She leaned back against his shoulder so that she could look up at him and touch his face.
She was so beautiful there. “Why do you desire my company?” he asked.
“Because you’re a champion.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. You saved me from the Skoti.”
He swallowed at that. “If you ever saw the real me, you would hate me.”
“How could I?”
He closed his eyes as memories surged through him. This dream with her, it was an illusion. There was no truth to it. What he heard, what they felt … all formless delusions.
And yet he wanted it to be real. For the first time in his life, he wanted something true.
He wanted Erin.
“You don’t even know what I am,” he whispered.
“Yes, I do. You’re an Oneroi. You defend people from their nightmares.”
V’Aidan frowned. It had been a long time since anyone knew of that term. “How do you know about the Oneroi?”
“Someone told me about them earlier today and I did some research after I got home. I know lots of things about you now.”
“Such as?”
“That you can’t feel any emotions whatsoever. But I don’t believe that one.”
“You don’t?”
“No. You’re too gentle.”
V’Aidan was stunned by her words. Gentleness was something he had never thought to hear applied to him. Hypnos would laugh himself into a hernia at the thought.
“Hey,” she said suddenly. “Let’s do something I have always wanted to do but never had the guts.”
“What?”
She looked over at the lake in front of them. “Let’s skinny-dip.” Before he could answer, she shot to her feet and pulled her top off.
His breath caught in his throat as he stared at her bared breasts. Her nipples were hard and he swore he could already taste them. His body on fire, he took a step toward her and halted only as he felt the pain of his wounds lance up his back. If he undressed, she would see the wounds. See what they had done to him. And he never wanted her to know of it.
“You go,” he said. “I want to watch you.”
Erin didn’t know where she found the courage to undress while he watched. She’d never been so bold in real life. Yet in her dream she didn’t mind. In truth she liked the hot, lustful look on his face as she stripped her jeans and panties off and headed for the water.
V’Aidan watched her swim. Watched the water lapping against her bare skin. Her breasts glistened in the light as she floated on her back, and he could see the moist tangle of curls between her legs.
He ached to go to her and spread her legs until he could …
He turned away then.
“V’Aidan?”
The concern in her voice tore through him. He had to leave her.
Unable to stand it, he ran through the forest, ignoring the agony of his body. It was nothing compared to what lay in his heart.
Suddenly he felt himself changing. He saw his hands losing their human form. Felt the burning sensation of his skin as his flesh transformed …
“V’Aidan?”
His heart pounding, he knew he couldn’t stay. Not without her finding out the truth.
Closing his eyes, he teleported out of her dream.
4
Erin woke up to the sound of her phone ringing. Groaning out loud, she rolled over to answer it.
It was Chrissy. “Hiyas, chick. How are you enjoying your morning off?”
She would be enjoying it a whole lot more if someone hadn’t interrupted her dream while she was trying to find V’Aidan so that she could strip him naked and drag him into the water with her.
“It’s okay,” Erin said, stifling her agitation.
“Did I wake you?”
“Yes, you did.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Were you having another nightmare?”
Erin smiled at the memory. “No, not a nightmare.”
“Really?” Chrissy asked in disbelief. “Not a single second of one?”
“Nope. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d really like to go back to sleep.”
“Yeah, sure,” Chrissy said with an odd note in her voice. “Why don’t you do that?”
Erin lay in bed for a solid hour, trying to go back to sleep to find V’Aidan, but it didn’t work.
She felt so good from their time together that she had no choice but to get up.
Aggravated at herself for not having more control over her ability to go back to sleep, she piddled around the house.
By late morning, she found herself at her computer, staring at her marketing report.
As she worked, V’Aidan’s kind, encouraging words drifted through her mind. And before she knew what she was doing, she closed out her spreadsheet and was opening up her word processor.
Erin sat there for hours, typing furiously. It wasn’t until late afternoon that she stopped.
Completely happy for the first time in years, Erin stared at what she’d done. Proud of her accomplishment, she wanted to share it with someone.
No, she corrected herself. She wanted to share it with V’Aidan.
She printed off her pages, then took them to the couch. Lying down, she clutched the papers to her chest and willed herself to sleep in hopes of seeing him again.
She found him standing in a meadow. He was dressed all in black right down to his leather biker boots. His jeans hugged his hard thighs, and his black T-shirt looked yummy as it stretched over a chest so lean and toned that it could only be real in her dreams.
The cool breeze tugged at his loose hair, and his silvery eyes shimmered in the daylight.
“I came looking for you,” she said happily.
He appeared puzzled by her words. “Really?”
“Yes.”
She sat down in the middle of her summer meadow with beautiful jewel-toned butterflies all around her. After their discussion last night, Erin had been trying to let her inner artist out. She wore a light peasant blouse and a loose skirt that rode up on her thighs when she sat.
Best of all, she conjured up a box of Nutter Butter Bites.
V’Aidan moved closer. “What are you eating?”
“Nutter Butters. Want some?”
