Dreams of Desire Read online

  The old woman had been right—more right than she could have dreamed. Or did she foresee this moment?

  Calie frowned as she remembered the last card the woman had drawn. A man in a boat, with the overturned cups on the shore. She understood that image in her bones now, for it felt as if all her dreams had overturned and spilled upon the ground. Yet as she remembered that image, she realized that the man had the boat aimed at a destination. It was headed into a mist—like the mist of dreams—and a bright light shone in the distance. Something new, something wonderful.

  She looked up at Barbose. “What will you do to me if I continue to refuse you?”

  “Whatever I please, although nothing that will not give you pleasure.” He smiled and moved his finger inside her. She hissed softly and tightened her inner muscles, craving the sensation, longing for more. Her sheath clenched around his finger and pleasure shot through her body.

  “You’ve enjoyed every moment of these dreams. You know it. I know it. If I come up with new ways to torture you—and I will—you will enjoy those as well.”

  His finger continued to caress her. She quivered on the verge of orgasm, yet met his stare with all the coolness she could muster. “If I enjoy these sessions, it hardly seems like a way to force me to join the Temple.”

  He chuckled. “That’s where you’re wrong. Before this you didn’t know I was real. Now, you do. How long can you go on before you surrender to me so that you can meet me in reality?”

  “Reality or dreams, why should I care?” she snapped.

  “Because once we are joined in reality, we can be together in both worlds, always, and you want that.” He leaned closer, his warm breath a caress against her cheek. “Come with me into the Temple and I will take you on a voyage beyond your imagination.”

  A voyage. The image of the man in the boat leapt into her mind once again. Could it be? Was this her fate, to lose her cherished dream of a healing center—for what?

  She gazed into his sapphire gaze, drowning. Their bodies had burned together as one so many nights in her dream. And now he lay beside her, his hot thighs pressed against her, his rigid phallus poking at her. Would their passion continue beyond the dream if she consented to enter the temple? Would what he offered really be more wondrous than what she left behind?

  The old woman spoke in her memory. “It’s time for you to wake up and realize you’ve been living a dream that no longer satisfies.”

  Who had she healed except Lord Tromas? He drained all her energies and gave her nothing in return but a few coins. He would never accede to her dream of a healing center. She’d been a fool to think a healer could gain that kind of influence.

  Calie took a deep breath. “Very well. I’ll enter your temple.”

  He flashed a delighted smile at her and slipped his finger from her body. “Welcome then, my love.”

  At his words, the royal bedroom dissolved. A new room took shape around her. It was as strange as any dream can be and yet a part of her knew it was real, too.

  She gazed in astonishment. She still lay beside Barbose in a bed, but this bedroom was smaller and cozier. Bookcases filled with leather-bound books lined its walls. Rugs lay scattered across a floor of polished wood and comfortable chairs in front of a fireplace provided places for quiet reading.

  She ran her fingers across the silken sheets. Everything was solid, real.

  “Where am I?” she asked.

  “Within the temple in my private chamber. I have an extensive library. It contains the wisdom of many generations of dream masters. You will study here, as well as receiving training from your own personal master.”

  Her eyelids flickered. She relaxed into the soft mattress and brushed her hand against the curly mat of silver hair on his chest. “And who will that be?”

  “Me. I’ll mentor you and teach you all the arts of the dream masters.” His voice dropped into the seductive whisper she knew so well. “I’ll teach you to link our dreams together, until we are one in dream and reality both, our minds joined as closely as our bodies.”

  Shivers of delight coursed through her as she imagined the intimacy they would share. He reached out and took her hand. “It is the way of the dream masters. We always work in pairs, male and female. I have waited many years to find you, Calie. It is traditional for the male to woo the female in her dreams, but this courtship has been the strangest in all our history, I think.”

  As he spoke, he moved his body above hers, his thigh parting her legs.

  “You didn’t have to enter my dream,” she murmured.

  “I did if I wanted to enter you,” he said with a laugh. “I only hope you find me as arousing when we’ve spent long hours together studying our craft.”

  The moisture pooling between her legs told her exactly how arousing she found him. The image of the man in the boat headed for the light rose once more before her mind’s eye. Barbose hovered over her, his lips caressing her breasts. She trembled. Where were the cards guiding her?

  His mouth closed over her nipple, driving all thought from her mind. As his arms enclosed her she opened her legs and welcomed him deep inside. It was bliss to have her hands free to explore the sculptured muscles of his chest and shoulders as he drove into her. At the end, she dug her fingers into his back and clung to him as waves of orgasm shook her body.

  Afterward, they lay together in the bed as the fire in the fireplace burned low.

  “What will you teach me?” she asked, half dozing in his arms.

  He smiled. “You have much to learn. We serve the gods of light in their fight against the darkness. Some of us dream away famine and some dream away war. I have chosen to dream away disease.”

  “What?” She blinked in surprise.

  “A few of us are dedicated to this particular dream.” His warm fingers squeezed hers. “Once healers were rare. So we dreamed a world where healers abound. It took long years for that dream to manifest, but now Sarmona suddenly has them in abundance. Next, we will dream a world where certain diseases are gone. Eventually, they will vanish, gone so thoroughly that no one will even remember them.”

  She stared at him in wonder. “This is possible?”

  “All this and more. It is not easy, though.” His dark blue eyes seemed to devour her. “It will require long and intense training.” His arms slipped round her, drawing her close again. Her breasts brushed against his chest and little tingles of excitement shot through her. The knowledge that his arms were real drove every other thought from her mind. She could feel his phallus pressing against her stomach. He was hard once more and ready for her.

  She lifted her face up into his. “My days will be busy?” she murmured with a smile.

  “Your days.” Barbose traced a finger over her lips. “And your nights. Your training requires you to spend the nights sharing the dreams of your dream master. We will learn to create a dream together.” His head bent lower, his warm breath brushing her cheek. He smiled. “I have many ideas for exotic scenarios—if you want to indulge your erotic fantasies some more. Together we will play with reality for our pleasure.”

  His lips touched hers. She yielded to the kiss with a sigh and buried her hands in his moon-bright hair as she had always longed to do.

  “I’m your willing pupil,” she said and smiled as the room began to transform once more.

  The End

  About the Author

  As a Libra I was born understanding relationships. But I have to confess I also suffer from a little bit of a problem with impulse control—I like to blame that on my Leo moon! A Leo moon is a fire moon and I can be a bit fiery at times. The resulting explosions have given me plenty of practical experience with love's ups and downs.

  I've combined that with an active imagination and used the resulting steamy combo to fuel my muse and help me pen my erotica romances of fantasy and SF.

  I started life as a small-town girl, but soon moved on to the big city. There I found love and settled down with a husband, two adorable d
ogs and my ever-trusty computer. As an erotica writer, I date my interest in bondage back to long nights chained to that computer.

  When I was younger, my mother gave me one piece of advice: Learn to type. Mom was a wise woman and my years of typing eventually paid off with the sale of my first book. The rest, as they say, is soon-to-be-made history.