other half as it was to the human male. She had skin privileges. He looked over his shoulder. "You're back."
Sascha jerked away. "You're talking."
"I thought we figured this out last time around," he teased. "Why are you wearing clothes?" Not that she didn't look delectable in the white bra and panties she had on, but he preferred seeing her naked, skin gleaming and flushed.
In his dreams she was the woman he needed her to be - hot and needy and wild enough to tantalize.
"I thought it might help slow matters down." Calm words but her cheeks were flushed, her body taut in expectation.
He chuckled. "I'm sorry, kitten. Was I too fast for you last time?"
"Why are you remembering the other dream?" Tiny lines appeared on her forehead.
"Why shouldn't I?" He turned onto his side and curved one hand over her waist as she knelt beside him.
"Because it was my dream, my fantasy." Breathy and soft, her voice was a stroke to his senses.
"Maybe me remembering is part of your fantasy. Otherwise how would things progress?" he said, playing along. Was this how Sascha would've acted had she not been born one of the Psy? If he'd met this sensual, stubborn creature in reality, he would've made it his goal to seduce her until she belonged to him without compromise.
Tapping at her lower lip with a finger, she nodded. "That makes sense."
He reached out and pulled her down beside him without warning. Night-sky eyes went huge in surprise. When he rose so that he was braced over her, she couldn't hold back her gasp. His erection was hot and hard between them. Given that "she" had imagined him naked on a large bed, it was difficult to ignore, especially since it was nudging at her navel.
Before she could tell him that this was her dream and he shouldn't be interfering, he leaned down and nuzzled at her neck, taking her scent into his bloodstream. "I'm never going to be an easily controllable lover, in your dreams or out of them."
Her hands clenched on his biceps. "But - "
"Shh." He nipped gently at her chin. Her hands gripped him tighter. "If you want to fantasize about me, don't try and turn me into someone else. Take me as I am, rough edges, dominance, and all." Trailing his lips across her jaw and back, he kissed her. Hard. Fast. His way. "I love your mouth," he murmured. "So, how about it?"
She took a ragged breath. "I don't want to fantasize about anyone else."
The panther let out an almost subvocal growl. Running his hand down her side, he said, "I'm possessive and I'm territorial. Can you handle that?" Under his palm, the supple skin of her bottom felt beautifully bitable.
"I can always wake up if I can't." Fire glittered in her eyes. "Don't try to intimidate me."
He smiled and began to kiss and suck at the side of her neck. "I'll always try but it would be no fun if you didn't push back." He liked her spirit, her stubborn will, her refusal to bend to his every demand.
Her hands slid to his shoulders, then tunneled into his hair, her body moving restlessly against his. He let her feel more of his weight, bracing himself on one arm so he could move the other up and down her body. On the upward stroke, he cupped her breast, shaping and petting.
"Stop." It was a sharp cry.
He froze at the sound of real distress. "Did I hurt you?" Looking up, he searched her face.
She shook her head. "I can't feel so much so soon." Panic shimmered in the dark skies he was getting used to seeing in his dreams.
"Pleasure is nothing to fear." He kept his hand on her breast. "Stop fighting it."
"I'm afraid." It was a husky whisper.
"Afraid enough to let it control you?"
A short pause and then she shook her head, the defiant nature of her personality asserting itself. "If I'm going to go down, at least I'll know what I died for."
His hackles rose. "Who are you frightened of?"
"No." She touched his lips with a finger. "This dream is about pleasure. We can talk about death in the real world. Show me pleasure, Lucas. Show me the things I've never known."
Protective instincts vied with arousal. In the end they both won. If pleasure was what it would take to banish the fear from her eyes, then he'd drown her in it. Claiming her mouth in a kiss that was just this side of