Stolen Dreams

by Stacey Kennedy

  I glared at him.

  “All right.” He sighed and stood then moved to the leather recliner. “You’re still mad.”

  Mad didn’t even cut it. I had enough―of him―this―all of it. Never once had anyone asked me if I wanted to help with this, I was just told I had to. No one cared I wasn’t at work, not getting paid, tired, hungry―and yes this pizza was delicious.

  In the past two days, I’d been seduced, made a fool of, had the most erotic dream of my life, stuffed myself into jeans which were way too tight, been rejected and then told I looked like your regular street whore.

  All of that didn’t compare to the fact that I cared for this idiot ghost, and the torment of emotions I’d been feeling lately turned me inside out.

  Just as I took another bite of pizza, the door flew open. “You are all in so much trouble!” Caley stood, hands on her waist, expression as tight as a person eating a sour candy. “No one called me! You all go off on this murder mystery leaving me to worry and not a single one of you calls me for days to tell me that you are all right! Every time I come here, no one is around―you all just upped and vanished.”

  I swallowed my food then wiped my mouth with a napkin. “You know, you aren’t our number one priority.”

  Caley’s glare deepened, even added in a stomp of her foot to prove just how truly pissed she was. “Well I should be. I couldn’t even sleep. I’ve been tossing and turning every night. Look―I have bags under my eyes. And your phone is still off.”

  I placed my plate on the coffee table, then rubbed my hands across my face, feeling so very tired. “What do you want, Caley? I’m not in the mood.” I waited for an answer. I lowered my hands, glanced at Caley who studied me with an odd expression. “What now?”

  “What’s wrong?” Caley asked, seriously.

  A thousand things I wanted to say. Instead, I kept it simple. “I’m chasing a murderer and you’re asking me what is wrong?”

  Caley examined me a minute more then said, “No, someone has hurt you.” She stepped forward and glared at Zach. “What have you done to her?”

  Zach turned to me, examining, curious. “I haven’t done anything to her.”

  “I’m fine,” I told Caley in hopes that she’d take the hint to shut her mouth.

  Of course, she didn’t. “Bullshit! Why are you sad?” Her hands balled into fists as she brought them to the sides of her body. “Tell me right now.”

  It was not a place I wanted to go, especially with Caley here. She was as protective as any older brother would be. Heads would roll. Even if Kipp’s head couldn’t, she’d find a way to make it happen. Hoping to settle this, I planted a smile on my face. “It’s nothing, I’m okay. Honestly.”

  Caley’s eyes narrowed. “I have known you since you were this high.” She held her hand to her waist. “Not only do I know you have been hurt, I know you’re lying to me now.”

  “I’m just tired,” I responded, eager this would do the trick. “This is all just so exhausting.”

  “You don’t look tired,” Caley retorted. “You look heartbroken.”

  She wouldn’t leave it be. I drew in a deep breath. “Will you just let it go, Caley? I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Talk about what?” Kipp stood and took two big steps toward me.

  As did Caley, who stopped right in front of me, her hand on my shoulder in a way meant to comfort me. “What’s happened?”

  Very unlike her, which meant she understood the gravity of my pain. I sucked in a very deep breath, jumped to my feet, shrugged off her hand and glared between her and Kipp. “I said I don’t want to talk about. What of that don’t you all fucking understanding?”

  Caley’s eyes widened then they lowered to slits. She closed the distance between us, coming nose-to-nose with me. “You’re going to tell me right now or I will tell them what you did on spring break.”

  The event she referred to involved bare breasts and a very drunk me. As much as I wanted to keep screaming to keep this anger up and not break down, having my best friend with me now, all I wanted to do was run into her arms and cry on her shoulder. I felt torn in a thousand directions and had reached my limit.

  It wasn’t a lie about being exhausted either, I was so tired my eyes burned and because of it, my control on my emotions plummeted. Before I could stop it, my eyes welled up with tears.

  Caley’s look softened. Her hands rested on my shoulders as concern rocketed across her features. “Jesus, Tess, what is it?”

