Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 169

Chapter 169: Just a married couple alone in a cave
Trace faced Anaisa in the flickering glow of the lamp. She was leaning against the wall of the cave, and her hair looked like gleaming embers when the light hit it.

“Yes, I’m here,” She replied. Her pupils were dilated in the semi-darkness, and he stepped towards her. Now was not the time for anything more, but surely, a kiss wouldn’t be out of line. She was so beautiful…

Her eyes were fixed on his, and as he moved closer, her breathing noticeably quickened. He smiled, and she tilted her head in a silent question. A silent invitation.

“At least I can’t break this world,” She whispered just as his lips covered hers. They were as alluring and warm as in the dreams, and at least twice as intoxicating.

Trace cradled her gently against him, testing out the waters of this new real-world physical contact.

She was more timid than before. Softer, somehow. His heart seemed to overflow as he pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. Anaisa began to respond more fervently to the attention, pressing herself against him as her arms tightened around his neck.

Anaisa’s kisses were like a firebrand, burning into him and marking his soul as her own. And she… she was his. His beloved wife, voluntarily in his arms, in his life. He needed her more than he’d ever needed anyone.

The way she seemed to melt against him was like nothing he’d ever experienced. Her lips moved in tandem with his, putting his senses at risk of abandoning him entirely.

He reveled in the touch of her fingers, cool and gentle, on the back of his neck. He shivered when they slipped just inside the collar of his shirt, and he began to pull back.

“That’s… just about the limit of my self control right now,” He warned, though he still held her in a close embrace. “I don’t know about you, but I think the rest is better saved for somewhere that’s not cold and dank.”

“I suppose,” Anaisa’s voice was teasing and breathless, but her eyes promised more, if he wanted it. And he did… but there was a time and a place for these things.

He tapped her forehead playfully with his own and planted a kiss on the tip of her nose.

“You’re going to drive me crazy, Woman.” He told her before slowly releasing her from his arms.

“Said the pot to the kettle,” She retorted, breathing deeply. The fiery reflection in her eyes was nearly enough to draw him back.

“We… need to find the tree,” He said a little shakily, and she nodded her agreement.

“Don’t blame me, you started it,” Anaisa smiled at him with amused accusation.

“This time,” He joined the teasing to help curb the overwhelming desire he had for his wife. “But I’m sure you won’t be able to keep your hands off me for long.”

“No… not for long,” She admitted quietly as he picked up the lamp.

A thrill went through him at her words, but he forced himself to lead onward rather than respond. She was a definite danger to his focus right now.

Trudging onward and downward through the darkness, it was some distance further when the passageway opened up into a large room, with a ceiling so high it was almost out of view, and stalagmites taller than four men.

He paused, and lamented that the meager light of one lamp did little to pierce the black. The ring of light around Trace seemed to be one drop in an ocean of darkness.

Anaisa took his hand, and he squeezed hers in reply. It did seem easy to get lost in such a place, but he looked down at their feet. In Sanders’ vision, Oakdown and the other man had seemed to be following a path.

If Trace could find that path, it should lead him to the tree… if he didn’t get lost first.

The way before him was narrow, between the craggy stalagmites and columns that reached towards the ceiling far above. The way led downward, into the midst of the formations, where he would be unable to see more than a few feet at a time.

Not that he could see very far now. In fact, he supposed this room could be a different one entirely, except that he felt a power in this place that he couldn’t explain.

He narrowed his eyes and willed the shape of a stalagmite to change. It remained as it was. No matter how much his power was augmented by the ambient magic here, he doubted he would be able to change reality, but perhaps…

He turned back, glancing far behind and above him. Several dream bubbles hovered in the ethereal gloom on the other side of hundreds of feet of rock, as if they existed on another plane entirely, one only he could see.

Drawing in a deep breath, he looked closer, and realized he could now see into each dream without going into it. The images were somewhat hazy and vague, but he could make out the general timbre of each orb even from this distance. Even while awake. He could probably even change them from here, if he so wished.

Trace turned back forward. There was no time for distraction. He pressed forward, down through the maze. Anaisa had to walk behind him as he moved, but thankfully there were no trail splits or other spaces that might confuse the way back… he hoped.

“Can you see anything yet?” Anaisa asked after a time. How large could a single cave room be? Granted, they were turning a fair amount as they wound their way through the cavern.

“Not yet,” He sighed. There was no reliable way to measure time down here in the dark. It was difficult to know how worried the others would be… or even worse, Deborah and the doctor. He’d never left them for so long. The two guards he’d left in the pit would certainly be getting hungry and thirsty, but there wasn’t much he could do about that now.

Just when he was about to suggest giving up and trying another day, he saw a faint glow up ahead.