Page 7 of Nyctophilia

“I’m fine, a little tired. Can we go?”

Mollie pressed her lips together, but nodded. She wrapped her arms around me reassuringly and led me back to Ben’s car.

* * *

There was enough alcohol in my system that by the time I made it home I fell asleep immediately. But my sleep was far from restful. Moonlight flooded my room. My dreams tormented me that night. Dreams of his voice in my ear, like silk.

“Why do you keep running away?”

Jasper. His strong hands were on me, sliding my dress over my hips, baring my pale skin. “Do I scare you now?”

Yes.I wasn’t aware I had spoken aloud. I wasn’t aware of anything other than the feeling of Jasper’s skin on mine. My inhibitions were gone, released under the shadow of the dream.

He kissed his way down my neck, his full lips hot against my skin. “Good.” I gasped. He had my dress over my hips now, nothing between us but my thin panties. I had never felt anything as good as his lips on my skin. Would his lips feel this good in real life? There was no doubt I was scared, but I knew I needed him. “More.”

His eyes flashed to mine, dark with lust. His voice dropped an octave. “I want you to be scared. Scared you’ll never feel my touch on your body. Scared I’ll never give you what you want.” Jasper’s fingers dipped beneath the waistband of my underwear, dancing across my pussy. I knew exactly what I wanted. It was exactly what I shouldn’t want. “Show me how you touch yourself.”

I was shocked. I couldn’t do that. Except. This was a dream. It wasn’t real. And since it was a dream I could be as bold as I wanted. I pressed my lips against his, feeling my mouth sink into the motion as if I’d kissed him a thousand times before. I slipped my fingers down my body, replacing his on my clit. I didn’t look away as I started to rub small circles on my sensitive skin. He watched my eyes, not the motions of my hands and I realized Dream Jasper only wanted to see the pleasure reflected in my gaze.

I stopped touching myself, turned on beyond belief, and crushed my lips to his. I needed to feel his touch, wanted him to take over. He responded exactly the way I hoped he would. One finger slipped inside of me, pulsing, in and out. It wasn’t enough. I needed more of him, all of him. He knew. Another finger joined the first, stroking me. His other hand tangled in my hair, tugging tightly. “I’ll give you what you want. But are you going to give yourself to me?” Jasper’s voice was quiet, raspy. Desperate.

I had wanted to give myself up to him the first time I’d seen him. I kept running because I knew once I gave in to the craving, I wouldn’t be able to stop. I arched my back in response, pulsing my hips to meet his fingers. He cupped my clit, putting pressure on me in the most delicious way. “I want all of you.”

Jasper groaned, the sound tortured and low in the night. “I shouldn’t be doing this. We shouldn’t. But I can’t stop.” His fingers didn’t stop, bringing me closer and closer to the edge.

He was right. But temptation just made it that much sweeter. “Oh… Jasper,” I moaned into his mouth. There was nothing else in this world except him. His gaze locked onto mine, warring emotions showing in his eyes. Coaxing, but demanding. Gentle, but forceful. I couldn’t focus. I was too close to orgasm.

And then he stopped. My body felt cold from the loss of his touch. Lost.

“I’m sorry, they’re calling me. I can’t.” Jasper’s gaze looked nervous. I wanted to protest, but he wasn’t there anymore.

“Jasper?” I called, whirling around. But Jasper was gone, and I was alone in the forest. A young girl in a white dress was running ahead of me. Dark figures dressed all in black stood a distance away from her. But she wasn’t trying to get away, she was running towards them.

“Wait up!” she kept calling, but every time it looked like she was about to catch up they would slip through her fingers like they were no more than air.

* * *

I dragged myself out of bed with a pounding hangover. I wasn’t sure what to make of my life anymore, let alone this guy who I was now dreaming about. At least I was pretty sure it was only a dream. I started mindlessly tracing my hands up the soft skin of my hip, travelling the same path Dream Jasper had taken last night. It had felt almost real. The feeling of loss certainly still reverberated through my chest. Could you miss someone you barely knew?

The dream left me nervous. I was sick of not understanding what was going on. Fuck. I needed answers. Thankfully, working on my own schedule had its perks. I skipped my run. By the time I managed to wake myself up and get ready for the day it was an hour later than normal. I made my way out to my clunker of a car, but today I wasn’t on my way to the coffee shop. I had other priorities. Heading downtown, I swung into the parking lot of the small motel I knew Jasper was using as his headquarters, thanks to this town’s never-ending stream of gossip. I swung my backpack over my shoulder and opened the front door to the office, nearly knocking down Merrillan’s chief of police as I did so.

“Oof, sorry about that Ms. Green.” Sheriff Kelly grabbed my arm and steadied me as I struggled to regain my balance. Tom Kelly had been our chief of police for as long as I could remember, and while he was respected by the whole town, something about him always kept me on edge. His smile never seemed to quite reach his eyes. “You all right?”

I took my arm back, and brushed myself off. “I’m fine. No harm done.”

Why was Merrillan’s chief of police hanging around at nine in the morning? It wasn’t exactly like our motel was a hot spot for illicit activity. Not that I knew of, anyway. I wasn’t given much time to dwell on it because he was moving out to his squad car, tipping his hat to me as he did so. “Have a good day then, Ms. Green. Stay safe.”

Shrugging off the odd encounter, I made my way to the front counter, where the motel owner, Deidra, was reading the newspaper. She set her paper down. “Why, Ava Green, long time no see. How are your folks enjoying their time in the sun?”

I smiled. “Hi Deidra. They’re well.” I knew Deidra didn’t mean anything by it, but I wish some things could be kept to our family. Everyone knew everything here, including that my father had started teaching only in the summer semester, meaning my parents had time to take an extended trip to Florida over the winter.

“That’s good to hear. What can I do for you so early this morning?”

I hadn’t gotten this far in my plans when I was scheming to find Jasper. I was pretty sure it was a thing to not give out motel client’s information. But I was here, so I had to try. I hoped my schmoozing wouldn’t be the talk of the town tomorrow. “Well hopefully you can help me, Deidra. See, that new guy, Jasper? He left something at the table in the coffee shop the other day and I was hoping to return it.”

Her eyebrows nearly shot to her hairline. “Uh huh.”

“If I could have his room number, I’ll swing by really quick and drop it off.”

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