He wrapped his hand around the back of my neck and drew me in, locking our mouths in a lingering kiss. When he finally broke away, he said, “I hurt for you allthetime.”
8
Jake:Honeymoon
Walking with purpose,I rounded the aged barn with the metal shingles, sliding my hand along the rough wooden surface. It seemed so harmless, so old and worn, but it wasn’t. There was nothing innocent about this place or the land it stood on. My heart rate began to rise and my breathing shallowed. I wasn’t alone. I knew they were following me, and I wanted to scream at them to back off. What did they think I was here for in the firstplace?
I glanced down at my list, but it wasn’t like I really needed it. Each tiny detail had been etched in my brain like a twisted poem. Still I clutched the worn paper in my hand, more for comfort than anything else. “#6 Due South. A single boulder in the meadow with five marks carved in the base of thestone.”
I could see it, that boulder… it was there in my dreams… always that same damn boulder. “Five marks carved in the base of the stone.” I hated knowing these things. They were his secrets,notmine.
“Jake,wakeup.”
I opened my eyes slowly, disoriented, as the boulder disappeared from my vision. Casey, my beautiful new wife, was sitting beside me wearing my t-shirt and gently rousing me by patting her hand on my stomach. Over the past two years, we’d devised the least invasive wake-up call. When I was deep in a dream, an abrupt awakening could affect me for hours. But allowing me to wallow in a nightmare was no better a solution. I sat up, rubbing my eyes, and actually looked down at my clutched hands, searching for the list, though it wasn’tthere.
Casey placed her hands over mine. “Youokay?”
“What was Idoing?”
“You were breathing really heavy. I got scared, so I wokeyouup.”
“It’s okay. I was just having anightmare.”
“Who wasfollowingyou?”
“What?”
“You kept telling someone tobackoff.”
Running my hands through my hair, I wondered how much I should tell Casey about this dream. We had a deal: every time my nightmare was bad enough that she needed to wake me, I had to share one detail with her. Although my first instinct was always to lie to her, I’d made a concerted effortnotto.
“Ghosts.”
“Ghosts?” she asked, her skin erupting in goosebumps. There were times she seemed so innocent. Was that how a person reacted who’d never seen the dark side of life? I’d been so young when my world imploded that I didn’t remember what it was like before I wasjaded.
“It’s a dream,” I said, trying to justify my answer. “Youasked.”
“What did they want, theseghosts?”
The answer to that question had haunted me for years, and even though I knew the answer to it, I would never admit it to her. Against all odds, I’d built a life for myself, one that included this amazing woman beside me. I wouldn’t allowthemto take that from me, no matter how selfish itmightseem.
“I don’t know,” I said, trying hard to sound unfazed. “You woke me up before I couldaskthem.”
She smiled even though she didn’t seem at all happy with my response. “I’mserious.”
“So am I. Can we please stop talking about ghosts? They’re such aturnoff.”
I yanked her down onto the bed and rolled over her. Although still appearing troubled, she didn’t protest when I removed her t-shirt or when I began running circles around her nipples with my tongue, but her worried mind was not yet ready to concede; her body wasn’t giving in to my touch. Casey wasn’t convinced. She wanted more from me, but we both knew that wasn’t happening. So the question was, would she allow me to change the subject through distraction, as I was doing now, or would she shut me down entirely? It had gone both ways in the past, and recently she’d been getting harder toredirect.
Teasing a trail down her stomach, my fingers and tongue worked in unison until, slowly but surely, Casey’s body relaxed under my caress. Once I moved between her thighs, all was forgotten. At leastforher.
* * *
The ultra-exclusive resortwhere we were spending our honeymoon sat on a secluded stretch of pristine coastline and offered sweeping ocean views as well as luxury amenities. Casey and I had some excursions planned later in the week, but the first few days were spent entirely in the villa. There was no need to go elsewhere. We had everything we could possibly want and more. The private pool and spa aside, we were steps away from the sandy beach where we sat multiple times a day watching the waves roll in. It was relaxation at its finest, and we were taking full advantage of our time together – like now, lounging on inflatable mattresses in our pool with a drink in hand and the ocean as our scenicbackdrop.
“Ooh, hon, you’re startingtoburn.”
“No. It’s called a tan. I think you forget that I have a superior skin tone, which doesn’t require the application of suntan lotion every twenty minutes, unlike some peopleIknow.”
