He looked over at them and blinked, then propped himself up on his elbow and met Kelly’s eyes. “Surprise me?”
She grinned, picked up a fork, and cut a bite out of the cheesecake with it. “All right, we’ll start with this one.” She held the fork out to him, and he stared at it for a moment before carefully placing his lips around the fork and pulling the bite into his mouth. He closed his eyes in ecstasy and let out a heavenly sigh.
“What have I been missing all this time?” he murmured.
She giggled, took a bite for herself, and contemplated as she chewed. “Garren, you’re only made of thought, right?”
He nodded as he continued to savor the taste.
“Belief keeps you alive? My belief in you?”
He nodded again.
She frowned. “If you’re only made up of thought, how can you eat solid food? Where does it go?”
He opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow. “You want to know the specifics about my digestion? I told you I did not need food to sustain me. You are the one who insisted.”
She sighed. “Yes, I know, but—”
He grinned and sat up so that he was facing her. “You think too much,” he stated, brushing back a strand of her hair. “You never used to.”
She gave him a flat expression. “I never used to think? Yeah, that would be what has gotten me majorly screwed in the relationship department.”
He gave her a soft, enigmatic smile. “Not everything in this life is explainable, Kelly. It is just hard for you to comprehend with your limited mind.”
She looked down and let her breath out in a short huff. “It’s not just me, you know,” she said, sounding much more irritable than she’d meant to. “It’s all humans. I’m better than most.”
He tipped her chin up with his finger, and her heart fluttered at the way his amazing eyes sparkled. “Magical things exist. Wondrous things that are unable to be explained.”
She shook her head. “It’s just hard for me. It’s hard for me to be able to feel your touch and watch you eat, but know that no one else, except Chad, can even see you. It’s hard for me to watch you down a whole hoagie and not wonder where the heck it went, or if you even have a stomach at all.” She frowned. “That’s another thing, I really don’t understand why you have a heartbeat when you don’t have blood.”
He chuckled and continued to toy absently with her hair, wrapping a strand around his finger. “You created me, Kelly. I came from your imagination. I can only assume that I am able to do the things you mention because everyone you knew was the same. Why would a little girl create a thing that had no heart or that couldn’t eat if it wanted to, when everyone around her had a heart and ate on a regular basis?”
“It just doesn’t make sense. The physics are—”
“Not everything in this world makes sense.” He whispered the words against her ear, and a thousand electrical currents shot straight down her spine. She closed her eyes and drew in a shaky breath as pure, unadulterated lust washed over her in waves. Holy cow, if her mind had altered him to fit into her “more womanly” life, it had gone above and beyond the call of duty. It must think she was pathetic and desperate and needed some action because, regardless of Garren being number one: technically a lot older than her, and number two: not exactly real, he was the sexiest male she had ever set eyes on. Sensuality radiated off him just like his power did. Five points to her subconscious.
“All right, all right, I get it,” she said. “Not everything in life makes sense. Who cares if you have a stomach? I’ll just have to wonder the rest of my life.” His soft chuckle heated her blood even more, and she turned her attention up to him. He was studying her with his magnificent violet eyes and she shivered. They looked like they had seen so much. Was it weird to be attracted to your childhood imaginary friend? She was sure that it probably was in at least ten different ways, but she wasn’t really sure if she cared.
“Can I try that one now?” he asked, pointing to the Napoleon.
She looked over at the dessert and smiled. “Sure.” She picked it up and handed it to him.
He took a bite and savored that one as much as the first bite of cheesecake. “This is pure heaven, I swear,” he said. “Here, you have some.”
He held the Napoleon up, and she leaned in to take a bite. She giggled as the flaky pastry went all over her shirt and stuck to her lips as she chewed. Garren grinned and gently reached up to wipe the crumbs off her lips. Kelly’s heart faltered, then lurched in a violent way. Dang, he really needed to stop being so friggin’ sexy. And he wasn’t even trying. That made it even worse.
She cleared her throat. “So, you’re made up of thought and belief. There’s no way that one of your kind can become a real person?”
His brow furrowed in thought for a moment. “There is a myth, but that is all.”
She waited, but when he didn’t elaborate, she raised an eyebrow and gestured for him to continue.
He shrugged. “In the Creative Realm, there is a myth that if enough people believe in a creature of thought, the creature can become a living person, but it has never happened. Odds are, it never will. This world is too preoccupied with itself to believe in things like me.”
The sadness in his voice stabbed at her heart. “Is there any way for a human to see the Creative Realm?”
He met her eyes, and a strange twinkle came to life in his.
“I mean, I traveled to your world when I was a child,” she said. “Did we actually go to the Creative Realm?”
He shook his head. “It is impossible for a human to travel there. You are made of flesh and blood. The Creative Realm is made up of thought, energy, and magic. The places you traveled as a child were only in your mind, little one.”
“Oh,” she said, somewhat disappointed. “So there is no way for me to see your world.”
“There is a way.”
She looked up at him. “There is?”
He nodded. “You can see it through me.”
She frowned.
