Waking Elizabeth (16 page)

A
slow smile spread across my face, “I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my
day.”

A light
but steady rain had begun to fall by the time our dinner was over and Ronan
called us a cab for our return to the hotel.
 
We dashed from the door to the black cab and slid clumsily into the
seat.
 

“So,
what time do you want to get started tomorrow morning?”
 
Ronan said, running his hands through his
damp hair.

“Doesn’t
matter to me, I’m in your hands,” I answered.

“I’ll
meet you at your hotel at ten?”

“Ten,”
I nodded.
 

Unfortunately
the ride to our hotel was short and afforded little time for conversation.
 
The rain had begun to fall in heavy sheets as
the driver pulled up to the front of the Grange.
 

“Wonderful
night, Ronan.
 
Thank you.
 
And thank you for taking such good care of my
girl,” Jess winked at him before jumping out of the car and into the rain
towards the front door.

“Here,
I’ll walk you to the door,” he said, sliding closer to me so we could get out
of my side which was nearest to the hotel entrance.

“No,”
I shook my head and faced him.
 
Reaching
up to run my fingers across his damp face, I wove them into his hair, “I don’t
want you to get any more soaked than what you are.”
 
I smiled at him, our faces inches apart,
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He
stared at me speechless, his mouth open as if to respond.
 
His eyes went from mine to my lips.
 
My heart fluttered.
 
Was he
about to kiss me?
 
A horn sounded
behind us, pulling us from our trance.
 
I
turned to face the glaring lights of the car behind us beaming into the back
seat.
 

“Have
a good night,” I traced my thumb over his full lips before pulling away from
him and jumping from the car.
 
The rain
pelted me as I dodged puddles on the way to the door.
 
Once there I turned around just in time to
see the car door closing.
 
I waved at him
through the glass and watched as he returned my wave.
 
Jess was waiting for me just inside the lobby
of the hotel.
 

“That
didn’t take long.
 
I was trying to give
you guys some privacy,” she was shaking the rain from her long hair.

“There
was a car behind us, I didn’t want him to get wet,” I stumbled in reply.

“You
didn’t ask him to come in?”

“No,
should I?”

Jess
rolled her eyes, “It is possible that you are that bad at this?”

“What?
 
I don’t know what to do?
 
I mean, I’ve known him for two days.
 
And who was that bitch from the restaurant?
 
I wanted to slap her!” Jess was pulling me by
my arm into the elevator.

“I
noticed that.
 
It’s not like you to get
jealous at all,” Jess responded, shedding her heals in the elevator and holding
them in her hand, “It doesn’t matter who she is, he only had eyes for you at
that table.
 
No doubt about it.
 
And that sexual escapade that I had to
witness while you were eating dessert!
 
It was like food porn.”

I
chewed my lip nervously as the elevator moved upwards towards our floor, “I
should have kissed him in the car.
 
He
was right there, his face already in my hands,” I held my hands out to
symbolize it, “Why didn’t I kiss him?”

“You’ll
get your chance tomorrow.
 
But whatever
you do, you better do it before the weekend.
 
He’s leaving to visit his parents.”

I
frowned when she reminded me of his trip, “I know.”

“Don’t
be sad.
 
I’m sure it won’t be for
long.”
 
Jess led us down the hallway
towards our door.
 

Chapter
17

O
nce inside I was
setting my bag down on the counter when I heard my phone buzz once in my
purse.
 
Reaching inside, I sifted around
until I found it.
 
It was a text from a
number I didn’t recognize.
 
Kicking myself.
 
I wished I’d kissed you in the car.
 
My face flushed as I read the words.
 

“It’s
from him.
 
He said he wanted to kiss me
in the car.
 
He’s kicking himself for not
doing it,” I announced to Jess as she shed her wet coat and placed it on one of
the bar chairs.

“Oh
my God, the two of you!” she shook her head and went towards her bedroom.

I
anxiously tapped the screen as I contemplated my reply.
 
I smiled devilishly
…
 
I’ll expect you to rectify
that mistake tomorrow, Mr. Sutton.
 
I
waited impatiently as the text went through.
 
Almost instantly, he replied,
A
task I shall tackle with the utmost vigor … Good Night Your Grace.
 
Warmth spread through me like lava as I
read his words.
 
I had been called that
several times by Geoff and Jess since our trip to Lily Dale, but somehow it was
different coming from him.
 
After telling
Jess good night I went to my room and quickly showered before changing into my
tank top and shorts and crawling beneath the covers.
 
I plugged my phone in beside the bed,
wondering if he would text again … silently praying he would.
 
