Dark Daze (7 page)

Brie’s heavy heart fought with her mind. She
couldn’t start a pity party. It wouldn’t do either of them any
good. She needed to be strong and bring him out of his funk.

“We’re perfect for each other.” She stood, a
grin splitting her lips. “The psychic and the, what? Firestarter?
No, that wouldn’t be it…Either way, a couple of normal-looking
freaks.”

His eyes widened and he laughed.

“Anyhow, it’s time for food.” She came to
stand behind him, and leaned down to wrap her arms around his neck.
“And I’m ready to meet Buster.”

He turned in his chair to face her.

“I’m sure you’ve spent your whole life
blaming yourself for your father leaving. For what happened to you
on Dark Day. Repressing it to avoid torturing yourself. It’s what I
did for years and let me tell you, it doesn’t help.” She kissed his
cheek. “Well, I’m your punishment for being so foolish. You’re
stuck with me, and I’m not going to coddle you. Now, are you going
to make me dinner or watch me starve to death?”

While Ian stood, Buster ambled out from an
open door as though he’d understood the idea of dinner.

“Aren’t you the cutest ever?” She took his
head between her hands and rubbed his ears.

Buster sniffed her, gave her a small lick,
then jumped up with his front paws on her shoulders, almost
knocking her down as he licked her face.

“Buster, down.” Ian stood by the
refrigerator, gesturing with a carrot.

“I guess this means he likes me.” She laughed
as Buster dropped to the floor.

Brie moved to the counter and picked up a
carrot Ian had set aside. Armed with a chef’s knife, she made short
work of the vegetables, rocking the blade skillfully until the
carrot, celery and an onion lay in fine bits on the butcher’s
block.

“Wow, remind me not to get into a knife fight
with you.” He stared wide-eyed at her hands.

“Were you planning to?” She laughed.

“Maybe. You never know.”

“Well, if you were a carrot, I’d advise
against it.” She gave a hard chop for emphasis.

“Especially if I were
that
carrot.” He
lifted the spoon he’d been using to stir a delicious smelling sauce
and pointed it at the carrot slices.

She stopped the blade. The conversation
flowed as if they were old friends. What had happened was unusual.
The uncharacteristic and uncontrollable behaviors, the
coincidences, and in particular the way they were so natural
together—like she’d known him all her life. Perhaps longer.

“Well, I’ll set the table so you and the
carrots will feel safe.”

“Good idea, we were starting to worry.” He
patted an unsliced carrot in consolation before returning the bunch
to the fridge then jerked his chin at a cabinet and the drawer
below it. “Plates and silverware.”

She pulled the cabinet door open and grabbed
plates and cups from inside. As she set the table, her mind went
over what had happened. His experience with the magical beer. Even
she had experienced the unusual impulses. After all, that was how
she’d gotten here. The bout of intense desire and fulfillment.
Amazing, yes, but also unnatural in its urgency. She could barely
remember the drive from the restaurant. And the creature. Something
in the description sounded so familiar.

The light-sucking eyes. The sniffing.

The plate slipped through her fingers, but
she gripped hard to keep from dropping it. Her unusual flip. The
shadow in the corner sounded just like his bogeyman. Hers menaced
from afar, yet seemed dangerous. Could the creature be real?

Don’t be silly. Things like that don’t
happen in real life.
Her father’s words rang in her head.

She shook her head to clear it of thoughts of
a creature with black hole eyes.

“All set.” She placed the last fork on the
table. “Where’s the salad?”

He brought the pot to the table, ladling the
sauce over the Bangers and Colcannon while she tossed the
salad.

Ian ate in silence, but Brie didn’t mind. She
studied his strong jaw and full lips. Such a handsome man. When the
forks hit the plates for the last time, she bit her lip and
stood.

“Last time was too rushed.” She walked to
where he sat and held out a hand. “Now, let’s take our time and do
things properly.”