He dropped to his knees by her side. “What are they?”
She ran her hand through the red box and scooped out a handful to show him the tan-colored circles. “Peanut butter cookies. They’re really good, and the best part of all—in dreams, they have no calories.”
He laughed at that. “Would you feed me one?”
More nervous than she could fathom, she held a cookie up for him. He licked her finger as he took the cookie into his mouth. “It’s delicious. Your finger, I mean.”
She smiled at him and kissed his cheek.
He looked so stunned that it was almost laughable.
“Hey,” she said, putting the box aside and grabbing up the papers she’d brought with her. “You’ll be proud of me.”
He arched a brow.
“I wrote today. For the first time since college.”
“Really?”
She nodded. “I actually finished ten pages. Want to see?”
“Of course I do.” He took the pages from her hands and sat down in front of her to read them.
Erin watched his gaze sweeping over the page. She ached to reach out and run her hands over his glorious body. He was as toned as an athlete. Better still, his taste was more addictive than chocolate.
When he finished, he glanced up at her and the proud, encouraging look on his face stole her breath. He was so devastatingly handsome, so warm, that it made her weak.
“Vampires?” he asked.
She grinned. “I know it’s a weird topic, but I just sort of channeled them. What I like is that they’re so different from other vampire stories.”
“They remind me of some people I know.”
Erin gaped in disbelief. “Get out! You know vampires?”
“I know lots of them.”
“Are you teasing me?” she asked suspiciously, still not sure if he was serious or not. “There really is such a thing?”
He didn’t answer. Instead he flipped back through the pages. “You’re very talented, Erin. You shouldn’t let this go to waste.”
Hearing it from him, she could almost believe it. “You think so?”
“Yes, I do.”
He set the pages aside and stared at her.
Erin’s blouse began unlacing itself. She shivered at the dark, hungry look on V’Aidan’s face as he watched it. Slowly, bit by bit, the laces came out of the holes. Her nipples hardened in expectation. Then, the opening widened, baring a single breast.
“Hey!” she teased.
He smiled unrepentantly. “My favorite part of dreams. Clothing is optional.”
Erin hissed as he cupped her breast in his hand; then she gave him a whammy of her own.
He looked down at his new clothes with a frown. “What is this?”
She bit her lip at his costume. “You look good as a pirate.”
He laughed. “Ahoy, matey,” he said, laying her back against the grass. “Me cap’n’s ship needs a port.”
She moaned as he kissed her. “Me cap’n’s port needs a ship.”
They made love for an eternity. Erin had V’Aidan every way a woman could have a man. She took him under her, over her, and from behind her.
She spent hours running her hands and mouth over all that glorious tawny skin until she knew his body even better than she knew her own. In the end they soared into the sky, where they made love while the stars twinkled all around them.
Erin lay quietly in his arms, just listening to his heart beating under her cheek.
“V’Aidan?” she asked, sitting up to watch him. “Where do you go when you’re not in my dreams? Do you visit other women?”
His hot look scorched her. “No. I don’t want any other woman.”
“Really?”
“I swear it.”
She picked his hand up and kissed his palm. “Then what do you do?”
His eyes glowed. “I think up ways to make love to you.”
She laughed out loud at the thought. “You know what I want to do?”
“After the night we’ve had, I honestly can’t imagine.”
“I want to show you a carnival. Have you ever been to one?”
“No.”
Closing her eyes, Erin wished them to a state fair.
V’Aidan was aghast at her world. The bright lights and music …
Used to only visiting people in their nightmares, he’d never heard music before. The sound was wonderful and warm.
There were only a handful of people around and he let her take his hand and feed him cotton candy, candy apples, funnel cake, and corn dogs.
In between the food, they rode all kinds of rides that made his head spin. But not nearly as much as the woman herself did.
“Hey!” she said as they approached another booth. “Let’s get our picture made. I’ve always wanted to have an old-timey photo done. What do you say?”
“Whatever makes you happy.”
V’Aidan allowed her to dress him up in an Old West outfit while she dressed as a saloon girl, but his favorite part was when she sat in his lap where he could hold her. Better still, the dress she wore fell over them so that her bare thighs rested against his loins. It amazed him how fast his body leaped to life.
How could he want to make love to her when he’d already spent hours lost in her body? Yet there was no denying the fire he felt. The urge he had to free himself from his pants and press her hot, wet body down on him.
“You okay?” she asked, looking at him over her shoulder.
He nodded, even though his groin burned like an inferno.
In the first picture, they were cheek to cheek. The second was with her cradled in his arms, and for the last one she leaned over and kissed his cheek at the very last minute.
Erin took the pictures from the photographer and frowned. “Oh, good Lord,” she breathed. “I look like the boobie prize.”
“Excuse me?”
Her eyes sad, she handed him the pictures. “You’re so incredibly handsome and I’m just a plump, round, average-looking nothing.”
V’Aidan felt as though she’d slapped him. “Erin,” he said, his voice thick. “You are not nothing. You are the most beautiful person I have ever known.”
