The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.

-Paul Valery

Forest of Divination, Faerie

 Fawn

I felt a blissful warmth spread through my body and moaned. The vibration of my lips was met with something soft and wet pressed against them. Then more firmly and I felt a nip at the top one. Automatically I opened a little and was rewarded with the most intoxicatingly slow lip and tongue. Oh my, this is the best dream ever. I’m so comfortable. My dream bed is, well…a dream. Ha! Moaning and arching my body, I try to encounter my teasingly slow kisser, but all I get are lips and more soft sweeps. Annoyed, I make a put-out sound and go in deep with the kiss. That gets me a warm hand to the side of my face and more vigorous kissing. Oh, yes! Now we’re talking. I moan and stretch up like a cat begging for a pet, and the hand at my face slides down my neck and between my breasts, pausing before sliding to the side of my waist. No, no, dreamy man! Going for the gusto, I grab his hand and push it to the heat he created between my legs as I pull him in and lick his lips. The hand between my legs rubs over clothes. Really? The dream had been going so well. He rubs me lightly through my clothes and zones right in on the magic spot. Gently and teasingly rubbing in small circles and then back and forth, and when he finally gives the little bit more pressure my body craves, I release his mouth and cry out. That’s when the loud rumbling growl comes; the noise and vibration knock me out of dreamland.

I open my eyes and come face to face with a real man? Maybe? …Are those pointed ears? Holy shit, Batman! What in the hell is going on here? I must still be dreaming, but the breeze that ruffles my hair and the crisp smell of forest feels very real.

 His face is so close that I can see his pores along with the incredibly attractive five o'clock shadow growing through them. Those eyes, though. With the dilation going down to tiny little pupils, I can see that they’re a bright blue, and the striations are glittering and sparking. Silver moving around in them like mercury intermittently. I was so dazzled by them that it took a minute for me to start observing the expression on his face.

His face says turned the hell on, but also, he seems just as fascinated with my eyes and features as I am with his. I watch as he takes in my face, hair, and ear as he moves my hair behind one. He meets my eyes again and holds them. The look is tender but becomes so intense that I can’t hold it, and I move my eyes down to his masculine neck. Well, that’s no good either. The man is too attractive to be real. I feel my lids lower slightly as I imagine running my tongue along it, and I feel a strong clinch between my legs. He draws in a noisy, deep breath jerking my attention back to his face to watch his nostrils flare with it. Then he leans back with a chuckle and satisfied smirk.

 Well, that was embarrassing. But, it breaks the spell he has me under. This dream is turning away from where I wanted it to go. Typical! I hate having embarrassing dreams. But, embarrassment seems to be my way of life, so of course, my dreams would also be.

I can’t help but check him out. The man or …fairy man? Those ears are so distracting, and he has three piercings with tiny silver hoops along the back rim near the top.

Okay, so he's definitely a fairy, and he has thick, black hair in an artfully messy, short style, a dark complexion, and a five o clock shadow over a sculpted face, with a strong jaw and perfectly straight nose. His blue eyes seem to glow within all that darkness. The silver has disappeared now. That's weird; I liked it. His full lips are wickedly curved. I suppose he's amused with my perusal. He looks a lot like a sexy Latin man but with pointy ears. He’s well over six feet tall, lean, and packed with muscle. I can make out his sexy abdominals through the black t-shirt he’s wearing. The sleeves of which are stretched to the limits over his biceps. A sleeve of tattoos down one arm ends at the wrist. Dark jeans but distressed and soft looking encase narrow hips, muscled thighs, and I can’t see right now, but I’d be willing to bet my entire closet of shoes that the backside is perfection as well. A black belt and band across his chest hold two swords at his back, his leg straps hold daggers and combat boots round out the picture of lethal male beauty. Did I think fairies wore old-fashioned clothing and jeweled weapons? Apparently, Fawn’s very own fairy dream man doesn’t.

A horse neighing breaks my concentration, so I glance around, and  I better remember this dream when I wake up because this is some prime fantasy novel fodder. Maybe I could finally write that book.

The horses, two of them, one pristine white with a very pale pink mane, tail, and hair around the feet, the other solid black. They were huge, muscular horses with the big hairy feet the Clydesdales are known for. Wowza! The white horse was eyeing me from the side. So I smiled at her, and she threw her head and nickered.

That wasn’t even a drop in the ocean of otherworldliness surrounding me, though. I was in the middle of a forest with trees that would make the California redwoods look like shrubbery, and they had pale pink trunks and white leaves. They were so massive that I felt like an insect in comparison. The ground was covered in white leaves. It was the most beautiful place I’d ever seen. The breeze stirred, and thousands of tiny, almost snow-like white leaves drifted everywhere. You would think it would be cool and gloomy in a forest, but it felt like a spring day, and huge shafts of sunlight broke through trees everywhere. It seemed to bounce around all the white, giving the forest a dreamy glow.

A line of Gnomes? I don’t know, but they were small and stout males, and it looked to be around seven of them who stood in a row in front of a nearby tree.  Lord love 'em! How cute they are! They started taking their hats off and nodding at me as I observed them. They all had white hair in different lengths and styles. Some with kinky curly hair and some straight. Some had braids almost to their feet. Some were portly and some slim. Each had varying, distinct features that set them apart, only their height and white clothes being the same. I nodded back, smiled, and said, “Hi,” with a little wave. A few of them blushed, and they all shuffled their feet, but they all smiled and waved awkwardly like it was something they had never done before. I guess they had witnessed me practically begging for it. How mortifying!

