Only In My Dreams: A Time Travel Anthology

by Sahara Kelly

  He flopped, every muscle in his body sagging and devolving into its primeval amoeba-like state as he drifted about six inches off the bed in a fog of post-orgasmic bliss.

  “Mmm.” It was an amused whisper and it came from somewhere near his right ear. It appeared to be attached to a lot of lovely soft skin, some equally soft hair and most probably a woman connecting all the parts.

  Right now, he was too tired and too happy to do more than agree. “Mmm.”

  Not even his dreams were that good. On that delightful thought, he slid once more into sleep, vaguely hearing her soft chuckle as she tucked herself into his body.

  He awoke at dawn.

  Or what he thought might be dawn, judging from the dim light oozing between the draperies of the hotel room.

  Holding his breath against the awful thought that the whole night might have been one of those incredible damn dreams, he turned his head and saw her.

  She was there, his woman, his insane delight.

  Gaia was sprawled beside him in a pose that could only be described as wantonly erotic. Arms outstretched on either side of her head, her breasts were soft mounds of delectable flesh, topped with rosy hued nipples that slumbered on, peeking from between strands of her shiny black hair.

  Her thighs were parted, one leg slightly bent beneath the sheets.

  Hell. He was human. Why not? Gingerly, he drew the covers back, exposing the glorious naked length of her.

  His cock, already more awake than he was, appreciated the view. But the pussy that drew his gaze deserved more than another pounding fuck. He owed her one and was a firm believer in repaying his debts. God, was he firm.

  Ignoring his morning wood, he slithered quietly down the bed and positioned himself between her thighs. She had the longest legs imaginable and it was with a great deal of pleasure that Ned lifted them onto his shoulders, where they settled as if they belonged there.

  The scent of her filled his nostrils as he stared, her pussy a tempting lure of pink and shiny flesh topped with a neatly shaved mound of black curls. His mouth watered to taste her once again, to start his day with a meal that would revive them both.

  Inhaling her fragrance, he leaned in, lapping his tongue delicately around the soft tissues of her pussy, smiling at the immediate response. She sighed and moved a little, her juices already beginning to dampen his lips.

  He delved deeper, knowing somehow that she loved to be stroked around her clit, not on it. He teased her, flicking light touches on the reddening pussy lips, then spreading the hot liquid around with his fingers.

  She moaned now, half awake, muscles twitching beneath the smooth skin. “Oh, sweet Jesus…”

  He ignored the slight sounds, secure in the knowledge that she was responding exactly as he knew she would.

  Now—now was the right moment to slip a finger inside her and find the magical place he knew was just—there.

  “God…”

  That was a loud moan and one that pleased Ned enormously. He’d remembered it right, recalled the exact spot from his dreams. This was incredibly weird, but wonderful in a variety of other ways. The wonderfulness outweighed the weirdness by a factor of ten, so he paid no attention to the mystery of it all and simply kept doing what he was doing. Eating out the woman who’d filled his sleeping mind with her passion and her desires.

  His tongue flew like an exquisitely talented hummingbird, strumming the chords of her sex with accuracy and urgency. She squirmed and thrust her pussy against his face, writhing beneath his mouth, quivering and tensing around him and pressing her legs against his back as he drove her up to the stars.

  Ned felt her hands grip his hair and pull—he winced, but refused to be distracted. She was going to come for him, share her orgasm with him this time around.

  He pushed her further, his finger working deep in her slick channel, his tongue finding that minute place just beneath her clit and delving into it with just the right amount of pressure—

  She shattered around him, the reality of her orgasm so much more vibrant and intense than he’d believed possible. Her thighs clamped his ears, her heels drummed against his spine and she cried out, her body bowed as her pussy quivered and jerked against his lips.

  He could feel every spasm, every contraction and release of her inner muscles, both with his mouth and his finger as she clamped down onto it, riding out the rippling climax with every particle of her body.

  Even as she eased, he stroked her again, gently, massaging the tiny bump deep inside with the lightest of touches. To his amazement, she keened a sharp cry and the spasms began anew, rolling through her more slowly this time, but with an even greater intensity.

