Bruin rolled her over and looked at her. “How do you feel?”
She smiled. “Great. I wish I could have felt like this with someone and not be asleep.” She reached out and touched his face, struggling not to break into tears. “I’ve never felt like this in real life. Thank you. I just wish you weren’t a dream. I think I love you.”
She couldn’t read the strange look that came over his face. He kissed her fingers. Without another word he stood, staring at her again with that same cryptic expression. A moment later, he changed into the dog again and left without a sound.
Dream Bruin sucked at post-coital cuddling, but oh well. No one was perfect.
Genna rolled over and went back to sleep.
Friday was a slow day at work, followed by another smoking hot dream about Bruin later that night. He fucked her every which way he could, and probably a few ways that might not be legal in all fifty states, but it felt good, and she awoke exhausted, smiling, and deeply in love with her Dream Jeremy.
Genna enjoyed her peaceful weekend off. Unfortunately, she didn’t have any more Bruin dreams. Monday morning she walked into the lobby and Ivan—Dogzilla—greeted her at the door.
Genna froze, terror nearly clamping her throat shut. Lindsey wasn’t behind the desk.
She tried not to stare into his grey eyes. Wasn’t that something you weren’t supposed to do?
Ivan stopped a few feet away from her, then sat and dipped his head. He dropped to his belly and crawled the last few feet across the smooth tile, rolling over onto his back and exposing his belly, his tail slowly swishing back and forth.
Genna was too petrified to move. This was a good thing, right?
He opened his mouth, softly panting, his tongue lolling out of his mouth in a…smile?
“Do you want me to pet you, boy?” she squeaked.
His tail swished a little faster. With trembling hands, she cautiously bent over and brushed her fingers along his broad chest.
His tail swished even faster.
Her heart racing, she dared pet his chest a little more firmly, and he whined.
“Okay, boy. I need to get upstairs to work,” she managed in a trembling voice. Where the fuck was Lindsey?
He whined again and slowly rolled over, keeping his head bowed, and he backed up.
Backed up!
Damned if it wasn’t like he was trying to reassure her.
His tail wagged nonstop until his furry, dense rump butted against the counter. Genna slowly walked to the elevator bank and repeatedly punched the button until a door slid open. She stepped backward into the car, anxiously punching the “close door” button until it did. With a relieved sigh she hit the button for the fourth floor and managed to make it to her desk before her legs gave out.
Ivan, the hunky two-legged one, walked into the office twenty minutes later. Fortunately by then, she’d had time to compose herself.
“Is Jeremy in?”
His grey eyes didn’t melt her the way Bruin’s did, but something about him…
Genna shook her head. “No, sorry. Would you like to leave a note?”
He smiled, only this time it looked warm and friendly, kind, inviting. “Mind if I sit out here and wait?”
“Sure, no problem. But I don’t know what time he’ll be in.”
He shrugged. Damn, maybe he was related to Bruin. They were both built in a similar rock-hard fashion.
“I have time. I won’t be bothering you, will I?”
“Not at all.”
He made small talk with her then finally asked a question she suspected he’d been curious about. “How did you come to work here?”
Well, that wouldn’t be divulging company secrets. “Honestly?”
“Of course.”
Genna studied her hands. “Mr. Bruin noticed me at my ex-boyfriend’s trial. He was convicted of murder and sent to prison.”
Ivan didn’t seem surprised, but said, “Wow.”
“Yeah. I made a sucky choice there, that’s for sure.” She looked up and felt comfortable opening up to someone, anyone. Especially him, even though she didn’t know why. “I was scared of him,” she admitted. “My ex. He…I didn’t know who or what he was until I’d been with him a couple of years. Then I was too scared to leave. I mean…” She swallowed, hard. “He would have killed me, I think,” she whispered.
There. It was finally out.
Ivan leaned forward. “Was that the Corcoran trial?”
She nodded. “Supposedly some of his ‘associates’ were going to take care of me. He made it sound like they’d support me, but honestly, I don’t know.”
Ivan clasped his hands and looked grim. “Do you fear for your safety now?”
That was something she didn’t want to think about. “I hope I’m safe. I have a feeling if I did run they would find me if they really wanted to hurt me. If they were going to kill me, they probably would have done it before now.”
Bruin appeared then, startled to see Ivan sitting there. “Good morning.” Dark glasses and Starbucks were his morning de rigueur, apparently. “I didn’t know we had a meeting scheduled, Ivan.”
Ivan stood, his face suddenly a hard mask. “We do now. I need to talk to you.” They disappeared into Bruin’s office, and from the release of tension in the air, Genna suspected that, for some reason, Ivan had words for Bruin.
Dream Bruin returned that night. He climbed into bed with her. He grabbed her chin and made her look at him.
“Genna,” he murmured, “do you enjoy these dreams?”
She nodded, something subtly shifting inside her. This was different. He wasn’t acting aloof the way he had in the other dreams. “I told you, I love you.”
His eyes studied her face. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why do you enjoy these dreams so much? Why do you love me?”
“They’re just dreams.” She licked her lips. “It’s not like I could ever have someone as great as you in real life, so I shouldn’t complain, right? I’ve always had really vivid dreams.” She reached up and stroked his cheek. He closed his eyes and pressed his face against her hand, nuzzling her palm. “This can’t ever be a reality, so why not enjoy what little good I get?” She choked back a sob. “At least if I’m in love with a dream lover, it’ll keep me out of trouble in real life. I won’t fall for another asshole. I’d rather spend my life with your dream-self than risk that again.”
“Did you love Lester?”
Okay, Dream Bruin wanted to talk instead of fuck tonight? Boring. But she’d take what she could get. “Not really. I thought I did. Then I was too scared to leave once I realized what he was.” She shuddered, closing her eyes. “I’m not glad anyone died, but I’m glad he fucked up and went to jail so I could escape.”
When she opened her eyes, Dream Bruin studied her, a serious look on his face. “You had no idea what he was?”
She shook her head. “Not for the first two years. I mean, I suspected he was into something illegal after a few months, but I had no idea about the rest of it. I didn’t know he killed people.”
“You really were innocent.” His voice drifted, and he looked deep in thought.
This kind of dream she could do without, but she didn’t interrupt him, afraid she might wake up.
He looked at her, his face different somehow, warmer. He gathered her into his arms and kissed her, deeply, with far more tenderness and emotion than any of their other dream encounters.
He spent hours making love to her, not the vigorous fuck-and-fly encounters of previous evenings. Not that she was complaining about the other dreams, because, da-yum. This time, however, it was more than just sex.