Quicksilver Dreams (Dreamwalkers) (39 page)

“So why didn’t you guys continue with your plans to have Sy befriend me?”

“Because I wanted you for myself, though I didn’t verbalize it at the time. I only knew that you were a beautiful woman with a tender heart, and I didn’t want Sy laying a hand on you. We initially came up with a plan for Sy to start watching you in the morning, looking for ways to legitimately meet you.

“On the day he was supposed to start, he was caught on something that he couldn’t put down, and I decided to watch you instead. You stepped out looking amazingly beautiful with your hair all up, showing this soft, elegant neck.” He feathered his fingers over my skin near my collarbone and ear, giving me goose bumps. “And you were wearing this sort of ’40s-style dress that wrapped around you, and somehow tied in a bow at your side.”

“I know the one. It’s red with a V-neck.” I smiled, unable to stop the joy from spilling out onto my face. He’d remembered a dress I’d worn months ago.

“I remembered it because I wanted to untie the bow and strip it from you. That dress has starred in a few different fantasies I’ve had about you.”

“I’ll have to wear it for you,” I murmured huskily. I was rewarded by a squeeze.

“I would love that.” He ran his hand down my back and over my ass, his fingers nearing my sex, which made my breathing alter. His touch was ambrosia.

“So why didn’t you ever come up to me?” I asked, somewhat breathlessly.

“You were forever busy. You worked all the time, and I didn’t want to just be one of the guys at the bar that you suffered. At the gym, Rico was prowling. Many times I wanted to beat him to a bloody pulp for touching you.”

“Touching me? When did he touch me?” I frowned, trying to think of a time Rico had ever put his hands on me.

“He’d show you a proper stance, squaring your hips the right way for you, or fixing the angle of your leg when you kicked or your glove when you punched.”

“Sheesh, Ryder.” I giggled. “You’re a tough customer.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t say I was proud.” He gave me a chagrined look. “Anyway, there was never a time that I could legitimately meet you, so when the apartment next to yours went vacant, I took advantage.”

“So seeing me in my dress is what did it?” I rested my cheek on his biceps, loving that I had the freedom to be close to him and touch him.

“No. Seeing you in that dress just meant that I was like any other guy who sees you and wants to bend you over anything handy and fuck you until you see stars. What made me stop and look closer was when Mrs. Myrtle came out.”

“My neighbor?”

“You took such care to make sure she got safely to work. You weren’t doing it to make points with anyone. No one was watching you. You just did it because you cared. And you were pissed that her own family was being careless with her.”

“Well, she’s darn near eighty years old and so frail looking.”

“I didn’t want Sy near you after that. All your thoughts and emotions were right on your sleeve, which let me see what a beautiful, strong person you were.”

“All my thoughts and feelings?”

“Also your fears and...fantasies.”

“I bet you were surprised to be drawn into my sex dreams.”

“That’s putting it mildly. I didn’t want to cross any irreversible lines with you, but you were too tempting. I wanted your passion. You were all soft and pink and ready and waiting. I just had to touch you.”

“It was amazing.” I nuzzled his chest and neck, reveling in his spicy scent. He was so gorgeous; it was hard to understand why he’d been single so long.

“Dating anyone on Earth is frowned upon,” he answered my thought. “You can imagine why. Someone would wonder about where I come from, and then things would get weird because I would either have to lie or tell the truth.”

True. That would get weird. “Was there never anyone on your own planet?”

Ryder’s look became solemn. He met my gaze for a few moments. “There was a girl, someone I met during my training years ago. We were close for a couple of years, and I thought she was what I wanted. Then she demonstrated that it wasn’t really me she was interested in, so I ended the relationship.”

A couple of years. Wow. That was a long time. “Why did you break up?”

“She had personal issues. She was found trying to locate files in my mother’s office one day, claiming I’d sent her to do it. As you can imagine, my father had a field day with that. He wanted to banish her to another province and strip her of her credentials. I made a case for her to work in security on Earth, so she could move on with her life and use the training she’d learned.”

“That was thoughtful.” I chewed on my bottom lip, thinking about how I would feel if someone I’d gone out with for two years had betrayed me, even if it was years ago. “So she does what you do down here? Security stuff?”

