Goddess of the Rose Read Free Page B

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.
    â€œThis 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?”
    â€œHe 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
    N elly 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.
    â€œI could have seen his face, Nelly. It was there, right beside my own face the whole time, and I knew that even though the pit was foggy, there was enough light for me to be able to see him. I could even feel him staring at me, but I refused to open my eyes. I didn’t want to see what he was.” Silently, she acknowledged that she had lost her nerve. After she’d felt the horns, she’d been afraid to see him. She hadn’t wanted the fantasy to be shattered by the reality of what he might be.
    â€œWas that because even though you were excited, there was a part of you that was afraid, too?”
    Mikki took her time answering Nelly, wondering if she was talking to her friend or the psychiatrist. “Maybe. But I don’t know whether my fear was because of what I might have seen, or because if I saw him the spell might be broken and I would never dream about him again,” she admitted.
    â€œThe spell?”
    Mikki shrugged her shoulders and smiled sheepishly. “What would you call it? What’s happening feels more like magic than psychosis. Or at least it does to me.”
    Nelly returned her smile. “You know my attitude about that kind of stuff. I think there are many magical things about the human brain, but they all have causes rooted in science.”
    â€œNow you do sound like a shrink.”
    â€œStop, you flatterer.”