Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 73

This means war
When Trace had entered the dream, he’d felt oddly intrusive. The sisters’ play was endearing, but not something he was meant to observe. He was about to leave when the dream suddenly changed.

Anaisa became aware of it.

That happened to people on rare occasions, but Trace was not expecting it. He was about to make his escape when Anaisa noticed his presence. Not even sending a version of Scruffles to distract her could keep her from being aware of him.

He was nervous as he stepped out. Would she scream at him? Berate him for invading her dream and never talk to him again?

“Of course it’s you,” She’d said. She smiled. Smiled!

“Of course?” He was bewildered. Had she sensed him before, and he failed to notice?

Anaisa took a few steps toward him, and put the cat down.

“Go on, now, you don’t need to be here for this,” She told the feline softly, shooing Scruffles away.

“For what?” His heart thudded like a wild horse in his chest as Anaisa moved closer and took his hand. Her eyes looked deeply into his. Did he dare hope that she was forgiving him for invading her privacy?

It felt an eternity that they stared into each other’s eyes. Her lips parted as she looked up at him. His gaze flickered to them, and back to her eyes in question. His thoughts abandoned him, and he leaned forward. Slowly.

“For this!” She threw her weight into pulling on him just as he leaned closer, heaving him forward and causing them both to splash into a decorative fountain.

Giggling wildly, she splashed him, and he tried to shake the water out of his eyes.

“Are you very happy with yourself?” He asked incredulously.

“Extremely so,” She giggled. Holding her hands forward, she caused a bucket to appear in them.

He was shocked at how much control she had over her dream, and so quickly after becoming aware of it! At least, until she used the bucket to soak him thoroughly in water.

“You little minx!” He exclaimed, standing up in the water, “You think you’ll get away with that so easily?”

“Yes.” She lifted her chin in triumph, scooping her bucket into the water and reeling back to splash him again.

He lunged forward, grabbing the bucket before she could release its spray, taking it by the handle and pail and whirling it in an upward arc to dump onto her own head.

Sputtering in mock outrage, she sloshed backward, her waterlogged skirts tangling around her legs and tripping her. Dropping the bucket, Trace caught hold of her hand before she could fall and pulled her toward him.

She stabilized, looking rather startled, but as he panted from the exertion, he noticed mischief in her eyes. Scooping up the discarded bucket, she splashed him again before he could react.

“Oh, this is war, is it?” His eyes narrowed, and he procured his own bucket to scoop and throw water back at her.

She squealed and fled, sloshing around the sculpture in the center of the fountain as she threw water behind herself at Trace. He pursued, quickly gaining the upper hand in the aquatic battle. Sparkling streams of water flew back and forth between the couple, accompanied by laughter and squeals.

“Enough! Enough. I surrender!” She finally panted, “I give up! You win!”

“What do I win?” He grinned, out of breath and loving the way she had to blink water droplets from the tips of her eyelashes.

“What do you want?” Her eyebrows drew together. “Wait a minute, this is my dream, how did you win?”

“Either you wanted me to win, or I’m better at dreams than you are,” He teased her, and she looked at him, confused. The world around them grew indistinct, and Trace froze.

Anaisa didn’t realize he wasn’t one of her mind’s creations. Calling attention to it was destabilizing the dream.

“I must have wanted you to win,” She said to herself, and the dream clarified. He sighed, but felt a flash of pain in his chest.

She still didn’t know.

Anaisa hadn’t easily accepted and forgiven his presence in her dream, hadn’t played and splashed in the fountain with him knowing that, for him, it was all real.

“So what do I win?” He asked again, throwing himself back into his role.

“I win a nap,” She corrected, sitting down in the water with her back resting against the center. “I’m exhausted.”

“You’re going to take a nap in the fountain?” He asked, bemused. This was already a dream.

“Come be my pillow so I don’t drown,” She commanded with all the haughtiness of her performance as Princess Sapphira.

He sank down beside her.

“Isn’t the water too chilly?” He asked quietly. “You’ll catch cold.”

It was the logical thing to say if the situation were real, but Anaisa rolled her eyes.

“You sound like Katia,” She complained, scooting closer and leaning against him.

He lifted one arm and she wriggled underneath it, laying her head against his shoulder as his arm wound around her.

It was heavenly. If only she knew how real it was to him. If only she trusted him enough to tell him her secrets.

If only he could be brave enough to do the same.

He leaned his head down onto hers, resting his cheek against her wet hair. The sun brightened, warming the air and water to a comfortable temperature, and he smiled at Anaisa’s resourcefulness.

If she did this often, she could be as adept at controlling her dreams as he was at controlling his own.

He only wished he could take her there, to see his world. He sighed heavily, and she shifted against him.

“What is it?” She turned her head to look up at him.

“I have something I want to tell you,” He said without stopping to consider the consequences of revealing his secret. He liked her too much. He didn’t want to find himself hopelessly in love with her, still unsure of whether she would accept him for who he was. It was torture already.

“Hm?” She looked up into his eyes, her face less than a breath away from his.

“I have to tell you, that I–”

But the sudden yank of consciousness ripped the dream apart.