by LC Taylor
Haven’s eyes met mine, pressed his hand to my face, “Yes you're here, my mind has dreamed you here; I left you, and this is the punishment my subconscious had elected to inflict upon me. In the real world, you rejected me, my love. I need to be alone, Tessa.”
Haven stormed away into the woods. I kept my distance but followed him. He entered a small cabin off the trail he had taken. I watched him storm up the steps and slam the door behind him. Watching him through the window, it broke my heart to see him so tormented. As I started towards the steps, the world went black.
Waking with tears streaming down my cheeks, I placed my hand over Haven’s heart. Roxy was asleep in the chair with her feet propped on the bed next to me. “Roxy,” I thumped her ankle, “wake up. I… I don’t think I can do this.” My eyes damp from the wetness that was falling like rain drops, puddling on my bare thigh.
“Tessa…,” Roxy yawned, pulling her feet from the edge of the bed, “What happened… oh my God, why are you crying?” I couldn’t look at her, I felt as though the last remnants of my heart were turning to dust.
“I can’t do this. He won’t listen to me, he… he thinks he imagined me there.”
“We told you it would be difficult. He doesn’t believe you want him, you rejected him, remember?” Standing Roxy made her way to the door, “Stef, come upstairs – we need you. Tessa, Haven believes his mind is conjuring you there because you're his deepest desire. You’re going to have to convince him – that takes time.”
Stef waltzed into the bedroom, “What is it? She’s only been asleep for a little over two hours, surely you haven’t run into a problem already.”
“Tessa is having some doubts, she fears Haven will not believe he is stuck in the in-between,” Roxy waved her hands, motioning to me as she spoke.
“HE told me to leave. He said it was his subconscious making him believe I was there in front of him. What do I do?”
“Tessa, if he was here… How would you show him you love him? That’s what you do. You stop at nothing to make him see your heart.” Stef was so nonchalant about it like I was trying to convince him to buy an ice cream.
Chapter 16: Tessa
Stef and Roxy left me alone with Haven, they said I needed to spend time thinking about what I really wanted. As I sat, watching him sleep, I thought about how my life had been. I loved Rob, I didn’t doubt the feelings I had for him – but what I felt for Haven… it’s unlike anything I’d ever experienced.
My soul sings when he’s near. It feels like there’s electricity coursing through my veins, giving me a blissful high. I was so afraid of how he made me feel, I ran with my tail tucked between my legs – literally, when he told me he was my destined mate.
With a new resolve, I decided I’d stop at nothing to show him how much he meant to me, and that it wasn’t a figment of his imagination that I was there – that I was there, and his.
Making my way to the door, I locked it and wedged a chair against the knob - not wanting Roxy or Stef to wake me. I wanted all the time possible with Haven – no matter the risk. My life wasn’t worth anything if he wasn’t here to share it with me. I’d already lived a life losing my first love, I wasn’t about to do it again.
Walking into the bathroom, I found the bottle of Benadryl – I popped four in my mouth and set the rest on the counter. Being a lightweight, four pills should knock me out for a while. I washed my face and brushed my teeth, meandering my way to the bed. I stroked Havens' face, leaned down and pressed my lips to his. Resting my forehead against his, “I will save you, Haven. I’m coming for you – to bring you home.”
I laid down on the bed beside him, relishing in his warmth and snuggled closer to him. The Benadryl was starting to make me woozy, and it wasn’t long before I had drifted off into slumber.
“Haven,” I called out to him when I found myself sitting on the creek bank. Looking around, I took notice I was alone. Standing, I dusted the sand from my shorts, dressed only in a top and shorts, realizing I was barefoot. Walking towards the wood line, I spotted Haven sitting on a stump with his back to me.
“Haven, can you hear me?” saying his name again, he turned to me.
“Tessa, you're back. I was afraid you wouldn’t be back in my mind… after I sent you away.”
Cupping his cheek in the palm of my hand, “Haven, you couldn’t do anything to send me away for good. I’m here now, I needed to see you again.” Smiling I stood on my tip-toes, pressing my lips to his. The kiss started soft, but the desire took control and his tongue darted between my lips. I parted them, taking him into my mouth – intensifying the kiss.
