In His Wildest Dreams. Debbi Rawlins

know that.”

      She stared at him in silence for a long torturous moment. “These are dreams you’re describing, and not wishful thinking, right?”

      He chuckled. “Trust me. I would not be describing my fantasies to you.”

      She blinked, lifted her chin. “As long as we understand each other.”

      “Look, I’d be happy to edit some of this. It can’t all be that important—”

      She vigorously shook her head. “That would compromise the results of the study. Tell me everything you remember.”

      “Okay, Doc, where were we?”

      She pressed rewind and kept her gaze on the tape. It took a couple of tries before she found where they’d left off, and each time she had to listen to him describe the dream, her cheeks got a shade pinker.

      “There, I think you’ve got it,” he said, taking pity on her, and she immediately stopped the tape and pressed record.

      “Okay, so while the other women were kissing, and the redhead and blonde were arguing about something—”

      “About what?”

      “I couldn’t tell. I don’t think I really heard what they were saying but just had a sense they were angry. Anyway, I was too concerned about this other woman who came in.”

      “Another one?” Her eyebrows lifted in shock, and then she quickly wiped all expression from her face. “Tell me about her.”

      “Let’s see, she had long dark hair, great legs, a great— I couldn’t see her face. I got really agitated about that, but the only view I got was the back of her.”

      “Did you feel as though you knew her?”

      “Nah, I think maybe I was trying to place her but I really had no idea.”

      “What was she wearing?” She paused, frowning. “Nick?”

      He slumped back. How could he have been so stupid! Through the haze of dawning, he vaguely heard Doc call his name. “A black thong,” he said absently. “That’s all.”

      The woman in his dream was the same one he’d glimpsed yesterday. That’s why he couldn’t see her face in the dream. Wow, this was really something. Kind of weird. He’d never obsessed like this before.

      “You’re remembering something, I take it?”

      He stared blankly at her. Should he admit he saw someone else in the back room? She’d have to fess up then. But she’d also have a million questions about the woman being the centerpiece of his dream. No thanks.

      “Not really.” He shrugged at the curiosity in her face. “Sorry, Doc, I guess I was too excited about, um, the upcoming events to think about anything else.”

      “Right.” Emma fidgeted with the pencil, and then stared down at her pathetic notes. Good thing she was taping this interview or she’d be in sorry shape later. Either the other male subjects she’d studied had held back on her, or this guy had only sex on the brain. Of course the others had relayed some sexual encounters, but Nick was too much.

      Part of her was glad for the opportunity to make her study so thorough. The other part wanted to sink into a hole and not surface for a month. It wasn’t that she was a prude, but it wasn’t easy to sit here and listen to this stuff and pretend it didn’t faze her. The last thing she wanted to do was spook him so that he started censoring himself.

      On the other hand…

      “Did you want me to continue?” he asked casually, as if they were discussing the weather.

      “Yes, of course. You were telling me about the dark-haired woman.”

      “Oh, I didn’t forget, Doc.” He smiled again, shifted in his seat, getting comfortable, his eyes half closing, probably trying to get back into the dream. Oh, boy. “She didn’t say anything, just watched the other two women argue. And then it was almost like she communicated to them silently because they stopped suddenly, and the redhead picked up the handcuffs and slapped them around my wrists.”

      “Wait a minute, let’s back up.” She was really botching this. She hadn’t had him set the scene up properly. “You said you were sitting. Were you restrained in any way?”

      “No.”

      “So you could have gotten up and left if you wanted?”

      He drew his head back in exaggerated surprise and flashed a quick grin. “Would you have?”

      She tried not to glare. “Go on.”

      “Let’s see, oh, yeah…the redhead cuffed me to these two pole lamps on either side of my chair and then she finished unzipping my pants.” He paused, frowning, as though he were trying to recall something.

      “Was there anything familiar about her?”

      “Which one?”

      “Any of them.”

      “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Yeah, maybe.”

      “I’m not trying to put words in your mouth. Think about it for a minute and see if anything comes to mind.”

      “Uh, sorry, Doc, but it wasn’t my mind they was appealing to.”

      Emma sighed. “Would you be serious?”

      “You kidding? I’m being so serious and honest, it’s scary.”

      She groaned inwardly. She had to give him that one. “What else?”

      “The dark-haired woman was just about to turn around but the blonde blindfolded me with one of the silk scarves before I could see the brunette’s face. And then I felt all these different hands on me, yanking off my shirt, pulling down my pants.”

      He paused to take another sip of water, and Emma braced herself for what came next. “Maybe you should just use my notes for the rest.”

      She forced her gaze to meet his as she stopped the recorder. “You don’t need to be embarrassed.”

      He leaned back, totally at ease. “I’m not. Actually, I’m enjoying the replay. I figured you might be a little uncomfortable.”

      She gave her best breezy laugh and shoved her glasses into place. “I’ve heard hundreds of dreams. I’d hardly be embarrassed at this point.”

      And then she caught her reflection in the brass stapler. Oh, God. If her cheeks got any redder, Nick would probably think she was having a stroke and call the paramedics.

      “Okay, Doc. Have it your way.”

      She stared down at her notebook, and thought about how many loads of laundry she had to do, how she’d waited too long to defrost her freezer, again. When heat still stung her cheeks, she thought about how she’d already eaten her backup pint of chocolate ice cream and hadn’t replaced it. That helped sober her a little.

      “Ready?” She started the recorder again without waiting for his reply.

      “After they had my clothes off, one started kissing me while another one licked and bit my nipples. I was irritated that I didn’t know who they were, and then they both backed off and I remember being cold where the air hit the damp spots on my skin where they had their mouths.”

      Emma swallowed…mostly to make sure her mouth wasn’t hanging open. “So it was important to you to know the aggressors’ identities?”

      “Do I seem like the kind of guy who’d go for anonymous sex?” Nick grinned with that devilish twinkle in his eyes, and for the first time she could recall, Emma wanted to smack a test subject. “No, Doc, I didn’t care particularly who they were. I wanted to know if it was the blonde or the redhead who was sucking me so hard I thought I’d come for a week.”

      She tried her damndest not