Chapter 1

1.

The sun glinted off the honey strands of her hair as the wind whipped the curtain of it across her face. Her eyes glittered brightly as she threw back her head and laughed.

She murmured something he couldn't quite make out, but the tone made clear what words couldn't. He felt her lips graze against the sensitive skin of his neck and heat flowed freely through him.

With a husky laugh he pulled her close and felt her body meld to his. His hand slid up one smooth creamy thigh to rest on her hip. His head dipped to taste her lips and he was spinning. His hands raked through her thick silky hair as his mouth moved on hers. His tongue darted in slowly and he felt as well as heard the soft gasp of surrender.

She pulled away and clear blue eyes softened with love held his gaze. She spoke again, but as before the words were unintelligible to him.

Sadness filled her eyes as she stretched up to place a soft kiss on his lips. He thought he saw a tear slipping down one cheek.

"What's wrong darlin'?" he asked as he felt her pull away.

She shook her head and stepped back without saying a word.

"Wait!" he called in frustration as the fog closed in. It was happening again. It was always the same. She was there, he was happy, she was happy. Then the fog came, and she was gone.

"Please tell me who you are!" he called to her fading form as he struggled against the enclosing darkness.

She was gone in a bright flash. "No!" he yelled into the darkness and sat straight up in bed.

The room was dark. His bedside clock read 2:55 am. He raked a hand thru his hair and breathed a deep sigh. It hadn't happened in years. Why now? The same dream he'd had last night and the night before. It was back. She was back. But why, and what did it mean.

He lay back against his pillows and stared at the grey ceiling. He might as well forget about sleeping tonight.

She bolted up, her eyes wide as she stared at the wall. It had come again, that same damnable dream that had plagued her for years. As far back as she could remember she'd dreamed of the dark haired man, the one with the hat. hell she could smell his damn cologne in the dream it was that vivid to her.

But in the last few years the dream had faded, at times leaving her bereft. It had been like losing a friend when it left her, her own personal knight in shining armor. She'd never seen his face, not even once, but she'd felt his lips, could smell his cologne, hell at times she could smell his sweat.

To this day a black Stetson would stop her cold, she'd look to see if the wearer were familiar. They never were. Sighing she glanced over at her clock 2:55 AM. Sleep was over for the night. When the dream came she might as well give up the idea of sleep.

Slipping from the bed she quickly dressed in a pair of comfortable sweats and pulled her hair back into a sloppy ponytail. She'd take a run, run the dream outta her system; then maybe she could catch a couple more hours of rest before she had to start her day.

He lay still with his eyes closed for nearly 20 minutes before he barked a curse to the empty room and rolled out of bed. He tugged on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and slipped on his shoes. Grabbing a baseball cap and jamming it on his sleep ruffled hair, he grabbed his room key and took off out the door and down the hall.

As he strode thru the hotel lobby opening the front doors the moist night air hit him full on. The weather was incredible here. The middle of February, the middle of the night and it was still nearly 60. He chuckled a bit at himself. He knew to the local Floridians this was cold, but to a northerner like himself, acclimated to New Jersey winters, this was heaven on earth in February. He walked around the hotel and down the deserted boardwalk. He glanced out to sea. He saw lights very dimly in the distance. Their vibrancy dulled by the incoming fog. He glanced up at the full moon shining brightly in the night sky.

With a shrug he headed out onto the pier to have a look and clear his mind.

She tilted her head back, the soft sea air brushing through her hair as a soft sigh of appreciation whispered over her lips. It had been a good call to vacation here. She was so damn tired of the cold, and it was always cold at home this time of year.

God if the people here didn't have it lucky, even the fog that was slowly rolling in from the ocean felt warm.

She'd run for an hour, until her legs had started screaming and her mind listened. Now she simply leaned against the pier railing, her eyes on the distant fog, wondering to herself why that one darned dream always left her feeling so unsettled.

He stopped short when he realized he wasn't alone. A slender woman with wispy brown hair pulled into a pony tail was leaning casually on the railing looking down into the dark water.

For a moment he thought to turn around and walk back to the boardwalk. He didn't want to startle her, scare her, alone at night and him a stranger...

