The Knight of Her Dreams (Dragons and Dreamphasers) (43 page)

That was a thought that had
indeed distressed him upon his first exiting the building and finding no trace
of her.  Heirs or not, he decided firmly as he held her now, he wasn’t willing
to abandon this woman he loved so much, no matter how strongly the others might
argue.  They’d find some way to work it out.

She shook her head
tearfully.  “Oh, Dominick, you must know I’d never leave you,” she told him, her
voice breaking.  “I love you more than I can ever express.”

“I remember, love,” he
whispered, breathing in her sweetness.  “Dear heaven, I could never forget,
since I love you the same way as well.”  A serious look stole across his eyes
as he rocked her against him.  “This wasn’t at all the way I planned this
evening,” he told her honestly.  “I was sure my grandfather would accept you
after telling him about you earlier this day.  I guess I should have known
better with Chaos, who’s more than earned that title.”

“It wasn’t your fault,
Dominick,” she replied, shaking her head.  “I just wish your grandfather wasn’t
so close-minded.”

“No matter,” he said,
pulling her back to meet his gaze.  “I intend to marry you in the near future,
Miss Sherborne, as long as I still have your consent to proceed.”

Smiling happily, she
clasped her arms around his neck, with a mock sense of airs.  “By all means,
Mr. Westbrooke, I’ll gladly accept the role as your dutiful wife.”

He was only silent for a
moment before laughter overcame him.  “Since being dutiful indicates obedience,
I’m afraid that’s one role you’d never qualify for, love.”

“You never argue when we’re
alone together,” she retorted with a slight pout.

Pulling her closer until
his mouth was mere inches from hers, he smiled upon her.  “Maybe because I much
prefer you just the way you are, feisty and unpredictable.”  Brushing a light
kiss across her lips, he felt her soften again.  “You know, love, your earlier
suggestion comes to mind.  Would you be terribly disappointed if we left early
to salvage something pleasant from this night?”

“Hmmm,” she murmured, even
as she smiled against his ever-persuasive kisses on her neck.  “If this has
anything to do with a certain raincheck, I guess I’m willing to make the
sacrifice,” she decided through a soft laugh, just before Dominick swept her up
in his arms with a grin, his laughter echoing hers.

“Wait!” interrupted a loud
voice.

Startled, the pair looked
up to find Chaos striding towards them, holding up a hand as if he could hold
them there by sheer will.

Julianna’s smile faded
instantly, while Dominick’s expression turned cold, gently setting her on her
feet again while still holding her possessively.  As Chaos drew nearer, she
noticed a faint softening of his features, and wondered at the oddness of it.

“I see you wish to leave,
but if I could have but a moment of your time before you go, I’d appreciate
it,” said Chaos, his tone surprisingly quiet.  “Please,” he added, giving a
meaningful look to both.

“You have your moment,” Dominick
replied evenly.

Chaos gave a brief smile to
the embraced pair before he began.  “I couldn’t help witnessing the two of you
together just now.  You remind me of happier times, when I still had my
precious wife Ylana beside me, watching our son and grandsons growing up
peacefully.”

He sighed heavily in
remembrance.  “Ylana and I had our own share of hardships to overcome.  Perhaps
not as great as this distance separating you, but they existed.  In any event,
we never would have let anything or anyone keep us apart either.  And bearing
this in mind, I suppose I shouldn’t have allowed my own feelings to condemn
what you’ve already chosen to do with your lives.  After tonight, seeing how
happy you are with each other, I know your future marriage will happen
someday.  And this being the case, I’d rather be a part of your lives than an
outsider.”

Chaos turned to Julianna
with the hint of a regretful smile.  “If I may be allowed to retract my words
to you earlier, I do believe that you genuinely love my grandson, and I suppose
I can understand full well how impulses can take hold of one.  After all, I’ve
been no stranger to them myself over the years.”

