Tag Archives: erotica

Cover Reveal for Love’s Sweet Magic @Dawn_Roberto, #NewRelease, #ParanormalRomance

Coming in July from Fireborn publishing~ Love’s Sweet Magic (Devon Falls 1)

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A chance meeting at a sweet shop… Can it be love?

Jenna Stevens wasn’t looking for love, nor did she believe it would walk into her life one holiday season. Marc du Bree needs to find his destined mate so he can take over the family duties from his father. Meeting Jenna, Marc finds the connection he has been searching for. Can he convince this gun shy woman that his love is indeed true?

CONTENT ADVISORY: This is a significantly re-edited and expanded re-release title. It was originally released as STICKY MAGIC by Raine Delight.

Release date: July 22nd, 2016

Genre: Erotic Paranormal Romance, Contemporary

Pairing: MF

Pre-order at: http://firebornpublishing.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_bookx_info&cPath=4&products_id=231

About Devon Falls Series:

Welcome to Devon Falls, founded in 1784 by four families with one goal: to find a town where they can live without their special gifts coming to light. The Stevens families were master bakers from France with an affinity for magic, the Dracon families owned a hotel in London and were shape-shifters, the Sinclair families were skilled in the art of building in Germany and were dream walkers, and the Craven families were talented musicians from Russia with an ability to manipulate the elements. They all found freedom and contentment to use their gifts in the new town they called Devon Falls. As the years passed, the families grew and expanded. Love blossomed among the residents and the many newcomers, and the town flourished.

About the author:

D.M. Roberto is a lover of books and a compulsive reader. Venturing into the world of GBLT, Ménage and erotic romance, she found her new favorite genre to explore. With time and lots of Johnny Depp movies to inspire her, D.M. Roberto creates heartfelt stories that hopefully readers will enjoy and fall in love with. Living with her two kids, a significant other who supports her every move in writing and doesn’t seem to mind she gets up at 2 am to type away on the computer. She looks forward to creating stories that readers will love and enjoy.

Social Media links:

Author blog: https://authorDMRoberto.blogspot.com

Author FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDMRoberto/

General Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/dawn.roberto.1

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Dawn_Roberto

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Cover Reveal Hosted by Writer Marketing Services.

Vintage KDG: The Birthday Present

Celebration birthday balloons_xl_35629278 I’m off to Birmingham for the ETO Show and Awards Banquet to party with the Brit Babes and, because I’m up to my eyeballs in edits for THE TUTOR, the next episode of The Psychology of Dreams is not quite ready yet, so I thought I’d offer you a filthy blast from the past. This is a shorty that has never been published. It’s very old and written very early in my attempts at erotica. I wrote it for Scarlet Magazine just before it shut its doors. After that, I promptly forgot about it. Remember, it’s a bit like looking at snapshots of me from high school … er … OK, not exactly, but you get the picture. Enjoy!

 

 

WARNING: X-Rated!

 

The Birthday Present

When my wife, Sarah, asks me what I want for my birthday, I jokingly tell her I want to see her kiss her best friend, Rita, who is really hot – long blond hair, lovely tits, which she never hides with a bra and legs that go on for miles. Sarah gives me that look of hers that says she’s scheming something and says she’ll see what she can do.

I come home the night of my birthday to a dark house, and Sarah calls me from the bedroom. I bound upstairs enthusiastically, expecting her to be sprawled across the bed in that sexy red number I love to take off her.

I stop dead in my tracks at the door, hardly able to believe my eyes. On the foot of the bed, sitting next to each other are Sarah and Rita, holding hands both in tiny skirts, both in bustiers. When they’re sure they have my full attention, Sarah turns without saying a word and gives her best friend some serious, lingering mouth to mouth with plenty of cock-stiffening tongue work.

When at last they come up for air, and I’m wondering how I’m going to keep from splitting the zipper out of my trousers, my wife wishes me a happy birthday. “I hope you don’t mind if we have dessert first.”

It quickly becomes clear I’m getting more than I asked for when my loving wife slides her hand under Rita’s skirt, making her squirm and bear down as she gives her a good probing. Then she holds her fingers to my mouth. “Taste,” she commands. “It’s your favourite flavour.”

