Somewhere I'll Find You (22 page)

She could not resist.  She was too feminine to resist temptation.  She caught up the candle and ran to fetch a wobbly old mirror
,
leaning it against the attic wall.  With the blotchy glass settled firmly in place, she stripped off her nightgown and slid on one of the most beautiful of the gowns. 
A gown of white satin glowed warmly in the candlelight.

It fits as if it was
made for
me
,
she thought when the last fold fell into place. 
In for a penny, in for a pound
she mused, slipping
next
into dainty heels.  The diamond shaped rhinestones sparkled in the light, casting a glow over her features while she gazed at her reflection in the mirror.

Her fingers trembled on the clasp of a necklace; the glowing pearls ma
de
something tighten in her chest.  In that moment, she felt loved to the depth of her soul by someone she could not
see.  She shook her head, but the image of the long tucked away chest still remained.  It was almost as if someone had tucked the dress away until she could find it.

Did they belong to Jenny,
she wondered while her fingers caressed the silk. 
Were they keepsakes from some special occasion?
  There were no answers, and she wasn’t even certain she wanted them.

She didn’t hear the footsteps on the stairs, or hear the low, checked voic
e that hissed from the shadows. 
“How did I get here?”

Looking up, Paige was startled to see Michael’s reflection in the glass. “What – what are you doing here?”  She crossed her arms, suddenly feeling very foolish in a magnificent gown before an old, dusty mirror.

There was something about his eyes, the way that he looked at her as if he hadn’t heard her.  Sweat beaded down his brow as he swayed.  “I shouldn’t be here.”

“You’re right Michael, you’re not well.  Go back and lie down.”  This was getting crazier by the minute, Paige thought.  The man was obviously delirious, and she would have to talk him back to the sofa before he passed out cold.

“I shouldn’t have come,” he said hoarsely.  “I warned you what would happen if I came back.”

You w
arned me?
Paige went very still. “You did?”

“I told you it was dangerous, but you wouldn’t listen.”

Catching a breath in a vain attempt to still her wildly hammering heart, Paige swallowed and spoke very quietly. 
“Tell me again.”

He ran a hand through his hair, frowning.  He frowned as if he had to concentrate to speak.  “I told you
if I returned I would never let you go.  That there would be no turning back, not for either of us.”  His eyes were feverish.

He put out his hand as if mesmerized by the sight of her in the candlelight.  “You look even more beautiful than I remember.  But your hair is all wrong.”  He caught her glowing black hair, letting it flow thrugh his fingers like sand.  “How odd it looks, so short.  And you’re not wearing a gardenia.”

“You’re wrong, I . . .”

Michael, who didn’t seem like Michael at all, went very still.  “Why did you call me?”  With a groan, he pulled her to him. His hands trembled as he kissed the creamy curve of her neck.

Paige shivered, hearing the voice of a stranger, feeling the hands of a stranger.  What had happened to him?  And who in heaven’s name
did he think he was?

He
’d simply taken a more forceful fall – sustained a worse crack on his head – than she’d thought,
she told herself sternly.  But the explanation didn’t make her feel any better.  It certainly didn’t explain Michael’s strange behavior or the dark glitter in his eyes.

Just great
, Paige thought wildly
. Put on some rhinestones and find yourself trapped in the house with a madman.  Just like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.  If I click my heels three times, will I land in Kansas?

“Why didn’t you put on my pearls?” he demanded.

“Pearls?”  For a moment, Paige had trouble breathing.  She felt him pull the necklace from her fingers and fasten it to her neck.  She shivered as the heavy
gems
settled on the fragile bones of her throat.
  “You mean . .
. it’s
yours?”

“Have you forgotten?”

“But you didn’t . . .” Paige broke off, swallowing sharply as his mouth touched her shoulder.  He touched her with the cool certainty of a man who has touched many women – and has brought all of them sheer pleasure.

Well, he wouldn’t pleasure
her
, Paige promised herself.  But she couldn’t think straight, not with his hands tracing the curve of her throat and his mouth doing slow, carnal things to her ear.  “St-stop,” she said huskily.  “I can’t think when you’re doing that.”

“Then don’t,” he growled.  “Just close your eyes and let me love you.  I’ve thought of nothing else since the first time I saw you on set.”

