The Dream Walker (15 page)

Chapter 33

Blake sat at the table under the umbrella sucking back a beer. It was fucking hot out. Even in the shade, Blake put the temperature at over 110, and the air was sticky with humidity. Over the horizon he noted storm clouds pushing their way into the valley. With any luck, they’d have some rain soon.

Jovan worked the steaks on the grill, and Liberty was in the kitchen making a salad.

“Can you go get a plate for these babies?” Jovan asked.

Blake sighed. He really didn’t want to get up.

“You’re not doing anything, Blake. Just go get the damn plate.”

Blake stood, flipped Jovan the finger, and went inside. The air conditioning made him shiver. “I need a plate for the steaks,” he told Liberty.

“A plate or a platter?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes, Blake it does,” Liberty said, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest. “A platter is for serving, while a plate is something you eat off of.”

“Jovan said a plate.”

“I’m sure he meant a platte
r.
” Liberty reached into a cupboard and pulled out something that looked like . . . well, a really big plate. “Here you go.”

He took it from her and turned when the door to the stairwell opened. Nico and Alaina came through, and Blake noted Nico checking out Alaina’s ass. The dude really needed to learn to be a little more discreet.

“Alaina!” Liberty said, going over to her. “Did you have a good rest?”

Alaina stopped in her tracks, watching Liberty cross the kitchen. Oh, yeah, the whole eye thing probably threw her for a loop.

“I did,” she said. “You’re eyes are gorgeous, Liberty.”

Liberty stopped, a slow blush creeping up her cheeks. “I forgot about that. I feel as though you are part of our family, and I forgot that you haven’t seen our little nighttime lightshow, as Jovan likes to call it.”

Alaina smiled. “Yes, I fainted when Nico’s eyes turned.”

Liberty gasped. “Oh, no! Are you okay now?”

“Yes. Thanks.”

Blake went back outside to bring the plate, or platter, or whatever it was to Jovan. “Here, man,” Blake said. “Liberty said you needed a platter, not a plate.”

“What’s the difference?” Jovan said, his green stare meeting Blake’s.

“She said one is for eating off of and the other is for serving.”

“Does it really matter?” Jovan asked, putting the steaks on the platter.

“Not to m
e.
” Blake sat down at the table, tipping back his beer.

Liberty, Alain
a,
and Nico came outside. Liberty held a wine bottle and two glasses, Alaina carried the salad, and Nico had a tray piled high with different steak sauces and salad dressings. Everyone sat down at the table, and Blake noted Nico grabbed the seat next to Alaina a little too quickly.

The steak was delicious, and Liberty peppered Alaina with questions while they shared the bottle of wine.

“So, you said you were a dancer?” Liberty said, and Alaina nodded. Then Alaina would change the subject. The girl had dodge-and-deflect down to a science.

“Tell me about SR44,” Alaina said. She listened intently as Liberty prattled on about the high golden buildings, the gorgeous sky, and her life in servitude. “I never imagined that I could be so happy,” Liberty said, glancing over at Jovan. “It’s been quite an education going from servitude to . . . this,” she said, waving her hands at the table and the house, “but I’m managing, and I have a wonderful mate.”

“Damn straight you do,” Jovan said, leaning over and kissing Liberty. She grabbed the sides of his face and kissed him again. Afterward, they shared a glance that declared their love for each other.

Weren’t they cute. Puppies, kitties, and baby pigs couldn’t hold a candle to these two.

It was enough to make Blake’s dinner reappear.

Thunder boomed in the distance, and Blake felt the first drops of rain he had predicted.

“We better get this stuff inside,” Nico said, standing and grabbing the empty plates.

“Oh, I love the rain!” Liberty stood and looked up at the clouds. “It feels so wonderful!”

“I agree,” Alaina said, closing her eyes and tilting her head up. “We don’t see a lot of it here in Phoenix.”

Blake quickly grabbed all the condiments and put them on the tray. Jovan wasn’t far behind him with the rest of the plates and glasses. The three men went into the kitchen and put everything away.

“I’m not doing the dishes. I cooked,” Jovan said as he dumped some plates in the sink. “Blake, you didn’t do shit. You should do the dishes.”

