In My Dreams (First Tracks Book 2) (13 page)

Avery

Marcus was sitting up on his bed when I entered, dressed in
a gray T-shirt and long black sports sweats with a white line running down the
leg. His hair looked nice. He looked nice. Hot. Happy. Relaxed.

He grinned at me, the white of his teeth flashing and making
my heart skitter around. His eyes gleamed like he had a secret, like a little
boy waiting for me to notice something. Oh!

“Your cast is off!”

“Yeah.” He rose and stepped toward me, almost in slow
motion. I watched as he walked up to me and gazed down into my eyes. Damn, it
felt nice to look up at him.

He took my face in both his hands and leaned down to kiss me
softly and quickly on the lips.

“Mmmm.
”

 “Hmm, hmmm,” he agreed, then pulled back and looked at me
with his melt-my-heart warm amber brown eyes. I smiled and stretched up to kiss
him, and as soon as our mouths met, he teased mine open with his tongue.

This wasn’t the sweet hello kiss I’d expected. But it’s what
I suddenly wanted very much.

His hands wound into my hair, pulling my head back, his
tongue taking over my mouth. His other arm pulled me against him, and I finally
got to feel both of his arms wrapped around me, claiming me, holding me close.

He felt back on his game. Before this, Marcus had only
kissed me like this in our dreams. Now…
Wow
…

His hands slid down my back and over my hips, then he pulled
me closer in a quick motion.

“Mm!” I made a quiet noise before I could stop myself.

His hand came up my back and to my hair again, playing with
it, sinking his fingers into my strands. It’d been so long since anyone did
that, it undid me. I went limp against him as he kissed me. His hand slid
deeper into my hair to cradle my head, and he kissed his way to my ear. 

My head leaned to one side and his mouth found the soft skin
on my neck. He kissed softly up my neck, then nibbled.

Marcus straightened, and I finally opened my eyes to look at
him again. He watched me back, playing with my hair and then fixing it,
twisting strands like he knew what he was doing. His hands felt so nice in my
hair…on my arms…on my stomach as one slid up to graze over my breast. My body
silently screamed, dying, needing.

“So nice… touching with both hands like this, nothing in the
way.”

“Oh, I know,” I breathed.

My eyes must have said it all too. Marcus stepped back, took
my hand and led me to the bed to sit down with him.

“We’re going to get ourselves too excited…and someone could
walk in.”

I pulled in a cleansing breath, and he could probably hear
how much I needed him right in that second.

“See, we made it through the week,” he said with a big
smile, and maybe fake bravado, as he nudged my chin.

“It’s driving me crazy,” I admitted.

“I have good news then…” That playful smile came back along
with a glint in his eyes.

“I’m waiting.”

“I got a weekend pass.”

Everything in me lifted, like dark clouds blasting apart and
the sun bursting through in vibrant yellow. Then I wondered where we would go.

“I rented a cabin out in the country,” he added. “With a hot
tub.”

I was floored—and then I remembered how badly he wanted a
real trip for us. This would be perfect, just the two of us, along finally,
without any cares.

“The one catch is… I’m not supposed to drive yet.”

“That’s no big deal. I’ve been driving us around all this
time anyway. At least, when you were up here.” I pointed to my head. Other
people were walking into the room behind me. So what did his parents think
about this whole weekend idea? I braced and turned around, putting a smile on
my face before greeting them.

Elaina smiled back. I expected a hard stare from Tom but his
blue eyes actually looked kind. It sent me off kilter for a minute.

They said hi at the same time.

“Hi there… It’s nice seeing Marcus without the cast, isn’t
it?”

His mom gave him a big smile.

“Sure is,” Tom said, hugging Marcus. “Very nice to see you
on his feet and moving around… All set to head out?”

I stood back, shocked but happy to see this change. Before
Marcus answered, I heard Elaina sigh softly. It was a happy sound. Apparently
it smoothed things over when they could see he was making a full recovery.

Marcus answered his dad and Elaina turned to me to say, “I
can’t believe he’s checking out so soon. Well, I should have known he’d be
ready this soon. He’s always been like that.”

