Why would she dream about historical downtown Dover?
Because this is how it looked when I lived here, said a voice that was more of a thought in her head than a sound. The thought carried the suggestion of smoky feminine tones accented with an almost British gentility.
Uh, who are you and why am I dreaming about you? It wasn’t so much fear that made her ask as an unsettling sense of something being off, like this was somehow more than a regular dream.
You’ll find out soon enough. For now, just relax. I have a story to tell you.
A feeling like someone wrapping a blanket around her head made her feel smothered. She fought the feeling, but it was too strong. She had no choice but to experience the dream as though someone else were controlling her consciousness.
It was strange, but not unpleasant. The old-timey vibe piqued her interest. She preferred this kind of dream to all the sex she’d been having in her sleep.
The controlling force directed her gaze down to a set of steps below. They looked like church steps. Of course. She was in a church belfry.
At the bottom of the steps, a man in a black robe shook hands with parishioners as they trickled out of the building.
Such a silly ritual. The thought wasn’t hers. They clasp Father’s hand as though they care, but they sat on those same hands last winter as William faded away. If the flock truly cared for their shepherd, they would fill the offering baskets well enough that the minister’s family could afford medicine.
Jade lost herself in the foreign thoughts until they felt like her own.
Turning from the vent, she set to searching the belfry. Last night, the handsome man who visited her dreams had told her there was a treasure hidden up here. If she found it, she could cast a spell of bounty for her whole family. Every endeavor would work to their advantage. They would never again want for bread, meat, or books for school. They would never again lack the means to cure pneumonia.
Granted, she wouldn’t be wanting for anything at all once she married Joshua, the son of a wealthy Dover banker and a talented accountant in his own right, but the wedding was several months away. Several cold months.
She prodded the floorboards until her toe found a loose one. “If you won’t provide for my family,” she muttered to her father’s God as she pried up the loose board, “then I will. I will turn to witchcraft to put meat on my mother’s bones. I will call on the power of spirits to put clothes on my sister’s back. I will make deals with the devil himself rather than watch another brother die.”
Under the board lay a bundle wrapped in velvet so old it was worn bald at the corners. She reached into the floor, her hands eager and swift. The man in her dreams hadn’t misled her. As surely as she knew her name was Mercy Abigail Birmingham she knew an ancient grimoire with iron bindings and brittle, yellowed pages rested inside the patchy velvet. She tore at the wrapping and found the book. It was just as he’d shown it to her. She ran her fingers over the wooden cover.
If he’d spoken true about the grimoire, he must have spoken true about her as well.
She must be a witch.
“Your power has called me to you,” Draonius had said. “The moment you rejected your father and his God, I heard the cry of your heart. I am here to help you.”
“Pray tell, what help do I seek?” She had tested him. She did not trust any being that called himself a demon, no matter how handsome he might be.
“You seek to make your own fortune. To provide for yourself and your siblings. I can show you how. I can help you discover power beyond anything you’ve dared to imagine.” He’d then told her of the grimoire-a book of spells. He’d wheedled from her a promise. If she found the book where he said it would be, she would allow him a single kiss in her next dream.
Now she held the grimoire in her hands. Its solid weight surprised her, as though it had more mass than its size suggested. So many pages of magic. So much potential. It thrilled and frightened her.
And it represented a debt to be paid. She loved Joshua, but she would have to receive a kiss from Draonius this night.
The dream ended, and Jade woke up. She lay curled in Grandma Nina’s bed in the dark bedroom.
What a weird dream. Glad it was over, she rolled over to go back to sleep. Her new position put her facing the door.
Emmett’s rejection still stung, but she ignored the pain and started drifting back to sleep. A soft creak made her eyes snap open. The door was moving.
Mr. Shadow slid into the room. Wait, not a shadow. She could make out just enough detail to tell it was a solid person, a man. Could it be Mr. Shadow in the flesh?
No. He wasn’t wearing a top hat or cape.
If it wasn’t Mr. Shadow, she had either fallen asleep in record time and was dreaming again or she had an intruder in the house.
A surge of fear made her try to sit up, but her body wouldn’t cooperate. She felt paralyzed. Something or someone smothered her fear, just like in the dream she’d woken from.
This has to be another dream.
But it felt terrifying and real. She kept trying to move, but couldn’t even wiggle a finger.
I want to wake up.
The man stalked past the bed and to the window. His form was nothing but a black silhouette, but a sense of elated recognition flooded her. It was like she’d just laid eyes on a loved one she never thought she would see again.
A memory that belonged to someone else played out before her. She had no choice but to watch.
Candles formed a circle around her as she stood on the bank of the pond out back. The water’s inky surface reflected the moon.
Footsteps padded on the grass behind her. She turned and extended her hand toward the young man approaching. “Joshua, darling. I’m so happy you came.”
As she drew him into the circle, he removed his hat. Candlelight danced over the fresh features of a guileless face.
It’s him! That’s Mr. Shadow! Jade’s thoughts broke into the memory, which chose that moment to jump forward.