I suckle her slick pussy-flavoured fingers with a groan struggling like hell to maintain control of my dick, now more than ready to play.

Sarah takes Rita by the hand and pulls her to her feet. “How do you like your present?” she asks.  Her hand finds its way to one of Rita’s lovely breasts. “Shall I unwrap it for you?”

I nod dumbly, eyes glued to the black bustier caressing Rita’s perfect rack as Sarah teasingly undoes the bow at the top and gives those eager nipples an appraising caress. “Lovely, aren’t they? Would you like to touch them?”

As if she needed to ask! Rita makes hungry animal sounds deep in her throat while I fondle and knead her breasts. My wife opens my fly, releasing my loaded cock, which Rita takes into her hand, and I can’t keep from noticing that Sarah’s hand is busy under her own skirt. The familiar scent of her permeates the room and my heavy balls feel like they’ll burst any minute

“You like that, don’t you?” Sarah purrs. “You’re gonna love this.” She gently turns Rita away from me and lifts her best friend’s skirt. Rita bends over the bed eagerly exposing her succulent rounded arse cheeks, her cleft covered only by a black silk thong, which my hot wife gently pulls to one side, and guides my hand to her friend’s soft spot. “There now. Isn’t that nice?”

With the tight rotation of Rita’s hips and her clenching pussy lips around my stroking fingers, I can hardly contain myself and I’m just getting ready to go in mouth first for good taste when she turns and drops to her knees. She looks up at me from under a flutter of thick lashes and whispers huskily. “Happy birthday, Tiger,” that’s the last thing she says for awhile because her mouth is full of my straining cock. Meanwhile, Sarah has dropped onto the floor next to her and they begin taking turns suckling me, with brief time outs to give each other lingering tongue kisses. I’m struggling to see what they’re doing down on the floor with their hands between each other’s legs. Whatever it is, it’s clear by their breathless moans and the growing pile of discarded clothing that it’s really good.

Then without warning they give each other the eye, and pull away from me. Rita produces a condom from somewhere birthdaycakeand gives me a wicked smile. “You need to put on your party hat if you want to play.” The two nymphs slip the condom over my pole, and my wife’s friend suddenly bent over in front of me, holding her cunt lips open in invitation. As I slip inside Rita, Sarah climbs on the bed and offers her hot box to her friend like a bitch in heat, and the licking begins. I’m going insane watching my wife being eaten by her best friend while I’m pistoning her like a wild man. None of us can last long under such conditions. Sarah comes first and bucks against Rita’s face like a mustang. Just as Rita screams her orgasm, I shoot my wad into her tight grip as her legs buckle beneath me and the three of us collapse in a heap on the bed.

I have to admit it’s the first time I ever had a birthday present play with me! I hope it’s not the last.

Out Now – Beast Untamed by Faye Avalon (@faye_avalon) #erotica #romance #pnr

Beast UntamedBook Blurb:

Beasts of Bodmin Moor, Book 3

To guard his woman, he must claim his mate.

Ex-special forces operative Nathan Quinn enjoys women, but he just doesn’t trust them. Thanks to a mother who abandoned him, he prefers no-strings relationships, and has no intention of ever marrying or mating with a fellow shifter.

He focuses his energy on building his security business until a human woman catches his eye—and firmly rejects his charm. Which only challenges him to work harder to break down her barriers.

Born of ambitious, emotionally cold parents, Erin Howard’s craving for attention led her down a slippery slope to an abusive relationship. Now on the run from her ex, she plans to lay low and stay away from possessive, dominating males. But who says she can’t enjoy a little hot sex without a shred of commitment?

Soon their attraction explodes into something so fierce, that Nathan feels the primal need to mark Erin as his. But his fallback plan—distance himself—creates the space for Erin’s past to drive the final, possibly fatal, wedge between them.

Product Warnings

Contains a sexy panther shifter with an attitude problem, a human female intent on playing things safe, and an anxious dog learning to co-exist with the local cats.

