“I don’t entirely understand it myself. But he does—the other part of me. The part I found while trapped here. Something about you, about us, has opened some sort of way out for me.”
She studied his face. He looked exactly like he had the last time she’d seen him. His blue eyes sparkled, even in the darkness. His black hair fell over his forehead in its usual carefree manner. She kept waiting for the darkness to move over him and change him.
“You’re not making any sense,” she said. “Not that any of this makes any sense.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too,” she whispered, her voice failing her.
“Can you forgive me? For what we—for what I did?”
The joy of holding him, kissing him, of seeing him up close after all this time, made Farrah momentarily forget the rest of the night. The nightmares and the chasing. The pain and the rough coupling. The unexplainable yearning in her response, and the way that somehow, even though it made no sense, she had felt cherished.
“You’re the demon,” Farrah said.
“He’s a part of me, born of what it took to survive the torment here.” His expression grew distant, and a chill invaded his voice. “Though survival is relative. You’re dreaming, so you don’t see everything that I see. Everything that’s here, ready to rip and tear and destroy.”
“I don’t understand,” she confessed. “I know I said that, but this is too much.”
He shook his head and softened his tone. “I can explain it all with time. But you have to decide right now, before it’s too late. When you wake, I can be with you.” He kissed her forehead. “I can return to you.”
“What?” Her mind raced, disbelief swept beneath a torrent of joy.
“During the day, I’ll be Nathan. But each night, the demon has to return.” He looked down at her naked body, but instead of heat in his gaze, there was conflict. “And he’ll want you. Sharing your body with him is all I can do to tame him.”
“But it’s you,” she whispered.
“Yes.” His face twisted with regret. “I don’t want to hurt you, he just… We know your limitations. It’s still a dream…”
She stroked her thumb across his cheek, memories assailing her. Her love for him hadn’t changed. Her desire to have him hadn’t waned. Damn it, she’d missed him. Now she was holding him, and she had a chance to keep him.
“It’s real, though,” she told him. “Something about these dreams follows me back.”
“This world is real, but we can’t do actual damage to you.” Nathan frowned and exhaled, nuzzling her open palm. “We’re connected now. We share the pain and the pleasure, and I want to tell you more, but I’m afraid you’ll wake up soon…”
At last, she could have him back with her; that was all she heard. That was all that mattered.
“Yes!” she exclaimed. “Yes!”
Nathan searched her face before giving a slight nod. “Then lie back, love. I’m not done with you. Neither is he. We’ll make the most of this dream, and when you wake, we’ll make the most of our future.”