A thin quilt provided scant padding against the hard ground as she reclined and pulled Joshua down with her. She covered his mouth with kisses. They were both nude, now. When he entered her, she hardly noticed the plucking of her maidenhead, so intent was she on her goal.
Jade pushed against the memory. She didn’t want to be experiencing this. It felt slimy.
Fortunately, it stopped. But the man was still in her grandmother’s bedroom. This was the most disturbing dream she’d ever had…if it was a dream at all. She was starting to wonder.
The man teased the drapes open with elegant fingers. Moonlight cast the room in shadows of gray and blue. The wash of cool light revealed his ruffled, high-collared shirt, crushed-velvet coat, and cowhide breeches, complete with rounded codpiece. The ensemble made the most of his lean, medium build.
The strong angles of the man’s face were cut in somber hues of night. Midnight-dark hair rippled around his shoulders. He was handsome, but his mouth had an arrogant firmness to it that repulsed her.
The memory slammed back into place with frightening force, hijacking her thoughts. The smothering sensation was back as well.
Joshua’s groan meant he was finishing. She tightened her fist on the knife hidden in the folds of the quilt. With a twist of her wrist and a jab of her arm, the knife found its mark.
Cutting up through the belly to stop a heart was much easier than she’d anticipated. Draonius had spoken true.
The man turned from the window to look on her, and she no longer felt repulsion. In fact, she knew this man. Knew him well.
*****
Mercy had finally strengthened her hold on Jade’s consciousness enough to control the mortal’s body and mind. Merging her thoughts with Jade’s by remembering her past seemed the most effective way. But she couldn’t escape a feeling that her memories were leading her someplace she did not wish to go. There was something she had forgotten, something important that had to do with Draonius.
Her
demon lover turned from the window to face her. His flawless features hardened. “I warned you of this, love. You must not let the past distract you.”
But she couldn’t stop remembering.
Hot blood gushed over her hand. She whispered the spell and watched as the life left Joshua’s eyes. Draonius’s awareness took its place.
His mouth curled in a cocky grin.
“My beloved!” she cried. How she’d longed for this moment. She had her demon in the flesh, at last. No more dream-muted passion. This time it would be for real. It would be forever. They would be forever. Just like he had promised.
“Enough, Mercy.” Back in the turret bedroom, he was beside the bed. He stood over her, eyes blazing.
A strong urge to obey rose up in her, but she couldn’t stop the memory. It surged ahead like a runaway train.
Joshua’s strokes had been irregular and overly eager. The moment Draonius took over, he roused afresh. He plowed into her with ruthless jabs of passion. Fingers dug into her thighs holding her possessively. He mated with her. He loved her.
“Mercy.” Her name was a feral growl on his lips.
Pleasure ignited. She cried his name and clutched him to her. Bliss. This was bliss.
Another growl erupted from her lover. And another. His passion became painful.
“Draonius?”
She tried caging him with her thighs to keep his thrusts shallow.
His eyes turned red. He bucked like a wild beast.
Oh, the pain!
Back in the bedroom, he reached for her.
She kicked at the bedcovers in her haste to evade his reach. “You hurt me.”
Lightning quick, he locked a hand around her arm, stopping her retreat. “You must focus. Learn her. Understand her. If you fail in this, we have no hope.”
“Stop! You’re hurting me!”
Joshua’s body expanded before her eyes. Clothing shredded. His skin took on a charred appearance. His face became that of a rabid dog.
She screamed.
The thing atop her howled.
Pointy teeth descended. Ripped her throat.
She jerked from his hold and scrambled to the other side of the bed. The sting of betrayal doubled her over. “You lied to me. I did what you asked, and you-you killed me.”
The man sighed like one who ran short on patience. “It was no lie, Mercy. A mistake, yes, but no lie.” The impatience left him, replaced with tenderness. “I would never lie to you, love. Not to you.” The mattress dipped with his weight.
She brought her bare knees up to her chest and hugged them. She did not want him to cross the distance to her, but he was coming on hands and knees. This was a humble act for her powerful demon. He was crawling to her.
She should flee. But God help her, she craved the apology waiting in his glittering eyes. Could she forgive him? Should she?
She gripped her knees tighter. “You said you loved me. You promised we would be together forever.”
Cool, masculine hands cupped her cheeks. Thumbs wiped her tears. “There, there, love. We have been together, haven’t we? Not in the way I imagined, but we have a chance now to make it right. Turn your mind now to what must be done, not what mistakes have been made in the past.”
Yes. She must practice commanding Jade’s body if she hoped to seduce Emmett. She must repeat her actions from the past to give Draonius control of Emmett’s body as she did with Joshua’s body. But what if Draonius hurt her again?
“It will not happen again,” he said, as if he could hear her thoughts. He moved closer. His lips brushed her forehead. “My lovely, lovely girl. I had not understood the limits of mortal flesh. Joshua’s body was so fragile. Yours was-” He breathed in deeply, his nose against her neck.
She shivered.
“-So easily wounded,” he crooned. “And taking you, Mercy, taking you was heaven. I lost my mind with pleasure. It will not happen again. I swear it. I have learned. I will control my impulses this time. Besides, I could never harm this body. Look at it. It is so strong, so exquisitely firm and yet soft in all the right places. Don’t you want it? And look at these. Oh, these are magnificent.”