“Some of that. She monitors visitors of a nearby region, and she’s helped out on teams. She’s a good soldier.”

Okay, now it was my turn to feel some jealousy. Wasn’t that interesting? I still couldn’t stop the questions, even recognizing I was being overly nosy. I was just proud of myself for not asking about a picture of her to see if she was prettier than me. Dopey, right? “Do you still see her around?”

“Sometimes.”

“What’s her name?”

“Jory.”

“Did you love her?”

“No.”

I could now breathe a sigh of relief. I was satisfied.

Chapter Nineteen

When we resurfaced, it was dark, it was late and we were looking for a quick snack before settling in for the rest of the night. We had toaster pastries on the balcony followed by gentle conversation and the very mundane chore of toothbrushing, which was more interesting for once because we actually did this together.

How weird. Like a real couple.

And with work coming up, I had some very everyday kinds of things to do. I got my clothes ready, checked appointments on my phone, double-checked that the alarm was set and crawled into bed beside Ryder, curling up next to him while he looked at some report on his mechanical thingamajiggy.

I wanted to remember to ask him about it later, because it was really cool and maybe girlfriends could be issued these kinds of cool things, but for the first time in a long time, my body was able to so completely relax that I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The ringing of my cell alarm brought me back to wakefulness too soon, though I did find myself deliciously, protectively spooned by Ryder’s big body. His thick, muscular forearm was anchored across my waist, making me have to stretch to shut off the offending sound in the quiet of the room. I settled back into his warm body once again, wiggling my ass against his cock, as was becoming my custom, and appreciating the growing stiffness I could feel there.

“Stop that,” he groaned against my ear, but he still ground his hips to my backside. “We don’t have time. Or do we?” His arm slid from my waist up to my rib cage, his rough palm caressing and cupping my soft breast.

“We could multitask,” I gasped. Heat shot from the point where he was rolling my nipple between his fingers to my sex, in waves. “Come take a shower with me.”

“Anytime.”

I wasn’t exactly late to work, but I definitely had to rush. It began playfully enough—me washing Ryder and treating his cock like my own personal lollipop while his face took on a look of torment mixed with ecstasy, and then him washing me, his mouth on me like I was the best flavor around, making me buck against him involuntarily with moans. Before long, my legs were wrapped around his waist, and he’d barely slid a condom on—how smart he was to snag one on our way to the bathroom—before he was pinning me to the wall with his thrusting hips.

Technically, I was on time in that I was in front of my office building at eight o’clock in the morning, though Ryder was still plundering my mouth with his goodbye kiss. Or was I doing the plundering?

“I better go.” I pulled away. “Reggie’s probably going to be upset because I didn’t show yesterday.” I took a mirror out of my purse and did a quick lipstick check, wiping away the smudges caused by our lip-lock and reapplying before snapping the compact shut and putting it all away.

“I still don’t see why you need to go to work,” he began, but I didn’t let him get far.

“I told you. I need my job.”

“No, you don’t—”

“I do.” The thought of being entirely reliant on another person was frightening enough to make even my inner punk give me that
Scream
face. “I’m not going to sponge off you—”

“It’s not sponging.”

This, for me, was nonnegotiable. “Look. Who knows when Frank is going to surface again, and I can’t be that girl that sits at home eating bonbons and watching Judge Mathis. Seriously. He probably knows that I’m with you, and not only that, from what Cynthia told me, I’m working in an office run by the Sunan elders. I’m probably safer than you. I’m going to be fine today.”

“It makes me uncomfortable.” He frowned after a pause. “I can’t protect you if something happens in there.”

“I’ll call. I’ll text. I’ll keep you in the loop throughout the day.”

“Taylor—”

“Just trust me.” My voice was no-nonsense, and I willed him to really look at me and see me. “I’ve been looking out for myself a long time.”

His pale eyes looked into mine steadily before he gave a long-suffering sigh. “All right. I’m agreeing to this because I see your point about the safety of being in the building and because you’re agreeing to update me on things. Regularly. Frequently.”

“Right.” I grinned, though he was still hesitant to let go. Teasingly, I added, “Good progress, sweetheart. We’ll take this in baby steps, and before long, your control-freak tendencies will be a thing of the past.”

“Taylor...” He looked at me with a warning glint.

