by J. S. Scott
The note was signed, but I couldn’t make out the signature, probably their receptionist.
I couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy. Was Amy planning to tell me? I’d only been back in town a few minutes before Mrs. Carpenter arrived with her troubled pig. It wasn’t like she’d had the time.
She had time to turn me on.
I picked up the pink slip again, and as soon as I did, I saw the warning.
Blurry images streaked through my vision, but it was the feelings that I picked up from the note that scared the shit out of me.
Danger.
Trouble.
Maybe even death.
It wasn’t spelled out in black and white, but it was real enough to stop me in my tracks.
“What the hell? Who is this guy?” I growled. “Whoever he is, he’s fucking trouble.”
I took a picture of the slip, and quickly sent it to Jackson, along with a quick text: Find out what you can about this guy.
A minute later: You’ve got it bad if you’re snooping in her things.
I fired one right back: Shit, Jackson. I’ll tell her. I’m here at her office and saw it on her desk. There isn’t time to mess around. Find out if this guy is dangerous. I don’t like what I’m feeling and seeing right now.
His: Hayden says he’s the ex.
Mine: Did she love him?
His: We both agree that you should ask Amy.
We both agree? Talk about having it bad.
Mine: Just find out if he could hurt her now.
His: Is this what I think it is?
Mine: Danger. Trouble. Maybe even death.
His: Hayden says everyone warned Amy, but she always believed he’d never hurt her.
Mine: I think Amy may be wrong.
His: Tell her now.
Before I had the chance, a door slammed behind me.
“You’re going through my things?” She looked angry, hurt, and so damned beautiful that I didn’t want to take the time to explain myself. I wanted her to go ahead and rip me a new one so we could get down to the business of making up.
It wouldn’t be that simple.
“Amy, I can explain.”
She shook her head. “No. Don’t even try. I don’t do jealous boyfriends very well.”
“I’m not a jealous boyfriend,” I said, trying to defend my position. “Look. You need to listen to me.”
“No. I need a minute, and while I take that minute, you need to leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I said, refusing to budge. “Hear me out.”
Her eyes burned with fire and fury. She was mad, and I could probably thank Hayden for that, not that I’d expected her to keep the secret, but she could’ve given me five or ten minutes before she shot off a sisterly text.
“I asked you to wait for me, but didn’t give you permission to prowl through my notes and messages,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. “I wouldn’t have hidden it from you.”
“And I don’t think you would have,” I said. “Still, you need to listen to me.”
She grabbed her keys and turned on her heel. “You should go.”
“Amy, he’s dangerous.”
“Who can bring me more danger? A man who knows every last one of my darkest secrets, and shares dreams with me for over twenty years, or an ex-boyfriend who never prowled through my life, let alone my thoughts? I lived with the guy and even he didn’t snoop! Is there anything you’ll let me save for myself?”
“That’s fair,” I said, trying to be practical. “But you’re also lacking information. Do not meet him by yourself,” I ground out.
She stood at the door, and waited for me to exit. “Just go.”
My whole body tensed. If I left her alone with this guy, I wouldn’t find her the same way I left her. Every single cell in my head fired with the same responses. The guy wanted to do Amy harm. He hadn’t returned here on a whim.
“At least let me drive you home,” I said stiffly.
“I’ll call you later,” she promised, but the oath didn’t sound sincere.
I grimaced as I left. She was right. I didn’t have the right to look through her things, but I should’ve told her that I hadn’t rummaged or tossed her desk. I simply looked down and saw the message slip.
After that, my psychic abilities kicked in, my visions slowly getting clearer.
Pissed or not, I wasn’t leaving Amy alone with someone who wanted to hurt her.
The bastard would have to go through me first.
Chapter Twelve
Amy
I tapped my fingers against the steering wheel as I drove the short five miles back to my townhome. I was furious with Levi. Darren had been part of my past, and if he wanted to stop by and pick up his remaining clothes and personal items, I didn’t have a problem with that.
Darren wouldn’t hurt a fly. He had this big bad-boy reputation, but at his core, he was an okay guy.
We just weren’t an okay couple.
I wheeled into my driveway, and dug my house keys from my purse. As soon as I exited my car, I noticed a pair of boots on my front porch. Immediately on guard, I scanned the yard. Had Darren just walked right in without waiting for me?
If so, that meant he’d kept a key. That infuriated me.
It was my home. He’d just been a loafer for a while.
Perhaps this was a bad day for the men in my life.
Irritated, but still unafraid, I followed the short path through the shrubs, and glared down at his work boots. Given the gray soot, he was probably still working for Mates and Mates Contractors, one of the biggest employers in Houston.
I nudged the door with my foot, and called out, “Darren? Are you here?” I glanced at the cars parked on the street. There were a few newer model trucks and cars. Darren must’ve traded up since the last time we saw one another.
“Upstairs,” he called out.
I set aside my keys and purse, then took a deep breath.
What was that smell? Booze? Darren hadn’t been much of a drinker when we were together.
“How long will you be?” I asked, leaning over the banister.
“With this mess? Probably another few minutes. Come on up!”
