Drawing Blood (13 page)

Holly laughed at her friend’s reference and wondered what she’d ever do without her.

Before leaving, Holly squinted, pointed a finger and said, “Don’t forget to take your vitamins and get plenty of rest.”

Avery looked bemused. “Yes, Grandmother.”

Holly explained. “You have to take care of yourself because I can’t live without you.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder, and said, “It’s all about me.”

Chapter 9

That night, snug in her bed, Holly worried that she’d never get to sleep. Thoughts of Stryker kept intruding. At last she drifted off, but he followed her into her dreams.

Again, he teased her by not taking her lips. He kissed her, licked her, nipped her everywhere else instead and she thought she’d scream with frustration. Naked, his skin felt like heaven against hers. She rubbed her sensitive breasts against his chest. His expert hand slipped between their bodies and touched her gently at first then with increasing urgency. The tension in her body wound tighter and tighter. She climbed higher and higher until she found release. It wasn’t enough. She longed to take him with her and dug her nails into his back. He threw his head back and groaned. Holly dragged her teeth and tongue down the side of his neck. Grabbing her by the hair, he dragged her mouth from his throat. He looked in her eyes and she could see the desperate desire there and God help her, she felt a triumphant thrill. She had power over him and gloried in it.

Finally, he put his lips against hers. He was so gentle she barely felt his touch and didn’t have a chance to respond before he pulled away. He leaned back and she recognized the look of surrender on his face. It was familiar. He had power over her too and she didn’t care either. She wanted him to take, take, take…drain her, penetrate her…mate with her.

He ran his tongue over her mouth and paid exquisite attention to first her top, then her bottom lip. He pressed his lips against her and stroked her tongue with his.

“I need to taste you.” He moaned.

She responded with a desperate sigh. “Do it.”

Finding that special spot under her tongue, he drank then pulled back and bit her lip. It didn’t hurt her. It just made her want more. Driven beyond words, she was led by example and raked her teeth over his bottom lip.

He laughed. “You learn fast.”

Holly found her voice again. “Please…” She begged him, unsure of what she was pleading for.

He kissed her deeply and Holly responded with fervor. She’d never been kissed like this before. She felt liquid and she flowed into his mouth as he flowed into hers. In one sure thrust of his hips, he took her and she cried out.

Waking in the darkness of her bedroom, Holly savored the residual waves that swept over her body. When her heart calmed and beat more regularly, she wiped a hand across her moist face. Dream sex with Stryker Cain was more intense than anything she’d ever experienced in her waking hours. What would the real thing do to her? Would she survive it? If she didn’t…what a way to go.

* * * *

He tried to feel guilty but he just couldn’t. This time her pull was beyond his capacity to resist. Temptation had trumped his self discipline. It was too late. He’d touched her, connected with her. She was under his skin now and Stryker knew that he would have no choice but to accept it. He could smell her unique and utterly personal scent, a fragrance that had nothing to do with perfumes purchased in a store. He knew her essence and it pulled at him, was always with him like the phantom pains of a lost limb.

This was the second time he’d entered her dreams. With a craving such as his, dream walking was the only thing that gave him relief. This time Stryker took pride in knowing that he’d been able to give her sweet pleasure as well.

A twinge of guilt washed over him and he tasted it for a moment. Bitter. It wasn’t fair to her. Holly Seaton would not understand what was happening to her. Stryker could tell she had no idea of her potential. For the hundredth time, he wondered how that was possible. Abilities such as hers should have manifested during puberty at the latest. The drugs her foolish father had pushed on her must have been powerful to block out her particular gifts. What a shame. There was so much she could do and she was utterly unaware, unschooled.

He’d have to tell her soon. Offer up an explanation and help her in some way. Their connection would grow, and if not assuaged it would turn into a raging fever, then madness. The dream walking could hold off the inevitable for only so long. He wished he could concentrate solely on Holly, but that wasn’t possible. Better than anyone, he understood that things happened for a reason.

He knew poor Irene O’Neill’s death was just the beginning. Standing in her garden, he could smell the malice. She’d been killed by the hand of a stranger and one who enjoyed his work. In Irene’s mind, this stranger had posed no identifiable threat to her. She hadn’t seen it coming and she’d died quickly. Small consolation.

The police had taken away her body, but her blood had leaked out onto the ground. He’d studied the stained flowers and flinched when the smell of her blood was too powerful to ignore. Stryker knew Irene had died not knowing who or what her assailant was. Her blood told him that.

* * * *

“But you didn’t draw anything in your sleep this time, did you?” Avery asked when Holly told her about her erotic dream.

Holly shook her head and fanned her face with her hand. “No drawing, but I still get palpitations when I think about it. The guy makes my eyelids sweat.”

“Damn. He’s good. From miles away he can achieve what a lot of men can’t do in close contact
with
instructions. That is if the statistics are right.” Avery grinned. “I wouldn’t know.”

“It was so real.” Holly blushed and felt the heat rise but ignored her friend’s knowing look. “It might not have been a dream, Avery.”

She looked skeptical and asked, “What does that mean?”

