The Knight of Her Dreams (Dragons and Dreamphasers) (21 page)

“Seriously,” he murmured against her cheek, “I
didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“I was a bit surprised at first,” she replied. 
“But there wasn’t any of the pain I expected, and after that, all I felt were
rainbows and the most beautiful music singing through me.”

“Ah, that sounds about right for a dream,” he
laughed.  Even as she echoed his laughter, he could feel her begin to stiffen
in his arms.  “What’s wrong?”

Julianna sighed once, before speaking.  “I just
realized that we probably don’t have much longer together,” she murmured
regretfully.  “Soon I’ll be awake, and this will all be just a wonderful
memory.”  As she glanced up at him, he saw sadness in her eyes.  “Oh, Dominick,
I wish we could be together in the waking world.  Not just for a few hours each
night.  It’s so damned unfair.”

Gently resting her head against his shoulder, he
kissed her forehead.  “I know, love,” he whispered, squeezing her
meaningfully.  “But take heart.  Maybe one day we can find a way around the
rules that govern our being together.  In the meantime, we still have our
stolen moments until the dawn.”

“Yes,” she agreed.  “Better that than being
without you altogether.”  Even as Julianna spoke the words, a new concern
entered her mind.  She shut her eyes against it, but Dominick wasn’t fooled.

“There’s something else bothering you,” he said
softly.  She bit her lip, not wanting to cast a damper on this perfect night
they’d shared.  As if hearing her thoughts, he raised up on one elbow.  “Tell
me what’s troubling you, love.”

She nearly had to force the words free.

“Us, Dominick,” she replied finally, earning a
look of confusion from him.  “From day one, you’ve made it quite clear what you
wanted from me, and now... now that you’ve gotten it, I’m afraid I’ll never see
you again.”

Surprised, Dominick nearly laughed, but his
conscience stopped him.  For in the past, there were times that had happened
between him and his nightly paramours.  However, his mind added quickly, those
women weren’t Julianna.  Even now, his desire for her was already returning.

But even with this knowledge, he knew it was more
than a physical attraction that kept him coming back to her.  He genuinely
liked being with her.  He appreciated her smile, her laughter, her fun and
teasing manner, her air of intelligence, her very pleasing and responsive
nature—definitely that! he decided—her shifts from being playful to serious,
her strength even when vulnerable, and most importantly, her loving and loyal
heart.

Ah, surely loving, as Julianna had proven time
and again, be it with affection for her nephew, or to the feelings and passion
they’d shared tonight.  Oddly enough, Dominick felt similarly loving towards
her now, although since he’d never known real love before, he wasn’t sure if
that was accurate.  He supposed it could be, but didn’t want to tell her so
unless he believed it completely.

Yet now, she’d spoken as if afraid he’d tired of
her already. 
Definitely not!
his mind exclaimed, only then realizing
that he’d remained silent for some time, leaving her staring at him now with
what seemed like mixed emotions.

“You shouldn’t think so little of yourself,
love,” he said seriously.  “It may be true that I desired this from you at the
start, but as I’ve gotten to know you, I ended up desiring much more.  I have
no wish to break off our relationship, unless you tell me you wish it so
yourself.  Instead, I’d like to spend more time with you, so we can learn more
of each other.”

“In the bedroom?” Julianna asked suspiciously.

“No, not just for that,” laughed Dominick, not
loosing the expression from her face.  “Well now, if that look bears any truth,
it would seem I’ve changed from knight to ogre yet again, unless you think ogre
is too complimentary.”

At her attempt to hide a smile, he continued,
“I’ll tell you what I’d like to do, my fair Julianna.  I want to hear about
your life and family in the reality of your world.  I want us to go to new and
pleasant dream scenarios to enjoy our time together, and to show you all that
can be.”  At her curious smile, he cuddled her closer to add, “And perhaps to
show you more games lovers play.”

To emphasize his words, he kissed her
lingeringly.  Afterwards, the look of doubt faded from her eyes.

