Just Believe (25 page)

An old woman sat by the fire. "Come,
sir, come. I pray you take no offense that an old woman sits in yer
presence."

"Of course not, mother. Take your
ease." He came nearer the fire, studying the woman as he did. "I
was told this is a house of hospitality. May my wife and I find
shelter here?"

"One of the Good Folk may always find
hospitality in my house." The woman dipped her head. "You and your
lady wife are welcome, sir."

Gaelen was taken aback somewhat. Few
mortals had the discernment to recognize fairies
anymore.

"You know what I am?"

The woman cackled. "Sir, the sight of
the truth is free to any who dare grasp it. Only the fearful hide
from it. Your people have only been kind to me. Bring your wife,
sir. I will make your chamber ready." The old woman grunted as she
tried to rise. Gaelen jumped to offer her assistance. She looked up
at him and smiled a toothless grin. "I thank ye, sir. A right
gentleman you are."

"It is my pleasure to serve a kind
lady."

"Ach, get on wi' ya. Go get your wife
and bring her in from the cold and damp. Does a body no good to be
out on such a raw night." She toddled off toward the stairs, taking
one at a time, but making fine time of it nonetheless.

Gaelen found Annabelle still sleeping
soundly. He opened the door and took her into his arms. "This is
getting to be a habit, isn't it, dearling?" he whispered into her
ear as he kicked the door shut.

He carried her in, careful of both
their heads as he eased through the short, narrow
doorway.

"This way, sir." The old woman waved
gnarly knuckles at him, summoning him up the stairs.

"I've stirred the fire for you. 'Twill
take off the chill."

The old woman stood aside as Gaelen
carried Annabelle into the room and settled her on the inviting
double bed.

"A lovely lady." The old woman studied
Annabelle's face. "One can see her goodness on her
face."

"Yes," Gaelen agreed. He turned to the
woman. "Thank you, mother, for your kindness. I'll not forget
it."

The old woman smiled and waved a
dismissal. "'Tis I who am grateful, sir. My late husband and I,
we've been treated well by your people. 'Tis an old
debt."

"Then we continue the circle," he
replied with a smile.

She nodded. "Indeed. Good night, sir,
and to your lady wife, as well." Shuffling into the hallway, she
pulled the door closed behind her.

He shook his shoulders, relaxing the
tension he hadn't realized had settled there. Not really knowing
why, he went to the door and pressed his ear to the wood,
listening. Setting his hand around the old-fashioned, cut-glass
doorknob, he turned it slowly and opened the door a crack. He
peeked out into the hallway. Was his so helpful benefactress
waiting outside?

He stuck his head outside and looked
both up and down the hallway.

Empty. Gaelen silently shut the door
and leaned on it. Only then did he release the breath he'd been
holding.

Why did he have such an uneasy feeling?
Maybe because he had to rely on his senses. He hadn't realized he'd
been using his powers so unconsciously. Once he'd closed off his
mind from her, hers was also unavailable to him. So he had to take
her at face value.

It was an uncomfortable feeling. How
did mortals stand it?

Gaelen turned to the bed where
Annabelle lay. She'd rolled onto her side and tucked her hands
underneath her cheek on the snowy-white, eyelet-lace pillowcase. He
watched her eyelids flutter, the cool blue of her aura soothing his
own troubled mind.

Knowing he was taking a huge chance,
Gaelen lay down beside her, breathing in her scent. Clean and fresh
like a spring rain, it swirled around his head, seeking out those
places he'd shut behind a steel door, places where he couldn't
ignore what he was, where he belonged.

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling
her close, letting his own life force mingle with hers, and taking
solace from her. Annabelle snuggled against him, spoon-fashion,
causing him a wonderful, tormenting ache.

Shutting his eyes, he tried not to
examine his feelings, even as he knew what it was he felt, lying
there holding her close.

* * * *

Annabelle was flying. She looked over
and saw Gaelen there by her side, holding her hand.

"I thought we couldn't fly together,"
she said. "How are you doing this?"

He grinned. "I'm not. It's
you."

"Huh?"

The fingers of gravity groped for her,
trying to pull her down, down, down. Her heart jumped and she
reached for him.

"No, dearling. Remember to
believe."

She closed her eyes and took a deep
breath. "I'm flying." Immediately, she rose higher, pulling Gaelen
after her.

His booming laugh made her laugh,
too.

"Yes, you are."

"But how, Gaelen?"

He quirked an eyebrow. "Maybe it's just
magic?"

She turned her face into the wind and
with gluttonous glee took in everything she could see from this
most unusual vantage point.

"Whatever it is, I don't want it to
ever end."

"Don't say that!"

Just that quickly, she found herself on
the ground, surrounded by grass of bright emerald green and a
rainbow of flowers. Their heady perfume wafted around her and she
turned her head to give her nose the chance to smell them all:
sweet, tangy, even some that reminded her of pepper. The grass
cushioned her bare feet, cool and soft.

"Did you hear me?" he said, grabbing
her shoulders and shaking her.

"What?" she asked. "What did you say,
Gaelen?"

He grabbed her chin and turned her to
face him. "I said don't say you want this to never end. Don't you
know where we are?"

"No..." Her eyes caught sight of a
hummingbird, only the size of your thumb, hovering over a bright
orange hibiscus, his wings invisible--

"Annabelle, pay attention."

She forced her gaze back to Gaelen's
and nodded.

"We're in the Dream Realm, dearling. We
must not tarry here long."

"Why? It's so beautiful
here."

