Wild Dreams

by Dawn Pendleton

  I passed the seat Dallas had occupied, breathing a sigh of relief when I saw it was empty. I continued to the terminal, thinking I was home-free, until I rounded the corner of the terminal and came face-to-face with Dallas Montgomery.

  Even slightly irritated, he was gorgeous. A slight smile tugged at his lips, though he tried to maintain a professional demeanor. His thick arms were folded across his massive chest as I walked toward him. There was no other option for me, since fleeing would be cowardly, no matter how much I told myself to just run away, get the hell away from his heavy gaze, but I knew better. I lifted my chin defiantly, facing him head on. You can do this. You can do this. I repeated the mantra over and over in my head, determined not to let my embarrassment show.

  I slowed as I approached him, sticking my hand out to greet him. “Mr. Montgomery, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Nicole Griffin. I’ll be your new intern for the summer.”

  Three

  Dallas

  The girl had gumption, I had to give her that. I could sense her trepidation, her embarrassment even, but still she met my gaze without the slightest waver or hint of fear. It was obvious she was nervous, but most women were when they met me. I shook her outstretched hand, my eyes widened momentarily in shock at the spark that formed between our fingers. Instead of pulling away, I held tighter to her hand, noticing how calloused her fingers were, so unlike the preppy girls who interned with me in the past. Her grip was firm, sure of herself.

  “The pleasure is all mine, Nicole,” I said, lowering my voice an octave as I spoke her name, convinced she would swoon, just like every young intern before her. Instead of fainting, she smile wider, shaking her long, chestnut colored hair around her shoulders. “Are you ready to get started?” I asked, forcing myself to ignore the boiling desire in my gut. I silently berated myself for yet another intern I would sleep with. I had a problem, using the young women who came into my life without even blinking or thinking twice. But I was a playboy, a legend in the photography world. People knew my name as an excellent photographer, but as a womanizer, too. And the women knew what they were getting into.

  Even if it was a ridiculous one, I had a solid reputation to uphold. People expected me to behave a certain way, to charm whichever woman was handy and to make that woman my conquest. It didn’t matter that I was sick of the lifestyle, tired of being a forever bachelor; I kept up my player ways just to appease those around me.

  As I stared into Nicole’s clear green eyes, I knew I was in trouble. She was far more beautiful than any of the interns before her, and I saw her feisty spirit lurking just below the surface. I wondered, momentarily, if I would even be able to conquer her at all. She would be my most difficult woman, I was sure. But I bet I would rise above her, both professionally and in the sack, proving my utter dominance. I was king of this world.

  “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” she confirmed, hiking her camera bag higher on her shoulder. Her confidence was more than attractive; it was downright sexy. She smiled, her nearly perfect straight and white teeth shining at me from underneath those full pink lips. The way her eyes lit up was like a kick to my gut and I struggled for a full minute to even breathe.

  Nicole wasn’t just some girl, she was someone who could easily make me question everything I believed. When I could finally draw air into my lungs again, she turned away, adjusting the handle on her suitcase. I took a deep draw of oxygen, breathing deep. I stepped back, away from her, suddenly afraid of this slip of a girl.

  She wasn’t that much shorter than me, maybe a couple of inches shy of my six-foot-two frame. Her slender waist widened a little to luscious hips which seemed made for my hands. Her breasts, though covered by her black tee, were perky and even more likely to fill my hands. Her hair hung over her left shoulder, the length passing her breasts. The deep brown locks were thick and wavy, begging for my touch.

  In all my years as a playboy, I’d never felt such a deep, rooted physical attraction to someone. She could be trouble. As she turned back to me, her innocent green eyes searching mine, I corrected myself: she would be trouble.

  “Shall we?” she asked.

  I nodded, still not fully capable of speech. She led the way through the terminal, her ass swaying side-to-side, distracting my eyes and eliminating all cognitive though. She had a full, tight butt with just a hint of a bubble.

  “So, where are we headed?”

  “Huh?” I blinked at her.