  He sucked and licked, as aroused and as satisfied by Gaia’s orgasms as he would have been by his own. Her juices soaked him, hot and sweet and tangy on his tongue, branding the taste of her into his brain.

  Ned traveled with her, letting her finally ease and soften around him as he withdrew his finger and gave her pussy one long final caress.

  He lifted his head to see a pair of deep brown eyes blinking fuzzily at him. He grinned. “Good morning.”

  *~~*~~*

  Gaia sucked air back into her oxygen-deprived lungs and made the return journey to earth with difficulty. Waking to find herself the recipient of a massive, orally induced orgasm was something she wasn’t used to. Which was the understatement of the year.

  “Damn. If Starbucks could bottle that, nobody’d need a double-shot of espresso in their lattes.”

  Ned grinned as he pulled himself back up beside her. “I’ll assume that means everything went okay?”

  “I don’t know. Everything hasn’t landed yet.”

  “Let me know when your flight arrives.”

  Gaia chuckled. “Will do.” She sighed and stretched. “This is so strange.”

  “Good strange or strange strange?”

  She thought about that. “Definitely good strange. Better than my dreams strange. But the whole dream-reality thing is in the category of strange-strange.” She glanced at Ned, leaning his head on his hand next to her and watching her face. “Does that make any sense at all? Or am I just rambling with post-coital confusion?”

  “Yes and probably yes.”

  “Clear as mud.” She giggled, unable to stop herself.

  “So. These dreams we seem to share…” Ned stared at her steadily. “Some sort of leftover memories from a past life?” He shivered dramatically. “I can’t believe I said that.”

  Gaia nodded in agreement. “Too weird, huh?” She stretched. “I’ve had them all my life, Ned. I remember, when I was little, I drew hundreds of pictures of Native American settlements in school. It seemed quite natural.”

  “Must’ve freaked out your teachers.”

  “My teachers, yes. My mom, no. I told her about them over breakfast. She’s got one hundred percent pure Seneca ancestors someplace back in her past. She simply listened and told me that dreams are part of who we are. How our mind deals with stuff. She encouraged me to tell her about them—actually, I think she enjoyed them. She never mentioned having any of her own.” Gaia smiled. “Maybe she was jealous.”

  “Of your lover?”

  Gaia shook her head. “Oh no. Once the dreams got—erotic—I stopped telling her so much about them. I mean—my mom, you know?”

  “Yeah.” Ned wrinkled his nose. “Parent talk only goes so far.”

  “Finding you, hearing you speak my name…shit, Ned. That was the absolute ultimate freakiest moment of my life, I have to say.” Gaia blinked at the memory that, even now, brought goosebumps to her skin.

  “You think you freaked out? Imagine finding yourself with a bird sitting directly over your dick, exactly like she’d done in your most hotly sensual dreams.” Ned groaned. “So, what’s going on? Are we sharing some sort of psychic past-life experience or something?”

  “Don’t know.” Gaia stared absently at the ceiling. “We’ve obviously dreamed similar dreams. Perhaps there’s something in both
our pasts that’s lingered in our brain cells.”

  “Can stuff do that?”

  “I have no clue. Until yesterday, I figured I was just reliving some sort of existence from long ago.” She turned her head on the pillow. “I never figured on meeting my dream lover in the flesh.”

  Ned looked smug. “Thank you.”

  “I use the term dream lover in the literal sense.”

  His face fell. “Oh.”

  Gaia laughed. “Okay, so you’re a dream lover in all the right ways.”

  “So are you.” Ned reached out and lifted a handful of her hair, letting it sift through his fingers onto her breasts. “In all the right ways.”

  “Mmm.” Gaia closed her eyes, feeling as contented as a cat dozing in the sunshine.

  “Any idea what happened to the dream us?”

  “Nope.” She shook her head. “I do know that I’m always desperate to reach you. Something is driving me through those forests to where we meet. Something more than a primitive urge to get laid.” Her lips curved. “Although there’s a healthy dose of that too.” She opened her eyes again. “You?”