“A human and the creature they bring into existence share a connection. I have the ability to show you my memories of the Creative Realm through that connection.”
Her eyes widened and she scooted closer to him. “Show me.” She was exhilarated to think that she could actually observe something that, in all rights, should only be found on the pages of a science fiction novel.
A faint bit of color touched his cheeks, and he averted his eyes. “Kelly, in order for me to show you, I would have to…” He cleared his throat. “I would have to kiss you.”
She felt herself pale, and her heart skipped a beat. “Oh.”
He looked up at her bashfully and shrugged.
She frowned. “So, does that work with all the mythical creatures there? Like, even if I was a guy and I’d created you, you’d still have to kiss me to show me?”
He nodded and held his arms to the sides helplessly.
“Well that’s a dumb rule. Who thought that one up?”
He chuckled. “The laws of the universe, I suppose.”
She snorted. “Well, that just figures.” She sighed and glanced at Garren, who looked extremely awkward. She smiled a little. “No offense, Garren. It’s not that I find kissing you a repulsive thought. It’s just that…” An image of David flashed through her mind, and she bit her bottom lip. “I kind of just got out of a long relationship that ended badly. I just don’t think I’m ready for another man to kiss me right now. Especially one who isn’t actually flesh and blood. That just reeks of problems.”
He gave her a wry smile, but didn’t push it. “What happened with your last relationship? As a matter of fact, what happened that traumatized you? You never answered me earlier.”
She sighed and stared at the horizon where the rising sun was beginning to lighten the sky. “I was in a car accident a while ago and ended up with this wound that got infected. I’d been dating this guy, David, for three years. While I was in the hospital, instead of even caring tha
t I was really sick, he decided to start boinking his secretary.” She glanced down at her lap and played with the hem of her shirt.
“How sick were you?” Garren asked. “How badly were you hurt?”
She looked up at him, for the concern in his voice was obvious. She loved the care she saw reflected in his eyes. It was warm and soothing. “I was pretty sick and pretty injured. Broken leg, broken wrist, two broken ribs and a gash along my side that turned all nasty and started trying to kill me.”
He shook his head. “I should have been here. It is my duty to protect you.”
He sounded full of self-loathing, and she frowned. “Garren, I had you locked in a prison of matter and magic. It’s not like you had a choice.”
He shook his head adamantly and met her eyes. “I should have been here for you, Kelly. You were hurt. You were alone. Your boyfriend left you when you were sick. You needed me. You needed me, and I wasn’t there.”
That tremor went through her again at the conviction in his voice. Had anyone in her life ever wanted to watch out for her that badly? She couldn’t remember anyone. Rachel and Chad had been there for her. They had taken care of her, but Garren sounded as if his entire life revolved around it. She supposed it did, considering she had created him to protect her, but it was still strange to hear. She sighed and looked down at her lap again. She snorted. “A secretary,” she grumbled. “How cliché.” Tears pricked her eyes, and she tried to blink them away, but they were persistent. Much to her dismay, one succeeded at rolling down her cheek.
Garren was quick to catch the falling tear, wiping it away with the most tender touch Kelly had ever felt. Her eyelashes fluttered closed, and she basked in the warmth of his kindness. Her starving soul soaked it up like it was dying for it.
“I hate him for making you cry,” Garren whispered. “I have never been able to see you cry. It hurts me inside.” He shook his head. “The day the last girl before you turned her back on the Lucienus and you cried in my arms…” He sighed. “You have no idea what your tears do to my heart.”
She sniffed and shook her head while keeping her eyes downcast. “I spend a lot of time crying lately,” she admitted in a quiet voice.
He cradled her face in his hands and looked down into her eyes. “That is why I am here.”
A shiver went through Kelly that she couldn’t stifle. His voice was like a magical velvet caress, and his sincerity made her heart ache. She knew she had created him to be her companion and bodyguard. She had given him the sort of qualities she loved in people. Kindness, gentle compassion and empathy, strength. Each of the girls’ guardians had been different.
Rachel’s had been amazingly good-looking, of course, the epitome of every teenage girl’s wild imagination. She had been bordering on puberty. Rebecca’s had been soft spoken, quiet and shy, all of the qualities that her father was not. Beth’s had been smart, a genius of sorts, and Lanelle’s had been strong and warriorlike. Each guardian had represented things the girls admired so it was no surprise that Garren still held the qualities Kelly searched for in people. What caught her off guard was the way her heart seemed to react to him. It had felt like a dead weight in her chest ever since the accident, yet it leapt to life around Garren. She couldn’t explain it. It was bizarre and confusing.
“You are a very kind man, Garren,” she said softly, tears still hovering on her eyelashes.
“You brought me back,” he said. “You remembered me. You are my little one. I would do anything for you, Kelly.”
It must have just been the straw to break the camel’s back because her tears burst forth like a dam had broken. She didn’t know how to handle his gentle assurance and selfless words. She hadn’t leaned on anyone since the accident. She’d dealt with everything herself, had kept the people she cared about at arm’s length because she didn’t know how to cope. Garren’s care was what she’d been trying to avoid. She’d known that if she let anyone pin her long enough to show her genuine concern and compassion, she would lose her tentative control. Now, it shattered. She put her face in her hands and let months and months of tears just flow out of her. She couldn’t have stopped if she’d tried.