She smiled weakly. “You’re sweet.”
V’Aidan stopped her and turned her to face him. “No, I’m not. Do you want to know what I see when I look at you?”
Erin swallowed, her gaze searching his face. “Sure.”
V’Aidan handed her the pictures again.
Looking at them, Erin gasped at what she saw. Her mouse-brown hair glowed with golden highlights. Her face had a perfect peachy complexion and her dark brown eyes were bright and shiny. She looked breathtaking.
And it was so not her.
“This is what you see?” she asked V’Aidan.
He nodded, his face grim. “That is what you are to me.”
Erin reached to hug him, but before she could, a weird buzzing sounded.
V’Aidan vanished instantly.
“No!” she groaned as she woke up to the sound of someone ringing her doorbell.
Disappointed to the point of violence, she got up and answered the door.
She blinked in disbelief. Chrissy stood on the other side.
“Hey,” Chrissy said brightly. “Sorry to disturb you, but John wanted me to drop off more data for the report.”
Trying really hard not to be snappish, Erin opened the door and took the disks from Chrissy’s hand. “Thanks. Sorry you had to come all the way out here.”
“No prob.” Chrissy frowned at her. “Were you asleep again?”
Erin blushed. “Yes, I was.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Positive.”
“Nightmares?”
“Completely gone.”
“Oh,” Chrissy said, her voice strangely flat. “Glad to hear it. So then, normal dreams?”
Erin frowned at how choppy and odd their conversation was. “Wonderful dreams, anyway.”
Chrissy nodded. “Ah, well, that’s good. I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Thanks again,” Erin said as she closed the door.
She leaned her head against the door and cursed. Who or what did she have to kill to have an uninterrupted day with V’Aidan?
* * *
Over the next few days, Erin began to fear even more for her sanity. Not because of her nightmares anymore but because she no longer wanted to be awake.
Every night V’Aidan would come to her. She took him dancing and showed him all kinds of places and things he’d never seen before.
Worse, she learned that he had some degree of control over when she fell asleep. He’d told her he could borrow mist from his Uncle Wink and, much like the Sandman, Wink’s mist could induce sleep.
On Friday afternoon when she felt a severe wave of tiredness come over her, she knew what V’Aidan had done.
He was becoming more and more impatient with waiting for her to fall asleep, and in the back of her mind she wondered if one day he would pull her into his realm and not let her go.
When she opened her eyes, she found him lying beside her, his eyes burning her with their intensity.
“Are you angry with me?” he asked, tracing her cheek with his hand.
“I should be. I really wanted to watch that movie.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, but his face told her he didn’t have a smidgen of remorse.
“No, you’re not.”
He smiled down at her. “No, I’m not, but I don’t want you to be angry with me for it.”
She laughed at him. “You’re evil.”
His playfulness died instantly. “Why do you say that?”
She frowned at the hurt look she didn’t understand. �
�I was joking, V’Aidan.”
His jaw ticced angrily under her hand. “I never want you to think I’m truly evil.”
“How could I?”
V’Aidan dipped his lips to hers, tasting her, wanting to devour her. He needed her and the more he was with her, the worse it became. He’d never known anything sweeter than those lips. Nothing more precious than her small, heart-shaped face.
Erin was overwhelmed by the passion in his kisses. Each one seemed to be even more possessive than the last.
Then he moved his lips lower, over her breasts, where he paused to take his time savoring each mound. As he teased her, white rose petals fell from the sky, covering her.
Erin laughed. “What is this?”
“My gift to you,” V’Aidan said. “I want to bathe you in roses.”
“Why white?”
“Because, like you, they are pure and beautiful.”
Then he kissed her lower, across her stomach, her hip, down her leg, and then up her inner thigh until he kissed her where she ached.
Erin moaned at the feel of his mouth against her, his tongue sweeping across her nub, then down to where she throbbed. He growled, the sound vibrating through her.
He seemed to delight in giving her pleasure first. He never took his own until she’d climaxed at least twice before him.
She shook in the throes of her first release. When she was finished, V’Aidan pulled back with a devilish grin that made him appear boyish. “I love the way you taste. The way you smell.”
She smiled warmly at him. “I love being with you. I don’t even want to wake up anymore. I just live moment to moment, wishing I were asleep and waiting until I can see you again.”
A dark look crossed his features.
Had those words hurt him? She couldn’t imagine how or why they would, and yet … “V’Aidan?”
He moved away from her and his black clothes immediately returned to cover his body.
“V’Aidan, what is it?”
V’Aidan didn’t answer.
What he was doing was wrong, and not just because it was forbidden. He didn’t care about rules.
What he cared about was Erin.
And every time he pulled her into his realm he was robbing her of the pleasures of her own world. Of her life.
This was wrong, and for the first time he understood exactly how wrong it was.
“V’Aidan!” the howling shout echoed through the trees surrounding them.
Phantom Lover Page 4