  I shook my head and the movement spilled a tear down my face. If I opened my mouth it would come out in a loud cry, and that I couldn’t have.

  “Why are you upset?” Kipp asked in a gentle tone which stole my heart.

  I glanced at him. The energy to fight against all this had left me and holding back the tears was impossible.

  “Tess,” he said, taking another step forward.

  I raised my hand to stop him, found my voice beneath the sadness. “No, don’t.”

  “Tell me...what’s happened?” Caley’s tone was as soft as it had been before, just the comfort I needed, but didn’t want right now. I only wanted to be left alone.

  With tears streaming my face, I met Caley’s gaze. “Please do as I ask, just leave me alone.”

  Without looking back, I ran toward Kipp’s room, shut the door behind me and let myself wallow in the bottomless pit of self-pity.

  ***

  Chapter Fifteen

  A cold touch on my face dragged me from my sleep. It wasn’t a surprise after I cried enough to soak the pillow, I’d drifted off to sleep. My eyes fluttered open. Kipp knelt beside the bed, his fingers lightly caressing my cheek.

  Immediately, I shifted away from his contact and sat up. “What are you doing in here?”

  “I was watching you sleep,” he said without remorse and lowered his hand to rest on the bed.

  “Why?” I replied, baffled.

  His gaze focused intently on mine―an emotion I hadn’t seen from him before danced through his eyes―he shrugged. “It eases me.”

  This was another dream, wasn’t it? I gave my face a little smack, which made Kipp chuckle. The sting ran up my face. No, this was really happening. “It eases you to watch me sleep?”

  “Very much so.”

  Silence filled the air as I attempted to get a grip on what he meant. I was still in the sleepy haze and nothing made any sense. My mind had difficulty processing anything right now.

  Kipp leaned in toward me, his cold fingers an icy touch on my cheek. “Are you feeling better now?”

  “I’m fine.” I shivered from his touch, a shiver which had nothing to do with the coldness of his embrace. “I was just tired and overwhelmed.” Kipp gave me a look that said he didn’t believe a word I said. “Honestly, really, I’m fine.”

  The side of Kipp’s mouth lifted, his voice a soft whisper of truth. “You like to run and hide from things, don’t you?”

  I snorted and moved away from his hand in defiance. “You don’t know anything about me.”

  He leaned in closer and met my gaze with a fierce expression. “I know what I need to about you.”

  Yeah, right. Two could play at this game. “All right then, tell me, what you know?”

  “You are unique, but are not self-absorbed to flaunt it. You’re kind to others not out of duty, but from a warm heart. You have experienced enough sadness it should leave you broken, although, you are strong enough to push on. You’re beautiful and yet appear to have never been told that. And one thing I know for sure, is you are exactly the type of woman I’d spend the rest of my life trying to make happy.”

  I gasped, smacked the side of my face again. “I’m dreaming right?” I glanced around, looking for a unicorn or something out of the ordinary which would clarify this wasn’t real. “Yes, this is a dream?”

  Kipp laughed a deep rumble. “If this was a dream I’d be fucking you.” I blushed at his boldness. He raised his hand up to my face again and grazed along my chee
kbone to leave an icy cold trail in its wake. “I really do love that I can make you do that.”

  I shuddered from the cold stroke, then shook my head, confused. “So, I’m not dreaming.”

  He trailed his finger along my lips where I licked out at the frigid contact. “No you are not.” His eyes filled with regret. “I’m sorry that I upset you.”

  I sighed, my gaze landing on the bed as I wallowed for a moment. “I don’t even know what was upsetting me.”

  “Of course you do,” Kipp responded, only a second later. “It’s because you’re trying to fight against the feelings you have for me.”

  My head snapped up toward him, my blush grew deeper. “I...I…”

  He continued to run the frosty tip of his finger along my heated cheeks. “When I saw Zach kiss you,” his eyes grew deeper with distress, “it created anger in me I’ve never known.”

