Excerpt of A Wicked Awakening by Calinda B

“I’m late!”

“Stay.” Cam reaches for me and pulls me next to his warm, delicious body.

He nudges his hips toward mine and I tense. He’s rock hard and ready, like usual. And he’s barely awake.

“Can’t.” I fling back the covers. “You know how I hate being yelled at.” I turn and look at him. Cameron Delaney Tyson, I think. My boyfriend. Mine. Tousled, summer-wheat colored hair hangs in his face. His blue eyes are hidden behind closed lids. His body, tangled in sheets, is pure sculpted muscle due to his love of adventure sports. The guy’s an adrenaline junky. He loves to rock climb and kayak. Hike and explore. With me. How did I get so lucky?

“Come on, stay,” he murmurs. Cam’s class isn’t until this afternoon. He’s studying psychology at the University of Washington and doesn’t have to be up for a while.

I pause for a moment, reflective, bunching the sheets between his hips and mine.

His lips press into a tight line and he rolls away from me.

I snuggle into his back.

I had strange dreams last night. Dreams of the cosmos. Dreams of stars, planets and galaxies. Tucked between the sheets of twilight and dawn, I wonder if plans are being made, transactions secured, and documents sent to the star system with the name Chérie “Cheerio” Manhattan stamped in bold in the header. Perhaps the floating islands of the cosmic sea have shifted in subtle ways along their orbits, causing fragments of stardust to twirl my way. Maybe spiral arms of gas and dust have morphed into a new galaxy causing shimmering light waves of disruptive energy to surge toward my house. Stop being so imaginative. You’re such a drama queen. Maybe life is just rolling along and you had a fanciful dream. All I know is that I awoke with surprising cheer in my heart. The sun kissed my shoulders, two cats knead my stomach with their stiletto-like paws, and a gorgeous guy drowsed by my side…what’s not to love? Except something’s missing. I crave excitement and wish my life would change. I think it’s about to. I have a strong intuition something’s about to happen. Could be anything. Could just be me and my imaginative yearnings. I kiss Cam’s sleepy head before launching from the bed and racing toward the shower.