Buy Links:

Samhain: https://www.samhainpublishing.com/book/5808/beast-untamed

Amazon:  http://mybook.to/BeastUntamed

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/beast-untamed-faye-avalon/1123127162?ean=9781619234413

All Romance:  https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-beastuntamed-1997437-340.html

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/beast-untamed

*****

Excerpt:

Nerves fluttered in her belly, but Erin breathed them away. She was going to enjoy herself tonight. She was going to be normal, make conversation, have fun.

But when the door swung open in response to her knock, those nerves came flooding back with a vengeance. The man towered in the doorway, his dark and brooding good looks like something in a magazine devoted to warrior gods of times long ago.

“You must be Erin,” he said, the hint of a smile softening almost harsh features. “Come on in.”

He stepped back, and Erin was about to enter when Talia came down the hallway. “Great. You’re early. We can have a drink before we get going. You’ve met Caleb?”

Erin looked up at the man. Handsome, and built. No wonder Talia always had a satisfied smile on her face.

No sooner had she accepted Caleb’s outstretched hand than Talia reached out and all but pulled Erin into the house. “Come and meet everyone.”

Everyone?

Erin’s knees went wobbly, her stomach pitching in a way that had her evening snack threatening to revolt. Maybe she wasn’t ready for this after all. It was too soon. She needed time to adjust, to work out exactly who she was going to be, before she thrust herself into life again.

Talia had other ideas and guided her into a room off the hall. Stepping across the threshold, she heard Naomi’s laughter. Her new friend had her arms wrapped around the neck of a formidable-looking man who in turn had his arms wrapped around her.

“Break that up, you two,” Talia instructed. “Save it for your wedding night.”

“That’s days away yet,” Naomi complained, smiling up at the man who was obviously Tynan. “He can’t keep his hands off me for that long.”

“My female speaks the truth,” Tynan said. “Anyway the mating has already—”

“Ahem…” Talia loudly cleared her throat, and the couple looked over. “We have company.”

Erin had the distinct impression she’d interrupted something, and not just a heated embrace between an engaged couple. But the smiles that headed her way, and the companionable way Talia slid an arm around her waist, made her think she’d imagined it. She must be so on edge lately that she was seeing spooks where none existed.

“Come and meet Tynan,” Naomi said, grabbing her away from Talia. “Ty, this is Erin. She hasn’t been in Bodmin very long, and she works at the tea shop, remember?”

A look passed between the couple, and again Erin felt as if she was missing something.

But then Tynan smiled and held out his hand. “Good to meet you, Erin. Hope you’re ready for a raucous evening.” He slipped an arm around Naomi’s shoulder, and the simple gesture was filled with possessive intent. “According to my woman, you’re all going to party enough to set the moor alight.”

“Well, I…”

“Don’t listen to him,” Naomi said. “Tynan, take her coat. We’re having a drink here while we wait for a couple of the other girls to arrive. What’s your pleasure?”

“Lime and soda if you have it.” She smiled when Tynan helped her out of her coat.

“Forget that.” Talia ushered her onto the sofa. “No soft drinks allowed tonight. Unless you’re allergic or sworn off alcohol on religious grounds. No? So, what’ll it be?”

“White wine would be good.”

While Caleb went across to the drinks cabinet, Talia sat next to her on the sofa. “Love your dress.”

“Thanks.” Erin tugged the skirt of the simple navy shift down to her knees. “Naomi said I had to wear something good.”

“I said something sexy.” Naomi plunked herself on Erin’s other side and eyed Erin’s dress. “I would have preferred more of a cleavage,” she said in a hushed tone that only the girls could hear. “But I’m not complaining.”

Grateful, Erin took the drink Caleb handed her and took a healthy swig. Conversation turned to logistics regarding transport for the evening, with Tynan and Caleb sitting side by side on the opposite sofa. Good Lord, Erin thought, taking several surreptitious sips of her wine. The room positively hummed with masculine appeal. She couldn’t remember ever seeing two more intimidating men in her life, or two more attractive and virile, but while they seemed tough and formidable, she didn’t feel especially uneasy in their company.

It was apparent from the looks and smiles the men each shared with Talia and Naomi that there was a whole bucketload of love in the room. In their men’s presence, the women seemed relaxed and completely at ease with themselves. Erin wondered how that must feel, considering her own experience had only ever been one of fear and intimidation.

