The Knight of Her Dreams (Dragons and Dreamphasers) (17 page)

“Uh-oh,” she murmured.

Dominick’s eyes narrowed.  “And what’s that
supposed to mean?  Coming from a guilty conscience perhaps?”

She glared at him.  “No, you idiot!  It means...”

Another roar and a ground quaking.

“What in blazes have you gone and conjured up
now?” he demanded, shaking her once.

“Would you believe the monster from that bedtime
story?” she replied, just before said monster in question pushed aside several
trees to reveal itself.

It appeared to be a two-story tall green-scaled
dragon, although a bit warped with pointed spikes protruding from its sides. 
Stretching out its claws, they looked like steel butcher knives, and no doubt
could make mincemeat out of whatever they chose.  Its teeth weren’t any more
comforting.

“Your story’s monster was a
dragon
?”
Dominick asked with a forced laugh, just before shaking his head.  “Not to
disillusion you, but I know a few dragons who’d be rather insulted at being
referred to as evil monsters.”

“All right, so it’s of no relation to your scaly
friends,” she retorted.  “Can we argue this later, and deal with this gruesome
green lizard first?”

“We certainly
will
continue this
later,” he swore, turning his attention back to the dragon that roared again. 
The creature took several steps towards its newly sighted prey, blasting a
spray of fire towards the sky, and causing them to edge backwards.  “So tell
me, how did your story characters defeat this thing, my dear sorceress?”
Dominick asked with a sarcastic look.  “A fire extinguisher perhaps?”

“Try some on that temper of yours, and we might
get somewhere,” she replied tartly, even as she tried desperately to remember
what gift the sorceress had granted the knight to defeat the monster.  “I’ve
got it,” she said finally, snapping her fingers.  “It was a palm-sized
crystal.  One that wouldn’t be melted by the dragon’s fire, but would absorb it
instead.”

“
That’s
the grand plan?” he
laughed.  “Considering how minuscule that crystal sounds, just how badly did
your sorceress and her knight get burned to a crisp?”

“Not at all!” Julianna protested, reaching within
her cloak to withdraw the crystal she’d spoken of.  It glowed brighter than the
moon itself, temporarily blinding the monster and causing it to turn away with
a growl.  After a few moments, the glow subsided.  “Here,” she continued,
pressing it into his palm.  “According to the story, the knight’s supposed to
use it to defeat that creature.”

“You’ve got to be kidding.  And how pray tell do
I do that?”

“I’m not sure,” she replied honestly.  “I never
went into the exact details.”

Dominick sighed heavily.  “That does present a
bit of a problem for us now, doesn’t it?”

“Look, how was I supposed to know we’d become
part of that stupid story?  Just figure that thing out before we get
shishkebobbed!”

Rolling the crystal about in his hand, there
didn’t seem to be any deviance from its smooth surface.  Certainly nothing that
might activate a hidden power.  Just a slight indentation on one side that
wasn’t readily visible to the human eye.  Hmmm, but if that was the case, then
maybe...

Holding it up carefully in direct line with the
monster, Dominick pressed his thumb sharply against the indentation and kept it
there.  At first, there was merely a low hum, but it gradually grew in
intensity.

“Sounds promising,” he murmured.  “If nothing
else, maybe it’ll lull the creature to sleep.”  Moments later, the crystal’s
glow returned and expanded to form a disk-like aura around him, causing him to
step backwards slightly.  Seeing the chance of losing its prey, the creature
sent an immediate barrage of flame cascading towards Dominick, but as Julianna
had mentioned, the flames were completely consumed by the crystal, vanishing
into thin air.  “The blasted thing works!” he laughed.  “Maybe you are a true
sorceress after all.”

“Don’t be silly,” she replied, although not
masking a smile.

Neither expected the creature to retaliate by
bounding towards them.  While Dominick was protected by the crystal’s glow,
Julianna was not.  As she tried to flee, the creature reached out its clawed
hand to grasp her waist.  The sharp talons pierced her skin as it lifted her
off the ground, causing her to scream in pain.