  “Same thing. Although mine start when we’re naked and doing it.” Ned grinned wickedly. “It’s a guy thing.”

  “Must be.” Gaia crooked one eyebrow and watched his face as he spoke.

  “I’m…” Ned paused as if searching for words, “I’m desperate for you, Gaia. Just absolutely and completely swamped with need. I know in my dream that if I don’t get inside you, I’m going to die. Just die.”

  “Wow.” Gaia blinked.

  “It’s something I don’t ever remember feeling in real life.” He licked his lips. “Until yesterday.”

  Gaia nodded. “I guess fate conspired with a bunch of feathers to finally get us together, huh?”

  “I’ll be forever grateful to the lady. Remind me to send her a Christmas card.” He leaned over and dropped a kiss on Gaia’s nipple, making her sigh with pleasure.

  “Nice.” She felt warm and cherished this morning. It was so natural, lying naked next to Ned and feeling him play as he wished with her.

  “So, we’ve met. Our destiny has been fulfilled. What next? What happens now?” Ned blew on the tender skin he’d moistened.

  “I have no idea, Ned. No idea at all.” She sighed. “You could keep on doing that for a bit.”

  “Okay.”

  “Or we could make some coffee. I probably need a shower.”

  “Me too.” He sighed in his turn. “And I’m not going to push you to share it. Yet. After last night, I don’t want to hurt you, being the incredible dream lover I am.” His lips curved wickedly.

  Gaia rolled her eyes and chuckled. “Sure, babe. Whatever.”

  He yawned and stretched. “I’m sure glad it’s Sunday. Anything you’d like to do today?”

  She opened her eyes and turned to him. “You have nothing on your schedule?”

  “Nope. One more commitment tomorrow and then I have to fly home on Tuesday…” He looked regretful.

  Gaia stared at him, the reality of their situation finally penetrating her consciousness to replace her dreams. “I’m sorry. Truly sorry.” Her brain began to process information more effectively. “I guess you’re done with your hearings and committees and stuff, then.”

  “Yes.” He left it there, a word hanging between them that completed Gaia’s waking-up mechanism as effectively as a cold shower.

  She rolled over and sat on the edge of the bed, a rueful laugh on her lips. “Talk about sleeping with the enemy.”

  “Hey.” Ned’s voice had just a slight edge to it. “I’m not the enemy, Gaia.”

  “Of course you’re not. I was kidding. Sort of.” Gaia shook her head. “But you can’t deny that you’re the man who helped Greenwood to a large chunk of forest with your testimony, Ned. A piece of real estate that nature took thousands of years to create.” A bitter taste crept into the back of Gaia’s throat as she realized what she—what they had done.

  They had spent the night together, an unlikely pair of bedfellows. A politically supported, pro-business environmental scientist and an emotionally invested, anti-development environmental crusader.

  Talk about a match made in hell.

  Ned sat up in his turn. “Look, I’ll make some coffee if you want the shower.” He turned away, perching on his side of the bed while he looked for his underwear.

  “I’m sorry, Ned. That was uncalled for. It’s just that now the dream is over. The sex was fantastic and I’m here with you, wanting nothing more than to stay here for a millennia or two. I’m having trouble dealing with it all.”

  Ned looked over his shoulder at her, a quick smile crossing his features.

  It disappeared at her next words. “But we can’t stay, of course. That’s impractical. And I can’t help this nagging feeling at the back of my mind that, in spite of the dreams, we’re on opposite sides.”

  “Opposite sides of what, for Chrissake?”

  “Our views, our beliefs, what makes us what we are—what’s brought us here to this bed, if you want to be absolutely plain about it.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “You’re in DC to testify on behalf of people I work twenty-four seven to rein in, Ned. I want them stopped. You’re helping them continue.”

  “I…” Ned paused and pulled on his briefs as he stood. “I think that’s unfair.”

  Gaia stood too, heedless of her nakedness. “Why, then? Why did you do it? Why did you present a report on behalf of Greenwood Resources that made old-wood logging look like the best thing since sliced bread?”

