"Oh..." She let her voice fade away, not really sure what else to say. That's when she noticed what she was wearing. The same short pajama set she'd worn to bed-they consisted of a pale blue body-hugging tank top and a pair of tight dark blue boy shorts. A bathing suit would have shown more skin, but she still felt slightly naked.
She wasn't sure how she could change the clothes they were wearing, but she closed her eyes and concentrated for a couple of seconds. When she opened her eyes again, she saw she was back in her black party dress-much more appropriate. Lucas wore jeans and a white T-shirt with a big yellow smiley face on it.
He looked down at his shirt and then back up at her with a funny frown. "Seriously? This is what you chose?"
"I'm new at this," she said, defending herself. "But it's not that bad."
"A smiley face?" He chuckled again. "Just remind me to never let you buy me clothes."
She laughed, and then he held out his hand again. "Are we here to dance?"
This time, she took it and let him pull her against him.
When his warm arms went around her and his chest melted against hers, it reminded her how it felt to slip into a warm bed on a cold night. She sighed at how comforting it felt to be held by him again. When she rested her cheek on his chest, his hand moved around her waist and his almost electric pulse fluttered against her lower back. That flutter seemed to move inside her and caused her blood to pulse.
She recalled the question she needed to ask him and lifted her head and rested her chin against his chest. He looked down and met her gaze. His blue eyes were hooded with something that looked like passion, and she wondered if her own eyes showed the same emotion.
"Can I ask you something?"
"It's your dream," he whispered. "We can do anything you want." There was an emphasis on the word anything that caused a ripple of nervousness to move through her.
Anything.
Taking a deep breath, she stopped dancing and slid her hand up his chest to where she felt his heart pumping.
"Tonight, you mentioned that you were good at ... the art of persuasion."
His lips curled into a smile. "Yeah, I remember that." His voice had a teasing, sensual quality that made her want to shiver and press herself closer to him.
"What ... what did you mean by that?"
His smile turned ultrasexy. "I'd rather show you."
She nipped at her bottom lip, considering his offer. She was tempted-Lord, how she was tempted. And what would be the harm in saying yes, just this one time? After all, this was just a dream. Anything that happened here would have no effect on her real life. Right?
"Relax, Kylie," he said. "It's just a dream." His words echoed her own thoughts. Then his warm lips brushed against her brow and the ripple of unease increased.
"Maybe it's just a dream," she said. "But it feels real and I'm ... I prefer you just answered my question the old-fashioned way."
He nodded. For a second, he appeared not to want to continue, but then he said, "It's not like a trick or anything. It's part of what I am. It's instinctual."
"What's instinctual?"
"When a were is with a potential mate, our bodies react in certain ways." He paused as if he knew his explanation wouldn't be enough. "Last night, when you had your head on my chest, you heard the sound ... the low growl."
"Like a purring or humming," she said, remembering being lulled by the soft noise.
He nodded. "Well, that reverberation is supposed to be somewhat hypnotic. It encourages our potential mate to want to be closer."
Close and naked, Kylie thought, but didn't say it. "It makes one dizzy, too," she said, remembering how she'd felt last night.
He caught her face in his hands. "I guess maybe a little." He brushed his thumb over her cheek. "But it's not a ploy to trick girls into bed. It's just a natural thing male weres do. If that's what you're worried about."
"I'm not exactly worried," she said. And she wasn't. Because as potentially dangerous as the werewolf's purr could be, she didn't think she had to worry about Lucas misusing it. Last night, he'd had a chance to let things escalate between them and he'd put a stop to it.
"Like I told you," she said. "I trust you." And she still did.
He studied her face. "But?"
Okay, there was a but. She hesitated to find the right words. "But knowledge is power. I like knowing what I'm dealing with. And I like being the one in the driver's seat, if you know what I mean."
He frowned slightly as if he didn't like her answer. "It's not like entrapment. A female has to be close, really close, to a male were before she's even aware of it."
Kylie smiled. "So I guess I need to be careful how close I get to you."
"Or not." He leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. "I really, really like you, Kylie Galen."
"And I you, Lucas Parker." She raised herself up on her tiptoes to press a quick kiss to his lips.
His eyes met hers and he let go of a deep breath. "Okay."
"Okay, what?" she asked, sensing his remark meant something.
"Okay, I'll be a bit more patient. Okay, I'm happy with this. With just being this close to you." He picked her up and twirled her around.
She grinned when he set her back on her feet. "Thanks," she said, and touched his lips with her fingertips.
He caught her hand. "We just have to be a little careful when we're not dreaming."
"Careful about what?"
"Like I told you last night. The closer to the full moon, the more I run on instinct. And sometimes, my instincts are short on patience."
She didn't like the sound of that. "Do you mean we can't see each other when it's time for your change?"
"I didn't say that." He frowned. "We can see each other. But we shouldn't ... dance in the moonlight for too long. Or roll around on the ground by the creek." He grinned. "Or go skinny-dipping at the swimming hole." His tone seemed to deepen.
"That was just a dream." She felt her face flush.
"A good one, too." He smiled. Then he breathed in as if to sober his thoughts. "But basically, we'll be fine as long as we don't play too close to the fire until after the change." He ran his hand through the curtain of her hair and brought a handful of it to his nose. "Unless you change your mind. You do know that what happens in dreams isn't really real, right? I mean, we could-"
Suddenly, she felt something yanking her from behind and pulling her away from Lucas. Pulling her to someplace she didn't want to go.