Kindred (Page 19)

“Yes.” Though she looked like she wanted to bolt, she didn’t move. “You’re in my school and my thoughts, and you haunt my dreams.” She turned slowly back toward the lake, her delicate brow furrowed slightly. “But this one is so very real.” The words were a bare whisper; the surprise was evident and raw in her voice. “So real. It must be that pill I took.”

He stopped moving for a moment. “Pill?” he inquired.

She turned back to him, her eyes somber and distant. “Yes. I needed to sleep. I had to sleep before I dropped.” She shook her head, causing her hair to cascade around her. “But you make it so very difficult for me to function at all, never mind sleep. I hate taking medication though, and apparently these pills cause some intense dreams. I can feel the grass, actually feel it beneath my feet. That is so odd!”

“Yes,” he agreed, because he could find no other words for her. He made it difficult for her to function! If she only knew what she did to him on a daily, hourly, secondly basis! And yet he couldn’t stop the elation that filled him, this may only be a dream, but there was also something different about it, something very real and solid. Something that made him believe that she was actually standing there with him, that she was actually expressing her true emotions.

“Cassie,” he breathed, suddenly needing to touch her with a desperation that bordered on insanity.

Fear trickled across her amazing features, horror widened her eyes, but she did not move as he stepped closer to her. Instead, a resignation seemed to settle over her. The fear faded as need and desire suddenly blazed to fierce life within her. “I don’t want to fight my dreams anymore,” she whispered.

A single tear trickled down her cheek as he stopped before her. He could almost feel the fierce beat of his heart, almost feel the pulse pounding through his veins as he reached out and gently wiped the single, shimmering tear from her face. Her eyes were wide with awe and wonder as she watched him. Her cheek was silken beneath his thumb as he caressed her.

This was the strangest dream he had ever had, and he didn’t give a damn. It was also the best one he’d ever had. “Cassie,” he whispered again, leaning closer to her. All he wanted to know was what her mouth would feel like, what her wonderful lips would be like against his. All he wanted to know was how she would taste. All he wanted was to hold her and feel her.

“Devon.” Her hand, delicate and small, came up to his. Her fingers wrapped tightly around his, her breath caught in her throat as her eyelids drifted down to shadow her eyes. “I’ve wanted this for so long,” she breathed. “I think I wanted this even before I met you. I think I knew you were out there somewhere. It makes no sense.” She shook her head in confusion. “I am so glad this is only a dream. I sound like an idiot.”

“Never,” he whispered fervently, relishing in every one of her baffled thoughts. He was so very glad to hear that she felt as confused and desperate as he did. “I understand exactly what you mean.” And he truly did. Though the feelings made no sense, and he did not understand how they could be so strong when he hardly knew her, they were very real, and very true.

Her eyes sparkled with amusement; the bright amethyst flecks in them were bright in the midmorning sun. She was the most achingly innocent, beautiful woman he had ever met. And she was far too good for him. He should stay away from her; he should flee while he still could. It would be far safer for her if he walked out of her life, he would only bring her heartache and misery, no matter how much he didn’t want to.

But he could not bring himself to move. Even though this was only a dream, he knew that whatever happened within this world would change their waking world also. And he fervently wanted for their waking world to change. Fervently wanted to be able to touch her, and feel her, and speak with her for real. His hand trembled on her cheek for a moment, he needed this. He needed her.

“Tell me no,” he whispered.

Her smile widened. “I don’t want to.”

His deadened heart seemed to kick start again at her words. Joy and desire tore through him as his hand wrapped around the back of her skull, savoring in her silken hair. He pulled her gently toward him, tilting her head up. Her eyes drifted closed, her lips parted on a soft sigh. Her sweet breath washed over him as he brought his mouth to hers.

Electricity surged through him, for the first time in so many centuries he felt alive again, and so completely whole. She eased the aching loneliness inside of him, made him forget his entire awful existence. She was everything good and right in the world, she was everything that he had been searching for, and she was completely his.

Possession and desire tore through him. His hand wrapped around her waist, pulling her tighter against him. He could feel the wild beat of her heart as her chest pressed tight to his. Her pulse pounded through her veins, but yearning for her blood did not seize hold of him. With her, he had complete control of himself. With her, bloodlust did not take over. He did not want to drain her dry as he had done to so very many other people. Maybe just because this was a dream he could keep control of himself, but he felt that even awake he would be able to do anything for her. Even control the monster that always lurked just beneath the surface of his existence.

A gasp of pleasure escaped her as her hands wrapped tightly around his shoulders, and her fingers dug into him. Her mouth parted beneath his demanding quest. A groan escaped him as his desire for more of her seized hold of him. His hands drifted over her bare shoulders, the feel of her silken skin left him shaken as he moved closer to the collar of the dress she wore. She moaned softly, he caught hold of her as her knees went limp and she slumped against him.

His composure swiftly unraveling, he seized hold of her dress, wanting to rip it free of her. This was his dream after all, and he could do anything he wanted in it. And he wanted her.

The scent of her tears stopped his rushing, heedless movements. He pulled slightly back from her, horrified that he had hurt her, or that he had frightened her with his urgency. Even if it was just a dream he couldn’t bring himself to hurt her. He did not know the extent of her experiences with men, but he sensed that they were not much. And there was no way that she had ever been pawed and molested by a nearly crazed vampire before.

But it made no sense, if this was his dream she shouldn’t be crying, she should be throwing herself at him with reckless abandon. If this was his dream, he shouldn’t be feeling like he was actually experiencing her emotions. Something niggled at the back of his mind, but he shoved aside any doubts and questions, he didn’t want to face them right now.