“Man, I went and got the stuff. Nico, you do the dishes.”

Blake turned to see Nico staring out the window, a small smile on his face. Blake and Jovan walked over to see what he was looking at.

Liberty and Alaina were spinning around in the rain, their arms outstretched, their faces looking up to the sky. They laughed as the rain fell harder and the thunder boomed. It became an all-out downpour, and both were soaked within seconds, but continued to dance around and laugh.

Blake glanced at Nico and noted his expression was almost the same as Jovan. Both looked like men in love watching their women.

And that was just bad news for Nico. It seemed like he was really interested in Alaina, but Noah had given Blake the okay to cut her loose.

“Don’t go there, my friend,” Blake said, putting his hand on Nico’s shoulder.

“What are you talking about?” Jovan said.

“I think Nico here has a thing for Alaina,” Blake said, watching the women laugh like two lunatics.

“No shit?” Jovan said.

Nico shrugged his shoulders. “I do like her.”

“Remember when I said I would think of something more stupid than calling a room a Solarium?
” Blake asked. “You getting a hard-on for Alaina is it.”

Silence.

“Noah said it’s time for her to go,” Blake said. “He said we can help get her out of the city.”

“I know what Noah said, Blake, but are we sure? I think we need to talk to her more and see what else she knows,
”Nico said, tearing his gaze away from Alain
a
.

“
I think you just want her to hang around for a while,” Jovan said.

“You know what she does, right?” Blake asked.

“She’s a dancer,” Nico said.

“No, she’s a stripper. I recognize her from that high-end place downtown. I think it
’s called Mission. Most of those girls are nothing but trouble with a nice set of legs,” Blake said.

“Really?” Jovan said. “Alaina’s a stripper? She do anything else? A little side business, maybe?”

Blake shrugged.

“What do you mean?” Nico asked, crossing his arms over his chest. “What side business?”

“Well, I’m not talking a lemonade stan
d,
” Jovan said.

Nico stared at Jovan. Apparently he didn’t get it. “I think Jovan may be referring to prostitution,” Blake said.

“Really?” Nico said, eyeing both of them. “And how the hell do you two know that? Are you former customers?”

Jovan mirrored Nico
’s stance. “It’s just a guess, Nico—“

“
And I don’t pay for sex,” Blake interjected.

“You haven’t had sex in a long time, Blake,” Jovan said. “Maybe it’s time you started to pay for it.”

“I don’t need to—“

“You think she sells sex?” Nico asked incredulously.

“No one said she does, Nico,” Blake said. “Jesus, man. Relax. Jovan was just speculating because a lot of those girls do run a little side business.”

There was silence for a long while as they watched Alaina and Liberty act like happy children.

“Anyway, it doesn’t matter,” Blake said. “She’s free to go back to her life tomorrow.”

More silence.

“Anyone up for some action downtown tonight?” Blake asked.

Jovan smiled. “Nah, Liberty’s going to need someone to dry her off and warm her up when she’s done out there.”

“Not interested, but I’ll play some poker though,” Nico said, looking troubled as he stared at the women.

Blake sighed. Looked like he was on his own.

Again.

Bastards.

Chapter 34

I feel so . . . free!

Alaina spun around until she thought she would be sick, then crashed to the lawn, Liberty lying next to her, both of them giggling like they were twelve. Thunder boomed above them, and Alaina felt lightheaded from the wine and the twirling.

In all of her twenty-nine years, she had never felt so wonderful, so completely carefree. Her secret of dark thoughts and dreams was out, and she was spinning in the rain with another woman who didn’t fear her. In fact, Liberty seemed to actually like her. For a few seconds, Daniel, George, Colonists, and everything that was bad in the world disappeared and Alaina’s soul was light—something she rarely experienced. Sure, she
’d laughed, joked around with coworkers, but this was different. She felt like screaming, yelling, twirling, crying, and laughing all at once.

She was soaking wet, but she didn’t want the moment—or this feeling—to end. Did normal people feel this way on a daily basis, or was she losing her mind and descending into some state of perpetual giggly bliss?

