as she tried to straighten her clothes. G.G. helped her, tugging her top back up into place. Then he straightened his own clothes, before sweeping her off her feet. He then carried her out of the alley, murmuring, “Time for bed.”
Ildaria smiled faintly and rested her head against his shoulder, murmuring, “I’m already in bed. This is a dream, remember?”
“Yes,” he agreed as her eyes drifted closed, and then as he stepped out of the alley and miraculously into the bedroom of her apartment, he added softly, “But next time it won’t be.”
G.G. didn’t know if she’d heard him. It seemed ridiculous to believe that she’d fallen asleep in her dream, but that was how it had seemed. Perhaps exhaustion had just forced the dreaming part of her mind to shut down. Whatever the case, he’d laid her in her bed, then rolled over in his own and woke up.
It had been one hell of a night. One of many they’d had the last week since she’d begun to participate in the dreams they shared. But this one was special. It had left G.G. thinking that maybe they really could risk sex while they were awake. That was obviously why Ildaria had led him to the alley where she’d been attacked. Either to test herself, or to show him that she thought it would be safe and she wouldn’t freak out.
He wasn’t saying he wouldn’t still be a little nervous their first time. But he was willing to give it a go. It was just a shame there weren’t Kevlar condoms out there.
Smiling faintly at the thought, G.G. opened his eyes and turned his head to peer at the bedside clock. Shock rolled through him when he saw that it was nine in the morning. He’d slept for twelve hours straight! That was something he hadn’t done since he was a teenager. Oh God, and he’d stuck Ildaria with H.D. She’d obviously slept, or he couldn’t have had the shared dreams with her, but he wondered how long she’d waited for him to come get his dog. Sunrise was around a quarter to six in the morning at this time of year, and he usually finished cleanup and stopped in at her place by six thirty or six forty-five. Ildaria had probably dozed off waiting for him to show up. Damn. He was a bad daddy and employer.
Sitting up abruptly, he tossed the sheet and comforter aside and launched out of bed to hurry into the bathroom. Ten minutes later he came out, showered, shaved, teeth brushed, and Mohawk standing straight up and proud. A quick rummage through the closet and he was also dressed. G.G. didn’t even stop for coffee, he simply hurried out to snatch his keys off the island and then hustled out of the apartment and across the hall.
Knowing Ildaria would still be sleeping, he didn’t knock, but unlocked the door and crept quietly in, expecting to find Ildaria and H.D. curled up on the sofa where she’d no doubt dozed off. But the couch was empty, as was the rest of the apartment until he reached the bedroom. He never would have opened the door had it been closed, but it was wide open, revealing Ildaria curled up in bed, with H.D. snuggled up to her back.
The little fur ball knew better. G.G. never let H.D. in bed. The woman was ruining his dog, he thought with a small smile as his gaze slid over her sleeping face. It was the first time he’d seen her asleep. She looked different. Her face softer without the sharpness that usually cloaked her features when awake. It made him realize that she was usually tense and on the alert for threat or trouble. Hyperaware was what he thought they called it. Without that, she looked like the angel he’d taken to calling her. Sweet and lovely and innocent. Seeing her like this, he could imagine her at fourteen, and simply couldn’t understand how anyone would want to harm her. His immediate instinct was to protect her.
Movement drew his gaze to H.D. The fur ball’s eyes were open and his head turned toward the door. G.G. made a soft shushing sound so the dog wouldn’t bark, and then patted his leg. He needn’t have bothered; H.D. was already on his feet and scampering to the foot of the bed. His tags jingled on his collar as he leapt to the floor, and G.G. glanced to Ildaria, relieved that the