He’d had such a hard past, and she wanted to
help change his future. Ian pushed his chair back and stood. Brie
gazed up at him, her hand lowering a little. With her secret out,
she’d been so relieved she hadn’t been thinking about the other
problems of having sex with him now. The last time had been so
hurried Ian probably hadn’t noticed her body. Would he be turned
off by her imperfections, on closer inspection? He took her hand
and drew her to him.

Then his fingers were on the hem of her
dress. Oh no. She tried to remain calm, but her skin rippled as he
lifted the material over her thighs. She had to try to be
comfortable, no matter what happened. If she wasn’t at ease with
herself, he couldn’t be at ease with her, and she wanted to do
things right this time.

<>

Ian’s hands froze when she tensed. “Is
everything okay?”

She nodded, but didn’t meet his gaze.
Instead, she brought his mouth down to hers. Curves he hadn’t been
able to attend to properly during their frantic encounter pressed
against him, and his hard on jumped to attention.

He broke off the kiss, laying his cheek
alongside hers. “God, you are so sexy.”

Brie’s tense muscles relaxed a bit. He drew
back. Could she really be insecure about her body? She seemed so
confident. How could she not know how attractive she was?

He took her chin in his fingers and whispered
in her ear. “I want to see you. Every gorgeous inch.”

Brie burst out with a nervous giggle, but she
let him tug the hem up until her dress fluttered to the floor at
her feet. The golden light from the windows bathed her, making her
skin glow. The black lace bra and boy shorts tantalized him, and
his fingers itched to touch her luscious body. Her open hands,
which rested on her hips, twitched as if desperate to cover her
naked skin.

Her figure was perfect in his book, with wide
hips, narrow waist, and full breasts. He needed to make her see
what
he
did.

Ian reached out, placing a hand over hers,
and desire pulled at him. He ignored the need, which made him
harder, as he slid their hands together over the sensuous curve of
her thigh. She licked her parted lips and let out a shuddering
breath.

“Can you feel it?” He ran his fingers up her
hip, guiding hers over the rounded flesh. “Your skin is so soft,
and your hips are so succulent.”

Ian smoothed their palms over her belly and
up to her black lace bra. She didn’t speak, but her eyelids grew
heavy and her chest rose and fell in a deeper rhythm with each word
he spoke. Her lidded expression made his hard on jump against his
jeans.

“So few women have perfect breasts, but you
have one up on them all.” With his free hand, he released the clasp
on her bra. He tugged the material down her arms, lifting his hand
from hers long enough for the straps to fall free. He grasped her
fingers again, sliding them along her ribcage.

“Do you see how hot you are now? You have the
ultimate breasts—petal soft, full, and slightly rose scented.” He
drew her palm to her heavy breast, grazing one hard nipple.

She shuddered, her beautiful breasts heaving,
and goose bumps rose on her skin.

“You see now, don’t you?” He leaned in as he
spoke and brushed his lips over one exposed tip then travelled
along her collarbone to the base of her throat. He kissed the
perfumed hollow.

“Yes.” Her words were breathy, and she
stepped toward him, pressing her body to his.

“This must be heaven.” Ian lowered his mouth
to cover hers, and she melted against him. He wanted to shout when
she accepted his kiss and his caresses without hesitance. He took
her by the hand, walking backwards into his bedroom, and she
followed.

“You’re an amazing woman.” He placed his
hands on her cheeks. “I’m going to show you how much I appreciate
you, and how stunning you are.” He guided her to the soft plaid
comforter, and came down atop her. “All night long.”

Her hair spread in a sheet around her face,
framing her high cheekbones and arched eyebrows to perfection.

“Wow, all night long?” She wiggled her
eyebrows. “Someone’s got stamina.”

Her playful response made him laugh. “I’ve
got endless supplies, where you’re concerned.” He rained kisses on
her cheeks and lips.

“Oh yeah? Endless, eh?” She grabbed his hips,
locked her legs around his, and rolled him over.

They slipped, landing on the ground with a
thud. He coughed and laughed. “Okay, so slightly less now.”

“Sorry. Are you all right?” Her eyes went
wide, and her body tensed. She lifted her leg, but he grabbed her
hips to keep her from getting off him.

“And where do you think you’re going,
gorgeous?”

