The Summons by Jo Barrett Page B

body was tone, tan, and sprinkled with dark hair in all the right places.
    He pressed kisses to her shoulder and neck as his strong, wide hand massaged her hip then slowly moved to her breast. “Tell me how ta bring you pleasure,” he murmured as he nipped at her earlobe, his deep smooth voice racing over her skin.
    “I think you’re doing a fine job on your own,” she said with a sigh.
    He chuckled and lifted his head, his mouth but a breath away. “I will love you, lass. All of you. Your body, your soul, your verra being.”
    “Oh,” she mouthed, but not a sound escaped her lips. She cleared her tight throat. “Then would you at least tell me your name?”
    “Roan Douglass,” he said, nibbling at the corner of her lips.
    “Roan,” she said on a sigh. “I’m—I’m—” She blinked a moment trying to remember her own name, he had her so distracted. “Um, I’m—Lindsay Sumner.”
    “Lindsay,” he whispered. “ My Lindsay.” Then kissed her fully, stealing all thought, all nervousness from her mind. As their tongues dueled she knew he would keep his promise and take her to a place she’d never been before. Heaven.
    But dreams had a funny way of fading as the dreamer woke, becoming fuzzy around the edges until they couldn’t quite remember what they’d dreamed. And that’s how it was when Lindsay 5

    Jo Barrett

    opened her eyes freezing her butt off in an ice cold bath.
    “Damn, I need to cut back at w-work,” she groused through chattering teeth as she dried herself. “That or get a decent night’s sleep.”
    She crawled beneath the covers, and curled up into a ball, pinning her hands between her thighs to warm them.
    A memory of other hands, a man’s tanned, rough hands on her thighs flashed through her mind.
    “Impossible,” she whispered. She hadn’t been touched like that in ages. And never by a man with rough, sun-bronzed hands. The only men she’d ever dated were other nurses, lab techs, a doctor here and there, and they all had soft hands and rarely tanned.
    But never one to waste a nice thought, Lindsay grinned to herself and let the image of those hands do whatever they wanted as she fell asleep.

    ****
Bright and early the next morning Lindsay woke to a pair of wet panties. She instantly recalled a very powerful orgasm, although the details were vague.
    “How odd.” There was a man in her dream, but she couldn’t see his face, and yet she felt him…still.
    It was a new sensation, one she rather liked, but unfortunately, she had to get to work and didn’t have any more time to dwell on fantasy lovers.
    In less than forty-five minutes she was on her way to the hospital, and the first thing on her agenda was to get her schedule changed. Falling asleep in the tub like that had been a warning signal. And that orgasm. She must be really on edge if her body thought she required one of those. And without help.
    Yep, she needed rest. She needed the time to unwind and relax. To simply breathe. Although I wouldn’t mind if My body decided to self-combust 6

    The Summons

    again , she thought with a giggle. It had been a fantastic release, she felt revitalized and ready to go.
    “But I do have to cut back my hours,” she told herself. It was for her own good, although it would take more than a month to take effect. Schedules were mapped out six weeks in advance. “But what will I do with all that free time once I get it?”
    Take a lot of naps , she thought with a grin. A deep warm chuckle slid down her spine, warming more than just her cheeks. She cranked up the air conditioner and turned her suddenly very erotic thoughts back to the road and getting to work on time in one piece.
    “Behave, imaginary man, whoever you are,” she muttered.
    Ne’er with you, lass.
    She gasped as she came to an abrupt halt at the traffic light, her coffee sloshing in its travel cup.
    “I did not hear a man’s voice. I imagined it. I’m just tired, that’s all.”
    She lifted her cup to her lips