  She laughed a little. “I asked where we’re going.”

  “Oh. I’m not entirely sure yet. We’ve got to go to headquarters and get our assignment.” I took a deep breath; I needed a moment to calm myself. The girl was fucking up my head, messing with my game. My hands were twitching, desperate to wrap themselves in her long hair. How the fuck was I supposed to work with her when all I could think about was getting her naked and fucking her senseless?

  I blew out the breath I didn’t even realize I’d been holding as she nodded. “Sounds good. I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time.”

  “Me too,” I agreed, although I guessed it was for far different reasons.

  The only reason I agreed to this new excursion was because of Nicole herself. She was a hot piece of ass, one I was happy to have the opportunity to manipulate into a one night stand. Or a whole summer, however it played out. Students who applied for an internship with me were carefully chosen, though ultimately, it was their self-portraits that got the most attention. Many sent bikini pictures of themselves on a beach, smiling at the camera; they were more candid than professional. But Nicole’s grabbed me.

  She didn’t have someone else take the photo, I could tell. She was sitting in an antique upholstered chair, one leg crossed over the other, her elbow resting on her knee and her chin resting on her hand. The symmetry was immaculate, made even better by the lighting, which left half of her body silhouetted. She made the photo black and white, letting only the color shine through in her left eye, which was not encompassed in the darkness. The result was phenomenal. The green depth of her exposed eye blew me away. I knew I had to have her.

  Of all the applicants I’d seen to date, none had showed even a hint at the talent Nicole possessed. She was years beyond her experience and age. As much as I wanted her sexually, I knew she would be a wild one to have as an intern. She graduated, though, and most post-graduates were only looking for paid internships. It made it hard for me to get her, but she told the magazine she would do it over the summer, for one month only. She was the only reason I left Ember, the only person I still cared about.

  Ember would be fine, I was sure. It was me I worried about more, at the moment. Nicole was intense, skilled, and seemingly uninterested in what I wanted to offer her, physically. She knew of my photography skills and wanted to learn from those, it seemed, but sexually, it felt like she wasn’t even remotely interested.

  “Is this us?” Nicole asked, pointing at a nearby driver.

  The Montgomery sign in his hands was proof enough. I nodded and walked up to Tyler, one of my best friends and trusted confidants. I shook his hand with a smile.

  “It’s nice to see you again, Mr. Montgomery,” he said.

  “Jesus, Ty, would you call me Dallas already? You know I’m not that formal and we’ve been friends for years,” I begged. Ty and I had a sincere friendship; I hated it when he addressed me so formally.

  Last year, Ty was down on his luck and I got him a job with the magazine, since I traveled so much. He had a lot of high-priority clients now and chose who he worked for and where he traveled. Whenever I needed him, he was always there for me, though, something I thoroughly appreciated.

  “Yes, sir,” Ty retorted. I glared at him while he turned his attention to Nicole. “Good afternoon, miss.”

  She stepped forward to shake his hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Nicole, Dallas’s intern.” There was something about the way she said it and Tyler’s answering grin that bugged the hell out of me, but I let it go. For now.
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  “Tyler. I’m Mr. Montgomery’s driver for the duration. And any intern of his is a friend of mine,” he continued, his voice friendly but unapproving. Tyler hated my lifestyle, hated everything about how I chose to live.

  He was one of the few people I knew who still believed in true love. He was anxiously waiting for the love of his life, determined to prove she existed and was out there waiting just as anxiously for him. I knew better than that nonsense. Love was the one thing in the world people could count on to turn them into idiots.

  “Thank you,” Nicole replied with a genuine smile. Jealousy ripped through me like wild fire, a slow burn that started in my toes and worked its way up my body until my eyes burned and my fingertips itched with the need to touch her, to take her in my arms and scream mine with a fierce growl to anyone who would listen.

  “Well, let’s get going,” I suggested, proud of how normal I sounded. Nicole and Ty each looked at me for a moment before Ty nodded, taking our bags as the three of us continued through the airport to his Jeep in the parking garage.

