“No.” Her eyes filled with sadness. “No. I don’t dream as other Therians do.”
He feared she’d disappear again or, at the very least, turn and run from him. But she did neither. Instead, she started toward him. Slowly. Carefully.
The unhappiness in her eyes tore him apart. I’m sorry, Julianne. So very sorry. I never dreamed you’d waited for me. It never even crossed my mind. You’re so beautiful. Every man wants you.
“You’re the only one I’ve ever wanted, Zeeland.”
You waited for me. And I hurt you. I’ll never forgive myself for hurting you.
She stopped in front of him. “You didn’t hurt me, Zee. That’s why I’m here. To tell you that.”
For a moment, his heart seized on her words, holding them like a balm to his bleeding soul. But it was only a dream.
You’re telling me what I want so desperately to hear, Julianne. If only this were real.
She stepped closer and cautiously reached for him, stroking her hand through his fur. “The way you touched me felt good, Zee. Too good.”
You forget, sweetheart. I saw your face. You were horrified, and I can’t blame you. I was getting ready to take you like an animal. It’s not that you wouldn’t have enjoyed it like that. If you’d been experienced. I would never have mounted a virgin in such a way. It never crossed my mind that you’d waited for me. He dropped his head, staring at the ground in shame.
To his surprise, she knelt in front of him and wrapped her arms around his thick neck. “It might not have been the perfect introduction to sex, but your desire was real and fierce. Heady, Zee. You didn’t hurt me. You didn’t do anything wrong. My reaction wasn’t to the lovemaking but to something else. I can’t tell you more. I just wanted you to know that. Don’t blame yourself, please? But we can’t try again. We can never try again.”
He heard devastation in her tone and something more. Fear. Raw, ugly fear.
Julianne, tell me what you’re afraid of.
She released him and rose. He pulled on the power within him and shifted back into a man in another flash of light.
“What are you afraid of, Sunshine? I won’t let anything hurt you.” But as he took a step toward her, fear leaped into her eyes.
“Don’t, Zee. I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t have come.”
And just like that, she was gone.
“Julianne!”
The sound of his voice woke him. Zeeland sat up in his bed with a start, his gaze searching the room. Goddess, but that dream felt real—vivid in a way dreams rarely were. He raked his hands through his hair as Julianne’s words, at once reassuring and unsettling, replayed in his head. That he hadn’t hurt her. That it wasn’t him she’d been afraid of.
“It was just a dream,” he muttered with disgust. “You created what you wanted to hear.” And yet, the fear he’d sensed in her from the moment he’d returned was all too real. He kept getting sidetracked from the very reason he’d come back—to get to the bottom of what was bothering her.
He swung his long legs out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. He had to talk to her, even if he had to wake her to do it. Maybe half-asleep, she’d give him the answers he sought. Later, she’d try to avoid him, he was sure of it.
He had to get to the bottom of this. And he needed to hear her forgiveness. If he could even get her to speak to him again.
It was too damned bad it had only been a dream.
He made his way to Julianne’s room, but as he reached for the door, voices drifted out. Two voices, both feminine. Julianne’s and another he didn’t immediately recognize. She must be confiding the night’s horrors to a friend.
The thought kicked him in the gut, but didn’t deter him from his intent to speak to her. He reached for the door handle.
“I can’t find it!”
The agitation in Julianne’s tone made him pause. The last thing he wanted to do was get into the middle of an argument.
“Twenty-four hours, little sister,” the other woman said, her tone hard. “Find it within twenty-four hours, or I’ll drag you before the queen and let you explain your failure to her in person.”
The queen? What queen? The Therians had no queen.
“Then I’ll return here and find it myself,” the woman continued. “And woe be to anyone who sees me.”
A muffled cry met his ears, the sound of pain. Julianne’s pain.
Chapter Eight
Zeeland burst through the door and rushed into the room to find Julianne kneeling on the floor, her arms around her middle.
His gaze searched for her attacker. But the room was empty, except for Julianne.