Dreaming In Color

By Cameron Dane

Can a house possess a soul and want two men to fall in love?

 

The sight of the red door saves Colin Baxter in his dream, but very quickly a man appears and the dream becomes something of raw sexual need with a person Colin can't identify. He just knows the man needs him, and Colin aches to heal this person, even if the man doesn't really exist.

 

Marek Donovan just wants to be left alone to lick his wounds and recover from a terrible loss. The rundown house in Fiji suits his minimal needs just fine. He doesn't want to face the world again, and on a small, secluded island figures he's safe from everyone and everything. Particularly guilt from his past.

 

Dreams of this nameless man and his house plague Colin for two years, but he's come to care about this phantom man so deeply he doesn't want them to end. Then Colin visits Fiji and comes face-to-face with the house from his visions, prompting him to believe the man from his dreams just might be his destiny.

 

Colin knocks on the door, determined to find answers. He doesn't expect the man who answers to be someone he already knows. Can Colin help Marek heal his broken soul and show him it's safe to fall in love again?

 

NOTE: This book was written and originally published in 2009.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cameron Dane
• Release date: Sep 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223691211

Book preview

PROLOGUE

2007

Oh God, I’m drowning.

The swirling tentacles of the undertow wrapped themselves around Colin Baxter’s legs and tugged, trying to pull him under the raging waves of water. Surrounded by a sea of moonlit sapphire blue, Colin fought to stay above the tide.

Swim, damn it, swim. You know how to do it.

Colin treaded water, turning in a circle, frantic for a direction in which to go.

A beacon of red suddenly showed itself in the distance, as if beckoning Colin home.

The flash of color disappeared with one blink of Colin’s eyes, but it no longer mattered. His arms and legs could now feel the location to which he was supposed to swim. Colin wasted no time and started swimming freestyle toward an endpoint that existed only in his mind. Swells of water pushed him halfway backward for every ten strokes he progressed. After what seemed like hours, Colin slowed, his body battered in a way that brought back nightmares from long ago.

Help me, a rough male voice rippled across the night sky.

Colin jerked and whipped his head around, searching for a body to go with the words he’d heard. Nothing. Just water and more water, illuminated by the light of a bright, full moon.

Exhausted, wanting to give up and sink to the bottom of the ocean, Colin gritted his teeth; something inside him refused to slip under the water. The strange pull of the suspended red object drove him to move once again. His muscles screamed with every churn of his arms and kick of his legs, but he couldn’t stop. Something beyond his ability to physically endure drove him forward, swimming toward...nothing.

Help me. Ragged desperation laced the male voice again, haunting Colin.

Angering him too.

Revived emotions gave fuel to Colin’s depleted body. Maybe if you help me, buddy, I could help you. Colin could only think the snapping retort in his mind. His burning lungs wouldn’t allow him to speak.

A white light flashed through the night sky right then, and everything moved in fast-forward, like in a film. Colin existed in a place of limbo, floating above his body. He saw quick snapshots of himself swimming, making progress toward a shoreline as the night sky changed with stop-motion progression and became a blindingly sunny afternoon.

Crashing down into his own body once again, Colin fell face-first into pure white sand, the warmth of which seeped into his nakedness and slowly brought his chilled body back to life. Colin’s lungs heaved, and he sucked in great gulps of air, greedy for the oxygen. As his breathing returned to normal, he pulled his arms and legs under him and stood. He looked up, and his knees nearly collapsed him right back down to the sand.

In front of him, a colonial-style home sat up off the beach. Painted a pristine white with black shutters, it had an unusual blue tile roof. Above the door, a rectangular stained glass window shone bright with multiple colors, but Colin barely took note of the design. The door itself commanded his full attention, gleaming in the sunlight with its shiny coat of bright red paint.

Holy shit. Colin blinked, certain the home must be a mirage. He opened his eyes, and there it still stood. And that door. That fucking cherry red door filled his vision.

His legs no longer lethargic, Colin trekked up the beach to a sandy path surrounded by tropical greenery on both sides and came to a stop at the bottom of the steps of the majestic porch. He walked up the stairs slowly, mindful of the smooth wood under his feet, as well as the cool metal of the railing under his hand. Reaching the landing, he planted his foot, and the creak of the porch caught his attention, drawing forth a smile. I’m going to have to remind him again to fix that. The thought not only filled Colin’s brain without hesitation, but also tugged at his heart with a sense of indulgence. Everything, down to the very foundation of the house, spoke to him without words and enveloped him in invisible arms.

