Page 53 of Dreams That Bind Us
She stopped talking, but James could tell there was more to the story. He drew a hand to his lips and kissed the palm softly. "And?"
"And," she began with a sigh, "two years later, I felt ready to dip my toe into the dating pool again and was quickly swept off my feet by a very debonair gentleman." Her derisive chuckle told him everything.
"This man didn't realize it, but he was surrounded by negative energy, like a cloud all around him everywhere he went." Her nose wrinkled. "It was almost an unpleasant smell, oily like body odor. But I ignored it and actually believed I could help him, fix him. One day, several spirits pressed me to give him a message. When I did, it spooked him so badly, he wet his pants and left. I never heard from him again." She glanced at James. "There were three others after that, all the same result. Well, minus wetting their pants anyway."
James grunted, squeezing her hand again. What idiot would walk away from Anna? He couldn’t wrap his head around it. She was like a beam of pure light in the darkness.
"After that, I swore off all romantic relationships." She paused, her mouth opened, then closed. "Most people can't handle what I see, what I deal with on a regular basis. It was easier to block it all out." She dwindled off.
"There's more. I can hear it in your voice," James encouraged, knowing she had more to tell him.
Anna released a shuddering breath. "Aunt Louise did a reading for me last year, a few months before you arrived in KeyWest. She told me my soulmate would arrive soon and that I would dream of him before I saw him."
James jerked them both upright. Was she saying what he thought she was?
Anna swiveled in his lap, meeting his gaze, a hand on his chest. "I dreamed of you, too. Every night. I couldn't make it stop. And each dream was more and more…"
"Erotic," he finished, his voice dropping an octave.
"Yes. Aunt Louise also told me that this man would stop at nothing to have me and wouldn’t quit until he claimed my heart and soul." Her brow pinched. "That terrifies me, James. I can't risk another heartbreak, especially not with you. I don't think I would ever recover."
"Oh, Kitten." James dropped back, and she splayed on top of him, her face nuzzling into his neck. "It terrifies me, too. I've never felt anything like this before. Ever. And when you pull away, like you did this week, it terrifies me to think you'll leave me with a broken heart."
She hummed, the vibration moving through his body.
His hands smoothed down her spine. "How about this? Why don't we claim each other? That way, we're both having so much fun, we don't notice or even care."
Anna released a disbelieving snort into his neck. He swatted her rear. "I'm serious, Anna. I've always avoided relationships like the plague. But I know this is different because the thought of losing you makes me insane. Maybe if we do this together, we can make it work."
She gave him a muffled 'okay', bobbing her head. "I could fall asleep right here," she added.
James laughed, more in relief than anything else. "Why don't we go downstairs, take a turn around the room, shake a couple of hands, then go back to my place and make love all night?"
Anna lifted her head, gifting him with a beautiful smile. If he hadn't already been head over heels in love with this woman, that would have pushed him over the edge. She leaned up, giving him a sweet kiss. "Okay!"
"And next time we come up here, let’s remember to bring wine," James commented as they both stood. "Or maybe we just find our own place to lay out under the starry sky."
"I like that second one better." Anna shivered next to him, and James felt a cold shaft of air hit him.
"Damn." He glanced around. No trees were moving, the air was still, no sign of a breeze. "Did you feel that? It got cold all of a sudden."
Anna didn't answer. She stared, fixated, at the door of the cupola.
James couldn't see anything, but he knew instinctively that Anna was seeing something—or someone. Goosebumps shot down his arms.
"Anna, what is it?" he asked in a low voice.
She gestured with her chin. "It's Amelia. She's standing right there, looking at us." Anna pointed to a spot just two feet away.
"Is she telling you something?"
After a moment, Anna smiled, then shook her head. "No. She's just smiling. I think we remind her of her own romance with Ian."
James grimaced. "Except I don't plan on letting ours end the same."
"You can't control destiny, James," she admonished. "But no, that's not what this is. I think she's just letting us know she's here."
As quickly as it came, the cold air was gone, and Anna seemed to wilt into him. "Is she gone?"