Without thinking anything of it, I hurried upstairs, and as soon as I did, I was met with the surprise of my life. Every stitch of clothing that I owned was strewn all over the floor, but on the bed were two neatly positioned pieces of red lingerie.
“Who’s the dude?” His voice was gruff, hard, and not anything I’d ever heard from him.
“You don’t have a right to ask,” I said, gathering my clothes as I walked.
“I go out of town on a job, and this is what I come back to?”
Misunderstanding his intentions as much as his anger, I stopped. “Wait. What?”
“I was on a job.” He shrugged, and then his black eyes turned as cold as stone. “We needed a break, and I took one. Looks like you did, too. Who the fuck is he, Amy?”
“Get your stuff and get out,” I said, pointing at the hall. I didn’t play the ‘we’re together and then we’re not’ games.
We’d called it quits, and he’d gone off to Colorado. He’d left a few things behind, but I assumed he’d have me send them to him. Granted, I didn’t think I’d mind if he picked them up when he was back in town.
I was more than rethinking my decision now.
I’d never thought that Darren could be violent, but he was scaring the hell out of me right now.
“Or I could fuck you in this lingerie, remind you how good we were together, and then I’d get a name.” He sneered. “Women always give up a name then.” He stalked me until my back was against the wall. His hands were on my waist, and he held me against him as he tried to kiss me.
I shoved him as hard as I could, but it was no use. He was like a rabid animal as he tried to come closer.
“Please don’t do this,” I begged, turning my head one way or another. “You said it yourself. We weren’t good together. W
e ran our course. You didn’t even like me that much. Hated having sex with me. Hated everything I loved. We weren’t compatible.”
“I was wrong,” he said through gritted teeth as he tried to lean in for a kiss. “And I’ll kill you before I let another guy take you away from me.”
“You sure as hell were wrong!” Levi’s voice rang out like a whirling torpedo.
Darren went one way, and I ducked for cover, trembling like a wet leaf as I watched in horror when Levi lifted Darren off his feet and yelled, “You have two choices, asshole. Leave and never come back or I’ll make you leave and you’ll never come back.”
I’d never seen Levi this furious, and I knew he didn’t get this way very often.
Darren’s eyes widened. “Who the fuck is this?”
“Don’t even look at her,” Levi growled.
“She’s my girlfriend, man,” Darren said, his eyes shifting back to a volatile Levi.
“She’s nothing to you anymore. Now get your stuff and get the fuck out of here! Don’t call her. Don’t come near her. Don’t even fucking think about her again.” Levi sounded like a roaring bear as he released Darren, who slumped to the floor.
Darren scrambled away. It was the quickest I’d ever seen him move.
As the door slammed downstairs, Levi quickly gathered up the scattered clothes and tossed them to the bed before he turned to me. Before he opened his mouth to speak, I ran into his arms and started to sob.
His arms wrapped around me, and I’d never felt more protected or more loved. I breathed in his masculine scent, that sexy cologne that made me crazy whenever he was within my reach.
“I’m so sorry. I never should’ve doubted you. I should’ve known if you said it was dangerous to be here with him, it was dangerous. I swear I’ll never doubt you again. Never. I’ll respect the fact that you’re psychic.”
“That’s right,” he said, reluctance in his voice. “You won’t doubt me. Because I won’t give you that opportunity, Amy.”
“What?” I felt the stab in the center of my chest as I leaned back to look at him. As I read his face, my heart squeezed in sheer fear. “You’re breaking up with me?”
He scoffed. “We were never together, remember?”
“No. No.” I shook my head. “I don’t accept that. You’ve been in my dreams for as long as I can remember. You’ve held me up and held me down. You were here for me when no one else would’ve been, and now you’re just going to leave?”
Maybe I had been angry with him about going through my things, but now, I had no doubt there was an explanation for that.
And we would have made up. I might have been pissed at the time, but I wouldn’t have ever let go of the best thing that ever happened to me. Eventually, we would have worked it out. In our dreams, we always did.
Tears swelled in my eyes. My hands trembled. My heart was breaking.
“Who said anything about leaving?” A flash of his stubbornness set his jaw firmly in line. “I’m moving in or you’re coming with me. Take your pick.”
Chapter Thirteen
Amy
Later that night, I tossed and turned. Levi and I had a terrible argument after he announced that I was moving in with him.
I wasn’t against the idea.
It was his approach.
For whatever reason, I felt as if he were trying to dictate how I lived the rest of my life. I now believe he was simply scared. Darren had given him something to think about, and he wouldn’t rest until we were living together.
“Annoying alpha male,” I said unhappily.
Most of the time, I didn’t mind when Levi got a little high-handed, especially when we were intimate.
He was just...built that way.
But I’d still been in shock after what had happened with Darren, and I’d lost it when he began to dictate what I was going to do.
Unfortunately, now that I was calmer, I remember the combination of fear and stubbornness in his eyes, and I got why he’d been so insistent.
“He’s worried about…me,” I said softly. “He was afraid that Darren would come back. We should have talked about it rationally.”
Sadly, neither one of us had been in the state of mind to be reasonable.