The loved we had for one another poured through like a tidal wave. I wrapped my arms around him, urging him closer – our bodies meshing together like one. I couldn’t get him close enough.
Breaking apart, both breathless from the intense kiss, “Tessa… my love. God, I love you. I am so sorry for sending you away. I… I just can’t torture myself like this. How I wish it were real.” His head shook, his lips brushing against my forehead.
“Haven, stop over thinking, let's live in the moment – everything else will work out. I’m here…” I pulled his mouth to mine, kissing him again. His hands found their way to my lower back, his touch igniting a fire deep within my soul.
“I love you Haven, here in this place, and when you wake up. You just need to wake up – please. Come give me a chance to love you like this in the real world. I. NEED. YOU.”
Sensing my desire, Haven slowly lowered us to the ground. The damp earth, lightly dusted in the grass, cushioned our bodies as we collapsed, embraced tightly in each other’s hold. His kisses became more urgent – his hands exploring my body like an undiscovered land.
“Tessa… God, you are beautiful,” a delicious tremor coursed through my body. “Haven, love me. Please, be with me. I need you.”
Desperate prayers escaped my tongue, my breathing erratic. Gripping the front of his shirt, ripping the buttons free exposing his chest. Flicking my tongue like a dancer down his chiseled muscles, swirling it around his nipple. His moans echoing my own as I explored him with my mouth.
Flipping me to my back, shoving my top over my head, his warm lips found the sensitive spot on my neck. Easing off my bra as his kisses worked their way down, the light flick of his tongue across my breast sent my desire into overdrive. The wetness pooled between my legs as I called out his name. Slowly he moved lower, licking and biting as he did.
Hooking his fingers beneath the elastic of my shorts, he stripped me free of them. Trailing his warm mouth down the inside of my thigh, pulling his hair, urging him forward. With the light touch of his tongue, my center dripped in ecstasy. He dove deeper, making love to me with his mouth.
Gently he plunged in a finger, in and out with the flicker of his tongue, he brought me to climax. “Haven!” screaming his name to the heavens, bucking my hips from the sheer pleasure his mouth was bringing me. “Please… Haven, I need you.”
Meeting my eyes with a glance, “You have me Tessa,” pushing himself up, he slipped his pants off – exposing the very erect member hidden beneath. “Yes… Yes, Haven. I want you.” Begging for him to take me – needing to be one with him.
He kneeled, hovering above me gazing into my eyes, “Tessa, this may be my imagination, but I plan to show you how much I love you.” With one swift thrust, he buried himself deep inside me. Touching the very depths of my being, I cried out meeting him thrust for thrust.
Kissing with passion, his tongue searching for redemption. His movements became faster, more demanding – both of us nearing our climax.
“Haven, harder – I’m so close,” wrapping my legs around him, pushing him deeper. I could feel his muscles quiver and tense, screaming out the release as his warm seed filled my center with his love. Collapsing, he pulled me into the crook of his arm.
“Tessa, I love you.”
Burrowing further into his grasp, placing a kiss on his chest, “I love you, Haven.” His breathing b
egan to slow, his fingers tangling in my hair as he played with the strand draping across his arm. “This is real. Haven, can’t you feel it in your heart? I messed up – I rejected you and this was the only way I could find you… to make you see that I needed you.”
His breaths began to slow, his fingers loosening in my hair, “Baby, are you listening to me?” I pushed myself up, realizing he had fallen asleep with me in his arms.
Watching him sleep I freed myself from his hold. Sliding on my top and gliding my shorts over my hips, stretching my arms to the heavens, I watched him sleep. He looked so peaceful laying on the ground, I sat, drawing knees to my chest, enamored with the spectacle of his glistening muscles. I had to figure out how to get him to acknowledge that he needed to wake up and come home.
Chapter 17: Tessa
I sat entranced, watching him until he finally stirred. “Hello, my sleeping prince.”
Haven smiled, stretching as he sat up. Reaching he took my hand, “Why are you sitting so far away? Come, I need you close before I lose you again.” His gentle tug pulled me to his lap, where he wrapped his arms tightly around me.
