I sat up, picked up the plate one of the twins had left on the bed beside me and I stuffed my face with the best sandwich I’d ever eaten in my life. Also, the biggest. I could only eat over half of it before collapsing on the bed and curling into my side.
I groaned happily into my pillow. “I’m so tired now.”
“Sleep,” came Tyson’s simple command from beside me.
I closed my eyes and let my body relax as I sank deeper into the bed. Then, like a crazy person, I fell asleep in my bed beside a boy I’d met only the day before while he did my homework for me.
Before sleep entirely consumed me, he whispered, “Ariel? Are those cigarette burns?”
He’d seen my scars.
“Do you smoke?”
“No,” I mumbled as I drifted off to sleep.
***
“Do you feel that, Ariel Kimber?” asked a voice from behind me. A voice I’d never heard before. A deep, distinctly male voice that sent shivers racing down my spine.
I spun around in a circle, frantically searching for the owner of that voice. All I could see were trees. Trees, trees, and more trees. But no man.
Soft laughter floated around me. “The boys were right about you, Ariel Kimber. You are exceptionally beautiful. I had only seen you from afar until tonight.”
I ignored the compliment because a faceless man calling me exceptionally beautiful kind of freaked me out, especially after he said he’d seen me before. I focused on the first thing he’d said and asked, “Can I feel what? And how do you know my name?”
The laughter came back, only this time it somehow felt closer. My breathing picked up speed as I, once again, spun around in a circle. There was no one there.
“The heat,” his voice slithered across my skin in a smooth, gentle caress.
I didn’t feel any heat, though. In fact, it was kind of cold. I shook my head from side to side in a negative. The only thing I felt was somewhat alarmed by this situation.
“You will when we touch you.” Hot, moist breath landed on the back of my neck, making my entire body shiver in fear. I opened my mouth to scream but no sound came out.
A silky, smooth fingertip trailed down the back of my neck leaving a blazing trail of heat in its wake. Heat I’d felt before, but for the life of me, I couldn’t remember when. My chest heaved up and down with every breath I took as my body shook uncontrollably.
“I can feel it inside of you, just waiting to be set free.” He whispered in my ear as his body drew closer to mine. Heat enveloped me and I fought the urge to close my eyes and sink into it. It felt comforting, warm and snuggly. Safe even.
“Feel… feel what inside of me?”
Soft lips traced the crest of my ear. “Magic,” he whispered sinisterly as his tongue gently touched my ear lobe.
“That’s enough,” another male voice shot out of the dark forest surrounding us.
The unknown man behind me chuckled darkly as his heat moved away from me. “I don’t like waiting and I had to meet her for myself. I meant no harm.”
“In a dream, Uncle?” The voice was sharp and angry. I recognized it, but couldn’t for the life of me put a face or a name behind it. “You were practically molesting her. We agreed to wait. At least until she’s met all the others. This didn’t look much like waiting to me.”
“I’ve been waiting since she got here. I told you I could feel-”
“Enough,” the voice I recognized barked. “What’s done is done. Get over it.”
I felt frozen to where I stood, unable to move. I couldn’t even get my fingers to twitch.
“Wake up, Ariel Kimber,” the second voice whispered sweetly as a gentle breeze hit my face. “Wake. Up.”
I sat up in bed with a start. My heart beat wildly inside my chest as I frantically searched the dark corners of my bedroom for something, anything. There was nothing there. Absolutely nothing. I flopped back on my pillows in a huff with my arms spread out wide. The other side of the bed where Tyson had been was still warm. He must have only recently left me. Night had fallen. How long had it taken him to write one paper about himself?
Tyson… something about him nagged at my brain. But what? Something about my dream. Why did Tyson remind me about my dream?