I lay there, staring at the ceiling, unable
to sleep.
 
Tossing the covers back I
walked to the window and pulled back the curtains.
 
In the distance I could see the lights of the
Tower and I pressed my hand against the glass longingly.
 
I went back and grabbed my phone before
returning to the windows.
 
Should I?
 
Before I could change my mind I typed a quick
text,
Can’t sleep.
 
I can see the Tower from my window.
 
Thinking about you and your mistake.
 
After I hit send I wondered if he was already
in bed asleep.
 
Almost instantly his
reply lit up my phone,
If I run I can be
there in 10 minutes.
 
I smiled into
the glow of my phone.
 
I typed a response
at lightning speed,
Don’t you dare.
 
I’ll survive a few more hours, as difficult
as it may be.
 
XOXO.
 
Another reply from Ronan,
Yes, but will I?
I tapped my screen
wondering how to respond.
 
This could go
on all night.
 
I typed quickly,
9am?
Again, almost instantaneously he
answered,
8am?
 
I smiled and glanced at the clock.
 
It was already midnight.
 
8 hours
… Get some sleep XOXO
 
(Don’t reply or
else I will run over there in the rain!)
 
I left the curtains open so the lights of the Tower could give my
room a soft glow which somehow made me feel closer to him.
 
Returning to my bed, I again plugged my phone
in next to me.
 
It buzzed again and I
smiled, reaching for it.
 
Okay
it read along with a winking emoticon.
 
I pushed it away from me, determined to get
some sleep or else I would look and feel like a zombie the next morning.
 
Where
had he said he was taking me?
 
Did it
matter?
 
As long as I was spending
the day with him, I was beginning to think it didn’t.
 

An
agonizing night of tossing and turning was the only thing that awaited me.
 
A long gown wound around my bare legs.
 
Why was
I so uncomfortable?
 
The mattress
felt as if it were filled with rocks, bulging in places and hard as stone.
 
I groaned in frustration, attempting to push
the covers away.
 
I opened my eyes and
saw sheets of gauzy material surrounding the bed where they hung from the
canopy above.
 
I was in a cocoon of
it.
 
A candle burned in the corner,
casting an orange glow around the room.
 
Distantly I heard the creak of a door.
 
I sat up in bed but strangely I didn’t feel
alarmed.
 
I saw a shadow moving towards
me and a smile spread across my lips.
 

“Where
have you been?” I heard myself say in a foreign voice.

He
was shrouded in the shadows and I watched as he stopped at the foot of the
bed.
 

He
took off his robe and tossed it to the floor, “I have important duties to
fulfill, Your Grace.
 
Not all of us can
lie about in bed and await the pleasure of others.”

I
heard myself give a throaty laugh, “What duties have you that are more
important than I?”

He
pulled the thin layer of my bed cocoon aside and my eyes raked over his bare
body in the candlelight.
 
I saw myself
reaching for him greedily, my pale arms outstretched towards him.
 
He came to me instantly, his skin warm
beneath my searching hands.
 
My arms
encircled his neck, my nails raking across his bare back as he sank with me
into the bed.
 
I welcomed his weight,
welcomed the feel of his body against mine.
   

His
hands were on my bare legs, his lips slanted across mine as he murmured, “You
knew I would come.”
 
He hovered above me,
his dark hair falling around his neck, his smile stirring my soul as I looked
into his eyes.
 
His eyes … a chestnut
hazel that burned with the desire he felt for me.
 
I ran my thumb across his mouth and he caught
it with his lips, drawing it in and touching it with his tongue.
 

“You
are mine, always mine,” I whispered as he lowered his mouth toward me again.

“Always,”
he whispered in return.

I
sat up in bed gasping for breath, sweat beading across my brow.
 
I kicked at the covers that were wound around
my feet before slinging them to the floor.
 
Jumping from the bed, I went to the bathroom and filled a glass full of
cold water.
 
Guzzling it and setting it
down, I gripped the counter for support as I looked in the mirror.
 
What
the hell was that?
 
I was still
shaking from the dream, my heart pounding in my chest.
 
I raised my hands to my mouth, covering it
.
 
I
could still taste him!
 
Never in my
life had I had a dream so vivid.
 
I
flipped off the light and crawled back into bed.
 
Reaching for my phone I looked at the
time.
 
4:30am.
 
I pulled the covers up over my shoulders and
turned toward my open window.
 
Closing my
eyes to sleep the vision flashed in my mind again.
 
I could see him pull back the bed curtains
before crawling towards me.
 