I tilted my head, curious, but before I could ask what she
was talking about, two doctors entered the room. It was starting to get packed
in here. Marcus glanced over as everyone said hi, then waved me over to him. He
must have seen I was feeling a little claustrophobic and antsy.

“So what’s going on?” I asked him, halfway hushed even
though they could all hear.

“He’s getting out of here,” the young, handsome doctor
announced with a wide smile. Dr. Michaels, I remembered.

“Really?”

“Yup, I’m checking out of here and just going to outpatient
therapy for a while. I’ll be training again before you know it.” He held out
his fist and I bumped it.

“Congrats!”

“We had to come see you off,” Dr. Michaels said, throwing
out his hand to shake with Marcus. Several nurses came him behind them. They
all wanted hugs and handshakes. One had a photo of Marcus from Sochi for him to
sign.

“Wow, this is quite the sendoff,” Marcus said. I slipped
back and took a seat. When I did, I happened to notice Jen standing by the
door. I squeezed by everyone and stepped into the hallway with her.

“Great news, huh?” she asked, her blue eyes sparkling.

“Totally.” I pulled in a long deep breath to calm my nerves.
I felt almost high and lightheaded about it and this weekend with him. She took
a step to peek into the room and I asked, “So what are you planning after
this?”

“I’m heading back to Colorado tonight. Mom and dad are going
to spend the weekend on the coast so they can see Marcus Monday.” She had her
arms wrapped across her stomach and took a big breath, making me wonder if she
was nervous about going back to normal life.

“We should keep in contact.”

“For sure.” She gave me a genuine smile as the nurses began
filing out of the room. “Looks like they’re letting him go.”

***

So the drive out to the cabin gave us the chance to catch up
about everything: how I talked to Kris, the thing with Kyle, and the possible
thing between Jazz and Nash. We’d shared most of this in our dreams in one form
or another but it felt good to discuss it.

“But she hasn’t said anything?” Marcus asked. He held my
hand in the center of the car while I drove. A few feathery clouds stretched
across the sky above the newly leafed out maple trees that lined the road. It
made a really pretty picture as we zipped along through the sun and shade
spots.

“No… she’s keeping a pretty tight lid on it.”

“But you still think there’s something there?”

I shrugged and glanced over. “I guess it’s more of a feeling
than putting anything together.”

“Does it bother you, if there is something?”

He sounded curious, if maybe a bit guarded. It was a funny
topic to discuss with Marcus: my old (almost) boyfriend getting together with
one of my closest friends.

“It doesn’t bother me, not about them, but I feel a little
odd about how this thing is spreading.”

“First Kyle… Then Jazz and Nash.”

“Yeah, and maybe… maybe your parents.”

“How’s that?” He turned his body my way.

“I’m not sure if it actually did anything, but I dreamed
about them, so I tried to talk to them and let them know they could trust me.”
I shrugged and peeked at him, unsure how he’d react. It felt a little like I’d
tried to manipulate them.

“Wow, cause they did have a change of heart out of the
blue…” He rubbed his chin with his knuckles, thinking. “They didn’t say
anything to me about dreams or anything odd, but who knows? Maybe it did work.”

He didn’t sound like he minded what I did.

We were almost to the cabin and the scenery was so
breathtaking that it was hard to feel anything but joy. White and pink blossoms
speckled the trees in patches of sun, and in other places ferns grew around
tall, thick evergreens. The sun set while we drive and the forest areas grew
darker. The GPS announced a turn soon, and when our road came up and I turned
off.

We grinned at each other. This was our time.

The dirt road dipped down into a gully with ferns and thick
forest all around it. With night approaching, there were small spots of silver
light shining down through the trees, catching on a leaf or fern here and there
to make mysterious outlines.

The moist, rich forest smell slipped into the car, inviting
us. We followed the drive for about a half a block when the cabin came into
view. It was a small log cabin, but very nice, and the front porch light had
been left on for us.  The porch had a big wooden swing and firewood outside the
front door.

