Page 32 of Sweet Dreams

“Well,” Zaldi’s dark eyes blinked, “That’s the only thing that makes sense. One day I’m there, the next I’m here. And you….”

“I called for you,” I was remembering now. The nights in my dorm that I’d go to sleep, hoping I’d dream about the tall, beautiful male again. Night after night, I craved his attention. And then, later, his touch. God, I had wanted him to touch me so badly. And he’s always been such a gentleman.

And now, he was here. He was real.

“How did this happen? You were in my dreams, but now you’re here. And you know about it all?”

His face was still as beautiful as I remembered and a large part of me was furious with myself. Furious that I hadn’t seen beneath this mask the way that I’d wanted to. The way he deserved to. I felt the first tear slip free, a second rapidly following. “Oh God, Zaldi I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. But, I couldn’t believe it.”

His hands moved, brushing away my tears, “Lulu, you have to look at me.”

I sniffled, my eyes still watering as I tried to focus on the now completely red toned face in front of me. “I’m trying.”

Zaldi chuckled and I chuckled back at him. “I’m such a mess.”

“You,” he said slowly, “Are beautiful. But are also forgetting one tiny little detail. I could’ve ended all of this weeks ago. I was a coward, too afraid of what it might mean if you found out what or who I was and then didn’t want to know more.”

I sniffled, eyes focusing, realizing that while I’d always known him as a red creature from my dreams, that there was so much more to it now. He wasn’t the administrative type like I’d assumed. He wasn’t even human.

My heart thudded in my ears. He wasn’t even human.

My jaw loosened, and his face dropped a little. “Ah, there it is.”

I licked my lips, “What?”

“You’re realizing that while I’m not what you thought I was…that I’m also nothing you’ve ever met before.” Zaldi rocked back, his hands resting on the sofa again. “Are you ready to hear this? I understand if you want me to leave.”

There was so much I wanted to ask. A million things I wanted to know. Because he was insinuating that I didn’t know him. That I didn’t know what his favorite coffee was or what he tasted like when I kissed him. But, I did. And while I may not have understood everything completely, one thing remained certain.

He was still Z. My Zaldi. And, I felt it more now than ever, that pulsing line between us humming. But, I had waited too long, he was pulling away, his head nodding. “It’s alright, you take the time.”

Instinctively, I threw myself forward, wrapping my arms around his neck, my fingers sliding briefly over the line of his horns before settling in his hair. “No,” I whispered, my mouth a breath from his, “I want to know everything.”

His eyes, nearly black, darted between my gaze and my mouth and then back. “Everything?”

I nodded, my body was hot now, too hot, as it pressed up against. Head injury be damned, anxiety and confusion aside, I wanted him.

My belly clenched as he breathed out, his face moving ever closer. Because no. I didn’t just want him. I needed him.

“But, first….”

Zaldi nodded slowly, “Yes?”

“Kiss me.”

His eyelids were at half-mast, his hands curling around my hips to hold me against him. “Like this?”

I blinked, surprised and confused. “I want you to kiss me how you are. How you really are.”

And then, he was kissing me, the sweetness of his mouth coupled with the grip of his hands made me moan and arch into him. And what was sharp? Oh God, did he have claws? There was a soft scrape against my lower back where my shirt had ridden up and I felt them now, moving against my skin. And yet, it wasn’t remotely frightening. In fact, just the idea of them sent a whirl of arousal down my chest into my belly.

My tongue tangled with his, even as he tried to pull away. I whimpered, my fingers tight in his hair as he slowly released me. Even when we broke apart, we shared the air, our panting breaths filling the space.

“Wow,” I whispered, feeling a bright giddiness settle in my heart.

“Lulu, I have to tell you what I am. Maybe then you’ll understand.”

“Understand?” I blinked at him, shaking my head a little. I felt nearly lightheaded right now, but the heavy throb of arousal coated my tongue as I pressed my breasts up against him. “Understand what?”