Wounded (In My Dreams) (15 page)

“Oh,” I whispered and let go of his hands.

“No, Lily, you misunderstand,” he rasped as he grabbed my arms and yanked me onto his lap. “You’re my true mate. I knew it from that day in the gas station. I stepped out of the bathroom and knew my mate was in the store. I didn’t know where, but when I saw the gunman, I freaked out, thinking he could hurt them. But when that was over, that’s why I moved to the door, thinking they’d have to come by me, so when you did and I smelled you—”

“You never left my side,” I muttered, turning to look in his eyes.

“No.” He cupped my cheek and smiled. “And then my mate turned out to be the most kind-hearted person in the
world
and took this wounded, vagabond, stranger home with her to help me. I knew fate had given me a second chance and the person who would heal me and I would do everything I could to be whatever you needed always.”

“Jasper, I’m sorry, I think I’ve hit my limit.” I pushed off him as he went to kiss me, overwhelmed as my heart started racing and my head spun. I tripped getting off the chair, cutting my hands as I fell to the deck. He jumped up to help me, but I scrambled away from him and inside. I didn’t go to our room. Instead, I raced downstairs and locked myself in the guest room.

Don’t ask me why. The perfect man just said what probably most every single woman in the world would want to hear. And instead of letting myself be swooped up in it, I ran.

Maybe I was drama after all?

Maybe it was just completely insane?

Maybe I was smart enough to be scared out of my
mind
?

Either way, I cried myself to sleep that night in the bed my parents had been sleeping in, wishing they hadn’t left already. If ever there was a time I needed some paternal advice when life was crazy… It was then.

Not that I thought they’d
ever
believe any of this. What sane person would?

The next morning I was lifted out of bed wrapped up like a Lily burrito in the blanket.

“Boundaries, Jasper,” I grumbled. “We need to talk boundaries.”

“Don’t be bitchy with me. I went to IHOP,” he warned as he carried me up the stairs.

“Stuffed French toast?” I hedged, my morning looking up.

“Yes, and I went to Starbucks there.”

“Did you get a Rooty Tooty Fresh 'N Fruity,” I giggled.

“Why does that name amuse you so?” he sighed, rubbing his cheek against mine.

“I appreciate cleverness,” I defended, not pulling away. “And anything that you can
tooty
.”

“Dork.” I shrugged. I didn’t see a downfall or insult to that. “Okay, get your
one
mean to yourself comment about all of this out of the way. I know you have one so let’s hear it before we move past it.”

He plopped me down in the chair and I looked away. I knew what he meant and he was trying to lighten the mood but this wasn’t a joking matter to me. “Would you even know if you were sad I was the person fate stuck you with? Is it all chemistry and hormones or wolf magic that makes you love me?”

“Jesus, you’re really upset about all of this,” he hissed and pushed back my chair. He knelt in front of me and took my hands in his. “Lily, god, I’m so sorry. I wouldn’t have joked around if I’d realized this was more than finally letting this all sink in.” I nodded, not sure I knew what it all
was
either. “This, between us, is real. It’s nothing different than your parent’s falling in love.”

“Oh fuck. I don’t want what they have either,” I whimpered and pulled away. Most of my life I thought they should have been divorced, their arguments always filling the house in between them settling for things they didn’t want just to keep the supposed peace.

“Okay, okay then,” he soothed, realizing for
once
I was going to act like a scared little rabbit ready to run or something. “Then this is no different than the happiest, happiest normal
human
couple ever. All I got was a scent from Mother Nature that smacked me upside the head and told me to pay attention. I didn’t have wolf vision on that made you prettier or more special than you were. I saw you for who you were, Lily. I would have fallen the exact same way.”

“So
no
difference?”

He thought about that and then shrugged. “I think it made me trust you enough to go home with a stranger. I mean, think about it. You didn’t know me. Sure, I knocked that gunman down, but still, wasn’t there
something
that said I was safe in your gut?”

“Yeah,” I sighed, thumping my head back against the chair. “So that’s all?”

“Yeah, that’s all, Lily.” He laid his head on my lap and snuggled against me. “And I’m thrilled nature gave me a wakeup call. I wasn’t paying attention to have been looking for you.
You
think you were ugly and fat.
You
think you’re a pain in the ass and a grump. I think you were beautiful even when you were heavier. I think you were the sweetest woman, most caring person I’d ever met. I love you. I would have picked you even if fate didn’t make you my mate, okay?”

“Okay. Can I eat my French toast now? It’s getting cold.”

“Brat. I’m being all romancy here.”

“You’re getting sex after breakfast. I heard you.”

“Ooo. Okay.” He jumped up so fast he hit his shoulder into the table, almost knocking over my latte. He caught it with his crazy fast reflexes.

We ate in silence for a while, and I felt Jasper’s eyes on me. I just didn’t have anything to say until I realized something that normally came after marriage he might be expecting from me. “Jasper, do you want kids?”

He spit out his eggs and I watched as they landed across the kitchen on the wall before slowly sliding down. “Umm, I’m not sure. Do you?”

“Maybe once, but I don’t think so anymore. I don’t want to be that fifty something mom at high school events. I like my life now, and as great as bringing life into the world is, I just don’t see it being part of my life.” I glanced down at my food and played with it, no longer hungry. “But you’re younger than me. You could have oodles of them and—”

“Wolves,” he whispered, covering his hand with mine. “I’d have oodles of wolves and I never wanted that. It’s hard growing up like I did, Lily. And they’d be wolves. I was born like this, and then I’d
have
to go back to being in a pack. I don’t want that either. I’d rather us be parents to lots of puppies or a goat. Ever since we watched that show where that couple got that baby goat, I’ve wanted one, but no, I don’t think I want a baby either. Maybe one day, but it’s not something clawing at me that I think is crucial.”

