Birthday Shift (2 page)

“Mmmm,” Molly
murmured as he leaned forward, his lips inches from hers. How she wanted to
taste his kiss, to feel the press of his mouth on hers. “Kiss me.”

“Next time,” he
whispered, his breath fluttering warmly on her skin.

Then she woke,
disorientated, her body thrumming with need, alone in the complete darkness of
her room.

Chapter Two

“I had the most
incredible dream a few nights ago,” Molly began as soon as Lil sat down next to
her in the bar they’d chosen in
Queens
. They frequented the little place because of its
quirky atmosphere and mismatched furniture; Victorian style lamps leaned
against white-washed walls covered in modern art, and a telephone shaped like a
pair of lips adorned the bar. Lazy blues music played in the background, just
loud enough to be heard under conversation.

“Really?” Lil
grinned into her cocktail, twirling the straw between her fingers. “Was it
sexy? Did you win the lottery? Was it both?”

Sipping her
cocktail, a glorious and very sugary combination of rum, cream liqueur and
fruit juice, Molly laughed. “It was almost better than winning a boatload of
cash. I had the most amazing dream that I woke up and a gorgeous man lay next
to me. He started, well, touching me, I touched him – I’ve never been so turned
on. But then, I woke up, without anything being resolved.”

Lil pouted. “No
sex?”

“Nope. None. Zip.
Just me and the cat.”

“Perhaps I should
have put a man in that box instead,” Lil laughed, stirring her drink idly with
her straw.

“No, of course
not. I love Cade. He’s so affectionate, and so far – even though it’s only been
a few days - more loyal than any man I’ve ever known,” Molly replied
immediately. She gestured as she spoke and the silver bracelet on her wrist
sparkled under the bar’s bright lighting. “He’s the best birthday gift I’ve
ever had.”

“I’m glad.” Lil
squeezed Molly’s hand. “You deserve it. I love your dress.”

“Thanks!” Molly
stroked a hand down the skirt of the burgundy satin shift she wore. “I got it
on sale.”

And so they
passed the rest of the evening chatting about men, or the lack of them, Lil’s
job as a domestic animal groomer and dog walker, and the latest fashions to
grace the stores in New York. After making a date to go shopping, they said
goodbye, and, tired after a day of writing followed by a few hours of drinking
and talking, Molly rode the subway for three stops before wearily climbing the
stairs to her apartment. When she turned the key in the door and found Cade
sitting patiently, waiting for her, her heart flopped over in her chest. She
closed the door, dropped her handbag and opened her arms to him. Behaving more
like a dog than a cat, he hopped in and snuggled up.

As she Molly
pressed her face into Cade’s fur, her nostrils caught the faintest woodsy
scent.
Just like in my dream.
As she
carried Cade to the couch, she shook off the feeling. Probably just her
imagination, making her smell what she wanted!

Cade jumped
neatly from her arms on to the couch, and Molly flopped down with him. “So
tired, baby,” she told him as she leaned her head back. She would just close
her eyes for a moment, and then get up, undress and go to bed.

Just a moment…

~ * * * ~

He came to her
again that night. She dreamt that she'd awakened on the couch to find that
same, coal-black haired man kneeling before her, eagerness to please shining in
his dark green eyes.

“I have waited to
see your face for so long. You're so beautiful,” he whispered as he inched
nearer, his long-fingered hands warm on her thighs. “If only I could find a way
to show you just how much.”

Molly reached out
and speared her fingers through his mass of dark hair, reveling in the silky
texture. She gently guided his head forward so his lips pressed against her
stomach through the sheer, satiny material of her new dress. The warmth of his
breath fluttered the fabric and sent anticipatory heat trembling across her skin.

Her dream lover
scattered kisses over her stomach through her dress, occasionally twirling his
tongue in a small circle, creating tiny damp patches in the fabric. The wetness
only served to increase her sensitivity and suddenly Molly felt the slickness
of her need for him dampening her inner thighs.

Maybe this time….

“Come up and join
me on the couch,” she whispered, sliding her hands down from his hair and on to
his bare shoulders, gently squeezing. The light furring of hair on his skin
teased her palms, lightly tickling them.

He said nothing
in response, but did as she commanded him, standing. Her hungry gaze traversed
his gorgeous, naked figure, over his broad shoulders, down his sparsely furred
chest, lingering on flat male nipples. As he stepped closer, about to sit, her
attention fixed on his tight stomach, lean hips, and the large, long erection
that grew from a nest of dark hair between his legs.

Just as she
reached out to touch him, to wrap her hand around that huge erect length and
stroke him-

She awakened.
Alone again, on the couch, all but screaming with need for her dream lover. Her
strangled sound of desire woke Cade, who had been curled up next to her. He
looked at her, green eyes askance. Molly sighed and stroked him. “I bet you
never have these problems, huh, baby. Oh, well. Come on. Let’s go to bed.”

~ * * * ~

As the next day
dawned, Molly discovered she had given herself a neck ache from her brief stint
of sleeping on the couch.
Oh well. Almost
worth it to see Dream Lover again.
She both hoped and dreaded seeing him
that night. He filled her dreams with intrigue and bucket loads of sex appeal,
but no actual sex. And after the dry spell she’d had, Molly suddenly found
herself wanting to connect with him, even on a dream level.
If I could ever really touch him…

She thought she
might orgasm from it on the spot.

Shaking off the
thought, she swung her legs out of bed. Cade, having now cottoned on to the
fact that morning meant feeding time, sprang off the edge of the bed and
circled her feet on the floor, mewling. Molly bent to stroke him. “Hungry, are
you?”

