Page 10 of Dark Visions

“Decadent?” he laughed.

“Yes, decadent. You taste like you. No nightmares, no visions, nothing except kindness, goodness. It’s, well, it’s refreshing.”

“Aislinn, honey, how many men have you kissed?” He looked down at her waiting for her answer. In his head, he knew that she must have risked a great deal to allow a man to kiss her or touch her.

“Four, counting you. Two were… two were evil. They didn’t murder anyone, but I saw the visions just the same. They were planning to rape me. I ended both relationships immediately.”

“Who are they?” he asked in a low growl. His alpha male instincts went on high alert, and he couldn’t help his own reaction.

“They live in another city,” she said, kissing him again.

“And the third?” he asked.

“The third man I dated for a while, but there was nothing there. No spark, no passion. He wanted to move the relationship along, but I knew it was only because he was safe, and that wouldn’t have been fair to him.”

Kane looked into her rich brown eyes, melting into their sweetness. She was an innocent.

“You’ve never been with a man.” He made it a statement, not a question.

Aislinn looked at him as if he were stating the obvious. Speaking of such things had never bothered her. When you see visions of violence as she did, something as natural as sex wasn’t exactly off-limits for her.

“No. I’ve never been with a man.”

Kane let out a long breath and leaned his head back on the sofa. Being with a woman like Aislinn was something he never dreamed would happen for him. She was beautiful, intelligent, sexy as all fuck, and the best part was, she didn’t even know it.

“Is that a problem? My not having been with a man? I mean, I would think it would be a good thing.”

“It is a good thing, Aislinn,” he said, grinning at her. “I just want to be sure we take this slow. I also want to be sure that we’re both not doing this for anything other than the right reasons. You’re recovering from the visions, the headaches. I don’t want to take advantage of you.”

“The right reasons? You mean you want to be sure I’m not a willing partner only because touching you doesn’t send me into nightmares?” She gave him a sly grin, and at first, he felt the need to defend his statement, then he understood that she was teasing.

“It’s more than that, Aislinn. I haven’t had a significant relationship since my injuries. I won’t lie to you. I’ve had my fair share of one-night stands. Women that thought it was their duty to make a wounded warrior have a good time or had some perverse need to help the guy with the mangled face. But I haven’t had a true relationship where I truly cared about another person.”

“That’s awful!” she said, sitting up straight.

“I can’t claim innocence in that, Aislinn. I took advantage of that, having my own needs to think of. I was a typical male, and I regret doing it.” She nodded again, tugging on her bottom lip between her teeth. “I guess what I’m saying is I feel something for you, Aislinn. Something different, something foreign to me, and I want to be sure I do this right. That I do right by you.”

“I’m a grown woman, Kane. I know what I’m doing.”

“You are a grown woman, Aislinn, but you’ve never been with a man, in a full-on relationship with a man. I want to do this right.”

She nodded again, staring into his eyes. For the first time, Aislinn noticed the green of his eyes, the thick covering of black lashes draped around them. He really was a beautiful man. Beyond the scars, because of the scars, he was a beautiful man.

“Kane? What do we do about my vision? I mean, I can’t call the police. We both know how that turns out. I can’t just sit here knowing that he is going to murder someone or several someones tonight.”

Kane nodded and pulled Aislinn closer, hoping just to have her near him for a while longer. Instead, she crawled onto his lap, the growing bulge in his sweatpants becoming more difficult to hide. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, laid her soft, smooth cheek against the crook of his neck, the skin rough and textured from the skin grafts.

No woman had ever sought out his touch, the feel of him. At least not since his injuries. She made him feel as though the world didn’t exist. He was the only person that mattered to her.

“I want you to stay here and wait for me. I’m going to go back to the hospital and see if I can follow him.”

“Why don’t we call and see if his shift has ended? If not, then you could catch him. If it has ended, we may not be able to find him tonight.”

“That’s actually a great idea,” he said, grinning at her. “We make quite a team, don’t we?”

“I think so,” she said, staring up at him. She kissed his lips once more, and he gripped her hips, stilling her movement against him. Aislinn might be innocent, but she was more than aware of how a man reacted to a woman he was attracted to.

“Aislinn, baby,” he said, moving, slightly hoping she wouldn’t feel his growing attraction.

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