The Protectors Christmas Box Set (sexy paranormal romances) (14 page)

A very solid, very real cock pressed against her belly. He wrapped his arms tightly around her.

This isn’t a dream
, she told herself.

“Neither was last night,” he murmured.

* * * * *

“What the hell’s going on here?” Janice demanded.

“It’s him,” Dallas happily declared and pressed herself against the length of his body. They were both wearing far too many clothes. He was dressed all in black. Black pants. Black shirt. Black sweater. Black wool coat. Though it suited him, he would have been even more attractive without any of it.

“Him who?” Janice asked.

“My dream guy.”

“The Fish?”

He flinched.

“No, no. Not that one. The
other
one.” She didn’t want to say it aloud. It embarrassed her to even remember that she’d gotten herself all worked up over a stranger. She turned toward Janice and waggled her brows, hoping Janice would catch her meaning.

Dallas wasn’t sure what was going on in her friend’s head. But whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. The frown Janice was wearing deepened. “And what are you planning on doing?” she demanded.

The delicious thoughts that skittered through Dallas’s mind brought a rush of heat to her cheeks, which was a good thing because that biting cold was seeping back into her blood. She hugged herself and shivered.

“Well?” Janice pressed. “What are you planning on doing?”

“That’s a good question,” her delicious dream guy answered just as Dallas was thinking it. Okay, perhaps she wasn’t thinking that. But it had sounded like such a reasonable thing to be thinking that she wanted to claim it for her own. Better steal his thoughts than admit—even to herself—that she had been wading in visions of having hot and heavy sex. With him.

“There’s nothing wrong with admitting your desires,” he said as if he could read her thoughts. “But we do need to make some decisions since we can’t do anything out here on the street.”

He glanced at the café door. “No, it’s too soon,” he said. “Let me take you to my apartment.”

“Now wait a freaking minute.” Janice edged her way between them and used sheer strength to push them an arm’s length apart. “I’m not letting you—a stranger—take my friend anywhere.”

“You s-said y-yourself—” Dallas started to argue, but her teeth were chattering so hard she could barely get the words out. She rubbed her hands over her shivering arms. No matter what she did, she couldn’t seem to chase that cursed cold away. And now that she was no longer marching down the Chicago streets at top speed, her shivers had grown stronger. Even her hands had started to visibly shake. She took a deep breath and rushed on with what she had to say as best as she could. “You told me th-th-that I should find him.”

Janice didn’t seem to be listening to what Dallas was saying. By the looks of it, her friend had given up on trying to convince Dallas to go back to the hospital. Instead, she’d turned a speculative eye toward Dallas’s dream lover.

Dallas had a bad feeling her friend was going to try and win herself an ally.

“Look at her. She’s sick. She should be in the hospital, not wandering the streets looking for you.”

A dark brow shot up. “Looking for me?” He sounded surprised.

“A-all d-day,” Dallas admitted through her still chattering teeth.

“She spent the night in the hospital critical care unit.”

“She’s okay.” He started to say something else but hesitated.

Dallas blushed as his gaze pressed against her. Even if she only looked half as bad as she felt, it would mean things crawling out of swamp bogs would look more appealing than she did at that moment.

“I’ll take care of her,” he amended and took the stained tissue from her hand and gently pressed it to her bleeding nose. “I know how to fix this.” He paused again. “She should be okay.”

He opened his wool coat and pulled Dallas closer. Before she realized what was happening, she found herself snuggled up against his chest and soaking up his heat as he enfolded her in the warmth of his wool coat’s thick, soft lining. It wasn’t enough to chase away the biting chill, but it was a start.

“She needs to go back to the hospital.”

“No. They wouldn’t know how to help her. I do.” A dark force emerged from behind his voice. Dallas felt it pressing against her chest, compelling her to listen to him and believe what he was saying. “Go home. I will care for Dallas.”

Janice didn’t seem to notice the warm, soothing sensations his voice carried with his words. “I don’t even know who you are!” she screeched.

“You don’t know me,” he agreed. “And you are a good friend to be so concerned.”