Releasing the breath, I’d been holding, “We need to talk… This isn’t some dream. Damn it, I am here – not an illusion. Touch me… can't you see that this is real? Haven, we aren’t dreaming. We’re stuck in the in-between.” Watching for his reaction, I was worried he would dismiss what I had said.
His brows drew together, creasing his forehead, “The what? Tessa, you're not making any sense. What’s the in-between?” His confusion poured from him like a river of molten lava.
“It’s the place your psyche has taken you to avoid heartache – it’s the place between Heaven and Hell. This isn’t a dream, Haven. You're dying – stuck here in this place. Your soul refusing to come home, because I broke your heart. That’s the reason I’m able to dream-walk to the in-between to be with you – in the flesh… to prove you are loved in life. Haven, we can’t stay here. You will die and I will too.”
“Wait, why would you die? If what you say is true, you're just dream-walking here. Why would me dying kill you too?”
I stood, leaving the comfort of his warmth, “Because, I refuse to be in a world that you aren’t. I won’t leave this place without you again. So… if it means we both fade into the afterlife, then so be it.” I meant every word I said. I would not return without him – he was the life I wanted outside this prison.
Standing as I paced before him, he grabbed my arms, “You listen to me, Tessa. YOU will not stay here. Your friends need you. I need you to live for me, promise me.” His grip grew tighter and his breath was hot against my face as his anger spewed from his lips.
“HAVEN… I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU!” Breaking free of his clutch, I turned and stormed towards the waterfall.
“I will not lose someone I love again, I can’t survive another heartbreak.” Stripping bare, I jumped into the pool beneath the falls. The cool water kissed my skin, refreshing my soul as I dove towards the bottom. Coming up for air, Haven was nowhere to be seen. “Haven,” I called out to him, hoping I hadn’t forced him away again. “HAVEN!”
Warm hands circled my waist, “Tessa,” his lips found my collar bone, “I’m here, my love. I will never leave you again.” Turning to face him, I kicked my feet trying to stay afloat.
“Haven, don’t you see if you stay here… that’s just what you’ll do.” Unable to contain the tears, I pushed away from him, swimming towards the rocky wall beneath the water tumbling from above.
Haven splashed against the water, swimming to catch me, “What can I do darling? I want this to be real, I… I just don’t understand.” When he reached the rocky ledge, he took me into his arms. His feet resting on the rocks jutting out below us in the water.
“Haven, don’t you want to wake up? Don’t you have the desire to see me beyond this wretched place you're in?”
Leaning into my body, his mouth found mine. His kiss demanding and full of desire. Parting my lips, my tongue meeting his with just as much urgency. “Then let me have you once more before I wake to find this was, in fact, a dream – and I don’t have you anymore,” pushing my arms above my head, his tongue danced its way down my neck. He pinned my arms against the wall with one hand as his other caressed its way down.
The gentle touch of his fingers as he palmed my breast in his hand, the pressure tantalizing. “Haven, this isn’t a dream. There’s more beyond the in-between. Please, you have to trust me.” I moaned as he pinched and rolled my nipple between his fingertips.
“I trust you... But do you trust me – my love?” his question a whisper against my ear.
“Yes… yes, I trust you.” His hand slowly slid beneath the water’s surface, finding the way to my sweet spot. Tickling the wet curls, he slipped a finger inside.
“I want to make you come,” he thrust his finger deep, adding another as he did. There in the water, the pressure built up and I couldn’t contain my release. Screaming his name out, I came around his fingers buried deep inside me.
“That’s it, let go, Tessa.” Kissing me, he slowly eased his fingers out of my quivering body. “I’m going to make love to you now. I want you to remember how good this felt Tessa… so you won’t want to leave me when I wake.”
The head of his cock teasing my entrance, causing me to thrust against him, “Haven, my love for you will be the reason I am there when you wake up. This… this is just a bonus.” I bit his lower lip as he thrust into me.
The sensation of the water brushing my skin as he pumped into me was earth shattering. My screams and moans reverberating against the waterfall and rocks. Clawing his back, holding on as we made love, there under the water as it fell from the heavens above.