“I know, I know. Someone’s trying to kill me. Blah, blah, blah. You know I’m totally kidding. I’ll be careful. I promise.”

Reluctantly, his lips quirked. “Anyone ever tell you you’re a smart-ass?”

“Yes. You.”

“At least I’m consistent.”

I noticed he’d smiled a lot more in the last forty-eight hours. Feeling like maybe I had something to do with it made me feel good. Or maybe it was knowing that he loved me. But did I love him? I hadn’t said it aloud and wondered if he recognized that. I wasn’t sure. It was something I wouldn’t say lightly, and definitely not if I wasn’t completely sure I meant it. I mean, I’d only known the guy a week. Was it possible for me to fall in love in a week?

“I’m patient, Taylor. I’m not going anywhere.” Ryder let me know he still had access to my thoughts. I almost put up my mental shield but decided not to. I didn’t want to hide anything from him.

“This is all new,” I stated quietly.

“I know. I understand. I’m hoping that when all this is over with Ranik, we’ll have some time to get to know each other.”

“Yes.” I breathed easily, though I still had concerns about his family.

“They have nothing to do with us,” he said firmly.

“I don’t want to be the thorn that keeps you guys apart,” I said anxiously. “I couldn’t do that to you or to them. You’ve all suffered so much as it is.”

“Then it will be up to them to make sure we all get along.” He kissed my cheek gently, mindful of my freshly applied lipstick, before getting all bossy and directive again. “I’ll be in contact at lunch. Don’t leave the building before then and make sure your phone is with you no matter where you go.”

“I’ll keep it with me even in the ladies’,” I assured him. I put my mental shield back up, strangely becoming accustomed to protecting myself from
mind reading.
Who’da thought?

Concern for my work attire and careful coiffure had prompted Ryder to borrow Sy’s sports car. After getting out of the car, even with the threat of a Reggie-style thrashing hanging over my head, I sauntered into the building with a big grin on my face.

Thankfully, Reggie wasn’t in sight, and I was able to get myself organized at my desk once again. Apparently, Reggie hadn’t come in the previous two days either, and there were nearly a hundred messages and voice mails to respond to. Some of them I could handle, as they dealt with business I was responsible for, and the rest I updated on the phone list, which I was eventually able to print out and place on his desk. I went through the mail, I phoned in orders for scripts to be copied and I messengered client samples from our video and script library. This was hours of catch up, during which I promised myself I would never be absent again.

It was nearing noon before I realized that I still had not seen nor heard from Reggie. No wonder I’d been able to accomplish so much in such a short time. A feeling of strange creepiness crawled over my skin. Why wasn’t he here? And why hadn’t he called me? That was absolutely not like him. I called our human-resources manager, Elaine.

“Any word on Reggie? Is he sick or something?”

“Not sure, Taylor.” Elaine’s crisp, usually no-nonsense monotone actually sounded concerned. “He was gone the last two days, he hasn’t called in and he isn’t picking up at his home or on his cell.”

“Maybe he got hurt at home. Do you think the police should do a quick check on him? Make sure he doesn’t need medical attention?” Part of me was afraid the police would find a body at his residence.

“That’s a very good idea. I’ll let you know if they find out anything.”

I felt better after having done that. I grabbed my cell phone to call Ryder and update him, and I noticed my newly charged phone had updated to include a missed call. Someone had called me while I’d been on Te’re. Tapping the various touchscreen options, I was able to pull up Reggie as the missed call. My phone was indicating that he’d left a message.

Double creepy.

“Taylor, I won’t be in for a few days. Take care of Paul’s meeting, and I’ll get with you later.” His voice sounded serious. Heavy. Or did it? Was I reading into it because of my own frightening experiences? But I also knew that Reggie never took time off.

My desk phone rang, pulling me from my thoughts. Taking a deep breath, I answered, “Reggie Mason’s office,” for the hundredth time in the day already.

“Taylor? Is that you?”

“It is. Who is calling?”

“It’s Paul.”

“Paul!” The Paul whose family was friends with Frank. I felt a sense of caution as I asked, “What’s going on? Reggie’s not going to be here this week, but he asked me to hold the meeting anyway, so we can sign off on the contract for legal.”

“Yeah. That’s what I’m calling about. I need to meet sooner.”