“All right, I trust you,” she said finally.  “I
just hope you’re not going to disappear on me to find another like my former
boyfriend Roger.”

Dominick shushed her gently.  “I’m not leaving
you.  And let’s not talk about him tonight,” he suggested, earning a nod of
agreement from her.  Pulling her closer, he murmured against her cheek,
“Dearest, promise me you’ll try and forget about him altogether.”

Liking his endearments more and more, she
smiled.  “Roger who?” she murmured back, earning a chuckle from him.

“Ah, that’s my Julianna,” he whispered, even as
things began to fade around them.  “It would seem we’d best say our good-byes
quickly, love,” Dominick added knowingly, his grip tightening on her shoulder. 
“Though by heaven, I wish it didn’t have to be like this.”

“You’ll come back for me tomorrow then?”

“I promise, love.”

Their embrace strengthened still more, stealing a
few more kisses before they were separated once again.  Julianna tried hard to
memorize Dominick’s face, just in case there would be no next time for them,
and she tried to take comfort in his strength, even as his hold on her became
lighter and she felt herself drifting away.

Not yet!
her mind demanded. 
We need more time!

She knew such time was not to be granted however,
and in desperation, her troubled thoughts gave rise to the truth of a new
emotion.  One she wanted deeply to express.

“Farewell until the morrow, love,” she heard him
whisper faintly.

Wait, Dominick, I love you!
she tried to shout in response, but the words
were as lost to him as he was to her.

As she started to wake up in her own room,
Julianna heard herself whisper her last thought again, just before full reality
set in.  Sitting up sharply, she glanced down at her attire.  She half expected
to find her nightgown lying on the floor, but of course, everything she and
Dominick had done was only in a dream.

Despite the fact that it
was
just a
dream, Julianna couldn’t help but feel that she’d lost a part of herself, along
with losing Dominick.  The vividness and beauty of her dreams made waking all
the more painful, and the gap between these two worlds began to weigh heavily
upon her.

For it was the dream world that was becoming her
favorite world.  And what kind of crazy girl would fall in love with an
illusion?

“Are you drunk?” Vicki
asked suspiciously.

Julianna shook her head
with a laugh.  “What a nice way to greet someone in the morning.  “Most people
just say, ‘How are you doing?’”

Vicki had no reply, merely
watching as Julianna moved airily about her room.  Something strange was going
on, she decided.  It
was
only 10:00 AM.  Normally, her younger
sister wouldn’t be up this early on the weekend, usually trying to catch up on
sleep after a busy workweek.  When Julianna did get up early, she was often
listless at best, irritable at worst.  But instead, Vicki awoke to hear her
humming in her bedroom.

Humming!
her mind repeated.

Upon knocking, if she
hadn’t heard Julianna respond in her familiar voice, Vicki would have sworn her
sister had been kidnapped and replaced by an alien duplicate.  When she emerged
from her room immediately after, the smile on her face looked bright enough to
renew Vicki’s suspicions that this couldn’t possibly be
her
sister.

Even Crystal was surprised
to see Julianna in such good spirits, but she merely laughed at Vicki’s
concern.  “Better she be unusually happy than depressed,” she stated.

Their sister was totally
oblivious to their opinions, caught in her own euphoric state of cloud nine. 
True, Julianna couldn’t understand what kept bringing Dominick back into her
dreams, now three nights in a row.  Nor was she sure how long this seeming
‘coincidence’ would persist with its surprising vividness, both when she was
asleep and awake.  But for all its strangeness, she didn’t question it anymore.
 She was happy now, for the first time in months.

Her dream knight had given
her an inner strength, the feeling of love given and returned—even without the
words themselves being spoken—and he was truly a positive influence on her
life.  He’d even helped ease the pain over Roger’s betrayal.  And now, she was
beginning to believe the saying that time healed all wounds.

Giving due credit, of
course, to Dominick!

