In Our Dream Read online

  She frowned and dropped her hand. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

  He propped himself up so his face was closer to hers. “I really don’t want to waste time with that.” He moved his eyes over her lips before looking back at her eyes.

  She searched his dark eyes and felt like she was being drawn into them. “I’m normally not so complacent.”

  He grinned. “I’m normally not so evasive, but I need to be right now.”

  She bit her lip. “Tell me how to work this—what is this we’re doing?”

  “I really don’t know the technicalities of it. I just know how to do it.” He shrugged. “We can only do it with others that have the ability, though.”

  She sat back again, unable to think being that close to him. “And we can do it awake or asleep?” She already knew the answer to both.

  “Yes.”

  She frowned. “So, you can just pop into my head whenever you want?”

  “As you can into mine.”

  She bit her lip. “Is there a way to prevent that?” She shrugged. “I may not always be in the mood for company.”

  He grinned. “Are you saying I’m not invited when you’re in the shower?”

  She blushed. “Something like that.”

  He rubbed a hand over his jaw tentatively. “Just picture a closed door inside your head.”

  She raised an eyebrow at him.

  “Try it,” he coaxed.

  She closed her eyes, thought of a door inside her mind, and paused only for a second to note how ridiculous it seemed. When she opened her eyes, she was alone in her room and awake—wasn’t she?

  She sat up quickly. “Dominic? Dom!” She gawked around. “Oh fudge! Now what?” Taking a deep breath, she leaned back, closed her eyes, and thought of the door opening again.

  She was afraid to open her eyes and look, so she squinted and saw Dominic leaning on her bed, smiling at her. She opened them. “That was . . .” She laughed. “Weird.”

  He slid closer to her so he was leaning on his elbow a few inches away from her. She stopped breathing as his hand moved lingeringly down the length of her hair.

  “I believe we were interrupted last night.”

  She watched his hand travel up her arm, leaving a path of shivers in its wake. His soft touch glided over her shoulder and into the back of her hair. With gentle pressure from his large hand, she let him pull her down toward him. “How real is this?”

  He leaned back into the pillow without releasing her. His breath tickled her lips when he whispered, “As real as you want it to be.” His warm mouth brushed over hers, once, twice, before his hold on her head became firmer.

  She inhaled the dark, masculine scent of him when he stopped inches from her face and looked into her eyes for a moment. His black eyes were heavy with the same desire she felt climbing inside her. When his grasp tightened on the back of her head, she gasped and let him pull her mouth back to his.

  His kiss was deep and tender. The roughness of his whiskers brushed against her cheek, and she welcomed the contrasts next to his soft, firm mouth. When he lowered his head again, she found herself quickly flipped onto her back with him leaning over her.

  The few seconds he paused to search her eyes felt like long minutes as she waited for his kiss again. His hand tightened in her hair as his mouth lowered back to hers. This kiss wasn’t soft. His mouth crushed against hers, and his tongue demanded entrance into her mouth.

  She felt her whole body flushed with need when he deepened the kiss and pulled her tighter against him. She grasped the back of his head, not wanting him to stop. His arm moved under her shoulders as he lifted his mouth from hers and moved it roughly down her throat. She hissed out a breath when he moved over her and placed his hard thigh between hers. Her body was throbbing with need.

  With one hand behind her, he lifted her into his body and rocked against her. She could feel how hard he was through their clothes and wished for the material to go away. In that instant, she found her bare waist pressed against the heat of his skin. He growled, burying his face into her throat.

  He moved his hand up over her bare hip and lifted his head so he could trail his mouth down the front of her. She realized then that she’d imagined all her clothes gone but her bra and underwear.

  She ran her hands over the hard muscles of his back and stopped when she came to material. She’d left his on, as well. Moving her hands back up she felt formed muscles in his back and realized he was as big as he appeared to be.

  He lifted his head and looked down at her with half closed eyes. “It’s been so long for me.” He nipped at her jaw lightly with his teeth. “But I can’t be making noises in my sleep where I am.” He ran his hand up to the bottom edge of her bra and skimmed his fingers lightly over it. “You, on the other hand, . . .” His hand moved down over her waist and kept going until it was on the inside of her underwear.

  “Dom . . .” His mouth crushed down on hers and cut off any protest she was about to make. As his hand brushed over the wetness, she moaned into his mouth and arched her hips into his touch. He changed the kiss to match the teasing strokes of his fingers. The slower he moved, the hotter her body burned.

  Each time his fingers passed over her throbbing clit, he lifted his mouth away so he could hear her gasp quietly. “So beautiful,” he whispered against her lips.

  When he dipped one finger inside, she panted out a breath and grasped his shoulders. He lifted his body away from hers and watched her through lowered lashes. He pushed two fingers inside her and brought his hand against her swollen flesh as he did. She groaned in the back of her throat and closed her eyes.