“No!” yelled Dominick, raising his free hand just
as a silver sword materialized within it.  Glancing briefly at the crystal he
still held, he shouted to his companion, “Julianna, can you catch this?”

Struggling against the creature’s hold, while
biting her lip against the pain, she nodded weakly, stretching forth her
shaking hands.  He tossed it to her carefully, just before shifting to a more
defensive stance against the monster.  “What now?” she yelled.

“Shine it in the creature’s eyes to distract it!”
he instructed, rewarded by another bloodcurdling roar from the dragon as Julianna
accomplished her task.

Racing around the creature to attack it from
behind, as was his intention all along, he was abruptly frozen upon seeing the
creature drop his screaming companion to the ground, silencing her instantly.

“Julianna!” he yelled, as the crystal’s light
faded around her.  New-found rage filling his eyes against the monster as it
turned to face him, Dominick pulled back his sword and flung it like a spear
directly between the creature’s own eyes.

The ground shook again as the creature grabbed
hopelessly at the sword embedded in its forehead.  Black smoke arose from its
wound, gradually encompassing it until the dragon was no longer visible. 
During this time, Dominick had rushed to Julianna’s side, picking up her limp
form as gently as he could.  The motion stirred her.  Dropping the dormant
crystal from her hand, she clutched her injured waist, feeling herself hugged
tighter.

“Dominick?” she whispered against closed eyes.

“Right here, honey,” he assured her, cradling her
close.  He was surprised when the crystal abruptly renewed its glow, humming
again on its own, but crackling as the black smoke fell upon it. 
Instinctively, Dominick carried Julianna away from the site as quickly as he
could.

Long moments later, he turned upon hearing the
creature give another loud roar, just before the crystal exploded with an
ear-shattering bang.  Shielding Julianna from the blast, Dominick continued
away with her, while the smoke slowly began to dissipate behind them.

Sighting a small stream up ahead, Dominick
brought her over to it, resting her carefully against the bank as he dipped a
cloth in the water and gently touched it to her forehead.  Her eyes fluttered
open.

“Welcome back to dreamland,” he said smiling.

Dreamland?
  Her eyebrows puckered slightly.  “Why didn’t I just wake up?” she
asked.

“Because fortunately, you weren’t fatally
wounded,” he explained, soaking the cloth again as he glanced at her wounds
from the dragon’s claws.  They weren’t as bad as they might have been, but
still more than mere scratches.  Frowning, he warned, “This might sting a
bit.”  Touching one wound with the cloth, he wasn’t surprised when she
flinched.

“Ouch!” she yelped.  “Is that really necessary?”

“Hmmm.”  Rubbing his chin in consideration, he
shook his head.  “No.  I have a better idea.”  Resting his hands along her
waist, she couldn’t help flinching again, although perhaps for a different
reason this time.  “Relax, sweetheart, this won’t hurt you.”

Focusing his gaze, a white glow began to surround
his hands.  As he moved them slowly over the still bleeding wounds, Julianna
nearly swooned at his touch.  Not because he was hurting her, since the pain
was certainly receding, but instead due to the unfamiliar sensations he was
evoking.

Ignoring the way he’d stirred her, Dominick
continued his ministrations, closing the wounds and erasing their marks as if
they’d never existed.  When the last one was healed, the glow faded from his
hands and he turned to face her.

Flushing a bit at his stare, Julianna grasped at
the first distraction she could.  “This is amazing,” she gasped, seeing not
even the slightest blemish remaining on her skin.  “The only thing still
slightly torn is my dress, and that’s minor.”  Smiling up at him, she clasped
his hand.  “Thank you, Dominick.”

“Your well-being is thanks enough,” he replied,
returning her smile.  Just before the reasons for their earlier argument
returned to plague him.  Steeling his expression, he moved to stand, gazing
absently towards the horizon.  “I’m surprised the monster hurt you though,
since your story characters were unharmed.”