“Sooner? You mean like sooner than two o’clock?” I frowned.

“I mean like right now. I’m going out of town for a while, and I’m not sure when I’ll be coming back.”

“Oh. Well, I’m limited in how far I can go. I don’t have a car available to me right now.”

“Why don’t I pick you up, and we’ll grab some sushi down on Sunset?”

I was immediately uncertain. Where did Frank figure into Paul’s life? When I tapped into Paul’s mind during our lunch meeting, he’d felt pretty innocent. Did I trust my intuition? I did. I truly didn’t think Paul was an evil guy. I knew that Ryder had told me not to leave the building, but I also knew how important it was to Reggie to sign this guy. And he’d asked me to handle it all in his absence. I didn’t want to screw this up because I still needed the job.

“You still there?”

“Yeah, I’m here. Okay. When are you coming by?”

“I’m already outside the building.”

“Wow. You don’t mess around. Let me get your file and make some copies of the contract, so I can go over it with you. Can you wait for five or ten minutes?”

“Sure.”

I tried calling Reggie, but he didn’t pick up. Quickly I left a brief message regarding the change of plans.

Knowing that Ryder was going to protest and try to make me wait for him to arrive and accompany me or something silly like that, I sent a quick text telling him what was happening and where I was going to be. His response was almost immediate.

Wait for me!
I’ll go with you.

Rolling my eyes, I responded by texting him that there was no time and that I needed to head out. I had let him know what restaurant I was going to be at, though, which I figured was a good compromise. I didn’t mind if he joined us there. My phone buzzed again with his response, but I ignored it. I just wanted to get this done, and I was not about to engage in a texting argument with my...what? Boyfriend? Lover?

I smiled as I thought about what to call him, feeling okay with the designations for the first time ever. Life really was looking up.

Typing in names and dates, I printed out one of our standard contracts and created a client folder to be added to the file cabinet. It was only as I stepped outside of my office building that I realized I hadn’t asked Paul what kind of car he was driving. Scanning the street, I figured it wouldn’t be hard to spot him, especially since he was watching for me and supposedly already there. But no one honked. And I saw no one who resembled Paul: tall, dark blond, lean, sort of scruffy clothes. I walked back toward my office building and leaned against one of the stone pillars in the shade, trying to stay out of the direct heat of the summer sun, and contemplated my predicament.

Now what? Nothing. That was what. Did I need to go back up and call him? Maybe I had him on my smartphone calendar app with his phone number. That would be just like me. I could be seriously organized when I wanted to be. But what was up with this sudden trip?

The longer I stood there, the longer I had time to entertain some misgivings. How was it that I nearly got snagged off the street, Reggie turned up missing and Paul needed to get out of town immediately? I didn’t think such things were coincidental, and we all had the same terrorist as our lowest common denominator. Was I truly being foolish? If this was a movie, would people be screaming at me from the audience to get back in the building? I was starting to freak myself out. Life was seriously getting too spooky for Casper.

Just when I was getting ready to head back in, a large hand grabbed my arm in a strong grip and yanked me behind the pillar.

I yelped my surprise.

“It’s just me.” Paul gave me a half smile that seemed altogether forced. He looked past me and scanned the street as though looking for someone.

“Everything okay?” I offered the question hesitantly.

“Dandy.” But his smile had become a grimace. “I’m parked around the corner.”

Around the corner
was a euphemism for nearly half a mile away. I could feel my feet chafing in my heels, as these were not shoes made for long distances covered quickly. I was on the verge of complaining, feeling where a few blisters were going to bleed soon, when he said, “I’m right there.”

A black luxury SUV was parked midblock.

Sitting felt wonderful, though the silence that followed as we drove through the streets felt awkward. Keeping my shield in place, I opened my mind fully to Paul, trying to get a sense of what was happening here. Waves of fear and anxiety rushed through him and crashed over me, engulfing me, almost like heavy weights on my shoulders. He was on the run. Flight. But he didn’t want to give up completely on the dream he’d finally found for himself. Writing. He wanted to somehow preserve that, keep that foot in the door. His thoughts were scattered and rushing without sequence, making it impossible to follow what was happening with him.

I began to have my second set of misgivings about this meeting, but I reminded myself that we were going to a public place. Everything was going to be fine.