Alaina stood up and tried to get her balance. Her hair was plastered to her forehead and shoulders, and she pulled at the tank top hoping it wasn’t showing “too much,” but not really caring if it was.

As suddenly as it started, the rain stopped. It was as if Mother Nature had turned to spigot to “off.” Liberty stood and threw her arms around Alaina. “That was so much fun!” she said, still laughing.

“Hey, crazy girl, you need a rubdown?” Jovan said from the doorway, smiling. He held a towel out. Alaina noted the love shining on his face, and she wondered what it would be like to have someone look at her like that. Like she was the most precious thing on the planet, and there was no doubt she was special, that she was wanted and loved.

Nico stepped out behind him, also holding a towel. “Here you go, Alaina,” he said with a smile that didn’t quite make it to his eyes.

“Thank you, Nico,” she said. As she dried her hair, she couldn’t help but feel a slight shift in Nico. He wasn’t looking at her the same. In fact, he gazed at her as if he were studying a science project.

“Is everything okay, Nico?” she asked.

He crossed his arms over his chest and nodded. “Yep.”

Chapter
35

Nico paced his room. After dinner, they had played a little pool and watched some TV. He had been so focused on Alaina, he had no idea what they watched, or who won the pool game. Stripping? Maybe prostitution? The thought of another man seeing or touching Alaina made him blind with rage, and he knew he was falling down a slippery slop
e.
His SR44 male was emerging with force, wanting Alaina as his own. He wanted to put his fist through a wall and gouge out the eyes of every man who had ever gazed upon her.

He sighed and sat down on the bed, a little inner war going on within him. He shouldn
’t go visit her in her dreams. He should respect her most private area. Busting in on her dreams before was different because he was doing recon for the Saviors. He told himself that was exactly what he would be doing if he visited her dreams now, but he simply knew that wasn’t the cas
e
.

He was going because he wanted to be with her, he wanted to know her.

So call him a selfish douchebag.

He laid back, closed his eyes, and focused on Alaina in the next room. It took a few minutes before he was able to enter her dreamscape. Maybe she was having trouble sleeping as well?

Finally, it opened.

Again, she sat by the red river in a white dress. It was odd for someone to have the same exact dream twice. Most dreamscapes changed it up a little, but as he looked around, he saw everything was the same as it had been the last time he visited. The only difference was the glow from the bottom of the river was brighter this time, and he smiled. He wanted to know what the light meant.

He watched her for a few minutes as she stared into the shimmering river absently twisting a piece of hair around her finger. She detected him when he shifted his weight.

“
Who’s there?” she said, standing up.

Well, here goes nothing, or hopefully something.
“It’s me, Alaina,” he said, stepping out from behind the rock.

“
What are you doing here, Nico?” she asked, surprised.

Spying on you.
“It’s your dream, Alaina. What am I doing here?”

He walked forward and stopped a few feet away from her. He wanted her to take the lead in this dream. He didn
’t want to force anything as he had done with the guy in San Francisco.

“
I don’t know why you’re here,” she said.

“
Maybe I’m here because you want me to be here?”

She smiled up at him.
“Maybe. You’ve been very sweet to me.”

He took her hand in his.
“It’s easy to be nice to you, Alaina. You’re a good person.”

Alaina sighed and looked over at the stream.
“Would you like to sit down with me?”

“
Sure.”

They sat together in silence on the edge, and Nico watched the red river lazily flow by. Yes, he definitely agreed with his past assessment: she thought her life was floating away.

“So, do you feel like your life is passing you by, Alaina?” he asked.

Turning to him, she looked surprised.
“How did you know?”

Nico shrugged.
“This is your dream. Maybe you want me to know.”

She stared back at the river.
“I do feel that way, Nico. I kept making plans for tomorrow, but I let all the tomorrows slip away. Now I’m kind of in-between a rock and a hard place.”

“
How?”

Alaina pulled her knees up to her chin and studied him.
“This is really odd, for a dream. I’ve never had one like this before.”

Nico rubbed the pad of his thumb over her wrist.
“Well, you’ve been under a lot of stress the past couple of days with meeting us and getting involved with a Colonist. Maybe this is your subconscious way of working things out.”

“
Hmmm. Maybe.” She gazed back at the river.

