Insight (6 page)

“I told you she was feisty, didn’t I?” Chase said to Drake.

Drake walked over to me, and I questioned his every step. He stopped inches from me and stared into my eyes. Monica was right—he was magnetic, though I didn’t find it appealing the same way she did. This was not a boy. This was a man. A man who knew what he wanted and how he was going to get it. I knew one thing, I’d better not be on that list of wants. Didn’t have time for any of this.

“The good doctor’s daughter. We meet at last,” he said smoothly, still staring at me.

“Seems you aren’t having any trouble making friends here,” I said blankly. I didn’t really care for the fact that he and Chase had been talking about me.

Drake didn’t say anything. He just stared at me with his dark eyes, pulling me in and smiling confidently. Oh this boy was dangerous. I bet he had a warning label tattooed all over his soul. I’d also bet every sketch I’d made that this boy knew the effect he had on girls and played it to his advantage.

“Now, that’s a new approach. I don’t think any of us have ever tried staring her down,” Chase said sarcastically.

Everyone laughed out loud. I took advantage of the distraction and broke eye contact, then slid by him onto the tailgate next to Monica and Jessica.

Josh called Drake and Chase out to the jet skis. Drake glanced back at me as he walked away, smiling cunningly.

“When do you leave again?” Monica asked, teasing me.

I rolled my eyes and pulled my sunglasses down. Monica hopped down and walked over to where Drake was. I could feel how flirtatious she was. She wasn’t joking. She really liked this guy. Monica managed to talk Drake into taking her out on the jet ski. I felt a sense of relief as I watched them in the distance. This guy had really weirded me out. The further away from me he was, the better.

I leaned back next to Jessica, who was lost in a magazine article. “Hey, when did you get that done?” she asked. Out of the corner of her eye she had spotted the star inside my Ankh.

“The other day. It’s no big deal. I went alone,” I said, avoiding details.

The last thing I wanted to think about, though, was how it got there. Instead, I lay down and drifted into a peaceful afternoon nap as the sun warmed my face.

Dreaming always came quickly to me.

That was a gift.

I opened my eyes in the field again. This time, I was closer to the beautiful home that I’d seen in the distance last night. I say home because it felt like my home, only I’d never been there before. The home was a rustic red brick with white porches that wrapped around both levels of the house. There were beautiful plants hanging on the wide porch, just as beautiful as the ones in the field. I could feel a warm breeze flow through my hair. I smelled the sweet flowers.

When I reached the porch, I followed it around to see where it led. I went to turn around the side of the house, as I did I stopped in my tracks. Just inches in front of me, he was there. My soul seized with anticipation. I didn’t understand why the routines of our dreams were altering, but I wasn’t complaining, they were shaping him into something real, tangible.

A warm rush absorbed my soul as my heart pounded, deep and
slow
.

When I gazed into his eyes I lost all feeling. They were so blue, so mesmerizing. He was smiling down at me, staring, questioning why I was there.

He slowly eased closer to me, exploring every part of my entranced expression.

His fingertips reached for the side of my face, and all too carefully he let them trace each and every feature, when they touched my lips he outlined each, leaning forward ever so slightly.

My entire body was numb, but I felt my soul pulse with raw expectation.

My eyes fluttered closed as he eased me closer to ecstasy. I felt his lips feather across my brow, then my cheekbone. I opened my eyes finding his stare melding into mine.

Time stopped.

He brushed the flesh of his lips against mine.

A quiver rippled through me. I gasped, that slight part of my lips invited him in. The innocent brush of his lips elevated to an entirely new level when I felt his tongue glide against mine, a slow sensual caress. A lover’s touch.

Though the heat of his body was absent, I felt myself melt from the inside out. My head spun wildly. I was sure I was going to faint. Is that possible? Can you faint in a dream?

Thinking it was a dream gave me more courage than real life would have afforded. My hands slowly slid up his chest as his hands gripped my waist and pressed me against his firm body. I gasped between the movements of his sensual lips feeling heat absorb every part of me.

Though we had seen each other every night, this was our first kiss, and it seemed
so
overdue. I craved more, I needed him closer, and he seemed to feel the same way. The tenderness in his lips gained force as we began to explore each other, his hands moved up my body at a wickedly spontaneous pace, I felt his thumbs brush against the sides of my chest, that sensation was enough to make my knees buckle, but he was holding me to tight for me to fall.

He had ignited me. I wanted more. I wanted him to take me places that only my wildest daydreams had reached. I leaned my weight into him taking control of this embrace.

That’s when I woke up.

That’s when someone cruelly called my name and took me from his arms.

My chest was rising and falling rapidly as the rush of that unforgettable dream subsided.

Dazed from our kiss, I pulled myself up and pushed my sunglasses to my head. Ready to
kill
whoever had rudely woken me up.

“Willow, I said what’s your sign? I want to read your horoscope,” Jessica asked, shaking the magazine she’d been reading. I didn’t answer; her words were lost in the background. I deeply considered going home and trying to fall asleep again. I had to feel his lips against mine again. The craving was so intense that it was causing my body to vividly remember how his essence ignited my soul into life.

“Fine, then I’ll just look,” she muttered disdainfully.

“Scorpio,” I heard a smooth, deep voice say. I looked to the void from where it had come. I saw Drake. He was right.
How did he guess that?

“Is that right?” Jessica asked, still trying to find my birthday in one of the signs.

I didn’t answer her. I was staring at Drake.

“How did you know that?” I asked him coldly.

He smiled ironically at me and walked to where I was sitting. He hesitated in front of me then reached for my face, cradling it in his hand and tracing the base of my eyes with his thumb. His touch moved me, literally. I felt my skin hum under his. My stomach dropped…I had felt that way before—just before that evil person had burned me in my dream. I held in the breath that wanted to escape, the fear that wanted to register on my stone cold expression.