“Well, what about something like astral projection or hypnosis? Maybe he drugged my chocolate cake. Help me, Avery, be Scully to my Mulder.” Holly pleaded.

Avery looked at her blankly.

Holly explained, “
The X-Files
. Scully was the medical encyclopedia filled with thin explanations for supernatural phenomenon.”

“You are such a geek.” Avery teased her.

Holly shrugged. “Humor me.”

“Okay. I suppose astral projection is possible, but he’d have to be a master at it and the same thing goes for hypnosis. How could he have triggered you from a remote location?” Avery leaned back in her chair and took a deep breath before saying, “I have an idea.”

“I’m not going to like this, am I?”

Avery shook her head ruefully and said, “You should ask him.”

“What?” She didn’t take her friend’s words seriously.

“No. Just listen.” She put a hand up in defense, and when Holly sat back prepared to hear her, she continued, “The only way you’re going to know for sure is if you ask him.”

“How do you suggest I do that? ‘Uh…by the way Stryker…are you having sex with me in my dreams? I don’t mind, I’d just like to know.’”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Who’s being ridiculous here?” Her tone rose a full octave. “Who’s being ridiculous?”

“Seriously, Holly, this guy is different. I’ve never seen you so keyed up about a man in your whole life. There is something special about Stryker Cain. It’s primal, in the animal sense, not the numerical, ha!” She laughed at her own joke. “This thing that’s happening between the two of you calls for drastic action. You’re special. You’ve always been special and I don’t mean the short bus kind of “special”. It stands to reason, that you would experience something unique and unexplainable. Talk to him.”

“He’ll think I’ve taken leave of my senses.”

“
No he won’t. If he really is visiting you in your dreams, he’ll have to come clean. When confronted with such a question, he could hardly lie to you.”

Holly wasn’t convinced and looked at her friend warily.

“Just tell him that you’ve had some strange dreams and see what he says or how he looks. Ask him in front of me. I bet I could read him.”

Holly didn’t doubt it. She’d lost count of the times Avery had summed up a man in two minutes flat. She seemed to approve of Stryker Cain however and Holly started to weaken. “You like him, don’t you?”

Avery said, “Yes, but most of all I like the way he makes you feel.” She put up a finger and silenced her friend. “Don’t even try to deny it. I know you too well. There’s been a light in your eyes ever since you met him at the grocery store.”

“Okay, that sounds like very bad song lyrics. You’re a writer. You can do better than that.” Holly smiled.

“Believe me, if things go the way I think they will, I could write sonnets. I’m serious, Holly. Think about asking him about the dreams. Don’t play coy…just confront him. This is too weird to be ignored. And if my guess is right, it’s too important to brush aside.”

Holly pressed her lips together and gave Avery’s words some thought. Did she have the courage to ask him? How else was she going to get to the bottom of it?

To Avery she said, “Okay. I’ll think about it.”

“Have you told him what Margaret Wickham told you?”

Holly looked at her in horror. “What with all this stuff with Stryker, I’d almost forgotten that. I didn’t tell him about it, but I wonder if I should.”

“Maybe it’s just the writer in me, but I think the very least you should do is write it all down while it’s still kind of fresh. You’ve probably forgotten some of what she told you already. It could be important and you may have to tell Stryker someday soon.” Avery tossed her a pad of lined paper and said, “Start writing.”

Like a child obeying an elementary school teacher, Holly did what she was told. When she was finished, she pushed the pad over to Avery who proceeded to jot down what she could remember. She read the whole thing over aloud. Together they made a few corrections and after a little discussion and the odd alteration they decided they were satisfied with the written account.

Avery gathered up the papers, handed them to Holly and said, “Atta girl. Now let’s go talk to Arnie.”

* * * *

Arnie McCloud was a fifteen-year-old computer genius. He was also under house arrest. Caught hacking into classified government documents, Arnie was serving a remarkably light sentence. Luckily his lawyer had much experience with such cases and was utterly brilliant. The government was so embarrassed that a fourteen-year-old had cracked their security that they hadn’t wanted to call attention to their blunder and Arnie reaped the benefits. In the end, the court mandated that Arnie get counseling and be housebound for a period of nine months.

For Arnie it was plum. He never went outside much anyway. At least they didn’t take away his computer privileges. Holly and Avery knew that nothing would stop the teenager from hacking and if the authorities had taken away his computer, he’d just figure out some clever way to fool them. They wondered if one day Arnie might prove very useful to the government. His employment potential was sweet. He was a funny kid who’d meant no harm. Both women really liked the boy, and for his part, Arnie had a huge crush on Avery. She never failed to treat the adolescent genius with gentle respect, offering him dating advice and building up his confidence. He was her ever willing nerd, and when asked, happily promised to get them Irene’s phone and credit card records by the next day.

“As soon as you can, Arnie. We appreciate it.” Avery said. “Now tell me, how’s your love life?”

He smiled and became almost handsome. In that second, Holly could see that Arnie would one day be a bona fide charmer. He just had to grow into his face a little. “I’ve met a girl.”