Page 15 of 3013: Dreamer

“Magic.”

When she wobbled on her feet, she had to brace a hand on the trunk of a tree to remain upright. He had instinctively risen to his feet the moment she had appeared, and now he transported himself directly in front of her. The moment he grabbed her arm, he knew he had made a mistake.

He felt her.

He could actually feel her soft skin beneath his palm and felt the silky strands of her hair brush against his hand. That should have been impossible in his dream state. She could feel him, too, as was evident by the way she poked a finger at his chest.

“This is bullshit. Why do you get to have magic in my dream, but I don’t?”

Her denial was tiresome, but he was actually starting to enjoy it. Hellfire, she was adorable in her alcohol-induced confusion.

He knew he should step away from her, but he couldn’t make himself let go of her. His hands tingled where he made contact with her skin, and he wanted more. He wanted to touch every inch of her, but he knew it was wrong to feel that way.

As he slid his hand down her arm, he felt the rough abrasion of a healing wound there. Pure rage surged through him at the thought of her being hurt.

“What happened to your arm?”

Glancing down, she said, “I forgot all about that. I got sliced with a knife earlier, but at least we caught the thieves. I wonder if they will end up talking once we let them out of the cages.”

Cages?

Why in all the worlds would she speak of something like that so casually?

Who was this female? And who in the bloody fuck had hurt her?

“I want the name of the person who hurt you.”

“You’re bossy.”

“I am. Now, tell me who it was.”

She shrugged. “It was Carla Wexler. I’m going to make Wexler Technology pay big time for the shit they tried to pull tonight.” She glanced down at her arm again. “The Dragon Warrior water really does a good job at healing wounds. I mean, this was way worse a few hours ago.”

“You have access to Dragon Warrior water?”

“Of course.” She nodded toward the waterfall. “That must be why I’m dreaming about it now.”

“This waterfall is real.”

Well, it wasn’t in the dream state, but it was real back on Ilius. He didn’t bother explaining that at the moment since he figured it would just confuse her more.

“Sure it is.” She patted his chest placatingly, then started rubbing his pectoral muscles with a satisfied humming noise. “Nice. You sure are built.”

His body shivered with pleasure as she continued to stroke his chest down to his toned abdomen, but he grabbed her hand to stop her before she could venture further south. If shewrapped her hand around his throbbing erection, he was pretty sure he might throw her down on the ground and ravish her.

“You are playing with fire, little one.”

That name seemed to amuse her. She was tall for a female, but he was almost twice her size and towered over her. She didn’t seem the least bit intimidated by him, though. Then again, she still thought he was a figment of her imagination.

But he knew there was something more to what was happening.

“I’m not little.”

“You are compared to me. What is your name?”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t you know?”

He huffed out an impatient breath. “No, I don’t. Tell me.”