Chapter 52: Don't Move

Kate had a dream. In the dream, Kate was only five or six years old, and a ferocious black dog, much larger than her, was chasing her. Kate fell down at last, completely exhausted. The dog opened its big mouth wide and reached its spooky white fangs to her throat. Kate was so scared that she put her hands over her eyes, but the anticipated pain did not come. Instead, it was replaced by the contact of something coarse and wet. Kate looked up in surprise and found what was licking her. An extraordinarily broad tongue was moving against her face. Darkness came to her eyes, and the world disappeared. Kate opened her eyes suddenly and saw the bedroom with dim light coming through the half-closed curtains. She took a deep breath, knowing it was just a dream. But the next second, she detected warm and wet breaths blowing on the back of her neck. She looked down. A robust arm was around her waist. Kate was not used to this intimacy. She tried to move away from the arm, but it clung to h