The sound of the front door closing and heavy footsteps pounding down the hallway brought Erin from her reverie before she could take a painful trip down memory lane.

If she’d thought the testosterone levels couldn’t rise any higher, she hadn’t been prepared for the man who stepped into the room. Built like a tank, his shoulders filled the doorway, while the heavy scowl pushed the first real fluttering of fear into her since she’d arrived.

“If you expect me to drive that piece of garbage, you could have at least washed it first.”

The deep timbre of his voice and the edge of vitriol in his tone caused Erin to slink down a little in the seat, but since his attack was aimed at Tynan, she tried to steady her breathing. Her heart hammered anyway, her mind scanning back to a time when a similar attack was aimed at her.

“You want me to fill that junk trap with gas for you? Then you’d better make it worth my while by getting on that bed and spreading your legs for me. Now.”

Oh God. Oh God.

“Are you okay?”

Erin glanced up into Talia’s concerned gaze. “Yes, fine. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. I’ll get a cloth.”

Erin looked down, surprised when she saw the damp patch on her dress. Bloody hell, her hand had shaken so much that she’d spilled her drink.

She looked up into the dark, steady gaze of the man who had just arrived. He eyed her with little interest, but her stomach jumped like a train.

“Here.” Talia mopped at Erin’s dress, then turned her glare on the man. “Why did you want to come in here and scare my guest, Nathan Quinn?”

“Didn’t know anyone else was here. Thought you females had left for the evening.”

“This is Erin,” Naomi said. “She’s just moved to the area.”

Another pointed exchange of looks, but Erin knew she was reading too much into everything right then. They must all think she was a bloody loony.

The man called Nathan turned his gaze to her and inclined his head.

She tried for a smile but wasn’t sure she made it. Her whole body was reacting as if to a threat, and she feared she was about to go into full panic mode.

“Well, let’s get this show on the road,” Naomi declared and stood. “I can hear the others arriving, which means we’ve got that serious partying to do. And you guys have some serious poker to play.”

She took Erin’s glass and handed it to Tynan, then kissed him full on the mouth. “That should keep you for a while. Enjoy your game.”

In response, Tynan put the glass down and hauled Naomi up against him. “That won’t keep me for five damn minutes. Come here.”

Erin felt she should turn away when the kiss morphed into the kind that required locked doors and darkened rooms.

“Don’t mind them,” Talia said drawing her into the hall where Caleb held out their coats. She turned to her husband. “You’re really sure you don’t mind driving us? We can get a cab if it’s easier, then you can drive to Truro with Ty and Nathan. That way you’ll get to enjoy a drink.”

“I said I’d take you. I don’t want you out of my sight any longer than necessary.”

The big man smiled down at her, his eyes gleaming. Talia rewarded him with a soft kiss, her palm resting lightly against his cheek.

While Caleb didn’t haul Talia against him to give her the same treatment Tynan was currently giving Naomi, Erin felt equally uncomfortable. The possessive look Caleb gave his wife made her feel like she should turn away from something intensely private and intimate.

Naomi came into the hall, flushed and pleased with herself. “Ready?”

Moments later, after brief introductions to the two women who had arrived, they were piling into Caleb’s SUV. From the backseat, Erin found herself glancing back to the house, hoping against hope she didn’t catch sight of Nathan again.

The man made her feel uneasy and anxious. They’d barely shared a glance, but he’d looked at her like he knew something nobody else did. She shuddered at the thought, remembering Naomi had told her that Tynan was his business partner, and they were security consultants. That meant he would know how to access official files, documents, people’s history.

At Naomi’s instruction beside her, Erin clipped on her seat belt and vowed to keep a very low profile where Nathan Quinn was concerned.

Copyright © 2016 Faye Avalon
All rights reserved — a Samhain Publishing, Ltd. publication

*****

Author Bio:

Faye Avalon enjoys writing sexy stories about strong men and the savvy women who rock their world. She has taken a roundabout journey toward her writing career, working as cabin crew, detouring into property development, public relations and education, before finally finding her passion: writing spicy romantic fiction.

Faye lives with her super-ace husband and one beloved, ridiculously spoiled dog. They regularly expand their family by boarding puppies destined to become guide dogs. Between writing, reading, running around after manic puppies and grabbing some quality time with her husband, Faye enjoys a challenging yoga session or a night at the movies.