  “Have you ever been to Africa?” Tyler asked Nicole once we were all settled in his four door Jeep. It was a newer model than the last one he’d driven me in. Pride swelled in me. My friend was doing well in his new world.

  I turned to look at Nicole in the backseat. Her face flushed and she forced out a happy attitude as she answered.

  “No, this is my first trip,” she explained, bouncing on the seat. “I’m excited to be here.”

  I was excited too, for so many reasons. Her eagerness was enough to get my heart beating for more than just her delicious body – I felt the thrill of the outdoors, the wildlife we were sure to encounter and the rush that accompanied it all. I hadn’t felt that way for a long time.

  “As well you should be. Mr. Montgomery knows some of the best secluded spots to take pictures and really get to know nature out here,” Tyler explained.

  “I’m sure he does,” Nicole murmured and the two of them shared another smile through the rear-view mirror. Were they laughing at me? What the hell is going on?

  I tried to bring the conversation back to work. “This is a huge opportunity for you, Nicole. I hope you don’t squander it. The first rule out here is to always have your camera ready. You never know what you’ll encounter.”

  Thankfully, she took me seriously, dragging her expensive camera out of the bag and checking her settings. I would have been impressed with her choice of camera if I hadn’t already assumed it was paid for by her parents. Most of the girls who interned with me had no idea what ISO stood for, let alone how to manually adjust the camera lighting. Granted, I always taught them more than enough. In all my years training, I never found someone with a real interest in photography, one whose skills rivaled my own.

  It was hot as hell as we drove, so all our windows were rolled down. The distinct sound of a shutter click surprised me and I looked back at Nicole, who was snapping a few shots at a time, playing with her camera settings and then snapping several more. She was engrossed in her task, shutting the entire world out completely. I was fascinated by her. Whenever a shot she didn’t like popped up in her review screen, her eyes narrowed, determination set on her face. I could tell when she righted her wrong, too, as she grinned at the screen.

  Tyler, I realized, was far too quiet. My eyes shifted to him. He stared down the road, a shit-eating grin on his face. The asshole was watching me, though I doubted he would ever admit it if ever I asked him, but I knew him too well. He could tell how obsessive I was over Nicole, after less than an hour. I shook my head at him and glared out the windshield, trying to shut him and the rest of the world out, if only for a few minutes.

  Four

  Nicole

  He fell asleep after half an hour in the Jeep, but I still wasn’t brave enough to chat with Tyler. I wanted to know more about the man who captivated me, held my soul in the palms of his hands. I couldn’t quite figure out my deal, but at the very least, I needed to figure out his. My emotions were all jacked up, adrenaline sparking through my body like heroine.

  I stopped taking pictures the moment Dallas fell asleep. His presence was so domineering, so intimidating, I could hardly enjoy the scenery around me. I was too nervous. But with him asleep, I could take it all in, breathe the wild air deeply. I enjoyed the imagery on the horizon. Once upon a time, I thought Africa to be solely desert, a hot, sticky mess of a place. But this… It was paradise. When Tyler spoke up and told me to watch my hands as he put up all the windows, I wondered what was going on. It didn’t take long for me to figure it out.

  The jungle was nothing like anything I’d ever experienced before. Wildlife filled the windshield. Snakes and lizards darted out in front of the makeshift path in front of the Jeep and I could have sworn I saw a gorilla.

  “Was that a monkey?” I asked Tyler, leaning forward so I didn’t have to speak too loud.

  He grinned. “It was a gorilla, I believe. Dallas is the expert on what species and all that, but he was a big son of a bitch.”

  “That he was. What jungle is this?”

  “It doesn’t have a name,” he explained. “This is private property, which means it’s been mostly untouched by the public. The owner works directly with Dallas only, because he’s good at getting in, getting the images people want and getting out fast without causing any trouble.”

  I nodded. “Are there a lot of photographers who would cause trouble? I mean, it’s so beautiful, I couldn’t imagine purposely causing trouble for the owner.”