 I looked back to my dream fairy, and he stood with his hands on his hips watching me, so I repeated my smile and lame wave to him.

“How is my lady feeling?” he asks.

I cleared my throat. My voice was croaky. “I’m fine; how are you?”

He grins, “I’m wonderful. Are you sure you don’t feel dizzy, anything unusual?”

I felt fine, but now that I was sitting up, I noticed I was in a beautiful twin-sized bed with a shimmering gold frame. I wore a gown with an empire waist; it was white, and the neckline was tight and low, showing some cleavage. I couldn’t resist trying to pull it up a little, but it didn’t budge. I was on a bed in the middle of a giant forest. Hum... channeling fairytale bedtime stories, Fawn?

“My throat is a little croaky, and I'm confused about what's going on. My name is Fawn. Can I ask yours?”

“Fawn, that's a lovely name, and I'm Fallon.” He took my hand and kissed the palm. That was intimate for strangers, but after what we had been doing, it was tame. Though, it felt very untamed, seeing as a spark shot from my palm to my lady parts.

I blushed, and he cleared his throat and turned to the Gnomes. “Guardians, do you have something for her throat?”

One of the Gnomes stepped forward holding a gold mug. “We do, my King. This should help with any side effects from the enchantment.”

My King? Whoa…when I have a fairy dream, I go all out.

He brought the mug to me, and I noticed the contents looked like molten gold but smelled like hot chocolate. I took a cautious sip as they both watched me, and it was delicious, not too hot at all, so I drank in earnest as my throat really was parched. And whatever it was, it felt like bliss to my system.

“Wow! This is good …umm, Guardian, sir. Thank you.” I might be dreaming, but even in dreams, I have manners.

“You’re welcome, my lady, and you can call me Noble. May I introduce you to the rest of the Guardians? We've been so eager to meet you.”

“Of course, I’d be honored to meet them!” I said with a smile, then glanced to see that Fallon was checking me out. I had felt his eyes on me. It was like a warming sensation everywhere his eyes went.

The rest of the Gnomes approached us, stopping a short distance away. They were so small. Only about two and a half feet tall and so cute hurrying over on those short little legs. Once again, they lined up, and Noble made introductions gesturing to each in turn as he called their names.“This is Brave, Loyal, Vicious, Courage, Wise, and lastly Mischief.” I smiled and nodded to each in turn. Mischief displayed the biggest grin and winked at me. I giggled and winked back. Then they all spoke in unison, “A pleasure, my lady.”

“Oh, none of that, my lady stuff.” I waived my hand. “Just call me Fawn, and it’s a pleasure to meet you as well. Can you gentlemen tell me where I am?  I’ve never seen a place so beautiful.”

“You’re in the Forest of Divination, within the realm of Faerie. You’ve been here for some time now, under Guardian protection and enchantment,” Noble answered. He looked uncomfortable as he paused to await my response.

“What do I need protection from?” This dream better not turn into a nightmare. I can handle a sexy Latin underwear model look-alike with pointed ears; yes, bring it on, but this doesn’t sound good.

“We weren’t informed, Lady Fawn, but it was the Goddess Freya that requested it. We don’t argue with the Goddess of Divination.” Noble looked worried for me, and that worried me. It’s just a dream, Fawn. Get it together. Hell, enjoy it! You have hot King Fallon over there. A little dream, "bow chickee wow wow," never hurt anyone, and my dreams might be the only place I get it; the Aunties aren’t here to scare him away. I looked at him, and he looked concerned too.

“Okay, so why am I not under enchantment anymore?” I asked him for the hell of it.

Fallon’s blue eyes came to mine, and he seemed to debate his answer. He glanced at the Gnomes a minute but brought his eyes back to mine, “You’re my fated mate Fawn. I sensed you were near when I entered the forest. It was instinct to seek you out and awaken you. The enchantment was broken when I kissed you, and the Guardians couldn’t have stopped it. They couldn’t keep me from my mate. There are strict laws against it.”

“I’m you” I paused, took a breath, and started again, “I’m your fated mate. What is a fated mate exactly?” Oh lordy, is fated mate what I imagine it to be? I’ve read a few werewolf romances, and it was some biting necks business and alpha bossiness. Which is hot in some romance novels, but I don’t know what the reality of that would be like. I regress, though, because this is a dream. Maybe I need to lay off the romance novels a bit. I’m going to wake up any minute, and the Aunties are going to bust my balls with a lesson in hand-to-hand combat, archery, or swordplay. Maybe all three and an hour at the shooting range. Doomsday prep at its finest. My loveable odd aunties. 

Fallon looked like he was choosing his words carefully. “It means that we were chosen by the fates to be mates. It means that I’ll protect you and care for you. I won’t let anything happen to you, Fawn. You're mine, and I know that you don’t understand what that means yet, but you have nothing to fear of it.” He rubbed the back of his neck and continued, “I need to get you to the castle. Something is going on if Freya puts you here. We need to figure out what that is and be cautious in the meantime. I came alone because I need the Guardians, but  I wanted to keep that to myself; I usually have guards. Once I speak with the guardians, we should be on our way. If not, we'll be traveling through the night.”

I glanced at Noble, and he nodded his head, “You’re in good hands with the king, my lady. He’ll guard you with his life."

Oh... kay then. It looks like I'm the damsel. I have a ton of questions, but it’s a dream, so I’m just going to go with it and see what happens. Really, why would a Norse goddess care about anything to do with a human girl from South Carolina. The absurdity. All I have to do is glance around, though. None of this is real.