Copper Beach

way you science guys talk when you want to get a lady into bed?”

    “Depends. Is it working? If not, I’ll try another approach.”

    “Don’t bother.” She brushed her mouth against his. “It’s working.”

    The lovemaking was compelling and intense, just as it had been the first time, but there was something different about it tonight, Abby thought. Last night she had experienced what felt like a metaphysical as well as a physical intimacy at the height of her release. The short-lived sense of connection had been unlike anything she had ever experienced, but she had told herself it was a result of the paranormal energy involved. They had both been running a little hot last night.

    The same alarming, enthralling sensation of psychical and physical intimacy swept through her again tonight. But this time when she shivered in Sam’s arms and wrapped herself around him while he powered through a shuddering climax, she knew that the connection was not temporary. Something much more permanent was going on with their resonating auras.

    Her last coherent thought before she tumbled down into sleep was that even if she did not see Sam again for the rest of her life, the link between them would endure to the end.

    She did not know whether to be thrilled or terrified.

23

Grady Hastings was enveloped in dream fog. He reached out to her. “Help me. You’re the only one who can save me.”
“Please, you must tell me what you want,” she said.

“Help me.”

She tried to grasp his hand, but she could not get close enough. She tried to walk toward him through the swirling fog of energy, but some unseen force stopped her.…

    “ABBY, WAKE UP,” SAM SAID. HIS VOICE WAS QUIET BUT freighted with the weight of a command. “Can you hear me? You’re dreaming.”
    Somewhere, a dog whined anxiously.

    She came awake on the usual rush of energy, dismayed to find herself on her feet, almost halfway to the door. Sam was standing directly in front of her. He had both hands clamped around her shoulders. Newton pressed against her leg.

    “Crap,” she said. “I did it again. My own fault this time. I forgot to set my alarm.”

    “What alarm?”

    “Gwen said I should set a psychic alarm so that I would go into the lucid dream state if I had the Grady Hastings dream again. She said that strong talents are especially good at manipulating lucid dreams, they just have to focus. She told me that if I took control of the dream I might be able to find out what my intuition is trying to tell me.”

    “So much for my theory that sex before sleep would ensure that you didn’t dream,” Sam said.

    “Guess it’s back to the drawing board.”

    “Let’s not be too hasty here. We don’t want to abandon the experiment just because we had one failure.”

    She looked at him. “I thought that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome was the definition of insanity.”

    “Ah, but sex is never exactly the same.” He pulled her into his arms. “Each time is different. I suggest that we keep rerunning the experiment until we get the right results.”

    She leaned into him. “The dream was stronger tonight, Sam.”

    He held her close against him. “Was there anything different about it?”

    “No. But I have come to a conclusion.”

    “What?”

    “I don’t think there’s any deep, hidden meaning in my dream. I think the message my intuition is trying to send me is very simple and straightforward.”

    “What is it?”

    “We need to talk to Grady Hastings.”

24

    ABBY AWOKE WITH A START, AWARE THAT SHE WAS ALONE IN the bed. Funny how fast you could become accustomed to sleeping with someone, she thought. She had slept alone all her life and had concluded that she liked it that way. Two nights with Sam had changed a lot of things.
    A cold, wet nose pushed against her hand. She opened her eyes and found herself face–to–face with Newton. He was standing beside the bed, gazing at her with a fixed expression.

    “Okay, okay, I’m awake. I thought I told you to forget that psychic-command thing.”

    She pushed back the covers, sat up and rubbed Newton briskly. He chuffed a little, licked her hand and then, evidently satisfied that he had performed his duty, turned and trotted out the open door. She could tell that he was headed downstairs to the kitchen. The sounds and smells of breakfast wafted up from the floor below.

    Sleeping with Sam definitely had a few perks, she