into his gentle touch. “You’re perfect,” he whispers.
My thoughts become as wispy and incoherent as a cirrus cloud. I reach my hand up to his jawline, studying his new face. Tonight, he has prominent cheekbones and warm brown eyes. But it’s not his appearance I love; it never has been. It’s the warm feeling I get from being with him.
I push up onto my tiptoes, and my lips seal against his. And it feels like a sun forms inside of me. I grow warm and light and bright from the inside out. I whimper because it feels so amazing that I can’t hold all of that brilliant, glowing heat inside of me.
“Katrina.” He whispers my name again before his lips retrace their path along my neck. When he reaches the base of my neck, his tongue traces over my collarbones, and I’m startled by how intense and amazing that feels.
His hands slide slowly around my neck and down my back. And it’s only then that I realize that my dream self is wearing a backless halter dress. His fingers trace over my sensitive skin, and I think I might float away.
I grab onto him so that he can keep me grounded, but when my hands dig into Ziel’s shoulders, it seems to spur him on and change the intensity of his movements. His hands stop stroking my back and instead, slide down and dig into my ass. He pulls my cheeks apart slightly as he grips the silky dress, and for some reason, that makes me wild.
I spread my legs and shove my body at his, finding his thigh and grinding down against it as I lock our lips together.
Ziel scoops me up all the way into his arms, wrapping my legs around his back, and then gently goes down to his knees with me in his arms. He lays me back in the clouds, and there I am, spread open beneath him.
And unlike how the real Katrina would be, dream me is completely unafraid. I know exactly what I want. I smile up at him as I reach slowly behind my neck and undo the knot that holds this silky, silver fabric on top of my skin.
This has been coming for a long time. It feels inevitable. It feels like fate.
I slowly pull down the straps of my gown.
His eyes grow wide, and he swallows hard. Seeing the effect I have on him, knowing he has the exact same effect on me, catapults me out of my normal headspace and into a universe where he’s beautiful and I’m beautiful and everything is utterly breathtaking.
“I need to worship you,” Ziel whispers.
He leans down, and I can feel his hot breath trace over my skin. It’s such a contrast to the cool, soft clouds at my back. My skin feels utterly alive, and every nerve ending is activated. His fingertips trace lightly down my sides and then gently tug the dress I’m wearing down to my hips. I lift them and am just as surprised as he is to discover that dream me isn’t wearing panties.
“I think my mind must have been ready for you when I fell asleep,” I say with a grin.
“I like the way your mind works.” He smiles before lowering his head and gently tracing his lips over the swells of my breasts. My hands immediately fly to the back of his head and the smooth, shaved skin there.
He kisses around my breasts and then down my stomach to my belly button.
Anticipation has me tensing. I want him to touch me more. I want him to touch me everywhere. But at the same time, I never want this to end. I don’t want to wake up. I want to kiss Ziel and feel his lips forever.
He lets his palms drag up and down my thighs gently. Their rough texture is magical. It’s just a hint of masculine grit combined with the gentleness of his touch, and my thighs fall open in placid pleasure and invitation.
Ziel moves back up to capture my mouth, and we kiss deeply.
I trace my fingertips down the side of his neck and pull back to smile as I say, “Did you know that no matter what you look like, your laugh sounds the same?”
“Does it?” Ziel smiles in amusement, his voice a rough rasp.
He leans down, and with a naughty grin, he drags his tongue over my nipple. I arch up, the sensation so unfamiliar and intense. He does it again on the