“So rustic and pretty,” I breathed as I pulled up and
parked.

Marcus jumped out and ran around the car to my side. I
laughed, so happy to see him up and active like that.

He opened my door and made a big, sweeping bow with a hand
flourish. “My lady, your magical weekend awaits.”

When I stepped out of the car, however, he pulled me into
his arms and kissed me, backing me up against the car. I gripped him by his
hair, pulling him close, kissing with him with everything in me.

Minutes later, he pulled back enough to plant a quick kiss
on my lips, then on my cheek, the other one, my forehead, my neck, and then he
started sucking and making me laugh and gasp at the same time.

“Alright, now we go inside.”

***

Half an hour later, I opened the bathroom door with a big
beach towel wrapped around my swimsuit. Marcus had gone out to open the hot
tub. I stepped outside into the cool night air that felt alive with night
secrets. A million stars twinkled down and the sliver moon, just rising over on
the horizon, threw soft moonbeams across the yard and evergreens.

It was quiet so I thought I was alone until he moved. Marcus
stepped closer and took my free hand.

“I can’t believe we’re here together,” he said, his voice
quiet and soft, like a summery breeze. His other hand lifted to my shoulder,
and I felt his finger running along my collar bone. I couldn’t help but close
my eyes. The sensation triggered a shiver that vibrated through my entire body,
then settled in my low abdomen. It caught me by surprise like it does every
time, and while I marveled over it, Marcus turned toward the hot tub and moon
light gleamed on his fully nude body.

And that feeling low in my body tightened and turned over;
something feeling like hot liquid shot through me. He stepped into the hot tub
and threw an evil grin over his shoulder.

“You didn’t want to get that swimsuit all wet, did you?” His
voice held a dare.

I started to tell him to turn around…and remembered he had
seen all of this before, but from inside my head. The cool air and seductive
moonlight must have done me in, along with the beautiful man standing before
me.

I accepted the dare. I slowly slid the shoulder straps off
and reached behind to undo my bikini top, then tossed it in the pool chair.
Marcus faced me but he didn’t seem to be looking down. Half of me wanted him
to, but the other half was thankful for his politeness as I shimmed out of my
bottoms and tossed them in the chair too.

He held out a hand for me. It was dark enough, and I wasn’t
familiar with the steps inside the water, so I gratefully took his hand and
climbed in. He sat first, still holding my hand, and guided me to sit on his
lap.

The heat of the water seeped right into me, feeling so nice.
Relief swept through me as my body relaxed and I leaned back against his chest.

The moon inched up a tiny bit more and its light swam over
my face and the hot tub water.

“Oh, wow…” Marcus breathed in my ear.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“I’m sure the moon is too, but you should see your body in
the silver light.”

I tilted my head enough to see… oh my. My skin was all wet
and gleaming, and my stomach was flat and tone. Wow. Was it the running and sit
ups? I looked good. A secret thrill ran through me that Marcus was holding me
and appreciating me like this, and then his hands came around me and flattened
on my lower stomach. I coiled up inside, feeling desire like never before. I
gasped and then held my breath as his hands ever so slowly began to slide
upward—soft and intentional like he was reading brail, his palms against me but
also his fingertips playing notes on my skin. Memorizing me. His breath sped up
next to my ear.

He caressed over my lower stomach and navel and inch by inch
up to my ribs. There he slowed down even more while I silently begged please,
please, please.

His breath turned ragged.

I reached up to his hands and guided them upward to cover my
breasts.

Lava hot heat exploded inside me, burning outward and
pooling in a wonderful pain. I twisted my face and found his neck. The scent of
his skin filled my nose as I moaned into him. I thought I was about to die, and
then he slid one hand back down, moving as slowly as before. My body pushed up
out of the water on its own accord, my mind nothing but white hot light. My
blood pounded in my head and, oddly, my lips. I felt them swelling.

The ache started low and rose inside me, a physical pointed
ache I didn’t know existed before. One of his hands slid slowly down my stomach
and between my legs.