As he stalked to
the kitchen, his purrs audible, Molly marveled at how insightful her friend Lil
seemed to be. Before, she’d lived alone and the thought of a pet – besides
maybe low maintenance fish – hadn’t entered her mind. Now she had Cade, and she
couldn’t dream of giving him up.

As she spooned
cat food into his dish, she made a mental note to go out to get him some more
later, and to ask Lil about several things. Like when would he need his first
check up at the vet? And what about neutering? She winced at the thought of
having him castrated, but she also didn’t want to be responsible for too many
little kittens running around.

For now, though,
she made coffee as he wolfed down his food, and stared out of her small kitchen
window blankly, waking up, waiting for the inevitable early morning sleepiness
to depart.

Just as she’d
started to feel human again, and was considering a second cup to really wake up
her senses, her cell phone jangled. She picked up on the fourth ring.

“How are you,
honey?”

“Hi, Mom.” Empty
cup in hand, Molly flopped down on the couch. Cade followed, and she patted her
lap. He jumped up and curled into a warm, furry ball on her legs. “I’m good, I
just woke up.”

“But it’s nearly
eight in the morning,” Kathy, ever an early riser, protested. “I worry about
you. You live the life of a hermit and that job probably doesn’t help. You
should be out socializing with people. Like finding a man. He won’t just turn
up gift wrapped for you, you know.”

Molly shrugged,
having heard it all before. “I like my own company, Mom. And I have plenty of
friends that I see from time to time.”

“Yes, I know, but
I do worry when you’ll settle down.” Descended from a long line of Irish women,
her mother was ever family-orientated and, especially of late, had often
questioned when Molly would find a man and make babies. Molly had been
centering her efforts on her career. Besides, as her mother well knew, her luck
with men had proved to be pretty hit and miss.

Molly’s brother,
Patrick, a web designer who was already married to his work, didn’t see kids or
a wife on the horizon any time soon. Poor Kathy would have a long wait.

“When a good man
falls into my lap,” Molly laughed, in answer to her mother’s half-question.

“Whenever that
is,” Kathy sighed. “I’ve always thought that a man would have to choose you,
rather than you choosing him. You’re just like your father, very picky.”

“And didn’t that
stand him in good stead, as he married you?” Molly teased, having been through
this conversation many times.

After that her
mother let the subject of men drop, and they talked about normal things and how
the people in their lives were.

By the time she
hung up, Molly’s senses were on full alert, and she didn’t need the second cup
of coffee. Reluctantly, she set Cade down on to the floor and moved to her
computer for a morning of writing.

Two hours later,
back aching, hands in need of a rest, she left her apartment to run errands and
to make sure Cade had enough cat food to last the next week or so. The sights
and smells of
New York
always fascinated her, and
before long she’d made a few pages of notes in the little pad she made a habit
of carrying around with her. Lil always joked that Molly should have a pen
surgically attached to her hand, as Molly preferred pen and paper to
technology, and planned to avoid buying a blackberry or smart phone for as long
as possible. She simply remembered things better from the physical act of
writing them down.

Shopping done and
head spinning with ideas for a travel or fashion article, Molly climbed the
stairs to her apartment, her hands full of bags. Anticipating a delicious
afternoon coffee with a sandwich, she opened the door to her home.

And dropped her
bags on the floor.

Dream Lover sat
on her couch, stark naked, his glorious body exposed to her eyes.

The panicked yell
died in her throat when he stood up. “Molly.”

His smooth,
chocolately voice came straight out of her dreams. She swallowed, her throat
suddenly sandpaper dry.

“Who… are you?”

“Isn’t it
obvious?” he spread his hands

Unbidden her gaze
kept drawing itself to his manhood, remembering how it had looked fully erect,
how wet he'd made her, almost without touching her…

No! He was a
stranger in her apartment. God only knew what intentions he had!

“Put something
on!” she snapped, gathering her bags. “Then you can explain who you are and how
the holy hell you got into my apartment.”

She didn't think
the door had been tampered with. She supposed with her apartment only two stories
up he could have gotten in through a window…

But why didn’t he
have any clothes?

The man had the
good grace to look sheepish, at least. “I, ah, I don’t have any… coverings.”

“For Pete’s
sake.” Part annoyed, part scared, and, truthfully, part aroused, Molly set her
grocery bags on the kitchen counter, grabbed a tea towel and threw it at him.
The stranger held it in front of him for privacy; although, in Molly’s opinion
it only served to emphasize what it hid. “Start talking, before I do something
we’ll both regret.” She stood in front of the block of knives on her counter,
hoping their presence hammered home her point.

“You mean you
really don’t know who I am?” He took a step closer.

Molly held up a
hand in warning. “I’m not afraid to use these knives!” she told him sternly,
her voice wobbling more than it should have.
Why am I afraid? It’s not like he has a weapon.

Something in his
gorgeous, green-eyed face softened. “You really don’t know. Alianore didn’t
tell you?”

“No! Quite
obviously she forgot.” Molly fought to keep her voice on an even keel. “And who
is Alianore?”

The stranger’s
brows drew together, genuine confusion parading across his countenance. “You
really don’t know.” His gentle voice flowed over her, the musical cadence
soothing her stressed nerves.

“No, I don’t.”
Arms folded, Molly tried to look menacing, but knew that only one expression
paraded over her face. Probably fear. “Explain, please, or I
am
going to call the police.” She dug in
the back pocket of her jeans for her cell phone.
Please, please don’t let the battery be dead...

“It’s me.” He
inched closer. “Cade.”

My pet cat? What the….?

It was the last
thing her overloaded brain digested before darkness descended.