Beyond Wild Imaginings (8 page)

He shrugged. “In the Creative Realm, there is a myth that if enough people believe in a creature of thought, the creature can become a living person, but it has never happened. Odds are, it never will. This world is too preoccupied with itself to believe in things like me.”

He shook his head. “It is impossible for a human to travel there. You are made of flesh and blood. The Creative Realm is made up of thought, energy, and magic. The places you traveled as a child were only in your mind, little one.”

“A human and the creature they bring into existence share a connection. I have the ability to show you my memories of the Creative Realm through that connection.”

Her eyes widened and she scooted closer to him. “Show me.” She was exhilarated to think that she could actually observe something that, in all rights, should only be found on the pages of a science fiction novel.

A faint bit of color touched his cheeks, and he averted his eyes. “Kelly, in order for me to show you, I would have to…” He cleared his throat. “I would have to kiss you.”

She felt herself pale, and her heart skipped a beat. “Oh.”

He looked up at her bashfully and shrugged.

She frowned. “So, does that work with all the mythical creatures there? Like, even if I was a guy and I’d created you, you’d still have to kiss me to show me?”

She snorted. “Well, that just figures.” She sighed and glanced at Garren, who looked extremely awkward. She smiled a little. “No offense, Garren. It’s not that I find kissing you a repulsive thought. It’s just that…” An image of David flashed through her mind, and she bit her bottom lip. “I kind of just got out of a long relationship that ended badly. I just don’t think I’m ready for another man to kiss me right now. Especially one who isn’t actually flesh and blood. That just reeks of problems.”

He gave her a wry smile, but didn’t push it. “What happened with your last relationship? As a matter of fact, what happened that traumatized you? You never answered me earlier.”

She sighed and stared at the horizon where the rising sun was beginning to lighten the sky. “I was in a car accident a while ago and ended up with this wound that got infected. I’d been dating this guy, David, for three years. While I was in the hospital, instead of even caring that I was really sick, he decided to start boinking his secretary.” She glanced down at her lap and played with the hem of her shirt.

“How sick were you?” Garren asked. “How badly were you hurt?”

She looked up at him, for the concern in his voice was obvious. She loved the care she saw reflected in his eyes. It was warm and soothing. “I was pretty sick and pretty injured. Broken leg, broken wrist, two broken ribs and a gash along my side that turned all nasty and started trying to kill me.”

He shook his head. “I should have been here. It is my duty to protect you.”

He sounded full of self-loathing, and she frowned. “Garren, I had you locked in a prison of matter and magic. It’s not like you had a choice.”

He shook his head adamantly and met her eyes. “I should have been here for you, Kelly. You were hurt. You were alone. Your boyfriend left you when you were sick. You needed me. You needed me, and I wasn’t there.”

That tremor went through her again at the conviction in his voice. Had anyone in her life ever wanted to watch out for her that badly? She couldn’t remember anyone. Rachel and Chad had been there for her. They had taken care of her, but Garren sounded as if his entire life revolved around it. She supposed it did, considering she had created him to protect her, but it was still strange to hear. She sighed and looked down at her lap again. She snorted. “A secretary,” she grumbled. “How cliché.” Tears pricked her eyes, and she tried to blink them away, but they were persistent. Much to her dismay, one succeeded at rolling down her cheek.

Garren was quick to catch the falling tear, wiping it away with the most tender touch Kelly had ever felt. Her eyelashes fluttered closed, and she basked in the warmth of his kindness. Her starving soul soaked it up like it was dying for it.

“I hate him for making you cry,” Garren whispered. “I have never been able to see you cry. It hurts me inside.” He shook his head. “The day the last girl before you turned her back on the Lucienus and you cried in my arms…” He sighed. “You have no idea what your tears do to my heart.”

She sniffed and shook her head while keeping her eyes downcast. “I spend a lot of time crying lately,” she admitted in a quiet voice.

He cradled her face in his hands and looked down into her eyes. “That is why I am here.”

A shiver went through Kelly that she couldn’t stifle. His voice was like a magical velvet caress, and his sincerity made her heart ache. She knew she had created him to be her companion and bodyguard. She had given him the sort of qualities she loved in people. Kindness, gentle compassion and empathy, strength. Each of the girls’ guardians had been different.

Rachel’s had been amazingly good-looking, of course, the epitome of every teenage girl’s wild imagination. She had been bordering on puberty. Rebecca’s had been soft spoken, quiet and shy, all of the qualities that her father was not. Beth’s had been smart, a genius of sorts, and Lanelle’s had been strong and warriorlike. Each guardian had represented things the girls admired so it was no surprise that Garren still held the qualities Kelly searched for in people. What caught her off guard was the way her heart seemed to react to him. It had felt like a dead weight in her chest ever since the accident, yet it leapt to life around Garren. She couldn’t explain it. It was bizarre and confusing.

“You are a very kind man, Garren,” she said softly, tears still hovering on her eyelashes.

“You brought me back,” he said. “You remembered me. You are my little one. I would do anything for you, Kelly.”

It must have just been the straw to break the camel’s back because her tears burst forth like a dam had broken. She didn’t know how to handle his gentle assurance and selfless words. She hadn’t leaned on anyone since the accident. She’d dealt with everything herself, had kept the people she cared about at arm’s length because she didn’t know how to cope. Garren’s care was what she’d been trying to avoid. She’d known that if she let anyone pin her long enough to show her genuine concern and compassion, she would lose her tentative control. Now, it shattered. She put her face in her hands and let months and months of tears just flow out of her. She couldn’t have stopped if she’d tried.