  “None of the trouble is ever intentional. We just saw a gorilla. Could you imagine coming face-to-face with that thing? Dallas is good at not killing the animals he encounters. He’s got a gift.”

  “Oh.” I let his words sink in. Running into a gorilla, or some other wild animal was a scary job, one I suddenly wasn’t sure I wanted to be a part of. I was a strong woman, I could shoot a gun as well as any man, but the reality was, I was out of my element. I gulped, sitting back in my seat. I stared out the window at the luscious greenery we passed and tried not to think about killing an innocent animal.

  “Don’t worry, Nicole. Dallas will take care of you,” Tyler boasted.

  While I didn’t have any doubts about Dallas’s skills, I wanted to be able to take care of myself, the same way I did my entire life. Leaning on someone else for my basic survival, especially a man, was not what I envisioned for this trip. I nodded to Tyler to let him know I heard him but didn’t speak.

  I closed my eyes against the rush of tears that sprouted in my eyes, desperate to hide them. I didn’t like showing any signs of weakness, hated any vulnerability. I swiped at my eyes, getting rid of the evidence even as I told myself to buck up. I was in this for an entire month. That meant I was committed. No matter what.

  I fell asleep for minutes, or hours, and was jolted awake by being slammed forward into my seatbelt.

  “What the hell!’ Dallas shouted, obviously having been woken up the same way. His eyes narrowed at Tyler but then we both saw exactly why we stopped.

  “Whoa,” I breathed, stunned by the sight before us.

  In the middle of the path was an elephant and her baby, the two of them munching on the leaves of a nearby tree.

  Dallas turned back to me. “Time to work.” He grabbed his camera bag in the back seat next to me and then shot me a wink. He switched out his lens to a wide angle and then jumped out of the Jeep, edging closer to the pair of elephants.

  I looked at Tyler. “Is he serious?”

  He nodded. “He’ll teach you a lot, girl. Trust him.”

  I rolled my eyes but unbuckled my seatbelt and opened the door, my camera secured in my right hand. I left the door open, just in case I needed to jump back in suddenly and inched my way forward to where Dallas was squatting in front of the Jeep, his shutter clicking continuously.

  He glanced at me. “Find an angle and shoot. Consider this your deep-end test.”

  “Deep end?”

  He smil
ed as his eye went to the view finder. “Yep. I’m tossing you in the deep end of the pool. It’s sink or swim time, Nicole. Let’s see what you got.”

  As much as I wanted to smack him, I knew this was important. I needed to get something real, something I could take home and be proud of. I watched the mother and baby for a minute and then stepped to the left, not wanting my angle to be the same as his, wanting to capture something new and different. I hunched down to get a similar shot as Dallas, but then I glanced at the tree above the mother and baby. It was huge and if I was quiet, it was entirely possible neither animal would notice me.

  I crept up to the tree, keeping to the far side of it. I hung my camera strap over my neck and tossed the camera behind me as I pulled myself up on a low hanging branch. Higher and higher I climber, careful not to disturb the elephants. They were eating off that very tree, and I knew one wrong move would spook them. At about twenty feet up in the air, I decided I was high enough and then moved along the branch to find the right angle.

  I rooted myself on a skinny branch so I wouldn’t fall and then found them with my viewfinder. I zoomed in and popped off a few shots, but I wasn’t truly happy with any of them. I glared at the screen as I looked at them, disheartened that my plan didn’t work. I was pissed. I adjusted the shot, zooming out and then an idea struck me. I only had one chance to make it work, but if it did, it would be an amazing shot. Not one to back away from a risk, I whistled at the elephants, a loud sound in the quiet of the jungle.

  Both mother and baby looked up at me, looking for the source of the sound and I snapped as many pictures as I could. The mother looked startled to see me in the branches and nudged the baby to move along, away from me. As they continued on, I glanced at the photos I’d gotten. They were amazing, with both of them looking right at the camera. My plan worked. No backfire.