into a smile.

“Grey....”

“Call me by my name.” The words sent an erotic shiver down her back as his hand moved to caress the back of her neck.

“I can’t. I don’t even know if you exist.”

“Let me show you then.”

The pressure on the back of her neck built until she moved forward, her lips inches from his. His breath brushed across her face as he let out a low, deep moan that made its way across the air and into her system. She breathed him in, her nostrils flaring with the assault of his scent. He smelled like home and heaven and ten thousand things she had only felt in her dreams. Like an animal, he moved quickly, his mouth descending upon hers, claiming her with the invasion of his tongue.

Her arms instantly went to his shoulders as she pressed her palms into his naked flesh and felt the silkiness of his long, dark hair brush against her skin. He moaned into her mouth as she opened for him, writhing against him in a dance she had never felt before. Clenching in time to the rhythm of their kiss, her pussy throbbed, longing to be filled with the seductive, erotic strokes it had experienced so long ago when she and Grey had consummated a non-existent relationship in the middle of nowhere.

His lips grazed against hers as his tongue probed, explored, claimed. There was no way to fight the sensations pulsing through her body. Her nipples hardened and tightened against her shirt as the hand holding her neck in place squeezed her flesh, capturing her in the palm of his hand, not allowing her to wriggle free, no matter how hard she tried. Standing still while the god of dreams made love to her mouth was damned near impossible!

Still, she had no choice at the mercy of his hold and his mouth. Her legs managed to wrap themselves within his, almost knocking her off balance with the movement. She practically climbed up his chest, wanting more, needing more of him.

Finally, his hand loosened, freeing her neck. Her breath caught in her throat as she pulled her lips from his and took a step backward.

“It’s too late to turn back now.”

“I don’t want to turn back,” she assured him, hearing the sound of lust in her voice. Her pussy was so wet now that there was no way she was going to wake up without finally having sex with the object of her desires.

“Good. Now, come here. Let me show you what I want to do to you.”

He pulled her to him and led her to the bed. The sounds of the night seemed to still around them, and all she could hear was the sound of her heart hammering in time to the throbbing between her legs.

When her back made contact with the mattress, she threw her arms over her head, completely submitting to his whims. For tonight, in her dreams, she could allow herself the freedom to be what he needed. There was no harm in letting him take control of her.

“You are mine,” he whispered, joining her on the bed, causing the mattress to sink beneath his weight. The words were a vow, a threat, and they made her realize how dangerous this game could become. But she was only dreaming, so there was no real danger of losing her heart here.

“For tonight, I am yours.” Her fingers ran along his square jaw, and she closed her eyes to the sensation of feeling his flesh once again.

“No more words. I just want to love you.”

She was naked now. That was the wonderful thing about dreams. There didn’t have to be a rhyme or reason or a removal of clothing for one to be naked with one’s lover. He rose above her, his penis dancing in front of her stomach. She wanted him to enter her now. There was no need to take things slow. She was already so wet she could feel her juices pouring out, coating her labia and sliding down to her anus.

The foreplay had taken place for the past several weeks when she would force herself awake before allowing him to fuck her. Not tonight. Tonight, she needed to feel him slide into her, pound into her, drive every warning home as their bodies connected.

Instead, he slid up her chest, his hands skimming along her sides as his chest hairs tickled her delicate skin, causing each nipple to pucker into a tight little bud. She tossed her head from side to side, willing him to hurry.

“Do you remember last time?”

Yes, she remembered. They had fucked in some tiny hole in the wall nightclub. “Yes,” she managed as he dipped his head between her breasts. His hands covered each mound and pushed them toward his face.

“I fucked you last time. Hard. Fast. Do you remember feeling my cock slide into you?”

“Yes,” she moaned at the memory as well as the pressure on her breasts as he slowly began to knead her flesh.

“Not tonight. Tonight, I am going to make love to you. I’m going to claim you the way I should have that night. I knew then that you were special. I had felt you.”

“No,” she managed.

“Yes. And you are going to allow it. Slow and gentle.”

He freed her left breast only to cover it with his mouth. Slowly, his tongue darted across her nipple, flicking, teasing, causing her to squirm beneath him and buck her pussy into the air. There was no relief to be found. He was so big, so in control, she couldn’t reach around or under him to touch her clit, which throbbed in sweet agony, longing to have his tongue works its way South to give her some relief.

“Grey....” His name came from deep within her throat, half sigh, half plead as she twisted beneath him.

He rose above her again, this time, placing one leg on each side of her body and holding himself just off of her stomach. His cock grazed against her abdomen, just out of her reach as his hands moved to her shoulders, holding her in place.

“I want to look at you.”

She squeezed her eyes closed. Having him look at her was one thing, but that didn’t mean she had to meet his gaze. In truth, she was afraid to look at him because she didn’t want to see the truth there. She didn’t want to admit that she was in love with a man who shouldn’t exist.

“You are so beautiful.” His fingers dug into her shoulders only for a second, just long enough to cause her to gasp before he released her. “Will you let me do anything I want to you?”

Her inner rationalist screamed out at the suggestion, but this was only a dream. None of this was real. “Yes. Do whatever you want to me.”

“I want to play with you, to touch you, and tease you.” He reached behind his back and touched her clit. Instantly, she reacted, bucking against his fingers, thrashing wildly, needing more before he removed his hand. “Do you like that?”

“Yes. I need more.”

“I know you do. You need it all.”

Again, his hand disappeared only to graze against her swollen clit. She tried to focus on the ceiling, tried to stay still and calm, and tried not to move against him. It was no use. Her entire body quivered beneath him as his hand slid lower to touch the wetness spilling out of her pussy.

“You are so wet. Wet for me, Anna. Only for me.”

“Yes.”

“Tell me.”

“Only for you.”

“That’s a good girl.” He smiled before running his fingers along her pussy again. “Now, watch me.”

She looked up as his left hand wrapped around his cock. Thick, purple veins bulged beneath the skin, and a drop of pre-come glistened in the light. He slid his hand down his shaft and then slid it back up to the tip, pulling his foreskin over the head. Again, he stroked himself with his left hand as his right hand slipped down to tease her clit.

Her breath caught in her throat as he lightly squeezed her tender bud between his thumb and forefinger. It was just enough pressure to cause her heartbeat to quicken but not enough to send her over the edge to the release she desperately wanted. He quickly replaced the slight pinch with a soft rub, then moved his fingers down to her pussy, swirling them in her wetness before slowly dipping inside her depths. Her pussy constricted against him, closing around his fingers, claiming him as hers while his hand continued to stroke his penis.