Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

***ARCHIE***

W hen the door appeared, Archie took Felicity's hand and together they stepped into the black swirling mass, but this time they were prepared when they were sucked through. Felicity still teetered a bit when they landed back on their feet. He reached over to steady her, surprised to see that they were still dressed in their formal wear. She didn't seem to notice and began to pace the little room, her face full of anger and hands fisted at her sides. Then she stopped and looked over at him.

"I'm so angry I could spit," she said, then began to pace again. "That woman is horrible, she's a spoiled little bitch, and I should have hit her. I can't believe all that stuff she said. If anyone is a charity case, she is, and she's proud of it. I think that's the worst part."

He was as angry as she was, mostly because of the terrible things Susan had said about Felicity. He was used to his ex-wife's insults; they no longer bothered him. But the thought that she might have hurt Felicity with her words made him want to punch something. As he watched Felicity pacing and fuming, the anger began to drain away, replaced by amusement when he remembered the way she'd got up in Susan's face and spelled out the truth right there in front of all of her friends.

He'd never had anyone speak up for him like she'd just done, never had anyone defend his honor quite the way she had, and he felt his heart swelling in his chest, sending warmth spreading through him. Shocked by the feeling, he stood stunned for a few seconds, trying to decide if he should fight it, then remembered this was all a dream, and let the feeling take him since there was no risk.

The next time Felicity stalked past him, he reached out and grabbed her arm, pulled her into his arms, and lowered his mouth to hers. When he finally let her go a few minutes later, she looked up at him her eyes filled with desire, but it quickly disappeared, replaced by anger again. He realized that he'd broken his promise, but wasn't the least bit sorry, knew that Felicity, the one of his dreams anyway, would forgive him.

"You promised, Archie," she said, still slightly breathless. "You said you wouldn't kiss me."

"I said I wouldn't kiss you again unless you wanted me to," he said, grinning at her. "If you can't honestly say that you didn't want me to kiss you again, then I'll apologize."

"That's……you didn't……oh, you're impossible," she finally huffed. "How can you be joking at a time like this?"

He looked down at Felicity, then reached up and tucked a strand of hair that had fallen loose behind her ear. "My little firecracker," he said, his eyes meeting hers. "No one has ever stood up to Susan like that, not her parents, not her friends, not even me. That was brilliant, and I'll never forget it for as long as I live."

"Well, she's awful and it was about time someone told her so," she said, then she shook her head. "We sure know how to pick them; Susan is just as abusive to you as Joe was to me. Words can hurt just as much as fists, Archie. It just makes me so mad, and I wasn't going to let her get away with it. I'm done being the victim, and you should be too."

Her cheeks had turned pink with her anger, her blue eyes were flashing even in the darkness of the chamber, and his body responded. "I don't want to talk about Susan; she's the past, and I'm beginning to think that you're my future," he said, pulling her closer. "You're an amazing woman, Felicity, tough and strong but soft when you want to be. I'd be a fool not to make you mine, and I don't think I'm a fool."

He started to lower his mouth to hers, but she stopped him, "You promised, Archie," she said. "I let the last one go because……"

"I won't kiss you again if you can look my in the eye and tell me that you don't want me to," he said, running his hand up and down her back. "Just one simple sentence, that's all it will take."

Felicity gave him a dirty look, opened her mouth, and closed it again with a long sigh. "I can't," she finally said. "Are you happy now?"

A thrill shot through him, mixed with a feeling of elation, unlike anything he'd ever felt before. "You know what I am," he said, picking her up and swinging her around, making her let out a little cry of surprise. "I've got a beautiful woman in my arms, and she doesn't want me to not kiss her. Life couldn't be much better."

Felicity laughed, then shook her head, "That made absolutely no sense," she said. "Maybe you should put me down now."

He put her down and then gathered her up in his arms. She didn't fight him when he lowered his mouth to hers this time, and they were soon lost in the passion that was slowly blossoming between them. Felicity was breathless when he finally tore his mouth away from hers and began kissing his way down her neck, his hands slowly lifting the hem of her dress.

He'd just slipped his hand between her legs, his mouth busy devouring every inch of exposed skin, when a blinding light lit up the room, and he found himself staring up at the ceiling of the bedroom in his cabin. Cursing the throbbing between his legs and the sun, he lay there for a second, remembering the dream and wondering if he'd lost his mind. It had seemed so real, the feel of Felicity in his arms, the smell of her skin as he kissed his way down her neck, the silky feel of the dress under his hand as he lifted it up her legs.

Knowing he'd never go back to sleep, he threw back the covers deciding to go for a run to burn off some of the frustration, then froze when he looked down at himself. He was still wearing the tuxedo from the dream, his shoes and tie were thrown on the floor, and the flower from his lapel was lying on the nightstand. He stared at it for a long time, going over the dream slowly in his head, telling himself over and over again that it hadn't been real.

