Nightmares

Wren reached into the top drawer and pulled out the little red thong he dreamed about nightly, slipping it on underneath the towel and shirt.

~Damn~, he thought, ~a lady getting undressed is sexy, but she makes getting dressed even sexier.~

He just wanted to walk over there and slowly remove every article of clothing she was putting on. How was her ~getting~ dressed causing him to have a hard-on?

He brought his mind out of the gutter and back to her words.

“Wait… You are upset because you think I was joking?”

“What do you think?” She rolled her eyes and pulled out a sheer lace bra, slipping it on underneath the shirt, not once giving him even a glimpse of the smooth skin he knew lay underneath.

~How the hell was she able to do that?~ He was losing focus again.

He strolled forward as she let the towel fall around her ankles. The shirt was just long enough to hide her nice derriere.

“Does this look like I am joking?” he growled as he took her in his arms and hauled her up against his hard body, pushing his erection up against her sweet spot before smashing his mouth down on hers, hard enough to bruise them.

Wren gasped as their lips met and he pushed his tongue deep into her mouth, stroking her tongue with his own as he savored the sweetness of her mouth.

She smelled and tasted better than any food he had ever eaten, and he wanted more.

Wren tore her mouth out from under his. “That is just lust due to seeing me undressed,” she retaliated.

Fear mixed with excitement ran through her as his eyes glowed bright and intense in response to her accusation.

“Like hell it is,” Talon spat out before claiming her mouth for another kiss.

He was in trouble here. He did not want to let her go, and his control was slipping more and more with every passing second.

This time, Wren allowed herself a moment of pure pleasure before pushing him away. She noted that he went easily.

“Stop.” She turned away and pulled a wraparound skirt out of the closet, wrapping it around herself and quickly buttoning it closed. “Go away.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“I will not leave until you understand. I am serious.”

“What has happened to you?” Wren was finally losing her cool with him. “First, you hate me, then you are like ‘Fine. Whatever.’ Then you profess love all the while acting like I am a plague threatening to infect you in public while you are all over me in private.”

Talon was confused. He had thought she felt nothing for him, but her reaction just now…

Wren wrapped her arms around her waist and walked toward the sitting room. Staying in the bedroom was not a good idea at the moment.

Her body was hot and tingly from his body pressed so intimately against hers.

“I do not know what to expect from you, and I cannot trust what you say. Your actions contradict your words,” she explained quietly, heading for the door.

Talon could only stare as she started to walk away from him. He reached out and stopped her.

“I am sorry.” She would not face him, but she did stop.

“I do not…communicate well, and I have never had someone I have cared for. I am doing my best,” he replied honestly.

He was new to this game. Couldn’t she give him a little bit of a break?

Wren brushed his hand off her arm. “Whatever. Just go.”

“Does that mean you are not…rejecting me?” Talon asked, holding his breath.

“It means…” Wren let out a long sigh. “It means I do not know what I want or how I feel. I suggest you leave it at that for now.”

Talon nodded. “Understood.”

He turned her around and this time pulled her up against him carefully, placing a kiss gently on her cheek before stepping around her and heading for the door himself.

When he reached it, he turned and looked at her. “I will prove to you I am serious, and I promise you, one day you will return my feelings.”

***

Wren sat down on the bed after he left. ~What just happened? Was he really serious in the tub? He sure made it sound like he was.~

Her heartbeat was irregular, and her body sensitive. Did this mean she was… Did she…love him too?

No. It was just a reaction to the force of his emotions.

Stupid bonding. She was incapable of love.

Don had taught her so. She shook her head.

She could not put herself into another situation like that again.

***

~“Do it like I taught you.”~

~Wren felt the heavy chains on her wrists and ankles, the links clinking together softly as she knelt on the bed, her hair covering her face as the man below her fondled her breasts.~

~He was grinning in pleasure, and she could feel his erection along her inner thigh.~

~She looked at Don, pleading with him not to make her do this.~

~“Do it or I will double your punishment.”~

~Wren felt a tear slip out as she turned her back to the man and knelt forward.~

~“Good girl,” Don said as he stepped in front of her, his own member purple and pulsing. “Take it and enjoy it.”~

~Wren swallowed the bile trying to crawl up her throat as she opened her mouth to do as she was told.~

***

~Not again!~ Wren sat up in bed, sweat covering her body. The dream had come again.

What should she do? She looked around the room, realizing the terror she felt was not subsiding like it usually did upon waking.

Even in her dreams, the man held power over her. She rubbed her wrists; the bracelets covered the discoloration and scar tissue from the time spent under Don’s “tutelage.”

It was funny. She had not realized until this moment that she had changed one set of chains for another.

~At least these are useful.~ Another image of those chains, dripping with her blood, flitted across her memory.

Why now? Why could she not overcome these memories?

How had she calmed down before? An image of Talon popped into her head.

No, she could not use him. It would be unfair, and he would get the wrong impression.

She lay back down and curled up. She would just do what she had been doing for the past couple of weeks.

She closed her eyes and tried to think of work. When that did not work, she focused on the current song she was practicing, but images of Talon disrupted her thoughts.

When that did not work, she gave up and focused her thoughts on Talon, falling into an uneasy sleep.

***

~“Please,” Wren said as she walked into the kitchen. She saw the toys and knew what was coming. “I need more time to recover.”~

~Don merely walked over and backhanded her.~

~“You do not talk back. Ever.” He turned back to the task he was doing. “I say when you are recovered. Now go bathe and make sure you clean yourself properly this time.”~

~Wren tried not to let the tears take over. Her stomach rolled at the thought of what he had planned for this evening.~

~She ran to the bathroom, vomiting up the food she had eaten mere hours ago. What was wrong with her? Why was she not good enough?~

~The door opened, and Don entered, taking her by the throat and pushing her up against the wall.~

~He leaned in close, smelling of alcohol and drugs. “I say when you leave my presence. Not you.” He released his chokehold on her, grabbed her hair, and began dragging her toward the punishment room.~

~“It seems you need another lesson.”~

***

It had been so real this time.

Wren did not think before jumping out of bed. She was through her rooms and across the hall, crossing into Talon’s bedroom and crawling into his bed before she had time to think through her actions.

She pulled the covers over herself and curled up into a ball, shaking uncontrollably.

She could not believe her own actions, but he had calmed her the night before. If she could just stay here for a bit, maybe she could calm herself enough to get some sleep tonight.

***

Talon had woken the second he heard his outer door open.

He had watched in amazement as Wren’s petite figure appeared, launching herself into his bedroom and his bed.

He could feel her shaking and knew something major had to be happening for her to risk coming in here.

“What is wrong?”

Talon pulled back the covers to see Wren curled up in a ball, shaking.

He could feel the fear radiating from her, but she merely shook her head and refused to speak.

“Another nightmare?” he asked, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

She nodded.

Talon sighed.

“Come here.”

He opened his arms, and Wren did not hesitate to crawl into them.

He wrapped his arms around her body and stroked her hair as she slowly started to relax and stretch her body out.

“Good girl. Now go to sleep. I will keep you safe.”

Wren nodded, too tired to argue, and fell asleep against his steady heartbeat.

Talon held her in his arms, letting out a sigh of his own. He had felt her fear earlier and had waited, unsure of what to do.

It seemed she had made the decision for him.

He took a deep breath, taking in her scent, and went back to sleep.

***

Wren reached out, trying to stop the annoying beeping sound.

~What the hell?~ She groaned and started to hit at the noise, trying to make it stop. Then she heard a laugh coming from just above her.

“We are not a happy camper when we get up, are we?”