Goddess of the Rose (Goddess Summoning #4)(3)

Mikki tried to force her breathing back to normal. Her body tingled with a flush of heat. She could feel the drop of sweat that made a hot, wet path between her br**sts.

"You were afraid?" Nellie asked.

"No," Mikki said in a whisper that her friend had to lean forward and strain to hear. "That's just it. I wasn't afraid at all. It thrilled me. It excited me. I wanted him to catch me. When I ran, it was only because I could tell it provoked him - and I wanted very much for him to be provoked."

"Wow," Nelly said on a rush of breath. "Sexy . . ."

"I told you so, and it gets better."

"Good." Nelly bit into another biscotti.

"I ran naked and laughing. It felt like the wind was my lover as it rushed over my body. I reveled in every grunt, every huff, every growl made by the man-thing who pursued me. And I wanted to be caught, but not until he was very, very eager to catch me."

"Well, for God's sake don't stop there. Did he catch you?"

Mikki's gaze became introspective, and her eyes moved back to the fireplace.

"Yes and no. As I said, I was running and he was chasing me. I came to a sharp corner in the labyrinth and I turned, then stumbled, and fell into a pit. When I hit the bottom it should have hurt, but it didn't because my fall was cushioned." Mikki's lips twitched and then curved into a seductive smile. "It was cushioned by petals. I had fallen into a pit that had been filled with a bed of rose petals. There must have been thousands of them. Their scent filled the air and caressed my body. Every inch of my naked skin felt alive against their softness. And then his hands replaced the roses. They weren't soft. Instead, they were rough and strong and demanding. The difference between the two sensations was incredibly exciting. He stroked my naked body, moving from my br**sts down my stomach and my thighs. He caressed me exactly as I would have touched myself. It was like he had the ability to tap into my dreams and he knew all my secret desires."

Mikki paused to brush a strand of hair from her face. Her hand was shaking, but not wanting Nelly to notice, she hurried on with her story.

"It was darker in the pit than it had been in the gardens, and my vision was hazy, almost like the scent of the crushed petals had created a fog of perfume that obscured my vision. I couldn't see him, but wherever he touched me I was on fire. Before then in all of the dreams I had felt his presence, like he was an insubstantial being, a ghost or a shadow. I had known he was there, but he had never pursued me, never touched me. And I had certainly never touched him. But in the pit of roses, everything changed. I could feel his hands on me, and when I reached for him, I could actually touch him, too. I pulled him to me. And he . . . he felt . . ."

Mikki gulped and closed her eyes tightly in remembrance. "He felt thick and strong and incredibly big. I ran my hands up and down the width of his shoulders and his arms. His muscles were like living stone. And I felt something else . . . he was . . . he had . . ." Mikki swallowed around the sudden dryness in her throat. Could she really tell Nelly? Could she tell anyone? Remembering, it was almost as if she was there again, in that pit of sensation and fragrance. Her hands had moved up to bury themselves in the thick mass of his hair. She had intended to turn his face to hers - to open her eyes and to finally, finally see him. Then she had touched them. Horns. The man creature who was stroking her body into an excitement she had never before experienced had horns.

No! She couldn't tell Nelly; it was just too crazy. And her friend definitely knew crazy. Instead, she said in a rush, "He had some kind of costume on. It was leather - hard leather, all across his chest. Like . . . like" - she searched for the word - "like an old-fashioned breastplate. It was unbelievably erotic - those hard muscles being barely covered by that hard leather. I let my hands feel him - caress him. His face was buried in my hair, right here."

Closing her eyes, Mikki's right hand moved slowly up, pulled forward a mass of her reddish curls and sank her hand into them near her right ear.

"This is where his face was, so it was easy for me to hear every sound he made. When I stroked him, he moaned into my ear, except it wasn't really a moan - at least not a moan a human would have made. It was a low, deep growl that went on and on. I know it should have scared me. I should have screamed and fought, or at the very least been petrified, frozen with fear. But I didn't want to be away from him. That horrible, wonderful, beastlike sound excited me even more. I felt like I would die if I couldn't have him - all of him. Arching up to meet him, I could easily feel his erection. He was grinding it against me."

Mikki swallowed again. "And then he spoke. His voice was like nothing I've ever heard - a man's, yet not. An animal's, but not really. The power in it rumbled through me and it was as if I could hear him within my mind, too."

When she paused, Nelly prompted breathlessly, "What did he say?"

"He growled into my ear, 'We must not . . . I cannot . . . It cannot be allowed to happen!' but his words didn't stop me. I could feel his desire in them as surely as I could feel his hardness between my legs. I begged him not to stop as I clutched at his clothes. I wanted them off him; I wanted him naked against me. But it was too late. I was already climaxing, and all I could do was wrap my legs around him as my body exploded. The orgasm is what woke me."

Chapter Two

Nelly cleared her throat before she attempted to speak. "Oh, my dear sweet Lord, I agree with you. That was definitely more realistic than the other dreams - and sexier." She fanned herself with a napkin.