Nina tossed aside the blanket and flopped onto the bed. The sheets were less than crisp. She flipped her pillow, hoping for a few seconds of cool cotton, but no. It wasn't happening. The day had been the hottest of the year, with temperatures over 100 degrees for most of the day, and it hadn't cooled off much. Even with air conditioning the house was stuffy.
Robbie, her boyfriend, was out of town. While she missed him, it was actually a bit of a relief in one respect. She didn't have to share the bed. She could stretch out and create as much surface area for the fan to cool as possible. In one important way though, Robbie's prolonged absence was uncomfortable, to say the least. She hadn't had sex in weeks.
She let her hands wander for a bit, brushing fingertips over her nether lips and her body responded. She shuddered as an almost electric sensation tingled its way through her body. Then, she became aware of the sheet sticking to the small of her back, and the dewy sheen of sweat on her breasts and stomach and suddenly, it was too hot and she was too uncomfortable. The pleasure soured into frustration and she turned onto her stomach, burying her face in the pillow, and strangely wanting to cry.
Sleep didn't come easily, but eventually it did. She drifted off into a surprisingly deep sleep for most of the night and became vaguely aware of waking up and thinking that it was close to sunrise. She then promptly fell into the most intense dream she could recall.
*
Nina wasn't in her bed anymore. The familiar pale green bedding and whitewashed walls morphed into a shadowy sea of deep blues and grays. She lay on her side facing a wall; she was alone in the bed. She sat up, catching a glimpse of herself reflected in the glass of a framed photo on the wall. Her auburn hair fell in dark, messy waves almost to her waist, and her green eyes looked gray. The dragon tattoo wrapped its serpentine way from left hip across her back to under the right breast.
A woman almost exactly the same size as Nina came through a door. Ana. She was of medium height and build. She was a bit softer than Nina, and had rounded, smooth curves, where Nina's were more muscular. Ana's straight black hair was cut at an angle, falling to her collar bones in the front and partially exposing her neck in the back. A streak in the front was dyed a purplish shade. Her eyes were nearly black and tilted up a bit at the outer corners.