Chapter 22: Arianna
The dream is luscious.
I’m curled up on a soft green lawn. A breeze bends the stalks of a row of tulips. They look like they are leaning in to tell me a secret.
Then I see two shoes. Bright polished men’s dress shoes. A perfectly creased cuff lands at precisely the right position. There is no break in the crisply pressed fold. My eyes travel up it, past his knees, to the fly.
There’s a bulge there. He’s gotten aroused looking at me. Heat courses through my body and I skip ahead to his face.
But he’s already bending down, coming for me.
And his lips land on mine.
I fall into the kiss. It’s warm and soft and exactly what I’ve wanted. It tastes faintly of brandy. Smells engulf me. Expensive cologne. A hint of shampoo, something woodsy. Just the faintest whiff of sweat and rubberized plastic, like your hands after holding the handlebars of a bicycle.
The grass is gone. I’m in a black void, spinning. I bring my arms up around the neck of this man in his suit, but I’m surprised to touch skin instead. He’s naked now, the suit peeled away just for me.
I hold on to his strong shoulders. The kiss gets deeper, richer, and the sensation of falling is more intense. His tongue enters my mouth and I open for him greedily. It makes sense, the slide into the emptiness and how he fills me.
Then I really am flying, moving through the air, and a bit of scruffy facial hair scrapes against my cheek.
I’m not in a void. I’m in a weight room. And I’m not flying. I’m being carried.
But one part of the dream was right.
I am definitely being kissed.
I pull back. Oh my God. It’s Dell.
He looks down at me with a sly smile. “It works on babysitters as well as poisoned princesses,” he says.
What!
I kick my legs hard and he lets them go.
His arm shifts me to standing. As soon as I’m on my feet, I push away from him. “Do you always maul girls in their sleep?”
“Only when they are as beautiful as you.” His grin tells me he gives zero fucks that I’m upset about this.
I touch my mouth, then check my shirt, my pants.
“You are otherwise unharmed,” he assures me. “Unless you’d like me to maul you a bit more.”
“No! No, thank you!” God! My hand is still across my mouth. I have to shake my head to get loose of the dream and the blissful feeling. Had Dell done that? Made me feel that way?
Nonsense. Dreams are like that. Distorting reality.
I look around. “Where is Grace?”
“Back in her bed, sound asleep.”
“And the dog?”
“Guarding her. I can’t get him to leave.”
“Really?” I push my hair out of my face, trying to shake the cobwebs of sleep. I’m coming down from the anger now. Dell isn’t trying anything else. I guess he thought it was amusing to kiss me awake.
I walk ahead of him back to Grace’s room.
Maximillion is on the floor in front of the carriage. He lifts his head when we walk in.
I peek at Grace. She’s asleep and content.
“You didn’t give her a bottle or anything?” I ask.
Dell’s face is stricken. “Should I have?”
“No, she seems fine. Did you check her diaper?”
Still stricken. “I didn’t think to.”
She isn’t fussy, so I suppose she’s all right. “I’m going back to bed,” I say. But then I turn. “Do you always work out in the middle of the night?” I ask.
“I only sleep from two to six,” he says.
“That’s odd.”
He shrugs. “I make up for it on weekends, six hours instead.”
“Still odd.” I shake my head at him and walk toward the bathroom. I can still feel the plumpness in my lips from his kiss. I touch my mouth.
“Hey, Arianna,” he whispers.
I turn. “What?”
“Shall I wake you like that again in the morning?” His grin is pure mischief.
I don’t answer, just wave my hand at him and head through the bathroom to my room.
But once I’m settled on the mattress, I can’t sleep. I spin around on the bed, my head at the foot, so I can see through the bathroom and into the other room.
Dell is still there, tugging at Max’s collar. He pulls and pulls, but Max won’t leave. I cover a laugh with my hand.
His arms bulge with the effort, his chest muscles tight. His belly is flat. The little gray shorts fit tightly over his butt. I lie there, taking him in. No wonder women want a night with him. He’s something to behold.
I touch my mouth again. Now that the moment has passed, I’m a little embarrassed at my overreaction to him kissing me to wake me up.
Dell isn’t the type to take something by force. He’s a charmer. A snake charmer, maybe, but he wants to lure his woman in.
A tendril of desire threads through me as I watch him trying to coerce his dog to move. His back, his shoulders. I feel bold, like I could slip out of this T-shirt and pants and stride over to him in nothing but my panties.
He’d look up, his eyes warm with desire. His hands would trace my body, starting at my ankles, up my calves, and over my knees. His breath would quicken as his fingers slid along my thighs, slipping beneath the edge of my lace panties.
He couldn’t stop himself, but would slide a finger inside them. His mouth would take mine, another long, hot, lingering kiss.
His hand would work magic, running along the slit between my legs, then slipping inside.
I suck in a breath and Dell must hear it because he turns in my direction.
Even though he can’t possibly see me in the dark, I scramble to move back to my proper place in the bed, my head on the pillow, my legs beneath the sheet.
Then all is quiet and still. My panic settles back into interest. Dell Brant. Nearly naked, just a few yards away.
I want to will him to come check on me, fill the door frame to the bathroom with his bare chest and strong legs. I’d slide over, moving the sheet out of his way.
I can almost feel the weight of him on me. This time his mouth doesn’t come in for a kiss, but slips over the peak of a breast, his hot breath teasing my nipple.
I close my eyes, my hand on my own body, wishing it with all my might.
Just before I finally drift off to sleep, I start to rethink my decision to avoid him.
Maybe Dell is a good choice to bump me out of my rut.
To get rid of this self-inflicted ignorance I have about sex.
To have what other women want from him. A fling. A wild romp. A small piece of his life.
I just might be ready to let this happen.