The Knight of Her Dreams (Dragons and Dreamphasers) (30 page)

He merely smiled, gesturing towards the darkness.

As Julianna stared out, a brilliant green
light—like a miniature comet—shot past.  Shortly afterwards, a swirling magenta
light trailed back in yet another direction.  As her eyes widened, more and
more lights filled the air around them, shooting about in random directions,
and emitting pleasant humming sounds like an astral chorus.  All the while, the
diamond-like stars winked back playfully.

“Oh, Dominick...” she breathed, glancing at him
with wonder.

Holding her close, he gestured again towards the
array with a soft smile.  “On some nights above the island of Barokka, the
inhabitants are greeted with a display similar to this one.  The shooting beams
are as harmless on Chavernos as they are here in the dream-state, but they
present their own magic in their sparkle, and in the musical harmony created
about them.”

“They’re beautiful,” sighed Julianna, watching in
awe for long moments before giving a short laugh.  “Since you’re so good at
conjuring this, maybe they should change your middle name to
Laser
instead of Phaser.”

He gave her a wry smile.  “If they do, I’ll see
to it they change your name to Bubbles.”

“Hmmm,” she murmured in consideration.  Dominick
interrupted her with a lengthy kiss, slowly breaking away.  “On the other
hand,” she purred in response, “maybe I do prefer you simply as Dominick, my
dream knight.”  He brushed his hand against her cheek.

“‘Dream knight’ is a title I can live with,” he
murmured, kissing her again.

They continued to hold each other, leaning back
to watch as the mesmerizing lights cascaded about them, illuminating them with
bright colors.  She smiled at him, watching as he was haloed in a sudden
flicker of bright blue.  Looking back, he watched as a rose pink crown of
lights spun about Julianna’s auburn hair, making it seem more fiery.  It was as
if they’d become one with the lights themselves.

As he kissed her again, the sound of thunderous
fireworks filled the air about them.

When she opened her eyes, a myriad of new colors
greeted her.

“Did you just do that?” she asked breathlessly.

“We both did,” he whispered, cradling her head
against his chest.  “Any time with you is pure magic.”

Pleased tears in her eyes, Julianna couldn’t find
her voice, hugging him instead with clearer meaning than any honeyed words.

Yet some time later that evening,
as had often been the case during the past few nights, Dominick began to sense
more beyond her silence.  Usually, he’d simply made efforts to distract her
mind, but now, his puzzlement became concern.

“A starbeam for your thoughts?” he inquired
softly.

Slowly, Julianna shut her eyes and shook her
head.  “I’m a bit too tired to think right now,” she whispered.  “Please...
just hold me.”

Hugging her tighter as he stroked her shoulder,
Dominick slowly gained a better understanding of what was really troubling her,
vowing silently to do something to remedy this.

Now back on Chavernos, as his mind returned to
the present, Dominick stared at the sky reflectively.  Julianna’s thoughts all
seemed centered on two things:  the wonder of when their current relationship
would come to an end, and self-reproach for what their relationship had become.

If only he could bring Julianna here to
Chavernos.  Then he could give her more than just pleasant illusions, and
perhaps ease her mind by granting her a more permanent future between them.

More accurately, a future marriage.

He’d never considered marriage very seriously
before, having been content enough with his bachelor state.  But regarding
Julianna, the thought of a lifetime with his auburn-haired temptress appealed
to him with an intensity he couldn’t deny.

There was no question that he
loved her, nor that he could give her a wonderful life here.  And he was
certain her feisty nature would always keep a marriage between them
interesting.  Not to mention the nights of infinite dreams they could share,
let alone the joy of being together in reality.

But more than that, it occurred
to him that a woman like Julianna would desire marriage, at least someday in
the future.  If he didn’t ask her, eventually someone else would.  Just the
thought of her giving herself to another man angered him no end, leaving him
with a steadfast resolve to make sure that never happened by marrying her
himself.