Colin crossed the porch and reached out to touch the door, laying his palms flat on the shiny surface. He swore a pulse beat beneath his hands. How did I see you from so far away? He leaned in and pressed his forehead to the wood. Why did you save me?

A different weight, a very real, male weight, pressed into Colin from behind, trapping him against the door. Hot skin brushed his bare back and warm lips came to rest at his ear. You’re here. I prayed you would come. The man spoke with a voice full of gravel, and his breath fanned Colin’s skin, triggering a little shiver.

I don’t... Big hands slid down Colin’s sides and over his stomach, rubbing his lower belly and then slipping farther down, circling his cock. With first contact, Colin traded his protest for a moan. The man pressed Colin into the door, stroked his rapidly growing erection, and sent every last confusing thought in Colin’s head into a tailspin. He didn’t know where he was, or who owned this house, or why he felt he should walk inside and stake ownership.

At the moment, he no longer cared.

Colin braced his hands high on the door frame and spread his legs so he looked like a big X. He pumped his hips into the rough-skinned hold of the man teasing his cock, forcing greater friction. His cockhead pearled beads of precum with every slide of his dick in the man’s tight-fisted hold and released the smell of sex into the already humid air. The unknown man’s prick grew and pressed against the cleft of Colin’s ass, nudging at a place that didn’t have an opening. Colin’s ass channel pulsed with need, pounding in time with the beating of his throbbing, hard cock.

Lower. Colin groaned and shifted, sticking out his ass. Get it into my hole.

The guy abruptly let go of Colin’s erection, making Colin whimper with the loss. Quickly, the man slid one hand around Colin’s waist and down into his crease, not stopping until he fingered Colin’s pucker. I know how to fuck another man. He growled the words, making them vibrate against the back of Colin’s neck. The man toyed with Colin’s entrance, playing, but didn’t push his finger inside.

Colin bit his cheek to keep from screaming. Good God, he didn’t understand it, but he wanted this anonymous person to fuck him. Then do it. Colin bumped back into the muscular body. Please.

The stranger replaced the tip of his finger with the head of his cock, wrapped his arm around Colin’s waist, and pushed his way inside Colin’s ass. Colin groaned as the thick, hard length stretched his hole and claimed his channel. The man grasped Colin’s hip and started to move, fucking Colin with the smoothest damn slide of cock he’d ever experienced. Colin thrust his backside out to meet every measured piercing from this anonymous dick, glorying in the sensations that took over his body and drove him to crave more, no matter that he’d had no preparation for the taking at all.

Dropping his head and staring at the porch floor, Colin bit his cheek, barely enduring the pleasure of the man behind him, in him, nearly surrounding him. Oh God... Colin bore his forehead into the red door and reached back to grab the man’s hips, needing to feel some additional connection but unable to turn his body around. Who are you? Colin moaned as that wonderful length filled his ass to the hilt again. You feel so fucking good.

You need to find me. Muscular, deeply tanned arms engulfed Colin, and a thick wall of chest and flat stomach plastered to his back. I don’t know where you are.

Still caught in the tangle of the man’s sexual web, Colin couldn’t think about or feel anything but the intimacy of the fucking. I’m here.

No, you’re not. Lips pressed into the strands of hair covering the back of Colin’s neck, lingering with a kiss. I won’t make it without you. As soon as the words were spoken, the weight, the presence, behind Colin lightened, left his body, and faded away...

* * *

...No! Shooting upright in the darkness of his bedroom, Colin fought the sensation of drowning once again...as well as the fiercely painful arousal of his body.

With one hand already firmly around his cock and the fingers of the other buried in his ass, Colin dragged his fist up and down his dick in a furious rhythm, pulling his length past the point of pain in agony of release. He struggled to remember pieces of the man from his dream: the vaguely sweaty smell of his skin, the imprint of his palm pressed into Colin’s stomach, the gritty texture of his voice, and the length of his cock mastering Colin’s ass.

Colin’s passage squeezed, as if it recalled the dream too. He shoved his fingers deep into his chute and fucked himself, trying to re-create a three-dimensional picture that was already fading fast from his mind. The nerve endings in his prick wanted more of that rough hand so Colin gave his body both, writhing on his bed. He lifted his legs and spread them at an awkward angle, jerking and fucking himself at the same time.

