The soft candlelight reflected in his eyes reminded me of the night I had spent with Dracula.

He was the closest I’d ever come to being able to touch a dream. He was the most surreal and yet the most tangible fantasy I’d ever had. And as I took his hands in mine I tried my best to keep him from my thoughts, and explained what I had in mind.

He listened patiently before asking, “You would do this willingly?”

“What? Share a memory?”

“Allow me into your mind.”

“After you’ve been in my pants, I hardly see it as in intrusion,” I teased.

“My angel, I am serious. My mind is not something so easily discarded.”

“We were talking about my mind, remember?”

“Yes, but to allow me access to your thoughts, you would have the same to mine, if I chose not to block it.”

That scared me. I didn’t ever want complete access to Dracula’s memories.

“But you will block it?”

“Of course, of course. I would never deliberately traumatize you. I am just surprised at your willingness to let me in.”

The way he said those last words tasted like more than curiosity, and he was talking about more than my mind.

I sighed and said, “Now, I’m going to close my eyes.” He smiled wickedly. “I’ll be thinking about you,” I finished.

I still remembered every detail of how dream visitation was supposed to work, only I’d never tried it completely awake before. Alek and I had been practicing since he had moved in the dungeon. He was The Dream Weaver, after all, and dreaming with him was always a wonderful experience.

So, I followed his instructions and pictured Dracula in complete detail. When I say complete, I mean it. I saw him standing in my bedroom. His back was turned to me, and he was completely naked. He remained one of the most beautiful creatures I had ever beheld, and one of the reasons I was grateful to have eyes. Surely the sight before me was what twenty/twenty vision was meant for. Candles were lit all around, and the light reflected off the many whip scars across his back.

I walked forward to touch him. I could feel the skin beneath my fingertips as if it were real. The scar I touched was slightly raised, just as it was in real life. Then I realized we were not sharing a dream, because I wasn’t dreaming. We were not in a memory, because this exact moment had never happened before. We were simply communicating mind to mind, and it was something I had never experienced. What happened with Alek was different. The very thought of Dracula did things to me that the presence of others was not capable of. There was magic in my fingers as I caressed his back once more.

At that moment Dracula turned to face me and I was captured by the deep emerald of his eyes. I moaned as hands caressed my body, but he hadn’t moved.

“Why are you naked?” I asked, trying to control myself.

“I am not in control of this vision, my angel. Obviously it is what you wanted to see,” he replied with a smile.

Original Sin is the fourth book in the Lilith Mercury: Werewolf Hunter Series by Tracey H. Kitts, Coming this December from New Concepts Publishing.

For information on the other books in the series please visit http://www.traceyhkitts.com/