Unfortunately though, no legal
marriage could exist while their long-distance separation remained.

Blazes, there has to be
some
way!

Maybe there was...

The more he thought about it, the better the idea
seemed.  Maybe he couldn’t bind her to him by a legal marriage while they were
on separate worlds, but with all the magic Chavernos had to offer, perhaps that
fact didn’t have to remain the truth after all.

And in the meantime, why
couldn’t
he see to enhancing his commitment to Julianna?  Rubbing his chin with a smile,
he nodded with growing conviction.  Yes, maybe it would work.

There was only one way to find out.

Tonight.

*****

“Oh, not another one,” groaned Julianna.

When the work phone rang for the hundredth time,
she answered it with a detached attitude.  Fortunately for her, it wasn’t one
of the latest inventions of visual telephones, or the company’s clients might
have seen a most dreamy look on this particular executive secretary’s face,
whose mind was elsewhere.

Not the look of a serious working woman at all.

Or so Marybeth thought, standing close by without
her noticing.

When the customer seemed to be becoming irate, in
spite of Julianna’s politeness, she finally rolled her eyes.  “I
promise
you,” she sighed dramatically, “Miss Thompson will be most pleased to speak
with you, as soon as she returns from beyond.”

Gaping, Marybeth quickly grabbed the phone. 
“Please don’t mind her.  She’s had a long night.  Yes, we’ve got your name and
number, and we’ll make sure Miss Thompson gets back to you.”  Hanging up the
receiver, she gave a stern look to her confused friend.  “Now then, young lady,
care to come back to Earth?”

Julianna rubbed her eyes tiredly.  “No,” she
murmured.  “I’d rather be on Chavernos.”  Abruptly realizing what she said, she
glanced up quickly.  “I mean...”

“Don’t,” interrupted Marybeth, sitting beside
her.  “You’ve been acting strange for the past few weeks, so I guess another
day of it won’t matter.  But between you and me, if you want to keep your job
here, you’d best pull your head out of that dream world you’ve been living in. 
Good ol’ Almira may not be in the best of moods when she gets back from her
flight this afternoon.”  Julianna nodded once, earning a smile from her
friend.  “You met someone, haven’t you?”

“You’re too smart for me,” she laughed, turning
back to her computer screen.

On it was the long letter she’d been attempting
to copy from a handwritten version for the past half-hour, which was unusual
since she was normally a very fast typist.  Glancing at the monitor, Marybeth
was forced to take a closer look, a smirk forming as she pointed to the bottom
of the screen.

“‘And in conclusion’,” she recited, “‘There is no
proof that our sales figures are falling or that Chavernos doesn’t exist.’”

“What?” gasped Julianna, blushing upon the
realization that the words
were
staring back at her from the
screen.  “Good Lord, where did that come from?”

“That’s the second time you’ve mentioned this
caverns business,” informed Marybeth.  “What
have
you been
thinking of lately?”

“I’m thinking, I’d better fix
this letter before Almira comes back.  I’ll talk to you later, all right?”

“You’d better believe you will,”
said Marybeth, striding away with a semi-disappointed, perplexed expression.

After fixing the document, Julianna saved it,
printed it, and exited the program, leaning back in her chair.  Inwardly, she
knew she
really
needed to get her mind focused on her work, but
it was difficult, given the one man who’d captured her thoughts, both at night
when they were together... and during the day, when she remembered the nights.

Strong and handsome of body, clever of mind,
understanding of heart, and with a sense of humor that topped the men she’d met
in the ‘real world’, he eclipsed Roger from day one.

And he was
absolutely
the ideal
romantic, she thought happily with a smile.  Not just in the physical
sense—though he was indeed that—but because he’d also literally swept her off
her feet, bestowing kisses and holding her lovingly at every opportunity,
filling their dream castle room with flowers, and always greeting her
immediately upon arriving.