The smell of plant life and ocean filled his nostrils, and a fading hint of the stranger’s mouth whispered a touch against the back of his neck. The feel of the man’s lush lower lip lingered and triggered Colin’s release. His passage contracted around his fingers is a series of spasms, and he yanked his cock as he spewed, sending ejaculate spraying in milky lines across his trembling stomach. It took long minutes before Colin came down from the high of orgasm and withdrew his digits from his ass.

His body now sated, Colin remained lying in the dark with cum streaking down his sides, shaking, too disturbed by his dream to move.

One thought filled his head: I just met my future.

* * * *

Marek Donovan stood on the deck of the boat, staring at the first house the local realtor showed him. Once upon a time, with its size and stature, the two-story colonial-style home probably held the envy of the natives and visitors alike. A dirty stained glass window, in a design that looked like it might be a family crest, sat above the front door. Back in the day, the house had probably been something grand to see.

Today, the porch sagged on one side, the white siding could be mistaken for gray, and there was more than one blue tile shingle missing from the roof. Sad. Pathetic. It was a structural hazard that nobody would come near with a ten-foot pole.

Marek slid on his sunglasses, and said, I’ll take it.

But, sir. The realtor grabbed his arm. You’ve only glanced in the front door. I haven’t shown you the rooms or grounds. We haven’t discussed price.

Marek glanced down at the woman’s hand on his arm, and then looked into her eyes. She gasped and stepped away.

Good.

I said, I’ll take it. Looking at the house one more time, Marek gritted his teeth as the memory from long ago hit him in the gut. On one condition. He didn’t wait for the woman to nod. Hire someone to come in and tear down that goddamned red door. I don’t want to have to look at it again.

He went below deck to drink a beer in celebration of his new life.

Alone.

CHAPTER ONE

2009

Oh yeah, that’s it. That’s it. His lover held Colin’s head in place and shoved his prick into Colin’s mouth, filling him to the throat. Colin clutched the man’s hips with digging fingers and held on tight, moaning as his own arousal grew with every deep pull on his partner’s dick.

After two years, he doesn’t feel like a stranger to me anymore. Even if I still don’t know his face or name.

Fuck. Colin’s phantom lover moaned and yanked on his hair, hissing as Colin licked the underside of his prick with the flat of his tongue. You suck good cock.

Colin craved the salty taste of this man’s penis, skin, mouth, and ass more and more every night, even though a part of his brain now fully understood and accepted this was just a dream and that he walked around in it with a state of semi-awareness.

Colin no longer cared.

It didn’t matter that he could never get a full picture of his dream lover, and that his face lived in shadows that even sunlight couldn’t penetrate. Once Colin got close to the white house, absorbed its welcoming warmth, and touched the red door, he knew the man would somehow appear, needing Colin, and that Colin could open himself up in a way he never had in real life. He could give peace to this man and somehow have better sex than he ever had with a corporeal being.

The smooth, velvety texture of his lover’s erection sliding in and out of Colin’s mouth became more erratic; the man’s breathing grew more labored, and his body grew tense. Colin redoubled his efforts, reached between the man’s legs, and cupped his high, tight balls. Giving them a little rub and tug, Colin pulled back on the length of his lover’s cock with incredible suction and teased the extra-sensitive head.

Silently, the man shuddered. He kept his hands buried in Colin’s hair, and came. Warm spits of his sweet-tasting semen dropped on the back of Colin’s tongue and then slid down his throat, entwining their connection even more deeply. Colin stayed with his lover all the way through his orgasm, gentling his sucking with every wave, until his hair was finally released.

Abruptly, the man turned and dropped down on all fours, presenting Colin with his ass. I want you. With his head hanging low, shadowing him, his voice was muffled by his body. He didn’t turn around as he said, Take me, Colin. Make me yours.

Colin’s heart stopped, and then raced. We’ve never...

I know. The man reached back and pulled aside one ass cheek, revealing his bud. I want to feel you there. It’s time.

Colin crawled forward, leaking a line of precum onto the hardwood floor, just at the sight of his lover’s dark asshole. His cock jumped with excitement, and his chest squeezed at this additional level of trust. Colin moaned low in his throat at this new opportunity. He reached out to flick the striated entrance with his thumb...