Now, as I tangled the sheets by rolling from one side of my queen bed to the other, I wondered how I could make things right.
My angst had gotten the best of me. I couldn’t sleep. I closed my eyes and tried countless times. Maybe if I could rest, I’d find Levi waiting for me in our dreams.
I’d just about given up on sleeping at all when I was suddenly jerked to the edge of my bed.
My eyes were blurred. The room was dark.
Levi was here.
“Don’t say a damn word. Don’t think. Don’t do anything except feel.”
I heard his zipper drop and I gasped. It wasn’t what I’d imagined, how things might be with him, but if it meant we’d finally come together, “I’m all for a quick romp.” I finished the thought aloud.
“Quick is out of the question,” he said, dragging my panties down to my ankles before propping my legs on his shoulders. “But this isn’t.”
Before I could resist, his tongue plunged inside me. I fisted the blankets in my hands as his tongue drove me higher. His mouth was wild as he feasted on me like a man with a specific mission.
I knew all about that mission.
It had been too long in the making.
He tucked his hands under my hips, and kept going at me as if he would never stop. And I didn’t want him to stop.
I wanted this.
I wanted him.
All of him.
My nails dug harder at the blankets on the bed. I squeezed my eyes shut, and defied his wish to keep my thoughts focused on his train of thought.
I wanted to taste him. I wanted his rigid cock slipping between my lips.
I wanted to feel that indescribable power of driving him to pleasure.
Blinking as my cheeks swelled, I looked up and he looked down. His hand knotted in my hair as he guided me over the swell of his cock.
We were back in the magical dream world we’d been in on Valentine’s Day. Thank God! I could wish for anything, and it would happen.
I was so happy to be tasting him now that I purred around his enormous cock.
Now, I just needed to be careful what I wished for.
“Think it’s that easy, do you?” he asked in a husky, aroused tone.
“It was,” I whispered, and then licked at the sensitive tip.
If my wishes were this good, I’d get to work on a few more.
“Let me try,” he said, pulling my head back, and smothering my lips with his kiss as we shifted positions before I could blink.
The next thing I knew, I was against the wall. His hands were all over me, up and down my hips. He cupped my ass, and parted my legs with his foot. “What would you do for me, gorgeous? What can I do for you?”
“Anything,” I assured him breathlessly. “But not this…not yet…”
He towered over me with his cock right at my entrance. “Oh Amy. Amy. Amy. You’re going to be the death of me, woman.”
The wanting was just too much.
Screw the situation.
Screw the fact that we were in a dream and not reality.
I’d had a moment of indecision, but I was over it.
“Fuck me,” I begged, spreading my legs a little wider.
He rolled his thumb across my clit and lowered his hips. I closed my eyes and waited for penetration, and just as he started to thrust inside…
Fuckkkkk!
The damn doorbell was ringing, abruptly pulling me out of my slumber.
Flustered, I rolled around on the sheets, certain this couldn’t be happening. This wasn’t even remotely possible. We’d come too far to turn back now.
Still short of breath from my insatiable dream, I sat straight up in bed. Under normal circumstances, I would’ve jotted everything down, but these weren’t normal
circumstances. I checked the time. It was almost six. Who was at my door at six in the morning?
“So help me, if I find a salesman standing on my porch, he’ll get an earful!”
Rap. Rap. Rap.
I grabbed a short robe and trotted downstairs. As soon as I turned on the porch light, I gasped and ducked. What was he doing here?
How was that even possible?
I peered over the glass again. If Levi was on my porch, who had I been groping in my dreams?
As always, his face wasn’t entirely clear when we were dreaming, but I couldn’t image screwing anybody else—or almost screwing them—in my dreams.
“Open up, Amy.” His tone was lighthearted.
“Can’t.”
“You can.”
“No. You don’t understand. I think I betrayed you in my dreams.”
“Betrayed me?” His voice was full of humor. “How?”
“I went out on you tonight. I thought it was you. I swear. But you’re here, so you weren’t…there.”
He laughed. “Did you have a good dream fling?”
“It’s not funny, Levi. I just had the most amazing dream, and if you’re here now, then you weren’t the one who was doing all those lovely things to me in my dreams.” I peeked outside. “I’m sorry.”
And I was…so sorry. My brain filled with regret. How could I cheat on Levi in my dream? Who was that in my bed?
I almost felt…violated.
“Did you see my face?”
I swung the door open, and stared at the handsome creature standing on my porch. “Vaguely,” I remembered. “But we both know that’s impossible. Maybe I deliberately imagined someone with your face so I wouldn’t feel this guilty.”
He pointed at my driveway. “At the risk of losing you forever, I admit that I didn’t leave when you told me to. I was right over there.”
“In my driveway?”
He nodded. “Watching out for you.”
“Why?” I felt my blood pressure inch up a notch.
“Can I come in and talk about it?” His arms were crossed over his thick chest, and he bounced on his heels. “It’s thirty degrees out here tonight.”
“It was pretty hot in my dreams,” I said, unlatching the door and marching away. “Sleeping in my driveway is technically considered stalking.”