  “That’s it, let me.” His rasping voice was beside her ear and she could hear his breathing was almost as heavy as hers. He moved his hand out and then brought it roughly to rock against her flesh.

  She pulled his mouth back to hers and kissed him with the desperate need she felt. His hand connected with her flesh harder and she groaned, and then bit his lip. Grasping her head in one hand, his mouth assaulted hers, driving her up even higher.

  With hard caresses, he pushed his hand into her over and over, and then lifted his mouth away from hers so he could watch her. She panted and, gasping, arched against him, needing what he was giving her. She moaned loudly when the first waves passed through her and her muscles clenched around his fingers. He just kept moving his hand against her and drove her over into the hardest orgasm she’d ever had.

  When his hand stopped moving, he continued to hold it against her as he held her tightly against him. She turned her head into his shoulder and lay there with her eyes closed for a few moments. She could feel the tension in his body and the shaking as he tried to control himself. “That’s . . .” She swallowed. “Not fair to you.”

  He took a deep breath and then kissed the side of her neck. “I can’t right now, Jennah. I want to more than anything else, but I can’t take the chance.”

  She stiffened and moved back from him. “You’re not married, are you?”

  He slid his hand out of her underwear and rested it on her stomach. “No.” He leaned up to look down at her. “I promise I will explain everything as soon as I can do it safely.”

  She frowned. “Are you in danger?” She watched several thoughts go through his eyes as he tried to decide what to tell her.

  “I’m as safe as I can be for now.”

  She pushed herself up and studied him. “Can I help? I am a cop, remember?”

  He chuckled. “I remember. No, you being a cop would definitely not make things safer for me right now.” He turned his head as if he was looking at something on the other side of the room. “I have to go.” He sat up and leaned closer to her. “Sleep well, beautiful.” He brushed his mouth over hers, and then was gone.

  She let out a long breath and opened her eyes. It was dark, she was in her room, and she was alone. She paused and realized she was still in her housecoat. Frowning, she focused on her body for a minute and then blushe
d and buried her face into the pillow when she realized the dream, or whatever it was, had really happened.

  Glancing at the clock, she frowned. Where was Dominic that he had to leave again, and why was he in danger?

  Chapter Five

  Dom lay there looking at the ceiling. There was still an hour before they could go outside for yard time. He was looking forward to the cool air to help clear his head. He smirked at the faded ceiling. Images of Jennah filed every molecule of his mind right now.

  “Palmer?”

  He turned to look at Slick as he came back into their cell. Something was wrong. Slick always seemed a little cautious, but this time he was downright nervous, almost panicked. He sat up and swung his legs over the edge. “What’s wrong?”

  Slick glanced down at the floor and then over his shoulder before looking back at him. “I caught up to Dickenson like you said to.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets, and then pulled them back out again.

  Dom squared his shoulders. “I take it the info wasn’t good?”

  Slick shook his head. “For a guard, he’s usually pretty cool, you know? Not this time. He wouldn’t answer anything about that work assignment, even when I told him I’d been asked and wanted to know what I was in for.”

  The more he said, the faster he spoke. Dom hopped down. “Just tell me and stop tying yourself up about it.”

  Slick let out a breath. “He warned me away from you, Dom. Told me to steer clear, and if I could manage, it not to go on the detail.”

  Dom looked at him for a moment, and then leaned back against the bed frame. He studied the floor for several long moments before he exhaled slowly. “Sounds like I’ve been made.” Slick nodded. “How? Who?”

  Slick sat down on the bottom bunk and leaned on his knees. “I don’t know, man. I thought only the two of us knew.”

  Dom went over and leaned a shoulder against the bars, trying to keep an eye out for anyone wandering past. “We are. Except for a few on the outside, no one else could know.”

  Slick rubbed his hands over his face before he glanced back at him. “What does your go-between say?”

  Dom rubbed his aching jaw. “He hasn’t been here in two months. I don’t know why.”

  “Can you call someone?”

  Dom pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. “Who?”

  Slick stood up and waved his hands around. “There has to be someone.”

  “No one I should be calling. That’s why I was sent in, because I work alone.”

  Slick snorted. “Well, it’s not going to work out this time. How the hell are you supposed to get out when you need to?”

  Dom realized he was right. “Good question. I haven’t heard a damn thing in too long.”

  “Can you go to the warden?”

  He grinned. “I don’t think he’d be real happy to know who I am.”

  Slick sighed. “Probably not.” They both looked up when the bell went off, signalling yard time.