“Aunt Julie, can I pul-ease
have a cookie?” asked a familiar voice behind her, just before Sammy’s arms
wrapped around her legs.

Laughing as she
disentangled herself from his grasp, Julianna knelt down to his level, rubbing
her chin thoughtfully.  “Isn’t it a bit early for cookies?”  A sad-eyed pout
replaced his former brightness, but he said nothing as he shifted feet.  “Oh,
good heavens.  This looks to be an emergency, isn’t it?  Well then, I suppose
one cookie can’t hurt.  Come on.”

Sammy grinned, taking her
hand and pulling her towards the kitchen.  Julianna laughed heartily at how
such a little thing could inspire delight in a child.  As she watched her
nephew contentedly munching away at the cookie she’d retrieved from the jar up
above, she found herself wondering what her own children might be like someday.

Maybe... like Dominick?

The doorbell rang, and
moments later Vicki shouted, “Julie!”

“I’ll get it!” she called
back, still a bit dreamy-eyed as she walked to the door.  Absently, she
wondered where she’d meet Dominick tonight.  Another romantic setting?  A space
scenario?  Or perhaps back at the castle again.

Smiling warmly in
remembrance of how they’d spent the evening there last night, she opened the
door...

And abruptly froze.

“Julie,” the quiet yet
familiar voice said, as if from far away.  “You’re looking better than ever.”

“No,” she whispered,
shaking her head and feeling her skin suddenly turn cold. 
Roger!
  What
on Earth was
he
doing here, now of all times, when she was
finally moving past what happened?  “I’m sorry,” she stammered finally.  “You
must have the wrong house.”

“Please,” he protested,
holding the door ajar with his foot.  “I need to speak with you.  What you saw
in the store wasn’t how it looked.  Things have changed in your absence.  Can’t
you spare me a few minutes, so I can explain?”

Anger replaced her shock. 
“Explain what?” she bit out.  “Explain that you’re in love with another woman? 
Explain that I’m just someone to pass the time with when it’s convenient?  No
thanks, Roger.  I neither need nor want your explanations.  Just get out.”

“I don’t love Marilyn, and
she’s out of my life for good.”

So the rumors were true
, Julianna thought
absently.  Still, true or not, it didn’t erase the scene at the store, and she
concluded it didn’t matter, hardening her expression.

“I’m very happy for her,”
she said coldly.

“And I realize what an
idiot I’ve been in regard to you,” Roger continued.  “Julie, look I know you
must be angry, but I’m really sorry for what happened between us.  I was trying
to tell you in the supermarket that I was helping Marilyn out simply because
her car broke down.  But I would have done that for anyone.”

“How convenient that you
were able to be there for her, but not for me when I needed it.”

“I see.  So this isn’t
about Marilyn so much as what happened between us during our last evening
together.”  The somber look in her eyes confirmed his words.  “Julie, if I
could do it over, don’t you think I would?”

“I don’t know.  Would you?”

“Of course I would.”

Having heard lines like
this from him before, she shook her head.  “You know, that’s all fine and good
for you, Roger.  But you’re wasting your time telling me this,” she replied,
her voice shaking slightly.  “What’s done is done, and there’s no going back. 
Just because I wanted to take things slow, you couldn’t wait to jump into bed
with someone else.  All those years I thought you were different, but obviously
I was wrong.  Now please, just leave.”  Before she could shut the door, Roger
deftly stepped inside, placing his hands on her shoulders.  She flinched
against him, but her back was to the door.  “Roger, let me go, or I swear I’ll
scream,” she nearly yelled.

“Julie, listen to me!” he
said firmly, his grip tightening.  “The last thing I want is to have you
screaming for your family, but I’m not leaving until you hear me out.”  Sighing
once as she fell silent, he began more quietly, “I understand your anger,
Julie, and I don’t blame you for it.  Heaven knows I haven’t done much to earn
otherwise from you lately.  But ever since that evening you came to my
apartment to find me, all I’ve wanted to do was run over here to set things
right between us.”