On set?
  “
What –
?
  Who do you think you are?
”

“Have you forgotten me already?”  A muscle flashed at his jaw.

“No
,
of course not,” Paige
replied quickly, her heart beating
wildly. 
“I’d just like to hear you say it.”

His dark brow rose. “My name is Erik Leslie Thompson Fletcher.” There was just a quirk of a smile as a finger traced down her cheek.  “You were always amused by my full name.”

Erik?  Erik Fletcher?  What in heaven’s name is going
on
here? 
She held up a warning hand.  “I’m not who you think I am . . . and I doubt that you would seduce a woman
who
’s unwilling.”

His lips brushed her ear and Paige found it suddenly very hard to breathe.  “You will be.  It will be exquisite and you won’t be unwilling for long.  I can’t get you out of my blood.” 

“You’re not listening
,” she protested.
 
“
No matter what you say, I th
ink it’s time for you to rest.” 
A tremor went through her. 
He’s delirious.  He had an accident and all this business about Erik and Jenny has made him hallucinate.

If that’s so,
whispered a sharp little voice,
how does he know about the pearls?
 
They were in your hand – your fingers were closed around them.  How could he have seen them?

Distant laughter and voices suddenly drifted
to her ears, carrying with them faint, lilting music.  Blinking,
Paige
watched the mirror dance, feeling her mind open until the shadows fled to reveal what lay beyond.  Around her, instead of a slowly rotting attic where she stood with a bewildered, wounded man, there shimmered the lights of a ballroom. 
She
found herself standing on a polished dance floor, and the lights from a thousand candles that danced
as centerpieces
in crystal bowls, winked off jewel-encrusted gowns.  When she looked up, despite how part of her screamed at the impossibility, she knew she would be looking into the eyes of the one man in the world that she had always loved.

But this isn’t me!
Paige tried to scream in the silence of her own mind. 
This isn’t real!

Smothering a curse, Michael
pressed his mouth to the curve of her breast.  “Does this feel unreal?  Or this?”

Paige saw his hands taut at her shoulders.  She saw her own face, wearing a mix of shock and desire
, and felt the tug of the pearls, warm and heavy on her neck.  Wit
h
it came the brush of phantom curls on her shoulder.

She struggled, caught in a nightmare, acutely aware of the tug of the
necklace
and the cool weight of the satin gown on her naked skin.

T
hen the mirror shimmered
once more,
and there was only darkness.

* * * *

When Paige woke, she was safely anchored against warm muscle and Michel’s hands – this time
,
she was certain it was Michael, even if she wasn’t sure of anything else – were buried in her hair.  “Damn it
,
Paige, what happened to you?”

She frowned against the
throbbing
headache that pounded behind her eyes.  Her face was wet with tears she couldn’t remember shedding.  Tears that might be
decades old.  “
No
!” She struggled blindly.  “I won’t do it!”

“You won’t do what?”  He tried to sound soothing, but there was a high lilt to her voice that was distinctly not
like
Paige’s and it was frightening him badly. 
What did she see in that mirror?  Is this her gift talking?  Or someone else?

“I won’t give up on us! I can’t!”

His heart shattered as he watched her dissolve before his eyes, fading into someone he didn’t know – and didn’t want to know.  “Paige – Angel look at me.  Damn it, look at me!”  Grabbing her up into his arms, he held her tightly. “You’re safe – you’re safe with me, Angel.  Paige – you have to come back.  Stay with me
,
Angel – stay here with me.”

Safe?
  With a shuddering
breath, she opened her eyes only to stare at a man whose
features
burned with urgency.  Exhaling slowly, she waited as nausea passed over her. 
What just happened?  What did I see?

“Are you al
l right
?” he asked carefully, keeping his voice low and calm.

“I’m getting there,” she replied carefully as Michael eased her back against his chest.

“What happened? And what is this all about?”

She hadn’t a clue.  Was it something to do with the old clothes that she had found in the
trunk?  Some hallucination brought on by
dust and
mold.
  Shaking her head, she pushed at
the wall that formed
his chest.  “I’m fine; I’d also like to get up now.”

“Not yet.”  He wasn’t about to admit what the sight of her in the grasp of her vision did to him.  He had thought that his heart had stopped – later
,
in reflection, he wasn’t certain that it hadn’t stopped.