Lover of My Dreams (12 page)

Roy laughed softly, easing back and looking down at his sweet wife with obvious love in his eyes. He reached up and brushed back her soft hair from her face, smiling at the richness of her brunette hair. When he looked into her gentle brown eyes, he melted with the love that shone there for him. He was truly a lucky man.

“Sweetheart,” he whispered, leaning forward and kissing her lips lightly.

“I love you, Roy Monroe,” she whispered against his lips.

Their baby took that moment to move within her body, drawing both of their attention. Roy smiled broadly as he slid his hand across Paulette’s belly, loving the feel of his son moving so strongly within her womb.

“You need to take your clothes off, Roy,” Paulette whispered, reaching up to tug at his T-shirt.

“Paulette, it’s not safe, honey,” he protested. “I don’t want to hurt you or the baby.”

“You won’t,” she told him, tugging his shirt over his head and throwing it behind him before reaching down to pull at his sleep pants. When he tried to stop her hand, she cupped his groin and traced the hard length of his cock. “I want you, Roy.”

Roy moaned as her fingers traced his hardness. “Baby, this isn’t a good idea,” he told her, knowing he was putty in her hands. He could never deny her anything.

“This is a terrific idea,” she told him. “You need to love me. The doctor said it’s safe. Honest, Roy.”

Roy eased back to look down at her, seeing the way she looked at him with open desire. “I love you, Paulette,” he whispered, leaning forward to kiss her tenderly.

As he pulled her nightgown over her head, he groaned softly at the beauty of his naked woman. He loved everything about her. Her body called to his. Her heart matched its rhythm to his. Her soul was entwined with his. They were truly one.

He pushed off his pajama pants and carefully maneuvered her so that she straddled his hips. He held her steady as she reached down and took firm hold of his shaft, placing it at her already dripping folds. When she pressed down and took him deep within her body, he closed his eyes and said a prayer of thanks for this beautiful woman that he loved with all of his heart.

* * * *

Rachel slowly unfolded and sat down on the lounge chair she had taken with her from home, leaned her head back tiredly, and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and relaxed for the first time in a week. It was a wonderful feeling.

The Colorado night air was cold but refreshing. It certainly didn’t feel like the hot and humid July nights that she was used to in Connecticut. Even though it was nearly midnight, she didn’t want to move from her chair just yet. She had driven a long way, and she just wanted to do nothing for a few more minutes.

Her last day in Connecticut had been a busy one. She had sent the tape of Richard’s threatening message to the police, glad that she had never replaced her old answering machine. If she had, she couldn’t have sent the tiny tape that contained the threat. She had also called the phone company to change her phone number to a new number and made the choice to keep it unlisted. After calling the security company to inform them that she would be gone for the rest of the summer, she had called Roy and had talked for nearly an hour, telling him what had happened. He was upset, angry, and scared for her, but his understanding and support was exactly what she needed.

Speaking to Roy and Paulette had given her the strength she had needed to get through the final preparations for her trip and the long, lonely hours on the road to the mountains of Colorado. The daily talks to Paulette on her journey to the mountains had helped her considerably. She wasn’t nearly as jumpy. She actually was laughing again. Paulette had that effect on her. Roy also played an important part in her gradual healing. Her cousin’s friendship had never wavered over the years. She had always been close to him, and he made her understand that there were kind and loving men out there. She had just been unlucky enough to find real idiots.

Roy had wanted her to fly out to Colorado, but she had felt she needed the time alone to relax and think things through. She really believed she would be in a better mindset if she saw Roy in one week rather than in a few hours. That’s how the car trip had been born.

Rachel opened her eyes and surveyed the quiet campground. She was totally alone in the peacefulness of the mountains. The area was totally devoid of movement and only the occasional sounds of the night interrupted the silence. Her soft brown eyes gazed silently across the softly lit campsite and settled on a point somewhere in the darkness beyond. The faint glow of the lantern she had placed on the ground beside her threw shadows across her face, revealing circles of strain and fatigue under eyes that usually shone big and bright with enthusiasm. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail that curled softly at the middle of her back. The soft tresses framed a face that mirrored a deep sadness. She knew she still carried the bruises from her attack, but she was thankful that they had lightened considerably.

She looked around the campground, glad to be in the peaceful area. Her campsite was secluded from the rest of the campsites, separated by tall pines that stood like soldiers ready to protect her.

“Always the writer,” she said out loud to herself, smiling sadly at her own active imagination.

Her smile slowly faded as her eyes fixed on the lantern flame before her. She was lost in thoughts of recent memories. As she leaned in toward the light she hugged her body as if to squeeze away the pain. A faint purplish-yellow discoloration just above her left cheekbone and right jawline could barely be discerned in the dimness of the light. She touched her face lightly, wincing slightly, partly because of actual pain and partly because of the awful memories that were flooding forth.

She had had a long drive to think over what had happened and evaluate what Richard had really meant to her. She realized now that she had loved the thought of being in love and being loved by someone. Richard certainly had fallen short of the kind of man that she would have wished for. Rachel closed her eyes and lowered her head in defeat. The date that night had been yet another chance for her to move on. It should have been a beautiful evening. She had hoped it would have been a wonderful romance.

She knew that it was the writer in her that had romanticized the entire relationship. Her long drive had given her plenty of time to think everything through, and she realized now that she had only felt those things because Richard was handsome, he was charming, and he was there. She had relived that night countless times since then and even though she was angry about what had happened, she couldn’t help but feel disgusted, used and incompetent as both a person and a woman.

She was disgusted with herself for allowing herself to be pulled along to his apartment and wished she had made more of a scene to stop it from ever occurring, but what was done was done. Yes, she had learned a powerful lesson, but it was a lesson that had made her stronger.