As she gave a silent nod of
acceptance, Chaos stole a quick knowing glance at Dominick.  “And there’s no
arguing your words that my grandson is a rather persistent and persuasive lad
for all that, so I can further understand what steered you towards a serious
relationship so soon.”  At the warning look in Dominick’s eyes, Chaos warded it
off lightly, turning back to Julianna.  “As to what you said earlier, about my
being a grim, inflexible, disagreeable man...”

She blushed at the memory. 
“Sir, I didn’t mean...”

“Contrary to my earlier
words, you don’t strike me as being a woman without honor, so don’t pretend to
feel differently,” he interrupted, but without any sternness this time.  “After
all, your instincts are quite correct.  I am all those, and have damn well
learned to build a reputation around it.”

A warmer smile lit his face
as he reached forward to take her hand gently.  She gave no resistance, since
she was still caught by surprise from his speech.

“Your instincts were also
correct on the count that I do have a different side that isn’t so gruff,
although I can’t allow most to know this.  You’re one of the few to see through
to it, to your credit, only reassuring me that you’re every bit as intelligent
and warmhearted as you are a beauty.  Most certainly a fit match for my
grandson, and you’ll both have my blessing at the time of your future wedding,
along with my sincerest congratulations over your engagement now.”

Julianna gaped for a
moment, her eyes shining, and on impulse she reached out to hug the older man. 
“Thank you, sir,” she whispered.

He patted her back,
breaking apart from her to emit a gruff excuse for a smile.  “That’s
Grandfather to you, so don’t forget it in the future.”

“Of course,” she agreed,
feeling a surge of happiness as she felt Dominick’s arm tightly clasp her waist
with pride.

“One last thing before I
leave you both to... your other plans?”  He smiled knowingly at the sheepish
looks on the pair’s faces.  “I would hope Dominick has mentioned that if you
were to choose to live your lives on Barokka one day, you’d want for nothing.”

Julianna gave him her
warmest smile.  “Oh, sir...”  At the sudden quirk of Chaos’s eyebrows, she
caught herself.  “I mean, Grandfather… as long as I have Dominick, I wouldn’t
want anything else.  But as to living together on Barokka, I’d be thrilled to
live there, not to mention to meet you and his friends in reality.  That is, as
long as you wouldn’t mind my visiting Earth on occasion, if possible.”

“If the means are
available, you’ll have your visits,” Chaos agreed heartily.  “And as an added
wedding present, as I suggested to Dominick, I’ll see to it that you have your
own castle on the island.  After all, I wish for you and all my future
great-grandchildren to have the very best of everything.”  He shot Dominick a
glance.  “You will be sure to use that persistent and persuasive attitude
towards arranging for those great-grandchildren, won’t you?”

“As many as Julianna
wishes,” he agreed, turning to her.  “What do you think, darling?”

“Hmmm, I suppose two or
three kids might be nice,” she agreed, smiling blissfully at the thought.

“Good!” Chaos said
brightly, just before he caught himself with a serious harumph, returning to
his former reserved attitude, though his green eyes twinkled.  “And on that
note, I must be off.  I’ll see to it that your friends and the crowd know that
your engagement is official.  In the meantime... carry on, you two.”

Julianna would have sworn
he’d hidden a smile as he walked away, leaving her to turn to her grinning
fiancé.  She reached forward to hug him, laughing as he lifted her off the
ground to spin her about once.

“I can’t believe it’s all
going to work out,” she said honestly.

“Ah, for the millionth
time, love,” he chuckled, “Never underestimate the powers of a dream knight.”

“Nor the power of the love
of one’s dreams,” she added.

“Nor that,” he agreed with
a serious smile, kissing her with unleashed desire, just before picking up his
joyful betrothed to teleport them back to the familiar warmth of their beloved
dream castle.

As the Westbrooke brothers
sat side-by-side at the bar counter, Zantarl eyed them both with what looked
like parental disapproval.  Now several days since their dispute regarding
Julianna, the bartender had agreed to mediate a civil meeting between the
pair.  Barely civil so far, since neither spoke, only shooting constant glares
at one another.

