perfect muscles of his body, and his jeans had holes in the knees.
For some reason she couldn't fathom, he looked a bit pale and tired, his features pinched. Even so, she was glad he was here.
She smiled at him. "It's one of my favorite places from childhood."
"What did you do here?"
She stood up and approached him, but he quickly moved away. "Is something wrong?"
V'Aidan shook his head. He shouldn't be here. He should have stayed far away from her, and yet...
He couldn't.
As soon as she'd fallen asleep, he had felt her soothing presence calling out to him.
Determined, he had fought it as long as he could.
But in the end, it had been futile.
He'd come here against his will. Against his common sense. His body, even though it healed a hundred times faster than a human's, was still sore and aching from his punishment. It reminded him of the high cost he would have to pay again should anyone learn where he was.
She placed her hand on his arm. V'Aidan closed his eyes as pain swept through him. His arms were so incredibly sore, but not even the agony of his wounds could conceal the hot, intense shiver he felt at her touch.
"Come." She slid her hand down his arm to capture his hand in hers. He stared in amazement at their fingers laced together. And he tried not to feel just how soothing her touch was against his skin. How much he wanted to strip her clothes from her and make love to her for the rest of eternity.
"Let me show you," she said.
He allowed her to lead him down the porch steps and across the yard to an old barn. As they walked hand in hand, her imagination stunned him. Her dream was so vivid and vibrant. He'd never visited anyone who had created something so wonderfully detailed.
She released his hand to open the well-oiled doors of the barn and show him where three horses rested inside stalls.
V'Aidan watched her toss a horse blanket over the back of a pinto, then lead it to him. It amazed him that the horse didn't shriek at his scent. Never before had an animal tolerated his presence in a dream. But the brown-and-white pinto seemed completely at ease with him. That spoke volumes about how much power her mind held.
"Have you ever ridden?" she asked.
"No."
She showed him how to mount the horse; then she climbed up to ride in front of him. V'Aidan held on to her waist as she kicked the horse into a gallop and they rode through the fields.
The feel of the animal under him, with her in his arms as they rode, washed over him. He felt so strangely free and almost human.
She rode him out to a lake where they dismounted and the horse vanished into a brown cloud of smoke.
Erin sat on the grass and started picking wildflowers to weave into a crown. Enchanted, he watched her hands blend the stems together into an intricate piece that bore little resemblance to a simple headdress.
While she worked, he drew her back against his chest so that he could hold her.
Just for a little while.
"You are so incredibly creative," he said. "This place is so... you," he finished. And it was. Bright, friendly, welcoming. It was everything good.
Everything Erin.
She laughed happily and the sound of it brought a foreign comfort to his chest. "Not really."
"Yes, you are." It was what had made him seek her out originally. "Why do you suppress your creativity?"
She shrugged.
V'Aidan leaned his cheek against her brown hair and traced circles on her stomach with his hand. "Tell me."
Erin had never been the kind of person to confide in others, and yet she found herself telling V'Aidan things she'd never told another soul. "I always wanted to be creative, but I was never any good at it."
"You are."
"No. I tried to play the flute as a girl, and I remember when they were holding auditions for junior high school I went to play my scales and couldn't hit any of the lower notes."
"You were nervous."
"I was untalented."
She felt V'Aidan's breath on her neck as he nuzzled her gently. Heat coursed through her, tightening her breasts.
What was it about his touch that set her on fire? And the more she felt of his touch, the more she wanted him.
"I'll bet you would make a great artist."
Erin smiled at him and the confidence he had in her abilities. It was a nice change of pace. "I can't