“Dallas, you don’t know anything about him. Don’t do this. I beg you, don’t go with him.”

He reached in his pocket, pulled out a small golden case, and produced a business card printed on a slick, nearly transparent paper. He handed the card to Janice.

She read it. Her eyes widened. She glanced at him and then read the card again. “Brendan Cromerty, Vice President of HH&G?”

He gave a sharp nod.

“Dallas had a job interview with you yesterday,” she said. Confusion glittered brightly in her eyes.

“I know. She was late.”

“But she missed the interview. You weren’t even there.”

That seductive eyebrow of his rose again. “But I saw her anyhow. The universe works like that sometimes. It’s best not to think too hard about it. I know when I do, I always end up with a pounding headache.”

His arms tightened around Dallas. He seemed to be doing everything he could to lend her his heat. “I’m taking her home.” That dark force in his voice had returned. It swirled around them like a building wave. “Like it or not, she belongs with me.”

She belongs with me
.

Nothing had ever sounded so wonderful or so comforting to Dallas’s ears. She’d never belonged with anyone. Not really. While her friends all had families and parents, she’d been raised within the sanitized halls of St. John’s Children’s Home and had learned at an early age to depend on no one.

She belongs with me
.

If only…

Brendan unlocked the door to his apartment and pushed it open. He stepped aside, silently inviting her to go in first.

They hadn’t spoken a word on the way to his home. She’d huddled, shivering in the passenger seat of his sleek, black Audi TT, unable to get rid of the cold. He’d wrapped her in his coat, but it didn’t seem to help her feel any warmer. She needed his body. Flesh to flesh.

But by time they had reached his car, he had distanced himself. That curious look of indecision had remained on his lips and had crinkled the skin around his piercing brown eyes. She’d watched him as he drove and could almost hear the thoughts churning in his head.

He was conflicted.

But about what
? She wondered.

Hugging his coat tightly to her chest, she wandered into the middle of his living room. Off to one side she found a kitchen that would make a gourmet drool. The black stone countertop and the stainless steel appliances sparkled under the kitchen’s task lighting.

Even more impressive was his living room. It was twice the size of her entire apartment—the one same apartment from which she’d soon be evicted. Unlike her cramped living room where the furniture was used, worn and uncomfortable, a plush, dark brown overstuffed sofa near the brick fireplace in Brendan’s living room called to her.

She’d been plowing through the cold and the snow all afternoon with an arousal that wouldn’t go away. The soft, excited flesh between her legs had turned tender and uncomfortable hours ago. And it wasn’t as if she’d been feeling all that healthy when she’d left the hospital. Thinking about her various aches now only made her more conscience of her pain-ridden body.

“I would offer you a painkiller if I thought it would help,” he said, just as her legs started to give out under her. He caught her elbow and helped her make it over to the sofa without falling on her face. She appreciated that.

“Stay there.” He tucked a blanket over her legs. “I think I can do something about the cold. I’ll be right back.”

She watched him move around in the kitchen with the confidence of a well-honed cook. When he returned, he handed her a piping hot cup of tea and wrapped a second blanket over her shoulders.

“It’s a special recipe,” he said. “The herbs should help warm you up and renew your strength.”

She sniffed the steam. The tea smelled sweet. She picked out the distinctive scents of honey and orange. But there were other aromas there as well. Too many. They overwhelmed her senses.

“Go on.” He hadn’t moved. He was hovering over her much like the nurses had at the hospital that morning. “Personally, I think it has a pleasant taste.”

She took a tentative sip. The overwhelming flavors mixed in her mouth, blending like the individual notes and sounds at a symphony to produce something wonderful.

She took another sip. The drink’s heat did help push away the cold. Her toes started to prickle as they thawed.

“Hmmm…” she sighed. “That’s nice.”

That made him smile. “Good. Now, I suppose we should get down to business.”

Business
? Her body snapped to attention. “You mean sex, right?”

“No!” He backed away from her as if afraid she might attack him. Talk about crushing rejections.