Garren pulled her into his arms without hesitation and rocked her while smoothing her hair and whispering soothing words. Kelly curled against him, welcoming the strong haven of his embrace and the warmth of his solid body. It didn’t make sense that he was warm any more than it made sense he had a heartbeat, but she tried to keep her “limited mind” from dwelling on it and just enjoyed how it felt to be held.
She heard a rustling noise and looked up to see that Garren’s gorgeous, ebony wings had come forth to offer shelter and protection like they had when she’d been a child. She smiled softly and wiped at her eyes, feeling foolish all of a sudden. “I’m sorry,” she said, trying to get a hold of herself. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” She sat up, but his arms stayed around her.
“Kelly, it’s okay to cry,” he said, his voice so gentle that she nearly collapsed into sobs again. Her bottom lip trembled, and she bit it to keep it still.
“I cry all the time,” she muttered. “It never does any good.” She shook her head and forced the tears away. “It doesn’t bring my ex-boyfriend back and miraculously turn him into a decent guy. It doesn’t bring back my house in Jersey that I loved, and it doesn’t make me any less depressed.”
He caressed his fingers down her cheek, and she drew in a shuddering breath. “I don’t know what to do.”
She raised her face, and her heart twisted at the pained, confused look on his face.
He shook his head. “Before, when you were small, I always knew what to do. You were easy to comfort. All I had to do was hold you, reassure you.” His lips twitched into a small smile. “And you adored my wings. Now they frighten you.”
She shook her head vigorously. “No, Garren, your wings are amazing.” Instinctively, she reached out and touched one of them, letting her fingers trail over the glistening, soft feathers. “They unnerved me before because I was confused and alarmed at realizing that my imaginary friend was real and breathing…and sitting in my friend’s living room.” He gave a soft chuckle, and she smiled. “I know it must be confusing for you, coming into this world after knowing only the Creative Realm for so long. It’s different, and I’m different, and it must be very frustrating.”
He sighed. “Not frustrating, just…” He looked up and met her eyes, gazing into them for a long moment. “I knew you had grown, but my memory of you was still as a child. I was surprised as well when I first saw you again. I did not expect the adorable, wild little girl I remembered to have grown into such a beautiful woman.”
She felt her cheeks turn pink and she looked down, but Garren lifted her chin with his finger and smiled at her. His eyes radiated such warm light, and she felt some of the tension and pain leave her.
“Don’t be embarrassed,” he said. “Being beautiful and desirable is not something to be ashamed of.”
She smiled as she felt her cheeks burn even more. She shook her head. “Dang it, Garren.” She laughed and put her face in her hands. “Quit.”
He chuckled. “Why do you hide your beauty from me?”
There was a teasing note in his voice and she laughed harder. “Gimme a break. I have no makeup on. My hair is a disaster. You have obviously been in the Creative Realm too long.” She shook her head and stole a sidelong glance at him. He was watching her with that enigmatic smile on his lips again, and it made her heart flutter in an odd way. What was it with that? Why did her heart do acrobatics around him? He wasn’t even real.
He’s very real. He’s sitting right there.
She scowled at the voice in her head that decided to offer its two cents, and promptly argued with it. I meant he isn’t human.
Would it make a difference if he was?
She raked her eyes over Garren’s beautiful face and took in his broad shoulders and lean but masculine body. He was sexy. Horribly so. Sexy in a seductive, al
luring, dark shadow fantasy kind of way. He was not her type at all. Type? What am I talking about? Human is my type.
What if he was human?
She swallowed as she contemplated the question her conscience, or whatever it was, kept asking her. He was completely different from any man she had ever liked. She didn’t like dark men. She liked typical men. Blond, athletic…
Look where that’s gotten you. Don’t be an idiot, Kelly. Your subconscious changed the way he looked to fit your preferences. You write men like Garren in your books all the time to fulfill other people’s fantasies. You wouldn’t be able to write them so well if you didn’t have those fantasies also.
Okay, point taken. She did like to write dark, mysterious heroes. They were just more interesting. They had more depth, more substance. She sighed. But Garren wasn’t a real person. He was a manifestation. He was see-through. She didn’t even know if he had a stomach!
In frustration, she let out a growl. What in the world was the matter with her? She needed sleep, and badly.
Garren frowned. “Are you all right? What are you thinking?”
She slid her gaze up to him and shook her head. “You really don’t want to know. Trust me.”
He raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
“We should go,” she said. “The sun is rising.”
He looked over to the lightening horizon as the sun began to peek over it. “It’s so beautiful,” he murmured.
She glanced at him and smiled, then reached down to squeeze his hand. “For the record, Garren, you still do a good job of comforting me. Don’t be so hard on yourself.” She ran her hand along the edge of one of his wings again. The morning light danced across them, bringing out subtle hints of blue and purple. “And I still adore your wings.”
Beyond Wild Imaginings Page 6