Natalie was dreaming. It was nice, she was remembering one of the first days she had met her former roommate, Katrina. They were sitting in the university cafeteria eating ice cream and laughing about their English professors shiny bald head.
She was happy, but her dream started to morph into something terrible. Before she knew what was happening, Katrina was gone and Natalie was alone in their dorm room. In her unaware state she was having a weird sense of de-ja-vu. She felt like she was waiting for someone.
A knock on the door startled her, but she knew this was what she had been waiting for. Natalie knew she shouldn't open the door, but she couldn't stop herself. Her body was moving on its own, as if she was trapped inside herself watching everything happen around her.
The door was opened to reveal Eric, Katrinas now ex-boyfriend. He was drunk and practically forced himself into the room. Natalie was scared, she felt like she couldn't breathe. She tried to scream and run but her body wouldn't move.
When Eric grabbed her and threw her onto the bed, Natalie thought she was going to have a heart attack. This all felt too familiar, except in this dream version she wasn't able to fight him off. She couldn't move.
He climbed onto the bed and straddled her small frame. His hands roamed across her body, touching any exposed skin he could find. He ripped her clothes off of her. She was now completely naked.
"I know you want me." Dream Eric whispered into her neck while shuffling his pants down.
"Eric ... please stop! No, don't touch me!" Natalie screamed, but he didn't hear her words.
Just as he was about to enter her, Natalie shot up in bed with a scream. She jumped out of the bed and frantically looked around the room. She was scared and confused. She had not yet registered that Cooper was standing beside the bed staring at her.
"Who's Eric?" The gruff voice beside her startled Natalie and she backed up on instinct.
Natalie screamed and stumbled back into the wall. The adrenaline was the only thing keeping her standing, she was barely half awake. Trying to come back to her senses she almost felt relief in recognizing her surroundings.
"Nat..." Cooper sing-songed to get her attention, raising his hands to show he meant no harm he slowly approached her.
He watched as the last remnants of sleep faded from her eyes and she began to recognize where she was and what was happening. Her body physically relaxed as she scanned the room one more time, relieved to see that it was just the two of them. Eric was not here.
She knew that what had happened in her dream was an exaggerated version of the real life events. When she had been attacked by Eric she had managed to fight off the drunken man and get away, but she just couldn't shake the terror she had felt.
The man slowly approaching her with a concerned look on his face, like she's some sort of injured wild animal was likely the source of the unwanted dream. Eric has been banished from her thoughts for too long for it to be anything like a coincidence.
She knew that the man in front of her was far more dangerous, he had actually assaulted her, but his presence was an odd comfort right now. Eric had been the first boy to ever show any interest in Natalie like that. The mix of surprise, fear, and the unknown had made that experience somehow worse that anything Cooper had done to her.
"Are you okay, Sweetheart?" Cooper was trying to be gentle. He knew it was the best way to get Natalie to start talking.
"It was ... I had a nightmare." Her heart was beating a mile a minute, but she was starting to breathe normal now that the haze of confusion was gone.
YOU ARE READING
Dangerous Daddy
Romance"Hey-" the attractive man began to yell as he climbed out of his car. He assumed the woman would see his face and know who he was. But there was no recognition. The stranger didn't know that she almost got hit by Cooper Grant. When he saw her face h...