  Dom patted his shoulder. “Just stay back and appear like you’re listening to Dickenson while I try to figure this out.” Slick nodded and grabbed his jacket. Dom watched him quickly move to the stairs and go down them. How the hell are you going to do that? Someone on the outside has sold you out and you’re stuck in here trying to stay alive. One thing was for sure, he was avoiding that work detail like his life depended on it, and from the sounds of it, his life did.

  * * * *

  Jennah closed the book and glared again over at the two boxes sitting in the corner. The boxes were marked, Xmas. She wasn’t sure why she had even gotten them out. She closed her eyes and leaned back, smiling. She knew exactly why. She’d felt so good when she’d woken up this morning she’d decided to give Christmas cheer another chance. Damn that man, she thought with a quiet chuckle. He’s turned my head into happy mush. She opened her eyes and laughed, knowing how crazy that was considering they hadn’t really met.

  Putting down the book, she got up and went over to the boxes. She didn’t have gobs of decorations for the season. Just a small, tasteful tree and a few ornaments. Okay, and maybe a small collection of Christmas fairy figurines.

  She opened the first box and pulled out the packing paper. After unwrapping it carefully, she picked up the sparkling Christmas fairy with her blonde hair braided and her red Christmas hat on. She looked at it for a moment, then smiled and turned to set it on the table.

  It would be nice if, somehow, she could see Dominic in the flesh at some point during the holidays. Her heart skipped a few beats at that thought. She bit her lip and sat there. Why not? If he could get away for a day or two, it would be fun. She’d volunteered to work Christmas Eve day, but as far as she knew, she had from five o’clock Christmas Eve until the day after Boxing Day off.

  She felt like a giddy girl for the first time in—ever—at the thought of meeting him. She was going to do it! She took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders to relax, and then closed her eyes. She pictured him, trying to remember every detail she could about him. “Dom?” Was that all she had to do? She had no idea.

  “Hey, beautiful. It didn’t take you long to figure this out.”

  She smiled. “I just closed my eyes and thought of you.”

  “I can’t tell you how nice that is to hear.”

  His voice was soft and deep inside her mind. She sighed out loud just feeling close to him again. “I had a thought . . .”

  “Hold that for two secs, I need to move somewhere else.”

  She frowned, but waited as he’d said. Move somewhere else? Where was he? Why did he sound so on edge? “Are you okay?”

  “I have a bit of a situation going on, that’s all.”

  “A situation?” She felt a light brush against her neck and realized he was much better at this than she would ever be. His touch, even if it was only in her head, was reassuring.

  “Nothing I can’t handle. Normally we should only talk at night, though, but I can’t tell you how much I needed to hear from you right now. So, what is this thought you had?”

  His voice was softer, more relaxed now. “I was thinking—well, wondering—if you might like to meet for the holidays?”

  She heard his sigh. “I really want to, please believe that, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to get out of here by then.”

  All of her internal alarms went off. “Out of where, Dominic?” He didn’t answer her. She waited a few more seconds. “Dominic?”

  “I’m here.” She heard the tension in his voice. “I can’t explain it, Jennah.”

  “Try.” She crossed her arms and tried hard to keep her heart from beating any faster than it was. Something in his voice, or thoughts, or whatever it was, set everything off that made her a good cop.

  “It’s not what it sounds like, beautiful. Just believe me when I say that.”

  She let out a calming breath. “I’ll try.” There was a long silence, and she wasn’t going to be the first to break it this time.

  “Close those sexy green eyes and take a look.”

  She smirked at his words, but did as he said. At first, she didn’t see anything and thought she wasn’t doing it right, and then images started to come forward. Images of a tall, chain-link fence, of men wandering around in the cold. The men were dressed in the same dark blue jackets, and many wore the same dark blue hats. Her heartbeat sped up when she recognized the next thing she saw. A guard tower standing high above the tall fence. It was a prison, and if she wasn’t mistaken, it was Wyestate prison.

  She opened her eyes and the images left all at once. She swallowed. “Are you a guard at Wyestate?” Another long silence.

  “Jennah . . .”

  She shook her head at the pleading way he said her name. She was all too familiar with that pleading tone, and she was not falling for it ever again! “Are you?”

  “No.”

  She closed her eyes and tried to fight the crushing feeling that was taking over her chest. “Are you an inmate, Dominic?”

  “
It’s not . . .”

  “Are you?”

  “Technically, yes.”

  She tried to take a breath, but her lungs felt like they were closing on her. Everything was closing in on her. She’d been here before, too. “Good bye, Dominic.”

  “Jennah . . .”

  She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She pictured a door slamming closed and locking. Even though the image was inside her head, the sound echoed, and it felt so hollow inside of her now. She sat there with her eyes closed for a few minutes more, waiting to see if it had worked. She wasn’t sure how much time went by, but there were no more words from Dominic. No sounds of any kind.