Links:

Website:  http://www.fayeavalon.com

Blog: http://www.fayeavalon.wordpress.com

Twitter: @faye_avalon

Facebook: www.facebook.com/faye.avalon.1

Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/fayeavalon1/

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/fayeavalon/

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Release blitz organised by Writer Marketing Services.

OUT NOW: FOUR LETTER WORDS by Charlotte Howard (@Shy_Tiger) #FourLetterWords #Erotica #Contemporary #Romance

FourLetterWordsbyCharlotteHoward-1800HRFour Letter Words Blurb:

Paige Holmes has made her choice. But as she begins to get her life back on track, she also starts to question her decision.

Then, the letters arrive. When Paige finds herself in trouble once again, she must decide who she can trust.

Will she go back to the one she denied, or will she stand by her choice?

Love and lust are, after all, both Four Letter Words.

BUY LINK: Tirgearr Publishing

*****

Excerpt from Chapter One:

Laying my head back against the black leather seats of the Jag and gazing ahead, I lifted a finger and touched my lips that were swollen from his kiss. The weariness of the past few weeks was beginning to take over, weighing on my eyelids as they began to droop. I should have been reassured by the man sitting next to me.

I shifted in my seat so I could watch him as he drove on. He was a force that even nature had no hold over. There was an urge to reach out and cling to his broad bicep, a need to feel the security of his physical strength, aching somewhere deep inside of me.

We didn’t speak as he pressed all his weight onto the accelerator, urging the car until it was over the speed limit. I half expected the shine of blue lights to fill the inside of the car, with sirens blaring around us. But they didn’t. Of course they didn’t. Even if a marked car was to pass, I doubted Vance Ellery would slow down, and I had even less that the police would attempt to pull him over. I suspected that the personal phone number of every single high-ranking officer in the country, was tucked away in a neat Rolodex on Vance’s desk or even stored in the memory bank of his mobile phone for easy access.

The silence should have been soothing. I should have been able to let my lashes flutter against my cheeks, and slip into a relaxing slumber. Instead the lack of conversation added to the tension that built behind my eyes. I closed them, hoping that soon I would drift off into a deep sleep, where I would be surrounded by falling flowers, rainbows, and sunlight. Ha! If only I was deserving of such luck. There were no pleasant dreams awaiting me after the sandman visited. Only nightmares wanted to be part of my night. They tormented me, bringing memories that I’d tried to bury and forget. They hounded the darkness, giving me nothing but misery and pain and suffering. It was as though all my sins from a previous life had been rolled over into this one.

If the visions of his face, the sound of his voice had been the only elements of my slumber, then I might have been willing to slip away and let the desperation of rest take me to the shadowed places I dreaded. My soul was destined for torture though. I was to be punished for his crime.

The mere suggestion of sleep forced my blood to pulsate until it was the only thing I could hear, throbbing in my temples. The searing pain of anxiety and panic stabbed at my chest, pins pricking my skin, as I let my eyelids fall. A shudder fell down my spine, waking me from the light doze I’d stumbled into.

Breathe in, breathe out. In with the good, out with the bad. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Breathe in, breathe out. A mantra, taught to me by a yoga instructor years before hell had entered my life, repeated over and over in my mind. I inhaled the cool air through my nasal passages, allowing it to slip down into my pain-filled lungs, exhaling all the bad out of my mouth in a gigantic whoosh.

Ahead, the roads were empty, weaving out of the village and headed towards Richart Courts, the hotel that was to be my sanctuary for the next couple of days before I had to face the next challenge. New York City.

How anyone could expect me to go back there was beyond belief. The only logical explanation for their plans for my future was that facing New York was the lesser of the two evils that haunted me, threatening to rip away the seams that had begun to fray around my already tattered edges.

*****

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Four Letter Words is the second, and final, part to Paige’s story. To celebrate its re-release, the first part of the Words Duet has been reduced to 99p / 99c!

Seven_Dirty_Words_by_Charlotte_Howard_1800HRSeven Dirty Words Blurb:

Paige Holmes hides herself in a masculine world in a desperate attempt to remain safe.

