Pine trees…an open fire…warm cloves and cinnamon mixed with the soft woodsy scent of cedar…the irresistible feel of well-toned muscle and the soft touch of lips on her neck…
Mimi burrowed deeper into her pillow, refusing to wake up from the best dream she’d ever had. She was in the arms of her dreamy Prince Charming and nothing or no one was taking away her bliss.
Pulling the comforter over her head, she sank back into a deep slumber…
Looking into Banning’s deep blue eyes, Mimi could see unconditional love, the promise of their future together…their very own happily ever after. As always, he guided her out onto the balcony, but this time there were no flowers, no beautiful fountains, or the glow of the moon highlighting the fireflies as they flitted above the foliage. All she saw was death and destruction.
Her head pounded. Burning pain radiated from the tender skin behind her knee. A nagging tingle, like a hundred tiny bees stinging her wrists and ankles, crawled up her arms and legs while every muscle in her body screamed in response to any movement. Searching for Banning, screaming his name in her mind, Mimi’s eyes popped open to find her own reflection staring back at her in the black, soulless eyes of Ted Dubronski.
“Help me! Banning! Where are you? HELP!”
Popping up in bed, her eyes already open wide but her mind still trapped in the miasma of her nightmare, Mimi shrieked aloud, “Somebody! Anybody! Help me! Please help me!”
Warm hands wrapped around her shoulders and slid underneath her legs, cradling her as a deep, rumbling baritone whispered, “Come back to me, Myanna. You are safe, mo ghrá. I shall never leave your side.”
Burying her face in the soft cotton of her rescuer’s T-shirt, seeking refuge in the safety of her dreams, Mimi bathed in his wonderfully spicy, smoky scent, murmuring, “You came for me. You saved me from the darkness.”
Her heart sang as Banning kissed the top of her head, reassuring, “I will forever be by your side, forever protecting you, forever loving you.”
“And I love you, Banning,” she sighed. “If only you were real.”
The rumbling of his deep, vibrant chuckle under her cheek where it laid against his chest made Mimi smile right before he said, “Open your eyes, grá mo chroí.”
The little voice in the back of her head, the one she always depended on to give it to her straight, sassed, “Open your eyes, crazy girl. Look where you are and who you’re with.”
“But…”
“But nothing. Open…”
“I agree, mo maité,” Banning joined her internal conversation. “Open those beautiful hazel eyes. I’ve been waiting four days and I fear I may perish if I do not see them soon.”
Wondering if she needed to call Edwin Hamilton, her friend from medical school, for a consultation, Mimi slowly opened one eye with the other immediately following suit as she yelled, “Son of a bi…”
Twisting her legs toward the door as she slapped her palms against his heavily-muscled chest, Mimi scampered off the gorgeous man’s lap in a most unladylike fashion. Catching her toe on the edge of the throw rug beside her bed, she grabbed for her bedside table, missed the corner, and with another shrieking expletive, landed right on her butt, looking up at the most handsome man she’d ever seen, who she could tell was biting the inside of his cheeks to keep from laughing.
Crab-walking backward, keeping her eyes trained on the intruder who looked scarily like her dreamy Prince Charming, Mimi bumped into the door then the wall before faster than she could track, the man was off the bed, across the room, and scooping her up off the floor. “You’re going to hurt yourself,” he chastised while she screamed. “Put me down, you beast. Who the hell do you think you are?”
Mimi’s world was turned upside-down as she found herself flung over his shoulder and popped on the ass while he barked with laughter, “I am your mate, that is who the hell I am.”
Balling up her fists, she beat on his hard-as-rock backside, bellowing, “You are a figment of my overactive imagination. Now, put me down and get the hell outta my head.”
Their forward motion stopped on a dime. Mimi’s world once again went for a whirl. Her feet hit the floor. His hands gently cupped her cheeks and then like all of her favorite sappy love stories, he crushed his lips to hers.
Dominating her mouth, he took complete control of their kiss. Claimed not only her body, but her heart and soul with his caress. Sparks of electricity flew through her body, turning her desire into a roaring fire, encompassing all Mimi had ever known.
There was no denying that the man before her was not only real, or that she craved him more than the air she breathed. Climbing his body, she wrapped her legs around his waist, moaning into their kiss as his hands closed over the ample globes of her ass.
Licking the seam of his lips, Mimi’s nails bit into the cotton-covered muscles of his shoulders as their minds opened completely to one another. Growling low in his throat as her tongue danced along his, he pulled her closer, smashing her hardened nipples against his chest, sending her body into sensory overload.
Her hips moved of their own accord, bumping against his erection, pushing against the zipper of his jeans, causing her dream lover to meet her thrusts until she could think of nothing but stripping him naked and riding his cock to their mutual release.
Something echoed in her lust-soaked mind. A sound she should recognize, should go see about but easily dismissed, refusing to leave the man who kissed her as if he owned her.
“Banning…You here?” A deep, raspy voice, heavy with a smooth, southern drawl, called out. The sound of boots striking tile stopped short just before the same voice quickly apologized, “Whoa…sorry.”
Jerking her lips from her dream lover’s, Mimi straightened her legs to slide to the floor, then huffed and frowned when he kept his hands clasped under her butt, whispering through gritted teeth, “Let me down.”
“No.”
Furrowing her brow even more, she demanded a little louder but still through gritted teeth, “Let me down.”
“No.”
“Ahem,” the man who’d just entered the room cleared his throat. “Hey, Ban, I’ll leave you guys alone to talk this out. Charlie and I’ll just get breakfast started. Holler…”
Slapping her palms on the chest of the man she’d been kissing, Mimi truly looked at him for the first time. Recognition, loud and clear, erupted in her mind. The images from her dreams combined with reality as she shrieked, “Oh my God! It’s you! Banning! The prince from my dreams!”
Her hands clapped against his pecs again with more force as she continued to yell, “How the…What the… This can’t be…”
She saw his head nod and his lips open, waited to hear what he had to say, but his words were lost in a whirl of black and a ringing in her ears that rivaled the bells at St. Mary’s.
Her arms went limp…
Her head fell forward…
And in her next breath, Mimi fainted…
Just like a freakin’ girly-girl…