“Only a Scorpio could have those eyes,” Drake murmured, just loud enough for those closest to me to hear.

I felt Monica’s jealously rise, as well as the shock coming from the others. I glanced at his arm, expecting to see a tattoo of a dragon, but I only found the cast that Olivia had spotted earlier. I looked back into his eyes. He winked at me, turned, and walked toward the lake. Astonished, Chase followed him.

“Okay, so that was weird,” Jessica said under her breath, closing the magazine and losing interest in looking up anyone’s horoscope.

I sat, stunned, trying to remember a single time that I’d seen the figure’s face in my nightmare. I had always imagined it as a gruesome devilish person, not tall, hot, and human. Then I realized that I’d never felt the emotion of the figure either. If this were the guy in my nightmares, would that not make him the kid that was looking for me? I shook my head silently, arguing with myself. If this were him, he would not hang out at a lake. He would have, like, tried to kidnap me or something.

I sighed deeply and hoped my imagination was running away with me. I then looked out to the water’s edge and saw Drake smiling seductively at me.

Monica saw the exchange and stepped in front of me, blocking my view. “Let’s get the coolers out. They’re going to start the fire soon,” she ordered.

I managed to avoid Drake for the last two hours, though I could feel his eyes follow me as I helped Jessica and Hannah pack the coolers back up. I sat down on the opposite side of the fire from him. Every once in a while, I would glance in his direction, only to find him staring at me through the flames. They seemed to accentuate his perfect features. I really didn’t see how he could be this evil person that my father had feared…he just looked too perfect. Addictive.

“So, are you ready for Paris?” Josh asked me, settling next to Jessica, who was beside me.

I shrugged my shoulders, not wanting the attention.

“Paris…” Drake repeated, leaning forward and taking the opening in the conversation. “That’s a big step. Are you sure you’re ready?” he continued, winking at me with a seductive smile lingering on the corners of his lips.

“I’ve been ‘ready’ for this for a while now,” I responded in a chilly tone.

“I doubt that, love…Paris—Paris is a whole other world. All the rules are different,” Drake said, brushing his dark brown hair out of his face and leaning back again, trying to pull me across the fire with a stare that would halt anyone. It was as if we were having a coded conversation all our own. Olivia glanced back and forth between me and Drake, knowing that she was missing something.

Josh threw a football at Drake. “Come on, man, let’s play.”

Drake stood slowly, smiling at me through the flames. A lump settled in my throat. I wanted to go home. I decided that as soon as Dane came, I would get him to take me.

I listened half-heartedly as Hannah and Jessica reminisced over the stupid things that we’d done in our childhood. I went to take a drink of my water, only to find it empty. I then reached behind me and found the cooler empty, too.

“I think there’s some water in the cooler I put in the trunk,” Monica said.

I nodded and stood, my legs a little wobbly from having fallen asleep. I hadn’t realized how warm the fire was until I stepped out into the darkness around it and found the night air cooler than usual. Trying to focus my eyes, I made my way to Monica’s car. Once I arrived, I had to open the car door to pop the trunk. When I rose up and closed the door, Drake was there. It was like he had appeared out of the darkness. Odd.

“Going somewhere?” he asked smoothly, stepping forward and smiling adoringly.

I felt my heartbeat rise in my ears as I tried not to be pulled in by his eyes.

“Just getting some water. Go play your game,” I bit out.

He laughed under his breath, reached his hand out, and ran his fingers under my eye. The warm sensation knocked the wind out of me. The feeling was beyond comprehension.

“I don’t want to play games…I want you,” he whispered, cradling my face.

The more he touched me, the more the sensation rushed through me. It was so hypnotizing. I closed my eyes. I felt his arm go around my waist, then he pulled me closer. Everything started spinning slowly as he leaned his forehead to mine.

“Now, let me see your eyes…I went so long without them,” he whispered.

I tried to focus on the reality in front of me. No matter how good everything felt, he was bad. I knew in the back of my mind that his touch could turn to fire. I slowly opened my eyes, finding the will to face my fear once again.

“Our time has come. You belong to me,” he said quietly, staring somewhere deep inside of me. The absent, incredulous reflection in the dark of his eyes told me that he had expected a drastically different response from me, but I knew my response was on point. He had the wrong girl. I was not who he thought I was. Even though he had tormented my dreams, even though I knew I had a connection to him, I knew I was not the girl his soul was searching for.

I felt a fire rise in my heart. Nothing had ever felt more wrong in my life. He was way off track. He had to be. I pushed him back as headlights flashed across us.

“Don’t make this hard,” Drake said, laughing carelessly. Clearly thinking I was just teasing him with coldness.

I felt Dane. Those were his headlights. He had seen Drake’s arms around me, and me pushing him off. Not good.

“What’s going on here?” Dane shouted as he slammed his truck door closed with more fury than I’d ever felt from him before. The others heard him and started making their way to Monica’s car.

“Ahhh…does he think he’s your little boyfriend?” Drake said, looking harshly at Dane.

“Yeah, he does,” Dane said fiercely.

Drake laughed out loud and wrapped his arm around me. I felt the warmth of his touch paralyze me. Dane then charged forward and pushed Drake back, freeing me. Drake caught his balance and stepped forward to charge Dane, but Dane was already stepping forward to charge Drake again. Josh and Chase jumped in the middle of them, Josh was holding Dane back while Chase stood in front of Drake.

“Look, man!” Josh screamed at Dane, trying to get him to look at him. “I know you’re upset about Willow leaving, but that doesn’t mean you need to take it out on strangers,” he bellowed, using all his force to hold Dane back.