Garren pulled her into his arms without hesitation and rocked her while smoothing her hair and whispering soothing words. Kelly curled against him, welcoming the strong haven of his embrace and the warmth of his solid body. It didn’t make sense that he was warm any more than it made sense he had a heartbeat, but she tried to keep her “limited mind” from dwelling on it and just enjoyed how it felt to be held.

She heard a rustling noise and looked up to see that Garren’s gorgeous, ebony wings had come forth to offer shelter and protection like they had when she’d been a child. She smiled softly and wiped at her eyes, feeling foolish all of a sudden. “I’m sorry,” she said, trying to get a hold of herself. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” She sat up, but his arms stayed around her.

“Kelly, it’s okay to cry,” he said, his voice so gentle that she nearly collapsed into sobs again. Her bottom lip trembled, and she bit it to keep it still.

“I cry all the time,” she muttered. “It never does any good.” She shook her head and forced the tears away. “It doesn’t bring my ex-boyfriend back and miraculously turn him into a decent guy. It doesn’t bring back my house in Jersey that I loved, and it doesn’t make me any less depressed.”

He caressed his fingers down her cheek, and she drew in a shuddering breath. “I don’t know what to do.”

She raised her face, and her heart twisted at the pained, confused look on his face.

He shook his head. “Before, when you were small, I always knew what to do. You were easy to comfort. All I had to do was hold you, reassure you.” His lips twitched into a small smile. “And you adored my wings. Now they frighten you.”

She shook her head vigorously. “No, Garren, your wings are amazing.” Instinctively, she reached out and touched one of them, letting her fingers trail over the glistening, soft feathers. “They unnerved me before because I was confused and alarmed at realizing that my imaginary friend was real and breathing…and sitting in my friend’s living room.” He gave a soft chuckle, and she smiled. “I know it must be confusing for you, coming into this world after knowing only the Creative Realm for so long. It’s different, and I’m different, and it must be very frustrating.”

He sighed. “Not frustrating, just…” He looked up and met her eyes, gazing into them for a long moment. “I knew you had grown, but my memory of you was still as a child. I was surprised as well when I first saw you again. I did not expect the adorable, wild little girl I remembered to have grown into such a beautiful woman.”

She felt her cheeks turn pink and she looked down, but Garren lifted her chin with his finger and smiled at her. His eyes radiated such warm light, and she felt some of the tension and pain leave her.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” he said. “Being beautiful and desirable is not something to be ashamed of.”

She smiled as she felt her cheeks burn even more. She shook her head. “Dang it, Garren.” She laughed and put her face in her hands. “Quit.”

He chuckled. “Why do you hide your beauty from me?”

There was a teasing note in his voice and she laughed harder. “Gimme a break. I have no makeup on. My hair is a disaster. You have obviously been in the Creative Realm too long.” She shook her head and stole a sidelong glance at him. He was watching her with that enigmatic smile on his lips again, and it made her heart flutter in an odd way. What was it with that? Why did her heart do acrobatics around him? He wasn’t even real.

He’s very real. He’s sitting right there.

She scowled at the voice in her head that decided to offer its two cents, and promptly argued with it.
I meant he isn’t human.

Would it make a difference if he was?

She raked her eyes over Garren’s beautiful face and took in his broad shoulders and lean but masculine body. He was sexy. Horribly so. Sexy in a seductive, alluring, dark shadow fantasy kind of way. He was not her type at all.
Type? What am I talking about? Human is my type.

What if he
was
human?

She swallowed as she contemplated the question her conscience, or whatever it was, kept asking her. He was completely different from any man she had ever liked. She didn’t like dark men. She liked typical men. Blond, athletic…

Look where that’s gotten you. Don’t be an idiot, Kelly. Your subconscious changed the way he looked to fit your preferences. You write men like Garren in your books all the time to fulfill other people’s fantasies. You wouldn’t be able to write them so well if you didn’t have those fantasies also.

Okay, point taken. She did like to write dark, mysterious heroes. They were just more interesting. They had more depth, more substance. She sighed. But Garren wasn’t a real person. He was a manifestation. He was see-through. She didn’t even know if he had a stomach!

She glanced at him and smiled, then reached down to squeeze his hand. “For the record, Garren, you still do a good job of comforting me. Don’t be so hard on yourself.” She ran her hand along the edge of one of his wings again. The morning light danced across them, bringing out subtle hints of blue and purple. “And I still adore your wings.”

He beamed at her, every vestige of sadness and confusion leaving his face.

She stood and dusted off her pants, then motioned for him to follow her. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s go and try to get some sleep before Rachel comes knocking on my door in two hours.” She headed toward the entrance to the stairwell.

“Kelly!”

She stopped abruptly and looked back at him over her shoulder. The urgency in his voice made her heartbeat quicken. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

He motioned forlornly at the rejected pastries that she had left behind without thinking. She gave a hearty laugh. “Yes, Garren, you can bring the desserts.”

Chapter Seven

Rachel was like clockwork, knocking on Kelly’s door at exactly half past seven. Kelly had managed to sleep for about an hour, but was very irate at being awakened by her sister’s persistent need to meddle. She tramped down the hall to the living room and threw a glance at Garren in the kitchen. She stopped and did a double-take. Sitting at the table with a powdered doughnut in his mouth, he looked like the kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. She swore on her life that every single thing in her pantry was strewn across the table around him. “Garren!” she cried. “Good lord, what are you doing?”