Her heart pounding, she touched his face, her fingers brushing against his hard, sculpted jaw. Erin didn’t want the monsters to have her, but inside she understood his reluctance to help her any further. He didn’t know her at all. There was no reason for him to endanger himself.

He’s not real.

It’s a dream.

The words whispered through her mind. But like so many dreams, this one felt so real. He felt real.

And she had an unnatural desire to protect him.

“It’s okay,” she breathed. “I don’t want you hurt. I can fight them on my own.”

Her words seemed to confuse and surprise him.

The monsters moved in.

“Release her or die, V’Aidan,” the lizard-man hissed.

Erin felt the knight’s tender touch as his fingers brushed the side of her neck, sending chills all over her.

The look in his eyes was needful and tormented.

“They will not have you,” he whispered. “I will take you some place where they can’t reach you.” He bent his head and captured her lips.

The heated passion of his kiss stole her breath.

The dream monsters faded away into vaporous clouds until nothing was left.

Not the cave, not the screams.

Nothing.

Nothing except the two of them and the sudden need she had inside her to taste more of him.

Closing her eyes, Erin inhaled the warm, manly scent of V’Aidan’s skin. He ravished her mouth with passion as his tongue swept against hers and his teeth gently nipped her lips.

Now this was a dream.

He was a dream.

A perfect, blissful moment worth savoring.

She heard him growling like a wild beast as he trailed his lips down her jaw and buried them against her throat. Licking. Teasing. Inciting her desire.

Every nerve ending in her body fired at his touch. She burned for him. Her breasts swelled, wanting to feel the strokes of his tongue across the taut peaks while his hands held her. Her core throbbed with an aching, demanding need.

He lifted his head to gaze down at her and it was then that the rest of the scene filled itself in. The two of them stood outside on a bright, moonlit knoll.

The peace of the moment comforted her. She smelled the damp pine around them, heard the bubbling of a nearby waterfall.

Their clothes melted from their bodies as he laid her down on the ground, which, oddly, wasn’t hard. The moss under her was softer than a cloud, and it contrasted sharply with his hard muscles pressing down on her.

She liked this dream much, much better.

“You are gorgeous,” she whispered, staring at his sleek long dark hair falling around his face. His body was lean, meticulously defined, and flawless. Never had she seen a better-looking man.