Twisted By Love, Reincarnation Tales, Book 1 (12 page)

Such a shiny black car. Toni breathed deeply,
hefted the tire iron, and brought it crashing down on his
windshield. Exhilaration exploded inside her, almost like an
orgasm. The car alarm began to shriek, but she didn’t care. She
slammed the windshield again, cracking, splintering,
destroying.

Oh God, it was good, so good. Her body
trembled with excitement, need, and desire. It was better than sex.
She wanted to go on and on, smashing and rending.

But she wasn’t stupid. Someone would come for
the screeching alarm. So she ran, fleet of foot, toward her car.
But the feeling, it was too damn good to resist. She slammed the
tire iron into the passenger side window of an SUV. Another alarm
blared. She didn’t have much time. She had to hightail it out of
there. But before she crossed the street, she buried the iron in
two more windshields, the smashing of glass like an
aphrodisiac.

Then she threw herself into her car, cranked
the engine, gunned the motor and sped off into the night amid the
wail of car alarms.

Ah yes, violence was better than sex. She was
wet and hot and on the edge, her body screaming. Blocks away, she
yanked the wheel, pulled over and put her hand in her panties.

The orgasm was better than anything she’d
ever known.

Chapter Eleven

Livie woke him. She made a sound, not a
scream, more a throaty moan of terror. She didn’t thrash or toss
her head. Yet something was wrong.

He brushed disheveled hair from her face,
trying to wake her gently. “Livie.”

She bolted up in the bed, breathing hard, the
sheet falling to her waist. Then she looked down at him. Even in
the dark, he could see her wide eyes.

He touched her arm. “Are you all right?”

She swallowed, then seemed to realize the
sheet covered only her lap, and she jerked it to her chin. “I’m
fine.”

“Bad dream?” he coaxed, caressing her arm
with one finger.

She nodded her head, then rolled her lips
together, saying nothing.

“Lay down,” he murmured soothingly.

She did so slowly and he pulled her into his
arms. She was trembling.

“Wow, that really was a bad dream, huh.” He
stroked rhythmically up and down her arm.

She nodded again.

He realized then that there was some sort of
racket outside. It had been there in the background when he woke
Livie, but he hadn’t paid attention. He listened a moment. Car
alarms, the sound muted by the double-paned sliding glass door. His
car was parked on the street, and he thought about going down, but
he didn’t want to leave Livie, not when she was shaking like a
leaf.

“Want to tell me about it?” It was just a
dream, but it made him ache to see her like this.

“Snakes,” she said, then gave a full body
shiver.

He remembered how she was with the lizard.
She’d said she didn’t like snakes either. “I guess it was finding
the lizard in the sink. Gave you nightmares.”

She shook her head. “No, I have them a lot.
At least I have in the last few weeks.”

“How often?”

He felt her shrug against him. “It seems like
every night. Sometimes I wake up screaming.”

No wonder she came to work with dark circles
under her eyes.

In the backwash of fear, the whole dam broke
lose, and she told him. “I had them all the time as kid. When I got
older, they went away for the most part. Until recently.”

When she first saw him? That couldn’t be it.
He was good for her. He
hoped
he was.

“It always starts in a tranquil setting. This
time I was enjoying the sun in a meadow. It was peaceful and pretty
and warm. Then my sister appeared and threw a snake in my lap. I
screamed.” She raised her head sharply. “Please don’t tell me I
screamed out loud.”

“No. You were just making a small noise,
enough to wake me.”

Outside, the last of the car alarms stopped.
Livie hadn’t even seemed to notice. He didn’t hear any sirens. It
was probably just kids setting the alarms off on purpose.

She buried her head against his shoulder.
“I’m sorry. I can’t believe I did that. I can’t believe I let you—”
She stopped abruptly.

He could finish the sentence for her. She
couldn’t believe she’d let him spend the night, or something
similar to that.

Yet all his protective instincts went out to
her. “Is it always your sister in the dreams?”

Livie nodded. “Yes. I don’t know why. I’m
actually the one who has to take care of her most of the time.”

He’d noted earlier that there was little of a
personal nature in Livie’s condo, and certainly no pictures of the
sister. Maybe that was a telling detail.