After a couple beats of silence, Nico asked,
“So how are you between a rock and a hard place? What’s going on?”

She sighed.
“Besides everything you know, I’m being fired from my job.”

“
Where do you work?”

“
I’m a stripper, Nico. I work at Mission.”

So Blake had been right about that. He took a deep breath to calm himself.
“Why are they firing you?”

She gave him a sad smile.
“Because I’m getting too old.”

Nico stared at her, waiting for her to burst out laughing, but she didn
’t. “You’re serious?”

She nodded.
“Yes. They like to turn the girls out to pasture at thirty or so. So, I’ve been tossing around what to do with my future for a long time, but I never did anything. I let the past ten years float away, and now I’m left with nothing. I should have prepared for this day. I don’t even have a high school diploma. I don’t know what I’m going to do to survive.”

Nico knew that Noah
’s investments in the stock market had garnered them more money than they could ever spend, so he had no doubt Noah wouldn’t mind helping her financially. He’d already said he would relocate her, so putting a little money in her coffers shouldn’t be a big deal.

“
I would never tell you about all this in reality, but this is a dream, so I feel like I can. I’m not very proud of what I’ve done with my lif
e,
” she said.

He was such a conniving dick.
“Okay, but I wouldn’t judge you in reality, you know.”

“
That’s sweet of you to say, Nic
o.
This is a good dream. However, girls like mean get judged all the time.”

“
What do you mean, a girl like you?”

“
Girls who use their bodies to make a living.”

Nico remained quiet.

“I strip, Nico,” Alaina said, not meeting his eyes. “Men and even other women find it easy to judge strippers, even if they know nothing about our lives. Men look at us as objects, and women either think we’re dirty sluts, or they’re cruel because they’re envious of the attention we get. They want men leering at them, but they’d never admit it.”

Nico stared at her profile. She was so beautiful, and he understood how she felt being judged. He went through his whole life on SR44 being judged and shamed, even by his own family.

Finally, she looked over at him. “Cat got your tongue?”

He shook his head, careful with his words.
“I . . . I understand what you mean, Alaina. It’s unfair for people to judge you because of what you do, instead of the person you are.”

There was a long moment of silence while she looked over his face, as if she were memorizing every last detail.
“You’re so sweet. I don’t want your pity, though.”

“
I can feel bad for your circumstances without feeling pity for you, Alaina. There’s no pity here.”

“
Thank you, Nico,” she said in a soft voice, tossing her hair over her shoulder. She took his hand and squeezed. He wanted to run his fingers through her hair and feel the soft strands tickle his arms.

She looked down at the river again, the light a dull glow. He glanced at it, their reflection mirrored in it. Alaina looked sad, and frankly, he didn
’t look too happy either.

“
I had a dream about you last night,” Alaina said. “I was sitting right here, and your reflection was in the river. Right in the middle of the light.”

Nico didn
’t say anything, but quickly tried to put the pieces of that puzzle together. What did it all mean? What did the light signify, and what was his mug doing in the middle of it?

A light in a dream usually signified clarity on a situation, or guidance, some sort of understanding. If that were the case, what was she clarifying? And what did it have to do with him? Clarifying her feelings for him, if there were any? Or understanding that maybe they could have feelings for each other?

Only one way to find out.

He smiled and got to his feet, bringing her with him. He didn
’t let go of her hand.

“
I want us to jump in there,” he said, pointing to the light in the river.

Alaina shook her head and took a step back.
“I don’t want to go down there, Nico.”

“
Why not?”

“
I just . . . I just don’t.”

“
There’s nothing down there that can hurt you, Alaina. It’s a dream, remember?”

She looked up at him, her blue eyes gleaming in the light.
“This feels so real.”

Nico shrugged, guilt raging through him because of his deception. He didn
’t say anything, afraid that if he pushed the whole “it’s a dream” thing too hard, she might become suspicious that something was off, and he didn’t want her to wake up.

“
What do you say? Will you jump with me?” he asked.

Alaina studied the red water and the light within it. After a moment, she hesitantly said,
“Okay. Like you said, this is a dream and nothing can hurt me.”

“
Let’s go.”