Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Everett
Everett dreamed of a bald giant with the most beautiful green eyes he’d ever seen.
In his dream, he was cradled to the man’s wide chest, and he’d never felt more cherished or safe.
He was so used to being alone, but the strange dream man chased the long-suffering feeling away completely.
Everett didn’t even mind that he was being carried like a child.
He liked the strength of the rock-solid arms around him.
And the giant smelled so good, smooth and musky, like when his grandfather had burned mahogany wood in the fireplace.
That scent added to the feeling of comfort.
But the dream changed, and he knew for sure it was a dream then because the creature that came for him was something out of his nightmares, with two heads on top of its thick, muscular body and a snake for a tail. Claws ripped into Everett as he screamed and screamed.
He wrenched awake on one of those screams.
“You’re safe,” a deep voice soothed as a big hand cradled his shoulder. Still out of it, Everett instinctively curled that direction, seeking more comfort. But then, his faculties abruptly came back online, and he jerked away and opened his eyes wide.
“Where am I?” He blinked at the bald man kneeling next to the couch he lay on.
The giant with the beautiful eyes. Had this man really been carrying him?
His face was…wildly attractive, with full, sensual lips, a pleasing round chin that offset sharp cheekbones.
But those eyes—they were big, spring grass green, and had the longest black eyelashes Everett had ever seen.
“At my place of employment. It’s a safe office. I’m Dax.” Dax stayed crouched but leaned back out of Everett’s space. The concern in those eyes was a warm spill of sympathy that sent a hint of relief in to chase away Everett’s alarm. “You were attacked. Do you remember?”
Everett looked down at the arm he remembered being bitten, but it looked fine.
His sleeve was torn, though. He rolled up the material and ran his fingers over the smooth skin.
There were no wounds. “It must have been a waking dream or some kind of hallucination. There was this…creature that couldn’t be real.
I remember fangs sinking into my arm, but it’s fine.
” Bewildered, he looked back up at that gorgeous face. “You said I was attacked?”
“I was working at that restaurant and saw you pulled into an alley.”
Truly alarmed, his mouth dropped open. “Was it more than one? Were they trying to mug me?”
“Have any enemies?”
Everett shook his head. “Not one.” He took in the room he was in.
There was a wide, modern black desk that matched the decor of the rest of the room with more modern-style black, white, and gray furnishings.
And there were quite a lot of old looking books on the shelves.
He realized the big man was waiting for him to go on, and he looked back at him.
“Sorry, I’m just so confused because I dreamed of this creature with different animals sort of all rolled into one.
It was like one of my grandfather’s stories come to life. Like a chimera.”
“You know about those?”
He nodded. “Yeah, my grandfather, who recently passed, raised me on magical stories, and that thing was exactly how he described it.” He swallowed, his mouth so dry the movement scraped his throat raw.
“I was in his office today, and there was a statuette of one. It must have triggered my brain into superimposing a creature over whoever attacked me.” He licked his cracked lips. “Could I get some water?”
“Of course.”
Dax stood, and Everett’s eyes went wide again when he seemed to stretch toward the sky.
Holy shit, this guy had to be over seven feet tall, with shoulders as wide as a doorway.
As he walked from the room, Everett’s eyes dropped to the thickest, most muscular thighs he’d ever seen.
The man’s black slacks were fairly molded to those muscles. He craned his neck to keep watching.
A moment later, another man entered the room, and Everett met his amused gaze.
This man walked to the desk and rested against it before crossing his ankles.
He was also tall, but unlike the bald giant who’d just walked from the room, this man had long, thick black hair that fell around his shoulders in silky-looking waves.
His eyes were unnerving. They had to be brown, but the color was so dark, they seemed black, and he was regarding Everett with obvious mirth.
He must have noticed Everett staring at Dax’s body. Heat crept up the back of his neck. He cleared his throat, wincing at the scrape of dry tissue.
“Welcome to Protective Solutions. I’m Xavier. Are you feeling better? Dax was quite concerned when he carried you in here, and my employee isn’t easily rattled.”
Everett frowned. “I thought he said he worked at the restaurant.”
“He’s a protection specialist—a bodyguard. He was there on a job, which turned out to be a good thing for you. He scared off your attacker.”
Everett could certainly see why. It had to be frightening seeing that giant of a man coming toward you.
Though all he felt from Dax was a flood of comforting warmth.
Well, that and…lust. He had a feeling if he weren’t so disoriented, that lust would be a hell of a lot stronger.
Dax was just his type. Big and broad with a little bit of a belly, perfect for… things he shouldn’t be thinking about.
“What were you doing at the restaurant?” Xavier asked.
“I was supposed to be on a blind date, but I was stood up. I was actually about to leave when I was attacked. I wish I could remember exactly what happened, but everything is fuzzy, and the nightmare is confusing me. But why did I pass out?” He reached up to feel around his scalp. “Did I hit my head?”
“Possibly. Or the shock of the attack made you faint.”
He scowled. “Well, that makes me feel all sorts of manly.”
Xavier chuckled. “Sudden stress can have a strong effect.”
Dax ducked back into the room and handed a cold bottle of water to Everett.
He uncapped it and guzzled half of it down, the cool water soothing his throat.
He moaned in relief. When he turned back to thank Dax, the man had a startled expression on his face.
“Sorry,” he said, realizing how that moan must have sounded.
“I was really thirsty. My name is Everett, by the way.”
Dax just gave him a bashful smile that did all the things to Everett’s insides.
Big and shy? Be still his heart. The man really was massive.
Everett had seen people that tall before but none of them had possessed such a big, broad body, rock hard and bulging with muscles, and never so close.
And that hint of a belly? Holy shit, Dax was hotter than the sun.
And why was he so focused on that? He had just been attacked and taken to an unfamiliar location. It stumped him. But the attraction was irresistible, stronger than anything he’d experienced before.
Maybe he had been hit on the head.
Everett set the water bottle down and explored his scalp with both hands, but he still didn’t find any tender areas.
He looked back to Dax, determined to keep his gaze on his face.
Not that that made anything better. Everett really liked his mix of features, too.
“Thank you for helping me and making sure I was okay. It was seriously nice of you.”
“I would have taken you to your home, but I didn’t want to snoop in your wallet to find out where you lived. I know it was surreal waking up here, but it’s the safest place in this city. Full of well-meaning bodyguards who will all watch out for you.”
There was quite a bit of noise out there for night time, and he could see people walking around through the glass in one wall. “Is this place open twenty-four hours or something?”
Dax nodded. “The night crew is much smaller, but we’re always available.” He paused and narrowed his eyes, studying Everett closely. “What do you see when you look around here?”
He widened his eyes. “What do you mean?”
A flash of disappointment went over Dax’s face before he schooled his features. “Nothing. Could you wait here while I talk to Xavier for a few moments?”
Everett nodded and watched as they left the room.
He looked down at his arm, still completely bewildered.
He was sure something had bitten him. That dream had felt so real.
As he’d told them, he must have brought that creature into his dream because he’d so recently seen his grandfather’s figurine.
But he’d felt the pain. Running his fingers over unbroken skin, he couldn’t help but wonder why he’d been attacked in the first place.
It was no secret that he’d inherited great wealth.
Was it possible this hadn’t been a random attack?
It couldn’t hurt to have a bodyguard for a time. Just to be safe. And he’d put in a specific request for Dax.
Something in him wanted to be around the giant with the beautiful eyes more.