“Go back to sleep. I’ll be here.” He stroked
her hair like a child until he felt her body slacken against him.
Her breathing slowed. And she slept.

She was a caring woman, and the way she’d so
simply said that she was the one who took care of her sister made
him realize that she was her sister’s rescuer. He’d admired her
dedication to her career, but now he realized there was so much
more to her.

He waited a few minutes longer, until he was
sure he wouldn’t wake her. Then he left her. He needed to check out
his car, in case one of those alarms had been his.

* * * * *

God, she felt guilty. And stupid. It was
after lunch, and Livie couldn’t get her act in gear. The month-end
shipping reports were on her desk, but she hadn’t finished
verifying the data. The numbers didn’t make sense, far lower than
her projections, even versus last week. Her boss wanted prelim
quarterly sales for the three o’clock staff meeting, and she
couldn’t have him reporting this mess. Mr. Donaldson’s words had
been flat:
Figure it out.

She was tired. She’d slept badly the last few
nights, the nightmares waking her, being unable to fall back to
sleep. Then last night with Bern. She’d had that damn dream and had
woken later to find him missing. She’d thought he’d walked out in
the middle of the night after realizing she had major baggage. Of
course, she’d told herself she wanted no attachments, no spending
the night. Yet she’d been pissed. She was so freaking contrary.

Only she’d heard voices outside, though they
were faint through the sliding glass door. She’d stepped out onto
the balcony to discover a small crowd milling about on the street
below. There was Bern, taller than the rest, obviously taking
charge.

Livie had pulled on a pair of sweats and gone
down to find out what was going on.

His car, along with three others, had been
vandalized, their windows broken. Thankfully nothing had been
stolen. The police hadn’t come when he’d originally called, but
Bern had been told a detective would contact him in the morning to
take a phone report. Hell. His car had a blown windshield, and her
street was a war zone.

Livie had driven them both to work. Bern
claimed he kept a change of clothes there for emergencies. He
planned to call one of those shops that replaced the glass on the
spot and had left his car key with her building’s manager for that
purpose.

It was just kids making mischief. The car
will be fixed by tonight. Don’t worry.

He’d minimized it, but Livie felt like crap.
She was so damn tired that she couldn’t process. Things were moving
too fast. It had been nonstop sex almost from the moment he’d
arrived. He’d slept in her bed all night, then they’d driven to
work like they were a couple.

She didn’t have time to think about it now.
Concentrate.
She flipped a page on the sales report. It
wasn’t a slipped digit during data entry; that would have been
obvious. It could be an incorrect price in the system. She scoured
page after page until the numbers started to blur.

So tired. It occurred to her that with Bern
holding her last night, she’d recovered so much more quickly from
the nightmare, falling back to sleep almost right away. If only he
was here now, holding her, soothing her, she could sleep soundly
for fifteen minutes. That’s all she needed, just fifteen
minutes.

* * * * *

Toni pointed at her, laughing. Livie
frantically grabbed at the snakes raining down on her from the
trees overhead. She’d get rid of one, and another would fall. They
were all over her, tangled in her hair. And Toni, her hand over her
mouth, bent double with laughter. Livie started screaming when a
snake crawled inside her ear.

“Holy shit, wake up, Livie,” Julia
hissed.

Livie jerked, the hard wood of her desk
beneath her hands as she pushed herself upright. Oh God. She was at
work. The reports were a mess, as if she’d crumpled them. Julia was
staring at her like she was a freak, and three of the order entry
clerks stood outside the door.

“Show’s over,” Julia snapped. “Get back to
your desks.” Then she leaned over Livie. “Are you all right? You
screamed when I walked in your office.”

Livie was shaking. And she was mortified.
They’d all heard her. She glanced at the clock. She’d taken fifteen
minutes, all right, and fallen right into a nightmare. “How long
was I screaming?” she whispered. One side of her face felt squished
where she’d lain on it, and she had a crick in her neck.

“Just the one time before I woke you up. But
who knows how long it would have gone on if I hadn’t walked
in.”