After a long pause, Riff
spoke.  “For the millionth time, Phase, I said I was sorry for the other
night.  How was I supposed to know that you were so in love with the girl that
you’d planned on proposing to her that evening?”

Dominick continued to glare
at him.  “Even if I hadn’t, it doesn’t excuse your trying to force your
attentions on her.”

“I would have let her go in
another minute,” he sneered.  “Hellions are more interesting when they’re
willing, not when they’ll claw you otherwise.”

“That hasn’t always stopped
you from persisting,” Dominick replied acidly.  “Especially when you’ve derived
extra pleasure from seducing the women I’ve known.”

Riff’s eyes narrowed, and
he replied quietly, “For your information, regardless of what stories you’ve
heard, I may be persistent, but I have
never
ever been intimate
with a woman that didn’t wish it.  And although I don’t want this getting
about, there are those women who refused whom I did walk away from honorably.” 
His brother looked genuinely surprised.  “And as far as my seducing some of
your former paramours, maybe I shouldn’t have, but the fact is I wouldn’t have
been able to if they’d really loved you as Julianna does.  You should be glad,
in that I indirectly did you a favor.”

Dominick’s surprised look returned to
irritation.  “You
would
see it that way,” he retorted.  “Not that
you’d ever understand the meaning of the word
love
, since you
only regard the bedroom aspects of a relationship.”

As Riff loudly protested,
Dominick countered back, their voices raising to a din.  Zantarl, however,
wasn’t about to put up with another verbal escalation.  Slamming a bottle on
the counter, he distracted the brothers, earning their undivided attention.

“That’s better,” he
growled.  “Now look, you two.  Either settle this problem of yours, or I’ll ban
you both from Lost Limbo until further notice.”  Turning to Dominick, he began,
“Riff’s apologized several times, of which even once is a rare feat, as we all
know.”  Hearing the stirrings of protest from the other man, he flashed his
angry eyes upon him.  “And as for you, Riff, I’m sure that you’ll think twice
before interfering with your brother’s fiancée anymore, let alone question the
validity of their relationship.  So if we’re all in agreement, why don’t you
settle this with a handshake?”

The pair eyed each other
with scowls, but gradually, they reached forward to clasp hands, their features
softening.  Riff spoke first.  “I’m sorry I doubted your feelings for Julianna,
and for the incident the other night.  It won’t happen again.”

Dominick nodded once.  “All
right then, I accept your apology,” he said quietly.  “And for what it’s worth,
I’m sure you’ll find love someday.”

“Julianna indicated as much
when things calmed down,” sighed Riff, “though I find it hard to believe that
day will ever come.”

Dominick smiled slightly. 
“I once thought the same thing, remember?”

Riff nodded slowly.

“And…” Dominick continued,
brightening, “if you can stick to your words, maybe you’d consider being my
best man at our future wedding.

Riff’s face lit up
considerably.  “Are you sure about that, Phase?” he asked, half expecting a
hidden jest.

“Very sure, unless you go
to great lengths to change my mind.”

“Then I accept,” Riff
replied with a grin, exchanging a rare hug with him.  “It ought to be the
wedding of the decade, since Chaos will no doubt have a hand in it.  Which
reminds me, where did I put that number for the dancing girls...?”

As he started rummaging
around a small book, Dominick gave a low groan.  Leave it to Riff to cast aside
any semblance of a serious subject, let alone to send the wheels of chaos
turning.  Reading his thoughts, Zantarl chuckled quietly, whispering to him,
“Maybe you and Julianna would be better off eloping instead.”

“Believe me, it’s
tempting,” Dominick whispered back, even as Riff’s expression suddenly
darkened.

“Look what the guardian
devil dragged in,” he said in a low voice, gesturing towards the door.  All
three men focused on the new arrival, and all shared looks of unmasked
loathing.

Grinning as if he owned the
world, a confident Dual strode into Lost Limbo, waving boisterous greetings to
his friends, while remaining impervious to many cold stares.  But then, nothing
seemed to bother him on this world or in the dream-state.