* * *

...A fist suddenly jammed into Colin’s upper arm with incredible strength, hurling him back to reality. He blinked, struggling to shake off the dream as he rubbed his shoulder and glared at the woman—his best friend Jordan—sitting next to him.

Having one of those dreams again? she asked, raising a perfectly plucked brow.

What? Good God. Colin glanced around the small airplane, and felt his face heat. He’d never dreamed about the house and phantom lover in public before. Always, he was at home in his apartment, at night, in bed. Why in the hell, after two years, would he suddenly have one of his dreams in the middle of the day, surrounded by a collection of friends and strangers?

Well, you don’t get on many planes, which is one of the few ways that would lead to you fall asleep around other people. Use some common sense.

Unable to shake off the unease, Colin shifted his focus to the bride-to-be. What’s the matter? he asked Jordan. Why did you wake me up?

Because you’re sporting a major boner. She opened the in-flight magazine and tossed it on his lap. I didn’t think you wanted that to reach its inevitable conclusion while you’re sitting on a plane with a hundred other people.

Thank you. Colin took a few deep breaths and then clamped his teeth as he discreetly adjusted himself, searching for some easing of discomfort. God, he was hard. I should be fine in a few minutes.

Let’s hope. Jordan reached across his body and pointed out the window. Because I think we’re almost there.

Colin followed the line of Jordan’s finger, and his heart started hammering as two islands, peppered on various sides by smaller islets, came into view. The pure turquoise mass of water slowly became darker blue the closer the water got to the iris of white sand beaches surrounding the islands. Lush green exploded within the inner portion of land; nestled within the sea of trees Colin could see the rooftops of some of the larger structures covered in terra-cotta tiles. Somewhere on the coast of the island Vanua Levu sat a large bungalow where Colin and a handful of friends, three of whom also happened to be his partners in a private investigation firm back home in Austin, would live for the next ten days.

Jordan whistled, and Colin could hear the murmurs of appreciation from other passengers on the plane as they looked out of their windows too.

Man, Jordan said, I think your suggestion of Fiji is going to end up being a great one. Would you look at how fucking beautiful that water is? I don’t care that it’s costing me and Tag a fortune. It will be worth it to have this celebration with no stress, and with only friends and Tag’s immediate family.

Turning from the window, Colin grinned at Jordan. You’re going to be a beautiful bride. He took her hand and squeezed. I can already see you crying like a baby when you exchange your vows under the setting sun.

Shut up. Jordan punched him again. I will not. As an investigator and part owner of their business, Jordan took great offense at anyone accusing her of anything too girly.

Should we make a bet?

Jordan scrunched her brow at him but then shifted her focus through the window and back to the beauty below them. What made you think of Fiji? she asked.

The pull of the islands drew Colin’s stare again too. Don’t know. He found his attention shifting from the main islands to the scattering of smaller ones, and couldn’t shake the strange sensation of familiarity. I must have read something or saw something on the Travel Channel. Saying that aloud made Colin wonder if that was where the house on the beach in his dreams had originated. Maybe it was as simple as seeing something beautiful on TV and it implanting a bug in his subconscious. Tropical islands were certainly a far cry from Austin, Texas, or, more, Henderson, the smaller town in East Texas where he’d grown up, so he knew the setting hadn’t come from his everyday life.

I didn’t know when I threw the suggestion of Fiji out there that you’d actually jump at it. Brushing the window with his fingertips, Colin imagined he reached through and touched the sand on the beach, already knowing it would be warm and ultrafine...because his feet had already stood in it. He’d already immersed his toes into the smooth dampness of it as the water from the ocean lapped at its edges.

I don’t know why, Jordan murmured, but when you said Fiji, something inside me knew it was right. After that, I couldn’t imagine getting married anywhere else.

Speaking of your wedding, where’s Tag? Colin mentioned Jordan’s fiancé. He’d been sitting next to the guy before having the dream. Shouldn’t you be sitting with him sharing this first view?

All that man is thinking about is ‘Where are the topless beaches?’ and ‘Will I have to eat fish and fruit the entire time we’re here?’ Jordan chuckled and pushed a few strands of short auburn hair behind her ear. He’s a few rows up. You nodded off on him so he came to get me and then went to talk with his dad. I think he might have gotten a glimpse at your hard-on.