Most importantly, Dominick made her
feel
loved as she’d never known before, and she certainly loved him in return.  Now,
she could admit this truth even when awake.

Funny how different this was from a few weeks
ago.

After their second meeting, she’d worried that
her dream man might lead her beyond friendship, and was hesitant at the
prospect.  True, part of her craved to understand the mystery of romance, but
she wasn’t too anxious to enter into a temporary affair just to satisfy her
curiosity.

Two nights later, she’d forgotten all of this in
Dominick’s arms.

And now, two weeks later, she
still didn’t regret it.

Her only true regret was the distance keeping
them apart.  If only he could reach her somehow.

“
Miss Sherborne!
” bellowed a shrill
voice.

Emitting a shocked gasp, Julianna looked up to
find Almira Thompson glaring at her. 
Of all the luck for her to be back
early.
  “Have a nice trip?” she managed.

“
You’ll
be on a trip to the
unemployment line if you don’t finish that correspondence I sent you
yesterday!”  Giving a low grunt, she stormed off, allowing Julianna to glare at
her silently.

“I’d like to trip
you
up... over
some hot coals,” she murmured.

Marybeth, having overheard, seemed to think this
to be a minor form of revenge against their rather cranky boss, thinking a pit
of electric eels might be more fitting.

*****

At Lost Limbo, today Dominick finally made an
appearance again.  Inferno gestured to Buddy, who looked up hopefully, but
their friend went straight to the bar to exchange greetings with Zantarl.  The
discouraged guardian angel shook his head and sighed, wondering if he’d lost
his friend permanently over their recent disagreement.  Even Kiri and the
others looked a bit subdued from where they sat across the room, since they all
missed Dominick’s good-humored nature.

“If you had a guardian angel’s wings, I’m sure
you’d fly,” chuckled Zantarl.  “I’m glad to see you in better spirits, son. 
Correct me if I’m heading down the wrong direction, but does this have to do
with a certain young lady you met a short time ago?”

“It does,” he agreed, grinning.  “Zantarl, I
really love her.  And what’s more, she loves me too.  Why, these past weeks
with her have been no less than phenomenal.”

“Ah, that explains your absence.  No doubt she’s
turned your brain to mush every night, leaving you to make up for it by
sleeping through the daylight hours as well.”

“I might consider that if she was an avid
daydreamer,” he replied, with a mischievous glint in his eye.

“‘She’ meaning Julianna?” Buddy asked softly from
behind, Inferno beside him.  Dominick turned slowly to face them, his
expression becoming unreadable.  “I guess she means more to you than I
thought,” his friend continued.  “In any case, it’s your life, and if you choose
to spend time with her, that’s up to you two.”

“Right,” agreed Inferno.  “We’ve put up with more
girl-chasing stories from Riff than we can count, but we know your situation is
entirely different.”

“So...” sighed Buddy, “if you aren’t really
dozing away the daylight hours, can we go back to being friends again, Dom?”

Dominick took only a moment before grinning,
clasping his shoulder.  “I never stopped being that,” he said amiably, turning
to shake hands with a relieved Inferno too.  Glancing once towards the three
watchful females, he laughed softly.  “And you can tell your curious gals over
there the same thing later, although Kiri’s probably already overheard.”  At
the other table, Kiri blushed, folding her arms in a huff, while her friends
tried to get her to explain.  Seeing this, the men echoed Dominick’s laughter. 
“Now stop looking so somber and tell me how you’ve been,” he continued.

“We will, but first tell us more about this
Julianna,” Buddy said eagerly.  “Is she short?  Tall?  Blue-eyed?  Brown-eyed? 
Our curious minds want to know.”

Laughing as they sat beside him
at the bar counter, Dominick filled them in on the past few weeks, but of
course omitted more private details.  Zantarl gave the trio a look of glad
appreciation that they’d finally sealed the rift between them.  He spoke so
highly of Julianna that both Buddy and Inferno asked if she might have a sister
or two for them.