DREAM LOVER (7 page)

Rachel shivered as an icy chill raced up her spine.  “This whole thing just gets spookier by the minute.  Even if you are the man in my dreams, what’s the connection with the nightmare?”

“Maybe there is none.”

“There has to be.  I never have the dream unless the nightmare comes first.”

“The problem is there’s even less to go on with the nightmare than the dreams.”

“What if we worked on the lucid dreaming you told me about?  If I can get over the fear of dying by being aware that it’s only a dream, maybe I can get a better understanding of what I’m doing there and why someone would wall me up in the first place.”

“It’s worth a try,” he agreed, “but we’ll have to get a few more nights of monitoring done so I can establish your sleep pattern before we work on lucid dreaming.”

“What do we do in the meantime?”

It was an innocent question, though it was easy enough to construe it as something more suggestive and Nic couldn’t help using it to his advantage.  Rachel apparently knew she’d blundered the moment the question left her mouth, but he was already drawing her into his arms before she had a chance to retract it.  He took his time, savoring the honeyed taste of her lips as she opened up to him and surrendered herself just as she’d done at the park.  Oh yes, the real Rachel was much better than the fantasy one. 

Lost as he was in the heat of the moment, there was still enough left of his mind to comprehend what the sharp stiletto tapping advancing down the hallway meant.  Someone else had just entered Rachel’s apartment, and if he was interpreting the clipped sound of high heels against hardwood floors correctly, that someone was undoubtedly female.  Disappointment registered on Rachel’s face when he hastily separated himself from her, followed by a guilty-as-sin expression which the woman entering the room obviously didn’t miss. 

The young woman arched an amused brow directly at Nic.  “No need to ask where the canary is since my sister has a few of the feathers sticking out of her mouth.  I’m Monica, Rachel’s little sister.”

Nic rose to his feet and shook her hand.  “Nic Covelli.”

“Covelli?”  Monica grinned at Rachel and the vivid scarlet staining her cheeks.  “Guess I don’t need to ask how the sleep study went.”

“Do you always have to be so blunt?”  Rachel snapped.  “Nic…Dr. Covelli and I were just going over some notes about the nightmare and trying to make some sense of it.”

“Ah…well that explains why you two were huddled so close together on the sofa.  By the way, Dr. Covelli, you have a little bit of my sister’s Pink Rosé lipstick on the corner of your mouth.”

Nic’s laughter brought a smile to both women’s faces.  “We’ve been caught, Rachel, so I guess there’s no use denying anything now.  And since Monica is responsible for bringing us together, maybe we should explain how things are…progressing.”

“I can see how they’re progressing,” Monica quipped as her eyes swept over Nic appreciatively. 

“Now you can see how I was goaded into going to the research center,” Rachel said tersely.  “My sister doesn’t believe in holding her tongue or being polite, so you’ll have to accept my apologies because you’ll never get one from her.”

Nic lowered himself back down beside Rachel.  “I’m glad she
did
goad you into coming, otherwise I might never have found the woman of my dreams.”

“The woman of your dreams?  My, this
has
progressed nicely hasn’t it?”  Monica glanced from one to the other.  “I don’t suppose any of that progress had to do with the actual reason for going there, did it?”

Nic felt Rachel stiffen beside him and jumped in before she could reply.  “We’ve discovered some very strange things about the nightmare and the dream.  If Rachel doesn’t mind, I’d like to run it past you and see what you think.”

Rachel didn’t mind.  In fact she was glad Nic took over because she was too irritated with Monica at the moment to say anything that wouldn’t reflect how annoyed she felt.  She was used to her sister coming into the apartment unannounced. After all, she was the one who’d given Monica the key, and until now Rachel hadn’t been worried about getting caught doing anything more adventurous than working on her latest design.  She’d never even invited a man inside her apartment before, but if Nic was going to become a part of her life, it seemed some new ground rules were going to have to be established where Monica was concerned. 

As Nic explained what happened the night before and the discovery that their dreams seemed to be taking place in the same bedroom, Monica’s attitude quickly changed.  She was genuinely interested in the baffling things that had occurred, and showed a lot less skepticism about it than Rachel had at the beginning.  Of course, Rachel couldn’t help noticing the admiring glances and occasional flirtatious remarks Monica tossed Nic’s way, but the warm hand that had reached out to envelope hers was all the reassurance she needed that he wasn’t interested in her sister.

Feasting on his handsome face as he explained what lucid dreaming was and how they intended to use it to seek more answers, Rachel couldn’t really blame Monica for trying.  He was simply breathtaking, and even with him sitting here beside her and knowing he’d been kissing her senseless just a few minutes ago, it was hard to believe he wanted to pursue a relationship with her.  Men had always preferred her vivacious sister, who dressed to kill and possessed the ability to have them panting after her in a matter of minutes, so it was surprising that Nic seemed immune to Monica, and even more surprising that her sister backed off instead of considering it a challenge.

“Does she always come on to your men like that?”  Nic asked after Monica had gone.

Rachel thought about the few men she’d dated and how Monica acted around them.  “I suppose she does but it’s never really bothered me before.  I’m pretty sure she got the hint though when you told her it might be wise to call ahead the next time she wanted to drop by.”

His grin was sheepish, though he was far from contrite.  “You don’t mind do you?  I just didn’t want her walking in to find her sister in a compromising position.”

“I don’t mind,” Rachel said as she curled up next to him on the sofa.  “Although I’m not sure I’ve ever been in a compromising position before.  Perhaps you could demonstrate exactly what that entails?”

Nic scooped her up into his lap.  “My pleasure,” he murmured before claiming her mouth once more.