Colin shifted and removed the magazine from over his crotch. Problem resolved.

Jordan glanced down at Colin’s lap. So I see. The mischievous twinkle in her soft brown eyes quickly turned subdued. Are you really all right? Maybe you need to talk to someone about the power of these dreams. You shouldn’t be hiding in them and living a life with someone who isn’t real. Maybe they’re just a manifestation of something buried deep inside you, and until you take care of whatever that is, they won’t go away.

The dreams probably were about himself; Colin reluctantly accepted the truth in that, even though when he was asleep, everything about them felt so damn real and right, like he was supposed to be in that house with that man. If the dreams really were just a manifestation of himself, Colin didn’t want to resolve whatever damage in his life was responsible for creating them. If he did, the house and its owner would disappear.

Colin didn’t know if he would be able to handle the loss.

Colin?

I’m fine, Colin insisted. A dinging sound captured Colin and Jordan’s attention, and the FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELT sign soon followed. Colin closed his eyes and prepared for descent.

* * * *

Colin braced his hands on the railing of the schooner, closing his eyes as the wind created by the speeding boat rushed over his face and rippled the fabric of his khaki shorts and T-shirt. Sun and heat beat down on his skin, and the occasional spray of water kicking up from the ocean tickled his arms and legs.

Chatter from his friends carried over the wind flapping in the boat’s sails; they all oohed and ahhed at the view. They also relentlessly teased Jordan for forcing them out on this boat tour when they’d barely set down their luggage in the rented bungalow. She told them they could rest in ten days when they got home, but while in Fiji, they were going to cram every damn bit of touristy fun in, even if it killed them.

They would all bow to the woman’s schedule for the next few days. Once the wedding took place, and Jordan and Tag moved to the privacy of a honeymoon suite at one of Fiji’s resort hotels, the rest of the small group would count on Tag to keep his bride very occupied. Especially since Jordan had enforced a no sex rule since announcing their engagement four months ago. Tag had made no secret of complaining about his blue balls.

Colin was happy for Jordan and Tag and even for his other travel mates, Alison and Tom, and Sylvia and Gayle. But damn, he didn’t kid himself that traveling with three happy couples wouldn’t sting. Jordan had encouraged Colin to invite someone, but ever since he’d broken up with his previous partner, and then started having the dreams, he hadn’t felt a connection to any man he would have wanted to bring to such a special occasion. At least none that exist outside of my head. To bring a virtual stranger on a trip halfway around the world, to have him sit there and watch a very dear friend get married...  Something felt very dishonest about that.

The deck shifted under Colin’s feet as the boat slowed down; he opened his eyes to the bright afternoon sun nearly blinding him. After sliding his sunglasses off the neck of his shirt, he slipped them on, and noticed the boat decelerated as it approached the first in a series of small islands.

As the boat slowly coasted past the first, Sylvia, the third partner in their PI firm, said to her girlfriend, Honey, when we retire, we’re going to live here. In that house. She pointed at a bungalow-style home on stilts; the front portion of the house had a balcony that jutted out over the water.

Her partner Gayle laughed and drew Sylvia into her arms. Sylvia leaned in for a kiss, and the woman’s mahogany skin gleamed with pearly-dark shine against Gayle’s pale coloring. Gayle’s hand slid down Sylvia’s back, and she tugged the woman in close with a hand cupped on her ass.

Break it up, ladies, Tag said, drawing everyone’s attention. He pointed at everyone in the group and added, Nobody gets any nookie on this vacation until I do.

Everyone booed and hissed, and Jordan stood up on her tiptoes to cover her fiancé’s mouth with her hand. Laughing and mock accusations of retribution ensued. Alison, the final member of PI ownership, finally busted everyone up in her very organized way, pointing the group back in the direction of the spectacular sights all around them.

It was all very heartwarming. These people were Colin’s extended family.

And he’d never felt more alone in his life.

The boat continued on its journey, floating by more bungalow-style homes with each beachfront property they passed. Soon Colin dropped his attention to the water, letting the brilliant color, the reflection of the sun, and the steady rise and fall of the waves lull him into a half-trancelike state.

The familiar scent of strawberries and vanilla tickled his nose. A second later, Jordan bumped her shoulder into his biceps. Doing okay? she asked.

Hell. Half a day in, and I’m already turning into a pity case. Yep. I’m fine. He even plastered on