She had been raised to be kind, to be nice. She had always done what she should—this time to her own detriment. Being kind and nice was important, but being safe and smart and learning to be more assertive would have been the better way to be in her situation with Richard. It was her own fault that she had allowed her upbringing to prevent her from taking a hard stand for her own protection. If she ever had any daughters she would be sure to teach them to be both kind and protective of themselves. Rachel laughed cynically at the thought of her having children or being a part of any loving relationship.

“Yeah, like that’s ever gonna happen,” she said sarcastically.

She rubbed her eyes tiredly, bringing herself back to the present. She slowly eased herself out of the folding chair. She was in the mountains of Colorado now. She wanted to forget all of those painful memories and let the quiet beauty of the mountains soothe and heal her.

She had to make sure that everything was settled inside her tent before she got too comfortable. Reaching forward, she picked up the lantern and stood up to stretch, lifting the lantern high above her shoulder as she moved. The lantern cast a soft light across her body and illuminated the area a few feet beyond her. Her fleece-lined jacket was baggy and warm and partially concealed her shape but her jeans hugged her hips and made her feel feminine despite the strong muscles that graced her legs. Her life had been active, always filled with activities outside, just as she had enjoyed as a child. Just as she had shared with Roy and Sam.

She held the lantern out before her and walked carefully to her car. She opened the passenger door then hesitated to look up at the night sky. The air was crisp and cool, and the sky was filled with stars. It was beautiful. She stood there for a moment, enjoying the silence. This trip was going to be the best thing for her. Calm and peaceful. Just what she needed.

Pulling up the heavy hood of the jacket, she tugged at the strings slightly to secure the hood in place. The hood shielded her face, and she could feel the warmth against her cheeks immediately. Taking the chest cooler from the floor behind the front passenger seat, she placed it on the ground beside her then closed the door and locked it securely. She turned, picked up the cooler by its handles, and started to walk back toward her tent with the lantern balanced on top of the chest.

She carried everything to the tent that would be her makeshift home for the summer. She stopped, put down the cooler, and looked over the large blue tent one last time, raising her lantern to make sure that it was secured and steady. When she was satisfied, she reached forward to unzip the netting flap. Picking up and placing the cooler and lantern inside the tent, she quickly climbed in and zipped the netting closed behind her. One final zip of the remaining solid flap and she was shut off from life’s craziness. She was now in her own world and no one could bother her.

She found herself breathing a sigh of relief. It had been a long trip from her home in Connecticut, but now that she was here she knew that she had made the right decision. Here, in the mountains of Colorado, she could rest. It was here that she had always enjoyed writing the most. She needed some quiet time away from everyone and everything to sort things out and finish the edits on her latest book. Her yearly trek to the mountains always refreshed her and allowed her imagination to flourish.

She was at peace here. She was home. She found that she could dream dreams that gave life to her stories and hope to her life. She needed renewed hope—especially now.

Shaking herself mentally, she refused to think about Richard, the attack, or the cruel words he had spoken. She was determined to let all of that go. She knew it would take time, but she had to start moving forward. Only in doing that would she be able to start to heal. She could not allow him to have any more control over her mind or her future.

Focusing on her tasks at hand, she concentrated on setting up her tent so that she would have a comfortable home for the duration of her stay. She carried the cooler to the back half of the tent and set it down carefully. She tied back the flaps that separated the two sections of the inside of the large tent and surveyed the area before her.

“And here we have the bedroom not far from the living room,” she spoke out loud, smiling as she passed into the area that she had already set up with a portable cot and sleeping bag. At least she still had her sense of humor, as lame as her jokes were anyway. She reached out to arrange the pillow and the extra blankets over the sleeping bag then turned to neatly stack her books on top of the laptop case that she had brought along with her to her mountain sanctuary. Once she was satisfied that everything was in its place, she turned back toward the tent entrance, unzipped the two flaps and stepped out of the tent, carrying the lantern with her. Quickly zipping just the netting of the tent, she turned and headed away from her site.

She started toward the bathrooms but stopped when she realized that she had left her rubber mallet near the lounge chair. She walked over to it quickly and was reaching down to pick it up when she heard a twig snap. A cold shiver of fear raced through her, and she clenched the mallet tighter in her hand. She turned and faced the direction that the noise had come from. She waited silently, tense with anticipation.

“A little late to be setting up camp, don’t you think?” a man’s deep voice called to her from the darkness.

Rachel jumped at the sound of his voice but stood to face him squarely. She was ready to defend herself if she had to. No man was ever going to get the upper hand over her again.

“That’s not any of your business,” she told him calmly and with more composure than she was sure she had at that moment.

He stood just outside the circle of light, making it impossible to make out anything but darkness and shadows. Only silence answered her and, for a moment, she could hear only the beating of her own heart in her ears. He stepped forward then, his face still in shadow under the brim of his cowboy hat, but his entire body was now bathed in the radiance of the lantern.

Rachel found herself unable to breath at the sight of him. He was tall. Very tall. More than six feet she would guess. And he was big. His chest was broad and powerful under the navy down vest that he wore. His legs were long and muscular and his whole body screamed strength, from the top of his tan cowboy hat to the bottom of his jeans and boots—jeans that hugged his body to perfection, she might add.

He stepped forward just slightly, allowing her lantern light to shine on his face. His black hair curled slightly over his ears and fell forward just enough to cover part of his forehead to frame the most incredibly handsome faces she had ever seen. His eyes were blue, drop-dead-gorgeous blue, and he had the most sensuous lips she could ever remember seeing. For a moment, Rachel forgot to breathe. It was Sam McCoy. And he didn’t recognize her.