Page 20 of Sky’s Guide To Getting His Man & Banishing Ghosts (The Dreamwalkers #1)

Chapter

Seventeen

Skylar

“What? What’s going on?” I asked groggily as my feet hit solid ground beneath me. Startling, I blinked rapidly, then rubbed my eyes. How was I in the middle of a field? I jumped at the sound of Kingston screaming my name next to me. “King?”

Yanking his hands off his own eyes—which that was weird—he stared at me, mouth dropping open. “Sky?” He whipped around. “The field,” he mumbled. Then he laughed, sounding a tad hysterical. “Of course, the field! Congratulations, you’re dreamwalking, Skylar!”

While he doubled over next to me, cackling like a hyena, the previous day came back to me in a rush. “I don’t understand. We didn’t drink the tea.”

That shut him up. He stood and blew out a breath. “We didn’t, did we?”

I moved in front of him and clutched his bare arms. Huh . We’d both gone to bed wearing t-shirts. I’d never thought to question how he appeared in his dreamwalking before. My gaze fell to his hairy chest. If this was what I had to look forward to, sign me up.

“We didn’t. Your grandparents said that until we fully linked, we’d have to drink her concoction. I don’t understand.”

He placed his hands on my shoulders, grounding me to this moment. It was then that I realized how hard I was shivering. Not from the air around me, but how seriously intense all of this was. “I don’t either, but there has to be an explanation. Don’t worry. We’ll ask first thing tomorrow.”

Much like the first time I’d been scared out of my mind around this giant of a man, I dove into his arms. He immediately embraced me, holding me safe and secure.

After inhaling his masculine scent and calming, I opened my eyes back up to study the area around us. “Where are we?”

“I don’t know, but I’ve been here before.”

“Is this where you found the mansion the other night?”

“No. It’s somewhere else. I…I’ve returned here several times, and I can’t figure out why.”

The wind blew gently, rustling the trees. The grass tickled the soles of my feet. Slowly, the sounds of insects chirping around us began, and the kaa of a raven rang out from the distance. “Should we go exploring?” I asked tentatively, hoping he would say no.

He snorted. “I’m not moving from this spot until we wake up. This isn’t how they said it would be. We’re not in someone else’s dream. We haven’t been called to help some desperate soul.” He rested his chin on top of my head. “There’s too much uncertainty to take a gamble.”

“Sounds good to me.” Closing my eyes, I snuggled in and waited.

I woke with a jerk, wiping drool from my mouth as I sat up and looked around, back in the safety of my own bedroom. King’s eyes fluttered open. “So that happened,” I whispered into the quiet.

He opened his arms. Gratefully, I stretched out on top of him and let him enfold me like he’d done in our sleep. “Are you okay?” he asked, dropping a kiss on top of my head, making me sigh with pleasure.

Taking a moment to really think about it, I examined my heart and mind. How did I feel about what had just happened? I believed in all the things I’d seen Chance and Elyse do. I had a close relationship with three spirits, and I’d learned how to throw fire with nothing more than a thought.

The only thing I’d never experienced myself was what Kingston told us happened to him at night. I’d wanted to, but I never thought I’d get the opportunity. How did I feel now that I had? Knowing that somehow, for some reason, I’d been called to tether him to this plane?

“It’s kind of cool. At least, just hanging in that field with you like that was.”

“Yeah, I always enjoyed waking up in other places and seeing things I never would’ve seen while I was awake. But…you know that what they’re telling us we’ll be doing is way more than that, right? Like, Sky, the other night was intense. I was terrified for you. Horrified by what I saw stalking you.”

Rolling my head to rest my chin on his shirt-covered chest, I admitted, “I think I’m excited about the idea of it all because I enjoy spending time with you. But the rest of it…” I trailed off with a huff. “It’s a lot, King. I’m scared I’ll mess up or you’ll get hurt because of me.”

He snorted. “You sound a lot like me.”

“What are we going to do?”

His hand cupped the side of my face, and he stroked his thumb over my cheek. “Your skin is so soft,” he said softly.

Pleased by the compliment, I leaned into his palm. “I have a really good skincare routine. Not that I did it last night with all of the excitement.” AKA, getting you in my bed. “Crap. I forgot to take out my contacts, too.”

His head lifted. “You wear contacts?”

“Mhm.” My eyeballs were not going to be happy with me in the morning.

“Do you have to wear glasses when they’re not in?”

“Unfortunately.”

He ran his thumb down under my eye. “I can’t wait to see you in them. I bet you look hot.”

Surprised, I lifted a little, peering at his face through the dimness of the room. “Are you kidding me?”

