Page 14 of Tamed By a Passionate Lady
The trees fell away, and suddenly, they were in a clearing in the middle of the forest. She was dancing now, with wild abandon; throwing her arms up in the air, then dipping them, almost as if she was flying, as she wove around a ring of mushrooms, her gown twisting around her like a veil of blue.
He stopped abruptly, entranced, watching her. He had always called her his fairy, his woodland sprite.
“My love,” he called, holding out a hand. “Come to me…”
But it was as if she hadn’t heard him at all. She kept dancing, picking up the pace, spinning around like a top, as if she were a dervish.
And then, before his astonished eyes, she simply disappeared, as if she had spun herself into oblivion.
“No,” he cried desperately. “No!”
He ran to the ring of mushrooms, searching for her, calling out her name, over and over. But the forest was still. There was no answering cry.
She was gone, as if she had never been there, at all.
He fell onto his knees then, keening in his agony. It was all too late. He had lost her, again. He always lost her. Perhaps she really was a fairy, who did not belong to this world. Perhaps she was never meant to be here, at all.
There was a rustle in the shrub and suddenly, a figure emerged, in darkness, wearing a dark velvet cloak, almost to the ground with a deep hood.
He called her name, questioningly, but he already knew that it wasn’t her. He saw that it was a woman, but she was taller, her figure more curvaceous. She pushed back the hood of the cloak, and a dark curtain of hair fell down her back. She turned large brown eyes upon him.
He knew her. It was Adaline.
She gazed at him sorrowfully. “Why must you do this?” she asked, in her sweet, quiet voice. “Why must you run after something that is not yours, and never will be?”
She was wringing her hands, now, like Lady Macbeth, growing more anxious, second by second.
“I am sorry,” he cried, as guilt tore through him. “What more can I say?”
She shook her head sorrowfully. “My poor James,” she whispered. “Chasing after shadows. Running after something, that will never be…I am real, and I am standing right in front of you. Why can you not see me?”
Abruptly, she turned, walking away from him.
And now, he wanted to follow her. But his feet were glued to the ground, as if he was standing in quicksand. He clawed at the air, trying to dislodge them, but it was useless.
“Stop,” he cried, in desperation. “Adaline!”
But she did not turn. He was sinking now, falling into the ground, until the earth closed over him entirely…
***
He woke up in a blind panic, fighting for breath. His heart was thudding painfully in his chest.
All was darkness. It was deep in the night. He could hardly see anything.
It was just a dream, he told himself, swallowing his panic.It was just a dream. It wasn’t real.
Slowly, his heart slowed down. Sighing, he leaned back on his pillow, watching the sleeping form of the woman lying next to him.
She was on her back, her mouth slightly open, her long hair splayed around her. He watched her chest rise and fall in an even manner. What was she dreaming of? Or was she dreaming at all?
His eyes travelled over her. He had watched her like this, many times, when the nightmare awoke him. Marvelling at her pure, flamboyant beauty. A beauty that would never be his, could not possibly be his, that he should not covet.
Shewasbeautiful. But she wasn’t the woman he wanted lying beside him.
Suddenly, her voice from the dream came to him, as clear as a bell in the dark room.
I am real, and I am standing right in front of you. Why can you not see me?