“Maybe,” she agreed.  “But the sorceress wasn’t
present during the knight’s battle with the monster.  Obviously, I created an
alternative to the plot by being there.”

“Yes, well, I’m sure your son would have accepted
it either way,” he replied softly.

“Ah, yes... my son,” sighed Julianna, standing as
well.  “Dominick, there’s something I think you should know about him, and this
so-called husband you mentioned.  You see...”

“Please,” he interrupted, raising one hand.  “I
don’t need the complete details thrown in my face again.  It’s bad enough I saw
you playing with your child, moments before you were engaged in pleasant
conversation with his father, not to mention your
husband
.”  He
fairly bit out the last.  “I just wish you’d told me that a few nights ago.”

Julianna walked about to face him, despite the
fact he seemed determined to look past her.  “Dominick, I’ve only known you for
a few nights.  Yet sometimes I feel like I’ve known you for much longer, even a
whole lifetime.  For that reason, I guess I took it for granted that I never
mentioned the circumstances of my family to you before, since they were on
vacation at the time, and I’d like to change that.”

“What are you proposing?” he asked, sneering
slightly, although without much force.  “That I meet your husband and son?”

“That would be a good trick, if they existed. 
But the child you’ve spoken of is my
nephew
Sammy, and that man
whom you labeled his father is indeed that, but my
sister’s
husband
Jerry.”  Her smile brightened.  “Let me assure you, there is absolutely
nothing
going on between us.”

For a brief moment, Dominick felt a surge of
relief, just before a certain memory nagged at him, rendering his face
impassive again.  “You’d like me to believe that, wouldn’t you?” he asked.  He
expected her to back down, but she wouldn’t, prompting him to fold his arms
with unmasked disbelief.  “All right then, if this is true, answer one simple
question.  Why were you declaring that man to be such a loving husband to you?”

Julianna gaped for a moment, about to shout that
she never said anything of the kind.  Why, just the fact that he’d somehow been
eavesdropping annoyed her!  But... her brief annoyance faded when she caught on
to what he referred to, only bringing a calm smile to her lips.

“Obviously you only heard
half
of
what I said,” she told him plainly.  “My words as I recall them were that my
sister
was fortunate to have such a loving husband.  Not
me
!”  At his
sudden silence, she continued quickly, “Search my thoughts if you don’t believe
me, Dominick!  You’ve already proven that you’re good at that.  But let me
assure you right now, you’ll find nothing less than the truth of what I’ve told
you.”

It was a matter of seconds before her words were
driven home and confirmed.  Moments afterwards, his expression took on a slight
smile of amusement, before he started to laugh.  Gradually, she found herself
joining in.

“I thought he looked a bit too old for you,”
admitted Dominick.

“I’ll say,” she replied.  “For all that I love
him like a brother, the man’s nearly old enough to be my father.”  Seeing the
slightly chagrined look on his face, Julianna placed her hand on his shoulder,
catching his gaze before continuing.  “Hey, you’ve rescued me from pesky late
century admirers, men from space, and even a dragon.  I think you’re entitled
to one minor misunderstanding.”

Clasping her hand tightly, he nodded once.  “I’m
just grateful it was a misunderstanding.  The thought of you being married to
someone else...  Well, I’ll admit I wasn’t too pleased with the notion.”

“Oh?” she teased.  “I can’t see why.”

His expression took on a mischievous smirk.  “In
that case, I’d certainly better correct what I’m doing wrong with my approach
to sorceresses.”  Her knowing laughter warmed him as his arms encircled her
waist, pulling her into a fiery kiss that stole every drop of her laughter
away.

It was long moments before either spoke.

“By the heavens… I should leave,” Dominick
murmured finally against Julianna’s cheek.

She blinked in confusion.  “Why?” she asked
quickly.  “It can’t be morning yet, since I’m still here.”

He shook his head with a brief laugh.  “I know
you’ve had your share of bad luck with men, but if you want me to remain a
knight about you, my dear Julianna, I think you’d understand why I’d best be on
my way.”