  “That is why you’ve been acting the way you have?” I should’ve seen it, known this was what upset him, but I didn’t. I felt foolish for missing something so obvious. “You were mad about the kiss?”

  “Not just that he was kissing you, but knowing I never could.” He ran the chill of his finger back to my lips where he stopped, touching the bottom lip with his gaze focused there. “Because you see, Tess, I am sure I have already fallen in love with you.”

  Without warning, tears welled up in my eyes again. “You have?” It was obvious he lusted after me, but who knew that could have just been his way. Love―I hadn’t expected to hear this.

  He nodded, a confirmation which he undoubtedly had wanted to share, if the relieved expression on his face had anything to say about it. “I certainly have.”

  “But we can’t do this.” I stated the obvious. “You’re a ghost.”

  He sighed, troubled. “It’s not the best of circumstances, no.” Then, he smiled sweetly. “It cannot be a coincidence that the only one who can help me in this situation happens to be the woman who could destroy my bachelor ways.”

  “Oh...” I hadn’t even considered it as a possibility, “so you think you needed to experience this with me to cross over?”

  Never once did it occur to me meeting him could have been more than just my helping him solve this case. Was the reason he was still here because he was being truthful he wanted more of life? Did he want to experience love as he never had before? Is that what kept him stuck here? Did it have nothing to do with Hannah at all?

  “I’m taking a guess that it might be why. It is the only thing I can come up with. The coincidence of it is too steep.” He winked. “Cops don’t believe in coincidences.”

  If anything, it made me like him more. Finding true love had meant that much to him, he’d felt unsatisfied and couldn’t cross over. He may have been way off here, but I liked the fantasy of it all too much to not indulge myself in thinking he was right. But acknowledging that, made a thought rise. “Is that why you are saying this to me now, so I can help you?

  “No,” he said, sharply.

  “Why then, why now?”

  His eyes softened to a place I’d never seen from him, warm, declaring what he was telling me now was nothing but the truth. “Your tears.”

  What? That surely wasn’t the answer I was expecting. We were running out of time? Yes, that I thought was appropriate. He’d grown impatient? Even that made sense. “My tears?” I repeated, confused.

  His finger continued to dance along my cheek, creating little pings in my body which roared my senses alive. “Your true feelings showed.”

  Apparently, he was expecting that to answer my question. It didn’t. “Which were...?”

  “Longing, pain, anger―everything I felt in my own heart.”

  Little flickers of annoyance raced through my blood. This whole time, he’d felt the same as I did. “So, if you felt that way, why didn’t you say something sooner?”

  He gave a knowing look. “I’m a ghost.”

  Yes, he was. But it didn’t matter, not to me. The simple line had answered my question though. “So, you were hesitant...like me. “

  He nodded, saying nothing else on the matter.

  I let the quiet settle around me a moment, while I processed all this. It was an abundance of information to take in. However, after a few minutes, I was still left confused. “So what do you think this all means then? I mean, what do we do from here?”

  “We enjoy the short time I have left, to experience you just for a little while.” Then, he gave a sultry grin. “I have been craving to say these words since the moment I laid eyes on you.” His eyes turned molten. “Tess, get naked.”

  The words came from his mouth, I knew I heard them, but couldn’t seem to wrap my head around them. I sat silent, stunned, then when some sense returned, I laughed. “Seriously?”

  “I’m very serious.” Kipp’s eyebrow arched, his tone indicating he wasn’t lying.

  I laughed again, nervous. “You just want me to get naked in front of you?”

  Kipp stood up and stepped away from the bed, waved his hand for me to stand with him. “That is exactly what I want.”

  I didn’t move an inch. “Why?”

  “My time with you is ending,” Regret deepened his tone, “so please, indulge me this. Let me see you. All of you.”

  “But I barely know you,” I pointed out.

  His eyebrow arched higher, head cocked in intrigue. “Does it matter?”

  “It does to me. I never do one night stands.”

  Kipp grinned, pure smartass special. “I have known you for days now, so it isn’t really like a one night stand.”