Livie put her hands to her burning cheeks.
Thank God Julia had walked in—though five minutes earlier would
have been good. “Was I really loud?”

Julia shrugged. “Sort of piercing.”

Livie’s shoulders sagged. “This is so
embarrassing.”

Julia sat in the chair opposite. “You’ve
never fallen asleep at work before. Was it one of those dreams
about the snakes?”

Livie nodded. “I was up late.” She smoothed
the pages of the sales report.

Julia raised a brow. “Does that mean you
called him and you’re tired for a very good reason?”

“Don’t look so happy.”

Julia’s eyes sparkled with glee. “Tell all.”
Trust Julia to be more interested in that than the nightmare. And
thank God for it, too.

“Not now. I have to finish checking this
report. And I’m still mortified I fell asleep and screamed in the
office.” But at least she was fully awake now. She’d asked for
fifteen minutes, and she’d gotten it.

“Well, I’m not letting you out of this.”
Julia pointed a polished nail at her. “Drinks after work, and I
want details.” There must have been something on her face because
Julia gasped. “You’re seeing him after work. Oh my God.”

They sounded like teenagers gawking over the
captain of the football team. The truth was way too much to explain
when she hadn’t even told Julia what happened on Friday night.
“It’s just a date.”

Julia narrowed her eyes. “Girlfriend, I’ll
let you get back to work because I know Donaldson is breathing down
your neck for the sales numbers.” She leaned forward, shaking her
finger threateningly. “But you will tell all soon. Promise.”

“Promise.” Livie always kept too much to
herself. Julia would be hurt if she knew all the things Livie
hadn’t told her.

“And,” Julia added, “you need to do something
about that nightmare. It’s not normal to scream yourself awake.”
She paused, her lips parted, letting Livie know something else was
coming. “I can set you up with my shrink. She’s really good.”

That was the thing about Julia, she was so
open. She didn’t care if people knew she saw a therapist. In her
opinion, everyone should see one. And Livie had to wonder if maybe
that was true. It was one thing to scream in the privacy of your
own bed, but she’d screamed in her office, for God’s sake. If Mr.
Donaldson knew? She shuddered even considering it. She hoped the
order entry girls would keep their mouths shut.

“I can’t do it right now, too much going on
with month-end.”

“All right, fine, but think about it. I’ll
email you her phone number.” Julia rose, smoothing her tight pencil
skirt. “Now I’ll let you work. But no falling asleep.”

Her phone rang before she could answer. Julia
waved her hand in a go-ahead-and-get-it-gesture.

Her boss’s extension flashed on the digital
readout. Oh God. She grimaced at Julia and picked up. “Yes, Mr.
Donaldson.”

“Livie, get in here.”

This was turning out to be one hell of a
day.

* * * * *

Bern hated to say it, but Livie looked like
death warmed over, pale skin, dark circles beneath her eyes. She’d
called him on the phone just before six o’clock to say she was
ready, her voice heavy and apologetic. Now, as they exited the
elevator on the garage level, her shoulders sagged.

“Long day,” he asked now that they were
alone.

She sighed. “You have no idea.” Even her feet
seemed to be dragging.

He gave her a smile. “I’ll take you home and
give you a backrub.”

She swallowed. “I,” she started, then closed
her lips. She tried again. “It’s complicated, but I really don’t
think you should be at my house two nights in a row.”

Because of the sister, he was sure. “That’s
fine. You can come to mine.”

He’d thought it would make her smile, but if
anything, her lips drooped. They’d reached her car, and she dug in
her purse without answering him. When she couldn’t find her keys,
she yanked the purse off her shoulder, slammed it down on the trunk
lid and opened it wide.

He saw the key remote hanging from the front
pocket, and he pulled it out for her. She slumped when she saw
them.

“Tell me what’s wrong,” he said softly.

She bit her lip. Then everything seemed to
pour out. “I fell asleep at my desk, had a nightmare, and I
freaking screamed right there in my office. My best friend thinks I
need a psychiatrist, then my boss called me in to ream me a new one
because I was late with a report. And honestly, I don’t want to
deal with my sister tonight if she comes over and finds you there.
Okay?” She held up her hands in surrender. “It was just a bad
day.”