Always Mine (Love in Eden 1)

"What kind of pie?" Xavier asked.

I sighed. His voice sounded so kind and gentle, even if it was a little higher pitched than normal. Maybe a little bit… desperate?

"Brooks, tell me what kind of pie I’m covered in," Xavier insisted. "Are you throwing pies at me in your dreams?"

I laughed at that.

Was that even an option?

I wanted to ask him that, but I was finding it harder and harder to form words. I felt suddenly tired again, which didn't make sense. I was already asleep, so why would I be tired? An unpleasant coolness touched my cheeks in a less than gentle manner.

"Brooks, baby, wake up. I need you to wake up for me. Tell me about the pie."

It was still Xavier, but a Xavier I'd never heard before. Dream Xavier had the same voice as real, sexy Xavier did, but this version of Xavier sounded scared. I doubted real Xavier had ever been scared a day in his life. He was way too tough for that.

"Mmm," was all I managed to get out. I could hear the thunder rumbling in the distance. I was glad that meant the storm was finally moving on.

This time when Xavier spoke, it sounded like his mouth was right next to my ear. Or maybe he was just yelling, I wasn't sure. But I did register how afraid he sounded. Dream Xavier didn't deserve to be afraid. Dream Xavier had been kind to me as a child. He’d told me I could be anything I wanted to be when I grew up, and he’d kept people, specifically the ranch hands who’d worked for my father, from making fun of me.

I wanted to laugh as I remembered how he’d once told me that he bet I could make numbers fun.

Xavier hated numbers.

"Ratio," I began to say before something seemed to get caught in my throat. Since when were dreams uncomfortable like this? Geez, could I not even get dreaming right? I tried again and said, "Ratio circumference of circle, diameter." Holy hell, those few words had taken forever to say and I was once again exhausted. "Tired," I explained to Dream Xavier. "Tell you later, ’k?"

"No, no, I need to know now, baby. I know you're tired, but I need you to tell me what pi is now."

He sounded so desperate to know that I didn't want to disappoint him, so I did my best to stay awake, even though everything was dark. I heard lots of strange sounds I couldn't make sense of, but I figured it didn't matter. I began explaining the concept of pi again, even though it seemed to take a really long time. When I was done reciting the numbers as far as I could remember them, dream Xavier asked me to explain it again.

I heard him say something about him not being very smart, and that made me mad. "You're smart, Xavier. So smart." I tried to reach for him, but I was having trouble actually seeing Dream Xavier. I could only hear him. But then I felt his fingers wrapping around mine and something warm pressed against my face. There was a thumping against my ear and I found myself counting the beats.

Dream Xavier had to remind me to explain pi again, which I did, but I also kept count of that thumping sound because it helped relax me. It also helped me keep my eyes open, even though I still couldn't see anything.

"That's good, Brooks," Dream Xavier said. "Just stay with me a little longer, then you can rest, okay?"

His praise made me feel even warmer inside, so I quickly nodded because I wasn't sure if I told him with words that I wasn't going anywhere.

Not with him there.

With Dream Xavier by my side, I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

Chapter 6

Xavier

I wanted to kick his ass and kiss him at the same time.

I still couldn't believe he’d been foolish enough to leave the ranch right at the onset of a storm. For someone as smart as he was, Brooks seemed to lack common sense when it came to certain things. I pulled in a breath and tried to remind myself of several things as I pulled Brooks's shaking body against mine.

One, he was from the city and had lived there for a long time. Things like planning for the weather didn't mean the same thing there as it did here.

Two, the storm had come up very quickly. I'd gotten caught out in it myself as I’d headed back from my hunt for the remaining four missing Godfrey cows.

And three, no one had ever taken the time to explain things like outdoor survival to Brooks. I doubted that was a course they taught at whatever fancy college he’d ended up going to.

Admittedly, much of my current anger was a result of the fear of not being able to find him fast enough. When I’d gotten back to the ranch, Curtis had come running out of the house. He'd been in full-on panic mode as he'd explained that he couldn't find his nephew. Some of the ranch hands had already been out searching the woods around the house for Brooks, but they’d come up empty except for a handful of footprints on the trail that led up the mountain. Those footprints had started to get washed away by the downpour, so the hands had lost the trail after only a few hundred yards. They’d continued up the trail until the point where it had become overgrown. Then they’d been forced to come back down as the storm had worsened and it had become too dangerous for their horses to maneuver.