  The grin he gave me worked its magic. I was lost in it a moment, it was so arrogant and revved my motor to full speed. I gave my head a shake, willing myself to think straight. “So what, you want me to strip down so you can see what I look like naked?”

  He nodded, appearing on the edge of impatience. “That’s right.”

  “Why?” I asked again.

  His frowned, his annoyance of waiting had clearly set in. “Is it so hard to understand why I would want to see a woman such as yourself nude?”

  “Ahh...” I considered that for only a split second before I answered, “yeah.”

  Kipp shook his head, unhappy. “If only I could love your body until that self-doubt is erased from your mind.”

  Perfect point. “That’s the thing you can’t.”

  “Yes, I realize this,” he grumbled.

  Nothing else needed to be said while he stared and I squirmed.

  The silence began to eat at me. “Okay, so you want to see me naked?”

  Oddly enough, I wasn’t hesitant to do this for him. Maybe it was true and he did need to experience real caring for a person to move on, to experience what it felt like to care for someone other than yourself. Truthfully, that wasn’t what was urging me on. I wanted to be naked in front of him, to feel his gaze along my flesh, to see what his reaction would be when he saw me exposed. The only thing that interested me now.

  A playful grin rose to his face. “I never said I only wanted to see you naked.”

  I huffed, irritated. He’d gotten me all excited and now he was taking it back. “You just said you wanted to see me naked.”

  “Yes, I did.” His expression said he wasn’t taking back his earlier demand.

  All right, now he had my mind swirling. He wanted to see my naked, but never said he only wanted to see me naked. “Now you are just confusing me.”

  “I’ll make it easy on you and take control,” he purred. “Stand up.”

  Sucking in a deep breath, I squirmed off the bed, lowered my feet to the floor and stood. His mischievous expression left me curious. “What are you up to?”

  “Apparently, you have trouble making decisions so I’m taking away that need.”

  Control I usually liked, but here and now, I wasn’t hesitant to play along with this. “And now?”

  “Close your eyes.”

  Nerves soared through me. It was one thing to do this with my eyes
open, another thing to not see what he was up to. “Why?”

  “Remember, no decisions, just actions.” I rolled my eyes before I gave in and closed them again. “My voice is all you hear, nothing else.”

  I laughed, peeking open an eye. “Are you trying to hypnotize me?”

  He gave me a stern look. “Would you just close your eyes?”

  “Okay, okay.” My laughter died and I lowered my lids to complete darkness. “What next?”

  “Just breathe, relax.” His voice was smooth, sexy, and deep. “Settle that busy beautiful mind of yours.”

  After a few deep, long breaths, my entire body began to feel like a heavy weight. Tingled with relaxation, my mind ceased of thought except the concentration around my breath.

  “Slowly reach up for the hem of your shirt and remove it,” Kipp instructed, his tone controlled.

  I did as he asked and took the hem of my jersey knit shirt in hand. The softness of it just added to my tranquil state. It wasn’t hard for me to understand why Kipp insisted I keep my eyes shut, it took the awkwardness away. If I didn’t have to look at him, I had no reason to be shy. I pulled the shirt off as the cool breeze swirled around me.

  “Remove your pants.”

  I tucked my fingers into the rim of my cotton pajama pants, pulled them down, then kicked them away with my foot. When I stood fully, Kipp groaned. I smiled, pleased that I’d grabbed a black lace thong and matching bra tonight.

  “Reach back, unclip your bra and let it fall down your arms.”

  Without hesitation, I flicked the little hooks then let the lace straps slide down my arms until they swept past my hands.

  Kipp’s sharp breath hitched before he said, “Panties, now.”

  Slipping my fingers into the waistband, I pulled straight down and lifted each leg free from the lingerie. I flung my panties straight at Kipp, which I knew would go straight through him, but I liked the attempt of teasing him.

  A second later, he shouted, “Fuck.”

  I snapped my eyes open as I did my best to cover myself with my arms. “What...” I started, then I caught his expression. I lowered my arms to my sides, incapable of speech.