"Yes, indeed it is." He raised his hand
and stroked her cheek. "It is beautiful here."

"Why are we here?"

He chuckled. "I don't know if I want to
tell you."

"Oh, please."

"All right. We're here because, well,
because we fell asleep thinking of one another. Don't you remember
being here before?"

That totally confused her. "We haven't
been here before."

A deep flush rushed up Gaelen's
cheeks.

She had made a fairy blush! She bit her
lip to hold back her smile.

"Why are you blushing,
Gaelen?"

"I'm not!"

"Yes, you are." She ran her fingers
through his golden hair, which somehow seemed even brighter in this
light. "When were we here before?"

He glanced away as though he didn't
want to meet her eyes. "Don't you have any idea when we might have
been here? The night we went out to dinner?"

A sudden snatch of memory, the feeling
of his hands on her body, of him inside her--

"Oh!" It took a moment for her shock to
be replaced by embarrassment. "Well, that. That was only--" She
stared hard at him. "How do you know I dreamed about
you?"

"I know, sweet Annabelle, because I was
there, too." He stepped closer and swept her into his
arms.

She should resist, but she didn't want
to. Granny Smith would understand. So instead she wrapped her arms
around his neck and pulled him close until she could reach his
mouth with hers.

"Is this just a dream we're having
together? Or is it all in my head?"

"Just a dream?" He nibbled at the
corner of her mouth. "No, dearling. Not just a dream. It's as real
as you want it to be."

She smiled. "I'm not sure I want
reality. Can we do anything we want while we're here?"

"Um-hmm."

Gaelen sat on the soft grass and
cradled her on his lap. He nuzzled her neck and trailed his lips up
to her ear.

"What would you like to do,
Annabelle?"

A shiver danced along her every nerve
as his breath brushed her skin.

"How about what we did
before?"

"Oh, what an excellent notion." Even
before his words faded, his mouth closed over hers and he took her
breath away.

She held him close, pressing her
breasts against the hard expanse of his naked chest, and only then
did Annabelle realize she, too, was naked. She almost pulled away,
as she had before, but Gaelen held her against him, brushing
against her. Her breasts grew heavy with desire. Her nipples
hardened with need. Her lungs seemed unable to draw a full
breath.

Gaelen lay back on the rich carpet of
green and drew her to lay atop him, never breaking the connection
of their lips.

"Ah, sweet." His whisper teased her
ears as his fingers teased the pebbled sensitivity of her
breasts.

Annabelle threw back her head. The
sensation was too much to bear.

"Gaelen. I love you."

His hands froze on her. The sudden
change made her return her attention to his face.

"What is it?"

"Don't say such things, dearling. It's
too dangerous."

She smiled. "Even here?"

He brushed a stray hank of hair back
from her face.

"Especially here." A smile spread over
his face. "Now, come, lass, and let's enjoy each other for a small
time before we have to return to the real world."

As he spoke, he swelled, pressing
against her. A jolt of pure lust shot through her and she eagerly
raised herself to her knees so she could take him in.

He filled her, so full she could feel
him in her heart, probing for her secrets, unsatisfied with any
place left undiscovered.

They laced their fingers together and
Annabelle held on as she rode him to the ultimate ecstasy. It
curled, twisted, tightened, deep within her until it could do no
more.

And still the sweet torment
grew.

He pitched upward.
"Annabelle!"

She exploded. "Gaelen!"

Chapter Eighteen

"Wake up, dearling."

The soft voice, touched ever so softly
by an accent warm and alluring, stirred her hair and tickled her
ear. Annabelle swiped at the irritant and snuggled against the warm
body behind her. She wanted to go back to the cool garden to lie in
Gaelen's arms.

A large hand gently shook her shoulder.
"Come now, sleepyhead. Time to get to work. We have a lot to do
today."

Annabelle blinked sleepily, her bleary
eyes taking in her strange surroundings. The warmth behind her
invited her to snuggle closer and remain in bed. So she
did.

"Annabelle." The grating voice sounded
pained. "Please, darlin', don't do that."

The warm body moved away.

"No," she moaned, rolling over. She
yearned to be skin-to-skin with him again. "Love me,
Gaelen."

He moaned. "We must prepare to rescue
Erin and Lucas, sweetheart."

Erin. That woke her up. She opened her
eyes, glancing around to get her bearings. Gaelen leaned over
her.

Was this another dream? Like the one
she'd had before? Had it only been in her mind? What had Gaelen
called it? The Dream Realm?

Heat filled her cheeks as the memories
of lovemaking with him rushed through her mind.

She needed to change the
subject.

"Where is this?" she whispered, her
voice still wakeup scratchy.

"Killis, in County Roscommon. Not very
far from Finnvarra's court."

"Finnvarra," she repeated. "So, we're
here."

"Your turn in the bathroom. It's across
the hallway." He stepped away from the bed. "We have some shopping
to do after breakfast."

Annabelle got out of bed, only then
realizing she was still in the clothes she'd traveled
in.

It was only a dream. Of course, he
hadn't undressed her.

She crossed the room to where her
suitcase sat on a rack. As she neared, Gaelen stepped back as
though she were on fire and he was afraid of getting
singed.

"What's the matter?" she
asked.

"Nothing. Why would you ask that?
Nothing's the matter." He took another step backward, giving her
more room to pass.

She stared at him, wondering why he was
acting so squirrelly. Did he know what she had dreamed? Suddenly
the memory of a big, warm body pressed against her--or had she
pressed against him?--flashed across her brain.