  He met her gaze firmly. “I needed the money.”

  “Jesus Christ. You sold out?” Gaia was stunned.

  “I did not.” His face hardened. “You may find this hard to believe, Miss Save-the-Rainforest, but some of us live in a real world where bills have to be paid. Where companies exist and offer employment to some really good people solely because said companies generate income. A bottom line that isn’t red all the time.”

  He moved to the window and pulled back the drapes with a quick tug, making them screech on their hooks and setting Gaia’s teeth on edge. “When this offer from Greenwood came along, my firm was on the edge of failure. There are only five of us, all solid environmental scientists with some damn fine brains amongst us. We’re an excellent source for research and information and we’re proud of what we do. There are young families depending upon regular paychecks. Small places that come to us because we don’t charge as much as our big city counterparts. We’re a tiny fish in a big pond, but we like to think we’re just as valuable as the whales.”

  He turned a little, staring at her coldly now. “For my own part, I had debt up to my ass. College isn’t free these days, you know. I’d taken this job because it was what I wanted, even though the paycheck didn’t match the bills. I was naïve enough to think I could make it and was prepared for a few sacrifices if it meant doing what I love. But I was on the edge too. The edge of losing my apartment, not meeting my creditors’ demands…you think it’s easy finding a job that’ll pay off a college loan and provide enough left over to live adequately? In this field?” He snorted. “Think again.”

  “So to pay your bills, you agreed to support Greenwood’s position in front of House Committees, knowing full well that scientific research from somebody like you would grease the wheels of this little rider—and I use the word ‘little’ advisedly here, since it’ll probably result in millions of dollars for Greenwood.” Gaia’s hands were on her hips as she faced Ned down across the rumpled bed. “Nice job, Dr. Harper. If that’s not selling out, I don’t know what is.”

  She grabbed her panties and struggled into them. “You’re bright enough to know exactly what would happen—what Greenwood intended to happen.”

  Ned’s face was a study in anger and outrage. “And you’re bright enough to know I would never present false evidence or manipulate data, no matter how much the company paid. That’s a fucking insult to my integrity as a
scientist, for God’s sake.” He stalked stiff-legged to the small sitting room and began fumbling with the coffee pot.

  “I do not, nor would I ever, falsify data. The report I presented was accurate to the last detail.” The pot clattered, protesting the rough treatment it was receiving. “It might surprise you to know that Greenwood’s project in the Northwest does not jeopardize the habitat of the marbled murrelet. I will stand firm on that conclusion, since it’s based on four months of research, observation and even a couple of nights watching the flight paths of a couple of marbled murrelets.”

  Gaia shivered as every protective nerve in her body went on high alert. “There are only about five thousand or so of those birds left in the entire world, Ned. Little sea birds whose only error in life is choosing to nest inland in valuable old wood instead of along the shore like the rest of their fellows. And I have this horrible feeling you just gave Congress the pen to sign their death warrant.”

  She headed for the bathroom. “I need a shower.”

  Gaia closed the door behind her and leaned against it, catching her breath at the ache that had begun somewhere near the vicinity of her heart. She turned on the shower, her movements automatic, since her mind was elsewhere.

  How could he? How could she? What had they done?

  They’d followed a course dictated by their dreams and their hormones, without much consideration of how huge the gap between them really was.

  Gaia stepped into the stream of hot water. Rationalizing, she tried to tell herself that Ned was one of the good guys, not one of the bad guys. But he didn’t seem to understand the essential part of Gaia’s nature, her deep and overwhelming passion for the earth.

  It was so much an intrinsic part of who she was. She’d lived with it all her life, this caring, nurturing need to protect her world—her environment. She worked hard at it, hoping every day that she could make a difference, make the planet a better place for those who would inherit it in the future.

  She didn’t want a generation of children growing up not ever knowing what it was to see a live panda, or a white tiger. She hated the thought that species were becoming extinct with increasing rapidity or that her grandchildren might never know the awe-inspiring sight of a condor flying above the treetops.