PROLOGUE
A peal of thunder shook the walls. Lightning flared, illuminating the dark room, and she snapped awake.
But it was not the storm that had woken her.
She shot up in bed, panting from unreal exertion. Slowly, she blinked around at her dark surroundings, the unhappy knowledge that it had only been a dream dawning in her mind.
Regaining her bearings, she worked to calm her breathing as the heat within began to subside. The perspiration began to feel cool on her flesh. Ghostly hands still roamed the body beneath her nightshirt. Phantom lips still played along her collarbone.
Her hands fisted in the bedclothes.
"D-dammit . . ."
This . . . was not healthy.
Clamping her eyes shut, she fell back against the mattress and curled up into a frustrated foetal position.
Thunder rumbled the apartment walls again. Lightning flickered fitfully as strong winds drove the rain against the windows.
Her eyes still screwed taut, she tugged a pillow out from under her head and pulled it beneath the covers with her. Murmuring the name that haunted her so relentlessly, she hugged the pillow tight against her, imagining it was a warm body, and eventually succumbed to a deep and thankfully dreamless sleep.