The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance

her by now. But the hurt when he’d confirmed that Delia had bribed him to choose her twisted like a hot knife. Of course he’d obeyed. His first concern had been to get away. If she were ever a captive, she’d be more worried about freeing herself than the feelings of her captors.
    At least he’d given her a glimpse of what passion was like. She should be satisfied with that and go on.
    Natalia threw down her napkin and sprang to her feet. No. She was tired of being unsatisfied, tired of making do, tired of resigning herself to disappointment. Was this what her life was to be, quietly living down her humiliation with no chance at real happiness?
    Her mother looked up in surprise. “Is something wrong, dear?”
    “I’m going out. A long way out. A trip into the desert. It may be a while.”
    “To a meditation centre? Good idea, dear. You’ve been restless lately.”
    “I’ll pack and go today.”
    Arene smiled. “Have a good time.” Natalia bent so her mother could kiss her cheek. She left the room, hearing her mother’s “Dear, dear,” before she turned back to her newspaper.
    The Sorvenskas’ hunter and gamekeeper wasn’t optimistic about Natalia’s chances of finding a Dream Catcher, let alone a specific one, but he agreed to take her to the mountains. After all, the Sorvenskas paid well.
    He led Natalia past the Eastern Rim to an area so remote and treacherous that they had to tackle the last miles on foot. Natalia had never been in mountains, had never left the great desert around the oasis city where most of humanity dwelled.
    The uplands were cool and moist, strange to her. Trees grew straight out of the cliffs so thick that the rocks could barely be seen. Even in her sturdy hunting boots and leggings, Natalia slipped and slid, cut her hands through her gloves. Exercises that kept a lady trim were not good training for climbing through mountains. The gamekeeper, Bahl, was patient with her, but she could see he worried.
    Ahead of her Bahl stopped suddenly. The trail he’d been breaking the last day or so ceased abruptly at the edge of a gorge. The gorge spanned at least 1,000 feet and dropped to a misty river far below.
    Bahl wiped his forehead. “We’ll have to turn back, my lady. We don’t have enough supplies to go much further, only enough to get back to our transport.”
    “You can go,” Natalia said, sitting on a boulder. “Leave me here.”
    He looked alarmed. “No, my lady. Your mother would kill me.”
    Natalia sighed. “I suppose she would. And it would be my fault. The gods save me from my keen sense of responsibility.”
    Bahl patted her shoulder in compassion. “Not everyone’s path is easy.”
    “Especially a gamekeeper’s whose mistress wants to go on damn fool expeditions.” She gave Bahl a tired smile. She wondered why she thought she could find Ochen. It had taken Delia’s two hunters years to find him, and he’d be doubly careful now.
    “Don’t worry,” she said, an emptiness inside her. “We’ll go back.”
    She stood up to turn around, and slipped on mud that sent her plunging to the edge of the gorge. Bahl grabbed at her and missed, his face terrified. Natalia scrambled for a hold then felt herself being lifted in strong, bare arms.
    Her feet left the ground and she rose, high, higher still, to the very tops of the trees. Bahl grabbed a rifle and pointed it skywards, but didn’t fire.
    Ochen deposited Natalia on a huge platform in the trees, held by strong boughs around a mighty trunk. She whirled around and stared at him, shocked and out of breath.
    Ochen’s face and body were completely healed. He looked as gorgeous and whole as he had when he lay on top of her in her dream, and he was wearing just as little. The dream had been but a taste of the real Ochen. This was his solid, beautiful flesh.
    But he was glaring at her, not looking pleased to see her. “What are you doing here? Having a society outing?”
    “Not . . . Not exactly.”
    “You were hunting a Dream Catcher.”
    “I was looking for you.”
    Ochen stopped. He studied her, his silver eyes regarding her in suspicion. It unnerved her.
    “I didn’t know you could fly,” she said.
    “I can do many things.” He looked her up and down, and she knew she didn’t look half as good as he did. She was sunburned, bug-bitten, scratched, sweat-stained and worn out.
    “Were you looking to relive your fantasy?” he asked.
    “No,” she said tartly. “I came to ask why you haven’t come