Just as she is ready to face her fears and her past, she finds herself torn between Matt Jackson and Vance Ellery: handsome, rich, and safe – or handsome, rich, and dangerous?

Which will she choose?

The one who appears to be the most perfect, or the one who makes her use all Seven Dirty Words?

BUY LINK: Tirgearr Publishing

*****

charlottehowardAuthor bio:

British author, Charlotte Howard, was born in Oman and spent much of the first part of her life flitting between Oman, Scotland, and England. Now settled in Somerset, Charlotte lives with her husband, two children, and growing menagerie of pets.

Her career as a writer began at an early age, with a poem being featured in an anthology for the East Midlands. Since then Charlotte has written many short stories and poems, and finally wrote her first full-length piece of fiction in 2010.

During what little spare time she has, Charlotte enjoys reading and writing (of course), spending time with her family, and watching action movies whilst eating curry and drinking tea.

Charlotte is an active member of Yeovil Creative Writers Group.

Social Media links:

Website
Facebook
Twitter
Blog

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The Psychology of Dreams 101

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After a short hiatus, The Psychology of Dreams 101 is back, as we prepare for the race up to the end, Leah wakes up and discovers that in the waking world, as in the dream world, things are not always what they seem.

What if you got punished when you didn’t get your dreams right? That’s the dilemma our heroin, Leah, and her psychology of dreams teacher, Al. The Psychology of Dreams 101 is a romp into the sexy unconscious as Leah Kent takes a Psychology of Dreams adult education class, only to discover that the required Dream Journal leads to some seriously kinky night journeys.

 

 

If you’ve missed Episode 12, find it here. 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 13 Waking Up

Leah woke with the loud gasp of a drowning person desperate for on last breath. Frantically she shoved damp sheets away from her sweat-soaked body and, before her mind could truly focus on what had just happened, she found herself standing naked and trembling by the side of her bed, the bed in which she was blessedly alone.

“Al?” she called cautiously. “Dr. Clyde?” she grabbed up the robe from the peg on the back of the door and wriggled into it. Morning light poured in through the bedroom window still anemic enough that she knew if was early. She stood holding her breath, waiting for either Clyde or Al to burst from the bathroom with a new surprise from the dream world. She stood for another long moment waiting for reality to shift around her as it did in the world of dreams. When it didn’t, she moved cautiously to the bathroom and peed. It was only when she washed her hands at the sink that she realized for the first time in a long time, she wasn’t horny. And then she remembered, she’d killed both of her lovers just before she woke up – pushed them both off the roof of a skyscraper, the same skyscraper Diana had jumped off of in Dr. Clyde’s dream, in the dream he shared with Al. She plopped down on the edge of the tub as the whole dream came rushing back to her.

When she was certain her legs would support her again, she padded to the kitchen and made coffee while she struggled to sort what had been a dream and what had been real, still half expecting the landscape around her to change mid step or Al or Clyde, maybe even both, to pop out of the pantry and inform her that she would have to take her punishment if she wanted to get out of the dream. But why did she need to be punished? She’d done nothing. The two of them might have messed up – well Dr. Clyde certainly had, but she hadn’t. She hadn’t even known them until recent events – whatever the hell recent events were. Was it possible that even her memories of taking Al’s Psychology of Dreams class were just dreams. Jesus! Her head hurt. How could she figure out what was real and what wasn’t? And what if even now she was dreaming?

She made toast and had another cup of coffee with nothing more unusual happening than a text pinged over from her mother to see if they were still on for Sunday lunch. Surely she wouldn’t dream that, would she? Checking back through texts and emails, she found nothing unusual, nothing out of the ordinary, and then she remembered the dream journal. In her bedroom it lay on the nightstand where she always left it. She sat down on the edge of the bed and, with trembling hands, opened it. She opened it, then flipped through it, then turned it upside down and shook it and checked to see if any pages had been torn out. They hadn’t. The dream about the dog in the McDonald’s taking her dark moon image_xl_6338206Big Mac was there. So was the one about the talking snake along with the dream about planting begonias in front of the convenience store. Even the dream about catching Al masturbating in the shower in the men’s locker room was there, though in it she’d not stated specifically who was masturbating in the shower. Surely she could be given that much privacy. Beyond that, however, the journal was empty. There was no message from her unconscious about being beautiful when she dreamed, no message about needing to be punished until she got it right. There was no long dream sequence written while Dr. Clyde slept in the bed next to her. So then, was she to believe that everything until this morning had been just a dream, that she’d gone to bed the night after writing about Al masturbating and then all the rest of the dreams were a result of her following his advice for setting an alarm to help remember dreams? Had it really worked that well? If so, if what she had dreamed was any indication, well she’d just as soon not remember her dreams after all. She shivered at the thought of pushing Dr. Clyde and Al off the roof and watching them fall endlessly.

