disturbing ones featuring the arrogant Gudbrand and his sexual obsession with the priestess of Frella.
Who the hell was Frella? Was it a variant name of Freya?
Dreams had a way of distorting things in strange ways. Why would the goddess’s name be any different?
David took Sari’s hand and put it over his chest. “I’m so glad to be here with you.”
Turning toward him, Sari propped her head on her hand. “Where else would you be?”
“I had a bad dream. I was the son of a Nordic chieftain who was obsessed with impregnating a barren priestess. It was very disturbing.”
“Was she pretty?”
Recalling the dream, David frowned. “She looked like your mother.”
“Really?” Sari’s smile morphed from pleasant to seductive. “Was she a tiny redhead?” Her voice came out in a sexy purr. “Was she an amazing lover?”
Something wasn’t right.
David scooted away. “She was very beautiful.”
“I bet. But she wasn’t more beautiful than me.” Between one blink and the next, Sari was on top of him, straddling him between her thighs and smiling evilly. “Tell me that I’m more beautiful than the priestess.” She gripped his wrists and pinned them over his head.
Something was definitely not right. He was having another damn nightmare, and it was time to wake the hell up.
Except, as much as he struggled to force himself awake, nothing happened. He was stuck in the nightmare.
David had plenty of experience with those. The only thing to do was to let it play out.
“You are much more beautiful than she was. There is no comparison.”
“Liar.” As Sari smiled, her fangs became visible, but they were not the tiny ones he remembered. They were long, sharp, and dripping venom.
Damn. It was getting worse.
Frantic to end the nightmare, David willed himself to wake up, but it was just as ineffective as trying to get his hands free from Sari’s powerful grip. It was like her hands were iron shackles banded around his wrists and nailed to the ground.
“Let me go.”
“Never.” Her form changing before his eyes, her auburn hair turned black and elongated, her soft eyes turned hard, and her pink lips turned bright red.
“Ayesha,” he whispered.
His teenage dream specter was back, and the evil sorceress had glamoured herself to look like Sari.
“Missed me?” She leaned down so her face was scant inches away from his. “You belong to me.”
David knew that if she kissed him, it was game over. She would suck the life out of him. He had to fight her off. Thrashing, he tried to avoid her lips.
“Your struggles only excite me more.” She transferred both his wrists to one hand, her fingers elongating into talons to encompass their girth. “Hold still, and it will go easier on you.” She gripped his chin with the hand she’d freed and smashed her mouth over his.
He struggled against her hold, but it was no use. She was sucking the breath of life out of him.
32
Sari
With a sigh, Sari closed her laptop and turned to Steven. “I have to go to the office for a few minutes, but I’ll be right back.”
“No rush. Take your time.”
Right. He and Bridget kept saying that, but Sari chose to ignore them. Except, teleconferencing with a board of directors couldn’t be done from David’s patient room, or even the waiting room next to it.
“I cleaned up your office,” Miranda said as she came in. “It’s ready for broadcast.” She looked Sari up and down. “I’m glad that you showered and changed into something semi-decent, but you need a little makeup.” She opened a drawer and pulled out a small cosmetics bag. “Let me fix you up a bit.”
“There is no time.” Sari kept on walking.
Not giving up, Miranda trotted behind her with the bag in hand. “At least put some lipstick on. You look like a zombie, and you are going to scare the board members.”
After two sleepless nights, Sari didn’t look her best, but she didn’t care. There were more important things than looking good for the board of directors of one of the clan-owned companies.
Except, appearances were important, and her job was to inspire confidence. If she looked all frazzled, they would assume it had something to do with their enterprise and start worrying.
“Fine.” She took the tube from her assistant, smeared a little color over her lips, and handed it back.
Propping her cell phone against a stack of files that was out of the camera’s view, she made sure she could see David throughout the conference call. The nurse was with him in the room,