She smiled softly, her tension leaving as
quickly as it had come, and lowered her leg. “Nowhere until you
prove to me what kind of stamina you really have.”

“Ah, a challenge!” Ian ran his hand over her
well-rounded hips and thighs. “And one I will gladly accept.”

He brought his thumb to the crux of her
thighs, rubbing in light circles over her panties.

“Oh, you aren’t wasting any time, are you?”
Brie closed her eyes, her head falling back.

Damn, she looked sizzling hot when she was
turned on.

“None.” He grabbed the back of her neck,
drawing her mouth down to his.

Her supple breasts rubbed against his chest.
Ian swirled his thumb, and Brie moaned into his mouth, the sexiest
sound he’d ever heard. She bit his lip, sucking gently before
releasing it.

How had he come to find such a hot and
unusual woman when he’d least expected it? She’d ended his
loneliness with her honesty, despite how frightening it must have
been to tell the truth. He wanted to repay her for such a wonderful
gift. Wanted to give her more pleasure than any man who’d come
before him. More importantly, he wanted to show her she’d chosen
the right guy.

Ian held her tight, deepening the kiss, and
fought to ignore the fierce desire to enter her right then. She
leaned forward on her knees, her lips traveling along his jaw, and
reached down to touch the growing hardness in his jeans. He drew in
a breath between clenched teeth. She wasn’t making this easy.

Brie tugged at his zipper and jerked his
pants and shorts down his hips. He lifted his butt to help her
remove the confining material. She held him, sliding her fingertips
over the smooth skin of his hard on. He moaned and stiffened, his
hand still at her neck. She
really
wasn’t making this easy.
But he would hold himself back. Even if it meant he spent the next
hour thinking about baseball.

Her palms slid up his chest, and his gut
clenched into a hard knot.

Pitchers, bats, balls. No not balls. Nothing
round.

Ian cupped her breast and flicked a thumb
over her nipple, while his other thumb continued to whirl in small
circles over her moistening panties. Her fingers grazed the tip of
his hard on, shooting lightening sensation down the shaft.

Batting cage. Pitcher’s mound. Damn, he knew
far too little about baseball.

She sat back, gliding her palm over him.

Baseball cards.

The sexy vision Brie presented, with her
flushed cheeks, panting breaths, and disheveled hair, made him grit
his teeth to avoid embarrassing himself right then and there.

Rock hard gum.

Ian sat up, sucking at her nipple. He tried
to ignore the throbbing and insistent pest that demanded completion
as he fisted his hands to keep from lifting her and pressing her
down on it.

She was so close now. Her breathing, her
moans.

Any second now.

 ”Come for me. You’re even more
beautiful when you come.”

“I want you inside me.” She leaned forward,
jerking at her panties. “I need you in me when I come.”

Fingers tangled in material. They pulled,
ripped. He had to be inside. He pushed past and entered her.

 Oh God. So hot. So wet.

No. He’d promised her pleasure, paradise.
This side of Paradise
. He closed his eyes.
Paradise
Lost.
And gritted his teeth.
The Lost Continent
.

Brie moaned, sliding up and down the length
of him. She moved faster atop him. Started to shake. Pulling,
tingling, aching. He thrust into her one final time, and pleasure
rocketed through him.

She trembled, her hair wild around her
shoulders like a goddess. The world blurred and went away. His
Aphrodite was the only person who remained with him. And she
was
an Aphrodite, filled with beauty and passion.

“Wow.” She kissed him, still panting. “I have
this feeling my life will never be the same. Not now I’ve met
you.”

“You can say that again.” He rolled her onto
her side, holding her close.

She had no idea. His life had already changed
forever, and she was the biggest and best part of the change.

Then reality set in.

Ian played a finger over Brie’s arm until her
breathing turned slow and even. He’d finally been able to tell his
secret, and to an amazing and sexy woman, but it didn’t stop the
strange events of the past day. The happenings were harmless, for
the most part, but he couldn’t help but wonder what they meant and
how they—and the woman in his arms—might change his quasi-normal
existence.