His thrusts grew needier, his muscles tightening signaled his need for release. Wrapping my legs around his thighs, I pulled him tighter, forcing him deeper. Gripping his ass with my hands, “Haven, come with me.”
My words were like the match lighting the fuse to the explosion, and I just lit it ablaze. He moaned out my name as we came together. His warm essence filling me, touching the very depth of my body. “Haven,” I was breathless. “I love you. Do not doubt my love for you. I’m so sorry I pushed you away before. But I’ll NEVER push you away again.” Touching my lips to his, “We should probably get out. We should get dressed and figure out how to get you awake.”
We swam to the water’s edge and slowly got dressed. Our clothes got wet as we slipped them on. “Tessa, I love you, now, tomorrow, forever.” Squeezing his hand, I smiled and kissed his cheek. He started to shimmer weird in the sunlight.
“Haven, my time’s up. I… I think I’m waking up. Please, baby, come back to me – you can't stay here.”
Someone must have gotten into the room. They were attempting to wake me up. “Tessa, I’ll come back to you… I prom-…” his words faded as my world went black.
Chapter 18: Tessa
“Tessa, Jesus Christ… what did you do?” The sensation of being shaken invaded my senses, “Please wake up. PLEASE TESSA.” The desperate plea of Dylan caused me to open my eyes. As they focused, I noted Dylan, Roxy, and Stefanie crowded around the bed.
“Why did you wake me? I almost had him convinced – you RUINED IT!” seething mad, I pushed Dylan away from me. Slipping my feet to the floor I made a feeble attempt to stand. Wracked by a sudden wave of dizziness, I sat down. “What the hell?” Looking for some sort of explanation.
Roxy grabbed my arms to steady me on the bed, “Tessa, you’ve been unconscious for four days. What the hell did you do?”
Scratching my head, “Wait, four days? I took some Benadryl to sleep. I needed to see him and get him out.”
Stefanie’s eyes glowed silver, I could feel the magic seeping from her pores, “The dizziness is expected. You stayed too long in the other realm, another day and you probably wouldn’t have woken.”
Dylan stepped closer and pressed a wet towel against my forehead. “I’m fine, really. It’s passed
now. But you shouldn’t have woken me. I was very clear. I didn’t want to wake up without him.”
Everyone was staring at me wide-eyed, their mouth agape. “What? Stop staring at me like that. I don’t need your judgment, and I don’t give a damn if you agree with me. I LOVE HAVEN, and I’d rather die than wake to the world that he isn’t in.”
“Guess it’s a good thing I’m in that world, huh?” The sound of his voice behind me caused me to snap my head around. There, staring at me was Haven – and he was awake.
“Haven… you're here.” I threw myself into his arms.
“I told you I wouldn’t leave you alone again, I meant it. I decided the risk of waking up, taking the chance… even if it was all a dream, was worth it if you were really here waiting for me. I’m glad it wasn’t all a dream.” He kissed me deeply, pulling me to his body.
Clearing her throat, Roxy moved to the edge of the bed. “Dad, we were so worried you wouldn’t come back.”
Haven broke our kiss, shifting me under his arm, “I almost didn’t. I couldn’t bear living without Tessa. She saved me, she made me risk living in the present.”
“I couldn’t have done it without Roxy or Stefanie’s help,” I snuggled into his embrace.
Haven realized that there was someone else in the room. Glancing between Dylan and Roxy his lips drew into a wide grin, “Dylan, my beloved niece,” reaching out he squeezed her hand, “and you are?”
He looked to Roxy as he directed his question to Stef. “Dad, this is Stefanie. She left the coven to help us, I’m afraid she probably will want to stay, but that’s a conversation for another day. Stef, meet my dad.”
Stef took Haven’s hand in hers and nodded. “Pleasure to meet you awake. Your girls here have been pacing the floor, waiting for you. I am, as you're probably wondering about, a dream-walker and healer. I helped Tessa come to terms with the reality in which you had sequestered yourself. She was the key to breaking you free from the shackles of the in-between.”