My eyes
snapped open again and I clenched my jaw in frustration over the fact that I
was unable to control what was happening in my head and angry at the warmth
spreading through me at the sight.
 
I
slowly closed them again.
 
I would let it
happen, let it play out and see what she wanted me to see.
 

He
crawled toward me and I reached for him, pulling his face to mine.
 
I breathed in the masculine scent of
him.
 
My hand grazed his neck, my fingers
buried in his hair.
 
He was speaking to
me again but I was dizzy with the nearness of him and I couldn’t understand
what he was saying.
 
He pulled away to
look at me, his eyes piercing mine.
 
His
eyes!
 

I
sat up again and shook my head vigorously to clear the vision.
 
I
recognized those eyes!
 
I’d gazed into
them all day!
 
Now it was Ronan in my
visions!
 
“I’m acting like a damn 16
year-old!” I scolded myself.
 
What had this man done to me!
 
I reached for my phone and flipped on the
light, fully awake now and doubtful I would be able to go back to sleep.
 
I typed the letters into the search bar on my
phone and hit Go.
 
I had to know more
about him, this man that came to Elizabeth in the dead of night.
 
I knew trying to sleep was useless until I
did.

The
next morning I was wide awake and sitting cross-legged on the couch in the
living room of our suite with Jess’ laptop resting on my knees.
 
There was a cup of coffee sitting next to me,
the third one I’d had since 5am.
 
Jess
opened the door to her room, stumbling towards the kitchen.
 

“What
are you doing up?” she asked me, straightening her glasses.

“I’ve
been up since four, I couldn’t sleep,” I answered, nervously biting my pinky
nail.

“Whoa
there sister, how many cups of coffee have you had?”

“Um
… this is three, wait four … I might have lost count.”

“What
happened after you went to bed?
 

“I
texted with Ronan, we talked about how we wished we kissed each other, he
talked about coming here, said he would be here at 8am and make it up to me
then,” I raked my fingers through my tangled hair, “I put the phone down and
went to sleep but at four I woke up after having a vision … or a dream … I
don’t know which it was.”

Jess
got her coffee and came to sit beside me on the couch, “Ok missy, let’s put the
computer down,” she lifted the computer from my lap and set it on the coffee
table, “Tell me about the dream.”

“Well,
it started off like a dream.
 
I guess I
was her, she was in bed, tangled up in the sheets, there was this gauze stuff
hanging off the bed, like a canopy.
 
I
looked up and this man was coming into my room.
 
He took off his robe and crawled into bed with me.”

“With
you?” Jess asked.

“With
her … I guess.
 
Anyway, he started, you
know, kissing her and touching her and I could feel everything he was doing,” I
shook my head in remembrance, my cheeks burning, “I could taste him Jess, I
could taste him when he kissed her.”

“Was
he gross?” Jess asked, appalled at the thought.

I
shook my head, “No, he was … wonderful.”

Shocked,
Jess’ eyes widened, “Oh.”

“Anyway,
I woke up before anything really started.
 
I got up and went to the bathroom, got a drink of water and tried to
just disassociate.
 
I got back into bed
to go to sleep and as soon as I closed my eyes it was there again, from the
beginning.”

“You
fell back asleep and had the same dream?”

“No,
I wasn’t asleep.
 
I was awake.
 
I opened my eyes to block it out but every
time I closed them
he
was there.
 
But after a time, when the man kissed me and
looked down at me … he turned into Ronan.”

A
slow smile crept across Jess’ face, “Ah, a sex dream about Ronan.
 
That’s Awesome.”

“No,
not awesome,” I shook my head.
 
“I’m
trying to deal with these visions of Elizabeth and what she’s done, you know,
trying to process it, and then
he
jumps in there.”

“Well,
in all fairness, you kinda put him there, didn’t you?”

Whose side was she on?
 
“Not on purpose!” I defended myself.

“You
and Ronan have spent a lot of time together the last two days.
 
You like him, he likes you, it’s not
unreasonable to have a sex dream about him, Ellie.
 
I mean, he is Greek god status, you know.”

“But
it’s confusing.
 
Am I her in these
visions or am I me?
 
I mean … I could
feel
everything
,” I stressed the last
word to her and narrowed my eyes, “If you know what I mean.”

“Oh,
yeah I do!” Jess held out her hand to give me a high five.

I
smiled despite myself.
 
“I’m serious,” I
threw my arm over my eyes.

“Listen,
you are over thinking this.
 
It’s a
dream, we all have them.
 
I dream people
are chasing me all the time.”