***Felicity***

Felicity woke to bright sunlight shining right in her face, disoriented for a second, pleasure and need still coursing through her, her breath coming in short gasps as she lay perfectly still in the bed. She finally opened her eyes and looked around the room; her equilibrium returned, her heart stopped pounding, and the need slowly drained away. The memory of the dream made her cheeks heat up, and she closed her eyes with a groan, but she opened them back up again when she realized that she remembered everything.

The beautiful house, the dance with Archie, his horrible ex-wife saying terrible things to both of them, and her reaction all flitted through her mind at top speed. It had all felt so real, just like they had really been transported there somehow, and she got angry all over again when she went over it in her mind one more time. Climbing out of bed, wondering if she was losing her mind, she headed for the kitchen and the smell of coffee. She needed to clear her head before she could think coherently.

Brittany was standing at the counter, staring at the coffee pot with a cup on the counter in front of her when she walked in, "It's about time you got up, I was beginning to worry," she said, grabbing another cup out of the cabinet. "We're going to be late if we don't hurry."

"I had another dream," she said, her voice still husky from sleep. "It was even stranger than the first one."

"Was it as hot as the first one?" Brittany asked, filling the cups. "I want details this time."

She groaned, "Coffee first," she said. "And I'm not giving you details, but I do remember more of the dream this time."

Brittany turned around, the cups in her hand, then froze, "Ummm……since when do you go to bed dressed like that?" she asked. "Where did you get that dress?"

"Dress?" she asked, confused, then looked down at herself. "Oh, my God, I must still be dreaming."

Her legs started to shake, and she stumbled over to the table. After plopping down in a chair, she looked up at Brittany, who was still staring at her. "Felicity, what's going on?" she asked, stumbling over to the table and slopping coffee all over the floor. What do you mean you're still dreaming?"

She grabbed one of the cups and downed a huge gulp, welcoming the burn as she swallowed, then set it down with shaking hands, wishing it had been something stronger. "This is the dress I was wearing in the dream," she finally managed to say, her voice coming out as a squeak. "Archie and I went to a fancy party. I was wearing this dress, and he was wearing a tuxedo."

Brittany stared at her for a second, then shook her head, "You didn't leave the house last night, and no one came in here. I would have heard them," she finally said. "This doesn't make any sense. It's not possible, you can't bring things back from a dream."

She jumped up from the table. "I have to get this off," she said, running back to the bedroom. I have to wake myself up. This can't be real; it must still be a dream."

The dress was lying in a heap on the bedroom floor next to the sandals when Brittany came into the room, and she was digging through her drawers for something to wear on the verge of tears. She was losing her mind. Joe had done more damage than she'd thought. He'd broken something inside her that no one had been able to see, that was the only thing that made sense.

"I think you'd better go talk to Archie," Brittany said from the doorway. "Either he's screwing with you or……"

"Or what?" she asked, then looked down at the dress on the floor. "I don't know where that thing came from, I didn't bring it with me, someone must have snuck in here……"

"You'd better go talk to Archie," Brittany said again. "I don't like him, but this seems to be about him. I don't know what else to do. I'm freaking out here a little bit, baby sister."

She looked down at the dress again and anger surged through her. She'd been through enough; she didn't need someone messing with her mind. Grabbing it off the floor, she turned back to Brittany, "Oh, I'm going to talk to him, alright," she said, shaking it in the air. "Then I'm going to find Max and tell him what a slime ball his friend is. "

"I'm going with you," Brittany said. "I want to see this."

"No, I have to do this on my own," she said, walking over to Brittany. "I know it sounds crazy, but I need to face Archie on my own."

Brittany looked like she was going to argue at first, then closed her mouth and stepped out of the way, "You go get him, girl," she said. "I'll be waiting right here for you."

She'd never been to Archie's cabin but she knew which one it was, and stomped down the path fueled by her anger. She climbed the ladder to the porch, the dress clutched in her hand, and banged on the front door with her fist but didn't wait for him to answer. Throwing the door open, she stormed inside, her anger turning to rage when she saw Archie standing in the bedroom doorway wearing the tuxedo from the night before.

"What the hell are you trying to pull?" she yelled, throwing the dress at him. "Did you drug me or something? Answer me right now, Archie, or I'm going to……"

"I didn't drug you; I would never do something like that," he said, cutting her off. "Come on, Felicity, you know me better than that."

"No, I don't," she said. "I don't know you at all, what I do know is that I went to bed in my pajamas last night and woke up in that."

"You're not the only one," he said, spreading his arms. "I didn't get up this morning and put this on. I have no idea what's going on, Felicity, I thought I was dreaming, I mean, I had to be dreaming, we couldn't have……"

"Dreaming?" she asked. "Is that what you're calling it? What did you do to me, Archie?"

"I didn't do anything to you; you have to believe me," Archie said. "I would never hurt you, Felicity, and you know it. You're just freaked out, and I don't blame you."

She shook her head. "I don't believe you. I think we should go talk to Max," she said, " unless he's in on this with you."

"Max, that's a great idea," he said. "Maybe he can explain what's going on."

"He'd better be able to," she said, glaring at him. "Or my next phone call is to the police."