“Nope.” His teeth flashed as he smiled. “I have a thing for men in glasses.”

“You do?” What the hell? I’d have thrown my contacts out and gone glasses-only months ago if I’d known it would get his attention.

“Yep. Of course, I have a thing for you in anything.”

I so wanted to scoot closer, meld my body to his, but this was too much. Where was my dorky, awkward Kingston? Who was this forward, confident man? Sitting up, I clicked on the tableside lamp so I could see him properly. “When did you get so brave?”

He rose up on his elbows, and color crawled up his skin from his neck. Dammit. I shouldn’t have called him out. Now he’d stop.

He cleared his throat. “Well, actually, I’ve had a bit of a crush on you since, well, I met you.”

“What?” I hopped up on my knees next to his thighs. “You did not.”

He averted his gaze but nodded. “I did. And it’s been suggested to me that maybe you feel the same way?—”

“I do.”

He cleared his throat again, and his face went fire engine red. “Yes, I saw that earlier.”

“What?” I asked. I’d never been more confused in my life than I had repeatedly been the last twenty-four hours.

“So yeah, this is kinda embarrassing to admit, but you pulled me into your dream tonight.”

Wrinkling my nose, I said, “I know. I was there. But since it’s technically your gift to travel places, wouldn’t you have taken me with you?”

He glanced at me quickly before looking over my shoulder. “No, before that. Before you were in the field with me. And you were, uh…” He trailed off.

With dawning comprehension, I thought back on every dream I’d ever had of Kingston.

Every yummy, dirty, sexy dream.

I wanted to sink into the ground. Maybe pack and move back to New York City. Oh, I bet Ego would let me tour with him. Then I wouldn’t even have to be in the country.

My stomach gurgled, bile rose up in my throat, and I fell off my bed in my haste to back up. King immediately leaned over the bed, and I held up my hand to ward him off. “I’m sorry. Oh my god. I’m so sorry. This is so embarrassing. I understand?—”

He hopped out of the bed, picked me up off the floor, and sat back down with me in his lap. “Calm down. This is a good thing.”

Burying my face against his shirt, I mumbled, “How can this be good? You probably think I’m a pervert.”

He chuckled. “Sky, if that’s as perverse as your dreams get, you might want to watch more porn.”

Shocked, I leaned back and glared at him. “I have a fabulous imagination, thank you very much. We’ve gotten up to all kinds of kinky things.” Mortified at my own words, I slammed my hand over my mouth. “Forget I said that,” I mumbled.

King’s cheeks were still filled with color, but my face was on fire.

This just kept going from bad to worse. He gripped my wrist gently, pulling my hand off my face.

“It’s good because I can’t picture a guy like you, so beautiful and outgoing and successful and fun wanting someone like me.

It would’ve taken me forever to work up the nerve to ask you out or kiss you, let alone… you know.”

Intrigued, I leaned in, eager. “No, I don’t know. Tell me.”

He threw his head back, cracking up. “This is what I mean. Two seconds ago, you looked mortified, and now you look curious. You’re up for every adventure, always ready to throw caution to the wind and be in the moment.”

Blinking back tears, I focused on the scruff on his chin. Is that really how he saw me? “Thank you, King,” I whispered emotionally.

He tilted my head up. “You’re welcome.”

We sat, staring into each other’s eyes, and my pulse fluttered seeing this swirl of feeling I’d begun having for him reflected back to me.

“Sky, can I kiss you?”

He didn’t have to ask me twice. I dove for his lips but stopped right before I reached them, sneaking my hand up and cupping it over my lips. “Hold on. I need to…”

As I ran for the bathroom to brush my teeth, I heard the sound of King’s footsteps pounding behind me.

His toothbrush was already laying on my sink, so I handed it to him and grabbed mine.

Once I had it, he squeezed toothpaste on my brush before doing his own.

We took turns running water over them, then began brushing at the same time, grinning bubbly smiles at each other the whole time.

He spit first, then I took my turn, rinsed my brush, and turned, ready to lead him back to my bedroom. He caught me around the waist, backed me into the wall, and waggled his eyebrows. “You ready?” he asked.

A breathy, “Yes,” escaped my mouth seconds before his lips gently brushed mine. Kingston Porter. My King was kissing me. Me! It was like my biggest fantasy come to life.

Unable to contain myself, I flung my arms around his neck and jumped, trusting that he would catch me—which he did.

Face to face, a goofy smile spread across both our faces, then we leaned in.

Like everything King did, he was soft and careful—tasting me, letting me taste him, and guiding our tongues in a dance like none I’d ever experienced before.