He lavished attention on her for what seemed like hours though he didn’t do anything more than ply her with kisses and gentle caresses.  Inevitably, the lack of sleep he’d gotten and her own restless night began to take its toll.  Rachel drew her head back, and despite the desire she saw in those dark eyes of his, she knew in her heart she could trust him.

She gave him a sleepy smile.  “A nap sounds heavenly right now, don’t you think?”

Nic traced her smile with the tip of his finger.  “Is that an invitation to join you?”

“At the risk of sounding clingy, I don’t want to let you leave just yet, but I can barely keep my eyes open.”

“I’ll stay on one condition,” he said as he rose to his feet with Rachel in his arms.

“What would that be?”

“If you get the sudden urge to take advantage of me, I want your solemn promise you won’t fight it.”

“What do you think I am, some feeble minded woman who can’t control herself around you?”

“God, I hope so,” he said thickly as he carried her down the hall to the bedroom. 

 After ridding themselves of their shoes they crawled on top of the comforter.  Nic didn’t waste any time drawing her close to his side, and Rachel was quite content to rest her head on his shoulder and let the sound of his strong, steady heartbeat lull her into sleep.  She felt safe in his arms and was certain the nightmare would be kept at bay as long he was here.  In a way she was right because the nightmare she’d become so familiar with never materialized.  In its place, a new nightmare emerged…

                        ***

Nicolo was late, but she didn’t really mind.  After tonight they’d have the rest of their lives to be together, after tonight she’d be his wife.  She wanted to dance and sing, to laugh out loud and shout to the whole world that he loved her, but of course she did no such thing.  Only after they were married would she be free to say it out loud.  What a delicious joke she’d played on poor Nicolo’s family, and even on Nicolo himself until he’d finally proclaimed his undying love for her.

Waiting in the secluded alcove of the gardens where they’d so often met to steal a few passionate kisses, she felt at peace.  This was where their love had first begun to bloom. This was where they’d captured each other’s hearts and ultimately agreed that a life apart was no life at all.  A soft smile curved her lips when she recalled how uproariously Nicolo had laughed when she’d sat in this very spot and told him who she really was.

“You should be ashamed of yourself,” he admonished after his laughter had died, but there had been no anger in his voice or in the languishing kiss that followed.

Her pulse quickened when she heard the soft rustling from behind her because she knew it was Nicolo attempting to frighten her.  She’d never had the heart to tell him she always heard him no matter how quiet he tried to be.  He loved the startled squeak she made and the way she threw her arms around him and trembled against his powerful body when he emerged from between the bushes.  He was her protector, and she let him play the part because afterwards Nicolo always made certain she trembled for an entirely different reason.

She rose from the stone bench and took a few steps towards the opening of the alcove as if she was going in search of him.  She could almost imagine the cocky grin he’d be sporting as he crept up behind her and it was all she could do to keep from laughing.  There was a flurry of movement behind her, at which point she whirled around as she was expected to do, but the frightened scream that tore from her throat was not part of the act.  Even in the dim light of the early evening she could see it was not Nicolo who was advancing on her but one of his lecherous cousins.

Picking up the skirts of her dress, she darted through the opening between the hedges and raced towards the house.  She stumbled and nearly fell when another figure suddenly stepped out from the shadows to block the pathway.  There was no choice but to plunge headlong and heedless into the woods that bordered the gardens, not when she knew why they’d come for her and that somehow they’d contrived to delay Nicolo’s arrival.

It was pure insanity to be running from them when she should have faced them and confessed who she really was so they’d stop hunting her like a pack of wolves intent on killing their prey.  But instinctively she seemed to know they wouldn’t believe her no matter what she said, just as she knew they meant to defile her so she would be ruined in Nicolo’s eyes.  All she had to do was find a small crevice to hide in until Nicolo came in search of her, and when he discovered how his cousins had terrorized her there would be more than hell to pay. 

Nicolo would be furious, outraged, and those horrible men would be banished from his house forever.  An icy fear threaded its way through her heart as she pushed through the thick foliage because she realized his cousins must surely be aware of the price they’d pay once he discovered what they’d done.  Which meant they couldn’t take the chance he’d ever find out.  That’s when she knew they were going to kill her. 

She stopped abruptly and turned around, dragging air into her lungs as she fought to gain control of her fear.  She had to face them, had to explain that it had all been a joke and she wasn’t who they thought she was.  They had to listen to her, they simply had too.  She’d even swear never to breath a word of what happened to Nicolo if they’d let her go.  Clutching her hands together, she waited on trembling legs for them to find her while she tried to work out what she would say.  When they finally arrived she held her head up high, refusing to let them see just how terrified she was.

“You have no right…”

That’s as far as she got before the bullet ripped through her shoulder, the agonizing pain registering only briefly before the world faded to black.

“Mon Dieu, ils me tueront! Oh, Nicolo, pourquoi vous n'est pas ici de m'épargner?”

Rachel’s anguished cries woke Nic from the strange dream he’d been having.  Slowly, his mind wrapped around what she was saying and it sent an icy chill racing up his spine. 
My God
, t
hey are going to kill me.  Oh, Nicolo, why aren’t you here to save me? 
She was speaking in French again, but even though he understood the words she was saying he couldn’t make any sense of it.  She was going on about his cousins and how they’d tricked him, her voice quivering as she pressed her left hand to her right shoulder and begged him to make the pain go away.

The scientific part of Nic’s brain urged him to wait, to study her physical reaction to the nightmare and note what she was saying, but his heart quickly overruled everything else when Rachel let out a pitiful wail that sounded like a wounded animal in the midst of dying.  Rising up on one elbow, he tried to wake her with a gentle shake, but the nightmare had a death grip on her and it didn’t want to let go.