Page 42 of Chasing Dreams
“I can’t take any more,” she said in a hoarse and pleading voice. “I can’t take any more of these dreams. I can’t…”
He pulled her against his chest. She resisted at first, and then gave in to his genuine warmth and caring. With gentle fingers, he stroked the tangles from her hair. Her head rested against the steady beat of his heart. The warmth of his skin penetrated his T-shirt.
He maneuvered them so that his back rested against the headboard, and she lay partially in his lap. His hands continued their comforting caress of her hair, moving to her shoulders, and gently stroking her bare arm until the tension left her body.
It felt good to have his hands on her skin, in her hair. His rock-ribbed body gave her warmth and comfort and a sense of security she’d long been without.
The cotton beneath her cheek was damp from her tears, and the sensation reminded her of Jack’s wet sheets. Another sob escaped her, and she related the dream to Austin.
“You’re right,” he said after several minutes.
“What?” she asked, wiping tears from her lashes.
“These dreams aren’t getting us anywhere. You can’t see enough from Jack’s viewpoint to detect where he is. All the dreams do is torture you.”
“And what can we do about that?”
“We’re working on it, but we need to step it up. As soon as you’ve honed your skill, we’ll have you hold something of Jack’s. Maybe that will show you how he got where he is.”
“Do you think so?” She raised up enough to look at his face.
“I don’t know,” he replied, as honest as ever, and equally as unwilling to give her false hope. “There’s no guarantee in any of this.”
She placed her head against his chest again.
“Until then,” he said.
“What?”
“I’ll sleep up here, too. When you start having a dream I’ll wake you.”
Sleep up here? Shaine pushed herself to a sitting position and sized up his serious expression.
“I’ll sleep on the floor. There’s plenty of room.”
There was at that, she couldn’t deny.
“I’ve already seen you in your jammies,” he said with a teasing note in his voice.
The thought of having him stay close was comforting. And if he could help her stop the dreams, she’d be grateful. At last she nodded. “Okay.”
“If you’re all right, I’ll go get a couple of things.”
“I’m all right.”
The light below went out. Minutes later, he returned with a sleeping bag and pillow. In the generous moonlight coming through the skylight, he spread the bag out in the expanse between the bed and the railing and settled in. Shaine lay down and watched him fold a pillow beneath his head.
She couldn’t remember anyone ever being as concerned about her as he’d been. Perhaps, in the beginning, he’d only resisted her pleas for help in order to protect her. He didn’t seem like a selfish man. Not at all. In fact, she’d never known anyone as caring. Her mother had loved her, in her own way, but she and Shaine’s grandparents had held her at arm’s length, always a little afraid of her. And her father,...well he had been more concerned with his bowling average than his family.
Maggie had loved her, but her sister had been too involved with the unfolding drama of the string of men in her life to give Shaine much of her time or energy. There had been a couple of men she’d dated, but a connection had never developed. Perhaps the bond she felt with Austin was simply because of the miraculous way he’d opened her mind to her gift. Or because he truly understood her the way no one ever had before.
Maybe he didn’t feel the same connection she did.
She liked Tom Stempson a lot. And she didn’t believe he meant her any harm. But she was a subject to him. Someone to study and learn from.
Austin, on the other hand, didn’t need anything from her, so he had no ulterior motive beneath his concern. Shaine noted the direction her thoughts were taking and, recalling the kisses they’d shared, warned herself not to get caught up in needing him for anything other than to help her find Jack.
Her sister had been a prime example of a woman unable to function without a man in her life. Shaine had told her time and again that she needed to look out for herself, that she didn’t need a man to make her complete.
