She stared at him for a moment. “It’s weird to have another species’ abilities, isn’t it?”
“Very. And they’re fully formed, like the way you levitate as though you’ve been doing it since you were a kid.”
“Exactly. Yet, there’s something else at work as well, a sort of strengthening of the skill as time passes.” She drew a deep breath. “You ready?”
He leaned into the sofa a little more, his hands on his thighs. He looked both relaxed, yet at the same time ready to launch, an odd juxtaposition.
She mirrored his position, settling herself against the couch, her hands in her lap. She closed her eyes and with little more than a thought moved into her dreamglide.
She was in the same room, sitting on the sofa only her eyes were open. The dreamglide tended to move a few feet away from the real-time location, but the edges were blurred, the biggest indication she was in a different reality
Brannick joined her immediately, then stood up from the sofa. “That was damn easy.”
She rose to her feet as well. “Yeah, it was.”
He turned to her, but his expression softened.
She gasped softly.
Oh, no. Somehow in all her planning, she’d forgotten that his less conscious self ruled him in the dreamglide.
She could see from the light in his eye he was thinking something he shouldn’t. “Brannick, you’re not the same in the dreamglide as you are in real-time, are you?”
He shook his head slowly. “I’m more like the man who made love to you for five months, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
No, no, no.
He started to move toward her. She held up her hand to stop him and wagged her head, but he merely smiled.
Surrounding her with his arms, he pulled her close. “Guess I’ll have to apologize right now for what I’m about to do.”
Her protest got muffled as he slanted his lips over hers. When he pressed his tongue against her lips, begging for entrance, she resisted. This wasn’t Brann, not really. Though it gave her something like hope to know he was so torn internally that he’d kiss her in the dreamglide.
When he didn’t give up, however, but began fondling her backside with his big strong hands, she melted against him. She parted her lips, savoring the thrust of his tongue and the way his chest muscles tightened as he drew her closer still.
She’d forgotten for a moment how the dreamglide could feel as close to reality as anything could get.
But she couldn’t give in, not all the way. This wasn’t Brann, and she knew the moment they left the dreamglide, he’d be really upset with her.
He must have felt her shift in emotion, because he released her just enough to look down at her with a crooked smile. “Didn’t you like the kiss?”
She planted her hands on his chest, her palms savoring the size and curve of his pecs. “What I don’t like is that I know you don’t want to be with me. Not really. And I want to respect your wishes here.”
He lost his devilish smile and caressed her arms. “This is what I want, Juliet. Being this close to you.” He pulled away, if slowly. “But the moment you and I are back in real-time, that’s when my past shouts at me to be sensible, to weigh your actions against your words. You have to understand. I’ve kept my sanity in Five Bridges by holding to my commitments, to my values, and to the rule of law.”
She pivoted away from him, forcing herself to quickly search for and find her internal balance. “I know.” She patted her thighs twice with the palms of her hands.
Turning toward him again, she smiled. “How about we focus on what’s important here.”
“Finding Roche?”
She inclined her head.
“So, what’s the best way to proceed?”
“I think you should surround us both with your vampire cloak, even within the dreamglide. And I’ll engage as well. Maybe together, we’ll create something unusually strong.”
When he stepped toward her and began the process, she could feel heat coming off his body. She accessed the same ability that now lived so oddly within her own bones. The cloaking shield seemed to mingle, moving back and forth between them, then solidifying.