“Me either.” I looked at him and frowned. “And I think if I really wanted one, I’d feel that by now, wouldn’t I?”

“I think so and me too.”

“Is there something wrong with us?”

He shrugged before leaning in and kissing my cheek. “Probably but we can be freaks together.” I chuckled and turned so my lips met his. “Anything else we can put to bed?”

“Me? Want to put me to bed?”

“Always, Lily. I
always
want to put you to bed as long as I’m allowed there with you,” he groaned as he stood so fast his chair fell over. I let out a yelp as I was suddenly in his arms. He raced into our room and dumped me onto the bed before practically ripping off my clothes.

Two minutes later, he was buried inside me, both of us making the best kind of noises as we shared only what people in love could.

Two weeks later, we were mated, Jasper sharing some special kind of bite with me that made me his forever. And I met his half-brother, sister-in-law, and niece. They were nice people, and we got along with them. They even set everything right for Jasper and gave him back his inheritance.

Two months later, we traveled to Chicago so we could be married in the church I was baptized in. It was small, my family, a few friends, Jaspers half-brother, wife, and niece. Yeah, yeah, sometimes I was actually traditional.

Two years later, Jasper and I moved onto the land his grandmother had left him, the
mansion
there completely redone to be our dream home. We adopted a bunch of puppies like we wanted, all of them indoor dogs that each got their own beds in our massive master bedroom. There was no way we were sharing our bed with five dogs. We liked having sex too much to give that up.

And we lived blissfully, crazily, happily ever after… All because the homeless ex-Marine saved my wounded life.

The End

Sneak Peek:
Alone

(In My Dreams 2)

Nina James, a well-loved author, finds out how far one fan will go to help her. When that fans turns out to be a vampire… Well, how weird can it get? Far weirder than Nina probably cares to admit.

Conall Brightmore, is all a thousand-year-old vampire can be—intelligent, gorgeous, and he wants nothing more than to support Nina. When he steps into her life, taking over in ways Nina hadn’t expected, she fears she’ll lose herself in the process. He thinks he’s helping her by changing her entire life, but it creates nothing but more pain. Nina has already lost far too much in her life to let go of anything else. But where does she need to cut her losses?

Nina can't handle that. How is she to create what comes from inside of her if she’s no longer herself? She can't. Will Conall be able to accept who Nina is or will they both end up alone?

1

It was after midnight—much later than normal—when I finally walked into my bedroom and flipped on my closet light and TV to start my nightly routine. I headed back to the door to close and lock it but just as I touched the handle the air in the room changed. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw a haze come in through the screen.

Not a fog.

Not smoke.

Not a mist.

The colors of that corner of the room were suddenly distorted as if they were hazy. Almost as if my contacts weren’t on my eyes or there was a film on them… But I hadn’t taken them out yet. I knew that. Just to make sure it wasn’t something on my contacts, I blinked, and when I opened my eyes again, a man was standing there.

And there was no godly way he’d gotten past me. I was a freak about checking the locks on doors, living by myself out in the middle of nowhere. I never left windows open that anyone could break into that wouldn’t make a ruckus. I glanced down the hall to where the kitchen was before I looked back to him, measuring the distance.

He tilted his head and studied me as he tugged on the sleeves of his jacket, making sure they were perfectly straight as if that was the priority after appearing from wherever. It was over a pristinely pressed Oxford white shirt that had one of those stylish collars and didn’t have a button. He wasn’t wearing a suit though, straight-legged dark jeans that looked made for his body, black belt with silver buckle that matched his round-toed boots.

“What do you keep that way that you are wondering if you can get to it before I could get to you?” he asked in a high-born sounding British accent. Yeah, I know that wasn’t the real term for it, I never claimed to have an ear for accents. He sounded more like a duke and not like Eliza Doolittle. That was all I knew.

“My car keys,” I lied. Well, technically they were, and if I could set off the alarm, that would make enough noise for someone to call the cops, or I could escape. But there was
no
way I’d retrieve the keys from my purse, go past the hallway again, down the stairs, out the locked door, up the front porch stairs, unlock the door, into my car, start it,
and
pull away without him getting me.

All while barefoot.

Riiiiight
.

He smirked at me as his deep chocolate eyes twinkled with mirth. “Not the gun you keep in the kitchen drawer? An odd place for it by the way.”

“Burglars always look in the nightstand or bedroom. Who would ever look in the kitchen?” I mumbled as I closed my bedroom door and locked it. “Are you here to kill me?”

“No,” he hedged.

“Rob me? Maim me? Eat me because you’re clearly not human, seeing as you just came in through the window that has a screen and it’s still there.”

“None of the above,” he drawled.

“Wonderful. Then if you wouldn’t mind, can we continue this tomorrow? I’m exhausted.” I walked past him and into the bathroom, locking the door before turning on the water, so as to pretend I was taking out my contacts and doing a few other things. Then I peed, washed my hands, and came back out. I turned on
Rise of the Guardians
like normal, turned off my closet light, opened my can of Diet Sprite as I did every night, and climbed into bed.

“Are you always this rude to guests?” he asked, still not having moved from the first spot he’d shown up at.

“Guests are invited. If you want to be a guest, come back and knock on the door.”

“I did knock before. You shouted some threat out the window about using your gardening tools to sheer off my reproductive organs if I was your local prankster ditching you or something to that effect.”