“Oh, I see,” she murmured. Lord, she
had
attacked him in the street this afternoon. She’d nearly climbed into his arms. And had been kissing him without his permission. That was so not like her. She blushed so hard her cheeks stung.

“It-it’s not that I don’t…I-I mean, yes, lets,” he stammered.

He dragged his hand through his hair. “No. I mean, no.”

On his retreat he stumbled over the corner of his coffee table, tipping it over and sending a pile of magazines flying.

“Damn.”

He planted his feet and held his ground.

“I want to take you to my bed.” The words flew out of his mouth as if he was arguing a tough case. “Of course I want to. But you’re not strong enough. Not yet.” He bent down and started gathering up the magazines. “Drink the tea.”

“Oh.” Dallas stared into her cup and pretended to be reading the leaves.

He righted the coffee table and dropped the magazines on top. “I’m attracted to you. Don’t forget about what happened between us last night.”

As impossible as it seemed, her blush turned even hotter. She waved the thought away. “How do you know about last night? It was a dream. A wonderful dream, yes. But still…” She sipped some more tea. She liked how it made her feel relaxed and slightly giddy. “It was probably triggered by a near-death experience. I was in a coma.”

The brown of his eyes darkened. “We’ve been over this already. Last night happened. It was real.”

“I was in a coma.” Perhaps repeating it would help her believe it too. “They told me it could have been triggered by a brain tumor or any number of life-threatening ailments.”

“You weren’t in a coma. And there is nothing wrong with you.” He dragged his hand through his hair for a second time and started pacing. “This is why we need to talk.”

“About business?”

He nodded.

Oh dear, he meant
business
business, as in law firm business. The same law firm she desperately wanted to work for.

“Please don’t ask me about my qualifications for the associate position right now. I don’t feel up to it.”

Both his brows shot up. “But you think you could handle sex?”

She smiled shyly at that, and then returned her attention to her tea.

He cleared his throat. “When you’re stronger I’m not going to let you get away with those teasing glances so easily.”

She bit her lower lip and planned on holding him to that promise.

He started pacing again. “Our meeting in the alleyway wasn’t an accident,” he said. His gaze locked on the floor, he kept his hands clasped behind his back. “I knew you would be taking that shortcut and I was waiting for you.”

“That doesn’t make sense. If I was heading to your office, why didn’t you wait for me there?”

“I don’t think you were ever going to make it to the office. That’s why the universe sent me that vision.”

“A vision?”

He nodded. “In my vision I saw you in that alleyway. And you were in danger.”

She took a nervous sip of her tea. “From you, you mean?”

That stopped him. He shook his head and chuckled. “I can understand why you might think that.”

“But the danger was from someone else?”

“Some
thing
else,” he corrected. “And it’s not gone away.”

The chill she’d felt earlier started to return. Or was that fear? She wasn’t sure.

He placed his hand on the back of the sofa and leaned in close enough that she was engulfed by his clean sandalwood scent. “I know you feel the connection between us, Dallas. The reason it’s so strong is that we are the same, you and I. You belong with me.”

You belong with me
. His words sparked a new glow.

“I know this will be difficult to accept, but I promise you it’s true. And you’re not alone. I’m here for you. And there are others. You will meet them and they’ll love you. You’ll charm the socks off them. I promise you that.”

He drew a deep breath.

“Dallas, you aren’t human.”

Not human
.

She supposed she should have been surprised. She wasn’t. After all, she’d never fit it anywhere. Not really. And she often felt alienated from the rest of the world. Being told she wasn’t human was the first thing in her life that made perfect sense.

“Okay.” She shrugged. “Not human. So, what am I?”

He jerked back with a look of surprise. “Um…um…there’s no quick and easy answer for that one.”

“You can’t tell me I’m not human and leave it at that.”

“No, I don’t mean to.” He sighed. “I expected the not-human part to dominate the conversation. It usually does, you know.”

“You’ve done this before?” Her voice rose. This was becoming all too fantastic to believe. And not fantastic like winning the lottery was fantastic…but fantastic like a low-budget futuristic movie.