What was a little thing like her doing out alone this time of night anyway? It wasn't safe! Maybe he should make sure she was alright.

He took a step then hesitated again before finally letting his steps fall a bit heavier on the boards to warn her of his approach.

The sound of approaching foot steps pulled her from her thoughts as she turned to glance their way. Jesus it was a tall person whoever it was. She watched as the pale lighting of the over head pier lights illuminated what turned out to be a rather tall slender man. He wasn't unpleasant to look at, not at all and oddly in some way even seemed a bit familiar.

Leaning back against the railing she nodded. "Hiya."

"hey" he said quietly as he leaned against the railing, looking out he breathed in a deep breath of salty air "Beautiful night eh?" His gaze slid sideways and gave her a once over up close. She was cute. Fresh faced and tan, with full lips and vibrant blue eyes. His heart stilled for a moment at the sight of those eyes but her shook his head a bit and chased away the remnants of that damnable dream.

She snorted softly, her head tilting as she studied her partner in sleeplessness. "So, what brings a man out at," she lifted her arm and twisted it to glance at her watch, "nearly 4:00 am in the morning?"

"insomnia?" he answered with a shrug. "What about you?" He took in her exercise attire and the dampness of her skin. She must have run hard. "You always run in the middle of the night?"

She lifted a shoulder in a shrug. "Not generally, only when the ...." she paused a moment surprised at how quickly she'd almost admitted the dreams to him. "just restless I guess."

He nodded his head in agreement then stood in companionable silence for a bit. He watched the fog rolling slowly in and felt an eerie familiarity. He took time to look her over once again. She looked so familiar to him. Hell, he met so many people sometimes it was hard to remember them all. He turned to face her leaning casually. "Look... this may sound weird but... have we met?" he blurted against his better judgment.

She couldn't restrain the snort at the oft used and way too corny pick up line. Turning to watch him she was again struck by the easy familiarity she'd felt with him. "I don't think so."

She shivered as the fog began to caress and wrap around him, lending even more familiarity to the entire moment. If he just had on that black cowboy hat he'd almost be a damn twin to the guy in her dreams, well other than she never had seen his face. "I guess it’s just the night eh? Makes things seem so real."

She glanced off at the ocean, sighing as the fog covered it in its cloudy appeal. With the softest mutter she almost laughed, "if you just had that hat it would be that moment all over again though."

"Yeah... so real" he sighed and adjusted his hat. "Look I'm about to head back, can I walk you...."

He was interrupted by a loud crack and a flash of light followed by loud rumbling. He jumped and instinctively reached out to pull the girl into his arms, as if to protect her.

She squeaked, her body slamming into his as the thunder roared around them. "Jesus, where did that come from?"

" I.... I don't know" he gave a nervous laugh and looked down into her upturned face. Those eyes, those vibrant blue eyes called out to him. He licked his lips and as if in a trance lowered his mouth to hers. His mind shouted to stop, to run to do anything but kiss her but he had no control over his actions.

At the first touch of her lips he was back in the dream, spinning, spinning.

Her eyes slammed shut at the first touch of his lips, her initial shock at a virtual stranger kissing her getting lost in the sensation normally reserved for dreams. She leaned in, his scent teasing her nose as his hands settled just where she remembered. God it was the dream, only different, it had changed. So much the same but now it was different. She tried to wake herself up, only to be stuck exactly where she was.

He pulled away slowly, his breathing a bit unsteady "Who are you..." He asked in disbelief.

She blinked, a bit dazed as the dream man spoke with words she could understand. He'd never been able to talk in her dreams. Hell, why was he talking? Lips lifted to brush over her lips as she stared at him in shock. It wasn't a dream, she'd just been running she could feel the clammy drying sweat on her skin.

Jesus he'd kissed her, and she'd let him, that just wasn't her style. She turned and bolted off down the pier, running as much from the man as the dream that was threatening to become real.

"Hey!" he yelled "Wait!"

He swore as he saw her disappear. Just like the dream. He stood shock still. The dream had become real!

"I must be fucking insane!" he shook his head and started back towards the boardwalk.