Still half expecting to open a door and find herself back in the dream, she showered and dressed and drove to the Adult Education Center, driving around the block a couple of times before she got the courage to park and go inside. That made her nearly late for Al’s class. She grabbed the first seat in the back of the room as much as anything because the sight of Al standing behind his desk speaking of the handouts on dream symbolism he had in one arm made her knees weak. Besides that, she suddenly wanted very much to avoid his attention. While a part of her wanted to confront him about her dream experience, to ask questions and find out if maybe he knew what the hell had happened, another part of her hoped never to dream again. She was toying with the idea of dropping the class even. She was here of her own free will. Surely she could leave of her own free will as well. After all, she’d paid for the class, hadn’t she?

As he drew nearer, she held her breath and sat stiffly, trying to hide her nervous trembling. He didn’t seem to notice if she was nervous or not. In fact, he didn’t seem to notice her at all as approached her desk talking to the group about Freud’s view on dreams and symbols as opposed to Jung’s. He gave her the handout without even glancing at her and, just as she released the breath she’d been holding, just when she slumped into the seat with relief, he stopped turned back to her and said in a voice barely more than a whisper. “Leah, you need to see me after class.” He didn’t sound particularly pleased about it.

Her heart bumped in her chest and she wiped sweaty palms on her jeans. She opened her mouth to tell him she couldn’t see him, to lie to him, to tell him she was busy, to make any excuse she could think of, but he didn’t give her the chance. He moved on and kept right on talking about Freud and Jung as he walked back to the front of the class and settled into lecture mode, every once in awhile glancing at her as though he was keeping an eye on her, as though he expected her to misbehave at any moment. That was the only thing that kept her from slipping out the back door and never coming back.

She didn’t hear a word of his lecture; she didn’t hear anything but the beating of her own heart as she pretended to take notes, doodling in the margins of her dream journal. In fact, she thought the class itself might have been a dream when after what seemed like only a few minutes, or possibly an eternity, she heard an impatient clearing of the throat and looked up with a start to find the classroom empty and Al standing over her, hands folded across his chest. “Come with me,” he said without preamble. “My office is just down the hall.” He didn’t wait for her, didn’t look back to see if she was following. She was, of course. She didn’t want to, but she suddenly realized she really did want to know what the hell was going on and he was the only one she knew who could help her find some answers.

At the end of the hall, he opened an unmarked door and motioned her in. It was a tiny space with a small pine desk and a cheap-assed armless office chair. The walls were bare and the desk buried in books and papers. He nodded to a single orange chair in front of the desk. “Sit down. We need to talk.” Before she could comply, he said. “I need to know how the hell you’ve managed to get into my dreams.”

“What?”

f7c97536836dc44ea7a1faaa02ab1a6a   He grabbed a brown leather-bound journal from the detritus on the desk and shoved it at her, then nodded her to open it.

With trembling hands, she opened it to the page marked by the chord bookmark. For a moment, her eyes refused to focus, and when they did, she wished like hell they hadn’t.

You’re beautiful when you dream. You’re beautiful when you dream. You’re beautiful when you dream. Over and over again it was written until it filled half the page and then, the dream began.

I pushed them both over the edge, Al and Dr. Clyde, over the edge to chase Diana, to make their peace with the dead and with the living. Whether or not they’ll wake up, I don’t know. I just know there’s no other way out.

The room tilted around her as though she were suddenly on the deck of a ship and above the sudden flutter of wings in her ears, she heard Al ask again, “how did you get into my dreams, Leah?”