he felt he was answered as a surge of electrical emotion swept through his body.
As he called up to the sky, dark clouds boiled up from the horizon filling the sky with thunder and lightning as the storm raced in from the sea. Wind tugged at his clothes and whipped the sea into a frenzy of foaming white spray as it crashed against the rocks below.
The loud whinnying of a horse snapped into Paul’s mind, and he looked down and around himself, realizing his power and potential, enjoying the feel of the cool armor on his skin and the powerful warhorse he was mounted on.
So this was how it was to be.
He was in his dream, but this time the dream was real.
There was something else.
On the horizon he felt her, felt her pulling him towards herself. With an imperceptible command he urged the warhorse on, and they galloped through the storm moving swiftly along the cliff tops towards her. Only when he was near did he rein in his horse to a stop and jump down. There he stood waiting. Waiting for the time when she would come to him, and they would be joined once more.
Chapter Seven
Nicola’s dream had been very vivid. She had been in a deep sleep until something had awoken her, a tingling sensation along her bare arm. She slowly opened her eyes knowing that it would be him. Their gazes met, his face almost a shadow, lit only by the glow of dying embers. His deep blue eyes gleamed in the darkness connecting himself to her as they always did, telling her now that it was time. He leaned forward and kissed her softly before pulling back, his index finger moving to his lips, urging her to be quiet. She dressed quickly in layers of linens and a thick fur hide while he stood watching by the doorway. He was not rushing her, but she felt the desperate urgency in his actions.
When she was ready he pulled back the skins and stepped outside, and she followed him out into the biting cold to where the great beast of a warhorse stood waiting. He leapt up onto its back before reaching down and grabbing her arm helping her to swing up onto the saddle in front of him. He took the reins in his hands and she gripped his arms. In the distance, carried gently on the still air of the coming night, she heard the shouts of men and could almost feel the deep rumbling of horses’ hooves against the land. In her heart she felt a flutter of fear.
He looked behind them, his eyes searching, and then with an imperceptible command they were off, threading their way through the woodland towards open fields. Soon they were in open farmland and he urged the horse on, the animal quickly picking up speed into a gallop. She looked back to see a thin column of smoke already rising from the trees where the hut had stood, where she had been sleeping but minutes before, and her eyes widened in fear. She looked up into his face but his gaze was fixed on the horizon, his eyes unreadable in the half-light.
A sudden tiredness washed over her, and despite her fear and the cold she felt herself drifting away, lulled by the rhythmic movement of the horse, the heavy pounding of its hooves on the land, and then the movement fell away and she opened her eyes and below, far below, were fields and woods, while around her the sky was filled with crimson clouds. They headed west, fleeing the shadows of the night, while all around them the sky boiled red.
Nicola awoke, the dream still filling her consciousness. Vivid images and emotions churned in her stomach, while her heart ached for the mysterious rider. How was it possible to feel such powerful feelings from a dream? Clutching the duvet she slipped out of bed and padded over to the patio window where she sat and stared out across the bay to the sea. She allowed the sun to warm her, hoping that the rugged scenery would still her heart and make the feelings go away, but they would not, and all the time, as she sat by the window, its panes still covered with raindrops, she was unaware of the marks in the grass outside, of a horse’s hooves.
Nicola walked along the deserted beach, her swimming towel clutched in her hand. The sun shone down from