He’d managed to pry her arms away from her knees. His hands molded to the shape of her breasts through her T-shirt. She arched her back to press more firmly into his palms.
Stop it! Get out of my head! Make him stop touching me! I don’t care if this is a dream. I don’t want this!
Jade.
Mercy redoubled her efforts to push Jade’s consciousness down and away. The silly mortal tried to fight back, but she didn’t have a prayer of succeeding. Jade’s thoughts were all but quelled.
“Come, darling.” Draonius insinuated his body against hers. “You know I did not mean you harm. I love you.” He stroked her face.
She nestled her cheek into his hand. “I love you, too. Of course I forgive you.”
“Will you let me show you how gentle I can be?”
“Yes, Draonius. Oh, yes.”
*****
Jade startled awake with a thundering heart. Vague remnants of a disturbing dream slipped away like sand through a sieve. From the wetness in her panties and the rubbery exhaustion in her limbs she knew it had been another sex dream, but she didn’t remember who had starred in it. And she had a chilling feeling she had tried to wake from the dream and hadn’t been able to.
She hugged herself under the covers. She felt violated, which was silly because it had only been a dream. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling it had been somehow more than a bad dream.
Her fingers itched to grab her phone and call Emmett. Just hearing his voice would reassure her. Then she remembered the disappointing end to their date. Hurt and anger rushed into her heart, plowing out the disquiet from the dream.
Refusing to let a stupid nightmare and a bad date dictate her mood, she threw herself into her Saturday, starting with a good, hard run around her new neighborhood. She filled the rest of the day with housework, a lunchtime visit to Grandma Nina, and a long phone call with Jilly in which she determinedly avoided the subject of Emmett Herald.
When it was time for bed, she grabbed the afghan off the back of the couch, marched outside, right under the sachet of herbs above the front door, and climbed into the backseat of her Jetta. She slept like a baby, assuming babies sleep for eight solid hours without a single dream.
Chapter Eleven
“Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you,” Pastor Tim was saying, but Emmett wasn’t paying attention. He was thinking about his date with Jade on Friday night.
She’d looked incredible, and she’d danced even better. He’d been so proud to walk into Billy Bob’s with her on his arm. But more than that, he’d simply enjoyed being with her. The girl had a great sense of humor and was all kinds of fun to hang out with. There was a depth to her, too, that he longed to explore.
But he didn’t trust himself with her. He was like a landmine ready to detonate, and the sexy Boston beauty was like a whole platoon of marching soldiers.
Though to be fair, at this point, almost any girl who showed an interest in him was likely to set off an Emmett-explosion. When he and Chelsea had called it quits, he’d been kind of relieved, because it was getting nearly unbearable to hold back with her. There was only so much making out he could take before his balls felt like they were going to rocket to the moon with or without him. He’d tried taking a step back with Chelsea, letting her know they needed to take it easy with the physical stuff. That’s when she’d told him they needed to go forward, as in ‘til-death-do-us-part, or she’d walk. He’d hoped she’d been bluffing. She hadn’t been.
The worst of it was, Chelsea’s ultimatum hadn’t been unreasonable. They had everything in common. They went to the same church, lived in the same town, listened to the same music. She would have been happy to marry him and raise kids in Dover. And maybe if he had loved her just a little more, he’d have been happy to make a life with her. But what he’d felt for Chelsea hadn’t b
een enough to move him past his fear of divorce.
When he looked at him and Chelsea toward the end of their relationship, he’d seen his parents when they’d been in exactly the same spot, longtime sweethearts with families that were practically neighbors in Dover. They’d gotten married and had everything going for them. They’d had two kids, steady jobs, a loving church family, the whole American dream. And in the end, it hadn’t been enough.
He was starting to worry no amount of chemistry and circumstances would ever be enough. How did any two people take marriage vows and believe in what they promised each other when no one knew the future?
He couldn’t see himself ever taking marriage vows. And it scared him so bad he tried not to think about it, because if he never got married, he would never know what it was like to show a woman physical love. He would never know what it was like to press inside a girl he adored, to feel her grab his shoulders and buck like a wild pony while he rode her to orgasm after orgasm.
Aw, crap. He had a boner in church.
And he’d just totally lost himself in a fantasy while Pastor Tim preached about restraint.
Anytime he let himself daydream about finally being with a woman, she was always this faceless body with soft, tan skin, breasts that overflowed in his hands, and long, toned legs wrapped around his waist. He’d tried forcing faces onto that body over the years, but he just couldn’t picture any of the girls he’d dated in that way. He’d thought it was because he respected them too much to give them starring roles in his fantasies. What did it say about him that he’d just seen his fantasy woman’s face for the first time, and that she was Jade?
She deserved better than some perv ravishing her in his mind. That was exactly why he needed to keep his distance from her.
People stood up around him. The piano played the opening of “I Surrender All.” He didn’t need to open the hymnal. He knew the words. All four verses. But he held the book anyway because if he rested it on the back of the pew in front of him, it hid his erection.
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