Touched by Lightning [Dreams of You] (Romantic Suspense) Read Free

scarf.
    Adrian set the photograph on the corner of his table and looked through the other shots on the contact sheets. As if a ghost, the woman didn’t appear anywhere else.
    He sorted through the prints, but his attention kept drifting to the woman. The feeling that it was her persisted throughout the morning and afternoon. Time and again he picked up the print and held it under the light. He brought it with him to the dining table while he ate his lunch of a stale bagel loaded with lox and cream cheese.
    Adrian remembered the image of BlueFire standing on the lawn, her blond hair flowing out behind her as she stared at the ocean. She found solace in the waves and the great expanse of water. He was sure he’d seen her in this exact pose when he was in that tunnel. While he’d always believed his visions to be real, he hadn’t been able to prove it. This photograph wasn’t proof to anyone but him, but it explained his feeling of familiarity with Palm Beach.
    What if it was her? The possibility sent pinpricks down his spine. What if that fiery event had somehow made her homeless? Worst of all, what if he airbrushed her and never found out? He dropped down into the leather seat, letting out the deep breath he’d been holding. The thought thrummed through him, but another more foreboding thought crept in: his Aunt Stella’s prediction.
    Stella was the only person in whom he had confided his strange experience. Those images haunted him afterwards, and the nightmares about drowning had gripped him in fear and panic every night for months.
    His mother scoffed at her sister’s physic abilities, calling Stella a phony every time her name came up. Adrian wasn’t inclined to believe in things paranormal, but he knew he’d go crazy if he didn’t talk to someone. Stella, at least, wouldn’t think he’d lost it.
    Nor did she laugh when he relayed the lightning strike and visions.
    “Something strange happened while you were dead.”
    He felt a tightness in his chest. “Yes,” he whispered.
    Stella’s eyes closed, and her hand tightened on his. “This is very strange. I’ve never felt anything like this before. Your soul left your body…and connected with another soul. A woman.”
    Adrian hadn’t realized his eyes had drifted shut until they snapped open. “Yes. Can you see her? Who is she?”
    Stella raised her other hand, issuing a command of silence. Her eyes remained closed, but a muscle above her lip twitched. “She has golden blond hair and is quite lovely. But there is so much pain.”
    “From what?”
    Her brow furrowed, and lines gathered around her eyes as she concentrated. “Heat. Fire. Some kind of explosion.”
    He couldn’t believe it. Stella could not know about BlueFire unless she was the real deal. “Where is she now?”
    “I can still feel pain, but it’s emotional.” Her eyes opened, and she blinked. “That’s all I get.”
    “You said our souls connected. What did you mean?”
    “When we die, our souls leave our bodies and start down that final pathway to heaven. Sometimes they return to our bodies before reaching our destination. What’s known as the near-death experience. Something else happened to you. Your soul went to hers. At the moment you were hit by lightning, she was experiencing something just as traumatic. Perhaps it was that connection that united your souls.” Stella’s eyes closed, and her fingers slid over his palm again. “Your destiny is entwined with this woman of the golden tresses and eyes the color of a stormy sky. Her life is in danger.”
    He had to keep himself from launching out of the chair. “How can I find her?”
    Stella frowned, shaking her head. “If you seek her out, you may be able to save her. But I see danger in that. For her. And you.”
    “What kind of danger?”
    Stella shook her head, coming out of her trance again. “I don’t know. All I see is water.”
    He sat up straighter. “Water? Maybe that has something to do with a nightmare I