Chapter 29

"I have not lied to you about anything, Dominique. I have let you see the real me to an extent. There are some major things that I have held back because I have been here before. This is not the first time I have opened up to someone and been left because of it. I just want to ensure you will stay after you hear my story, the real one. I don't think I could bear it if you turned away from me."

"Are you a serial killer?" she asked.

"No. Why on earth would you ask that?"

"Because I can't see anything that would be that bad that would make me leave. Are you a pedophile?"

"No! That is disgusting," I said, feeling a little sick.

"Then you don't have to worry about me going somewhere, Nathaniel. I'm a fighter. I always have been. I fight for what I want until there's nothing left to fight for. Ask Tim if you don't believe me."

"I believe you are a fighter, Dominique. Let me ask you this. Would you be willing to give up having a family? You know I can not have children. Would you be willing to give up going out during the day? You know I don't go out during the day."

"Just because you don't go out doesn't mean I can't. I know you can't have kids, but you aren't even willing to adopt. Would that be something you might change your mind on later down the road?"

"Let me ask you this. What if you couldn't go out during the day? What if you could no longer go out unless it were dark? Would you want to raise a child in that environment?"

"But I can go out in the day. I mean, I guess anything could happen, but I don't want to go on what-ifs. I guess that's something I would have to discuss at length if I got with someone who doesn't want the same things as me. But, I don't see that working out because someone has to compromise, and that person will never be truly happy if they give up everything they want."

I thought about her answer for a few minutes. I knew she would not be happy compromising what she wanted, and I could not give her children. She didn't understand why I was asking what I did. Her answer was enough for me to know that she would not be happy with just me. She wanted a family. I would not mind having a family with her, but if she were going to be mine forever, then she would not be able to raise a child as they would be alone during the day. All I could do was offer and see what happened.

"I understand, Dominique. Shall we lay down and let you get some sleep? Then, we can discuss this at a later date," I suggested.

Dominique nodded and laid down. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close. She snuggled into me and laid there for a while before she finally drifted off. I held her for a little while, not really wanting to leave her. But, I knew if I stayed, I might not leave at all, and I couldn't do that, so I retired to my room until dawn came.

*****

Dominique spent the next two days at my house. I came out at night and sat with her on the couch but never tried to touch her. Sometimes she would be on her phone or laptop. Sometimes Dominique would snuggle up with me and play on her phone. I never said anything as I tried to give her space as she had asked. She didn't talk to me either. Instead, she would lean up against me, and I would caress her arm or run my fingers through her hair. I was happy that she was allowing me to touch her at all.

Tonight was the last night Dominique would be here. I walked out to the living room and found her on her laptop. I sat beside her, but she seemed so engrossed in what she was doing that she didn't seem to notice me.

"What are you doing, Dominique?" I asked.

"I, uh, I'm writing a story," she stammered.

"Do you mind if I look at it?" I asked.

"Um, I would rather you didn't. I told you I don't let anyone read what I write."

"Could letting me read just a little bit be so bad?"

She looked at me for a minute before saying, "I'm embarrassed to let anyone read what I write. Plus, I have been writing this for months, even before I met you. So, the story in no way has anything to do with you."

"And why are you telling me that it has nothing to do with me?" I asked as I raised an eyebrow.

"Because, well, it has a character named Nathaniel in it. I just didn't want you to think I had put you in the story because I didn't. So if I'm going to let you read it, I thought you should know that."

"Okay, Dominique, I will not presume to think you have written a story about me. May I see, please?"

She sighed as she handed me the laptop. She might be embarrassed about it, but at least she was letting me read it. As I began to read it, I realized she was writing down the dreams she was having. She was writing out mine and Rose's story. I started to smile as I read our story from her perspective. As I began to read the part where Rose and I had made love after she had bested me with the sword, I felt that old familiar lust. Dominique had put a lot of detail into her writing. I felt like I had been transported back in time. I handed her the laptop back.

"It's quite good, Dominique. You have put a lot of feeling into it. It feels alive."

Dominique blushed as she started typing again. I moved closer so I could continue to read what she was writing. Her perspective of our story was intriguing to me. I wondered what she honestly thought of it. It must have pulled her in if she was actually writing it down. I didn't even realize she had stopped typing as the memory replayed in my mind. I finally came back to the present and had to calm myself down. I had always enjoyed taking Rose hard like that. I had enjoyed doing the same with Dominique. I had to get those thoughts out of my mind, or I may break my promise to Dominique and try to take her.

She shut her computer down and sat it on the table. When she leaned back, it was almost as if she was expecting me to do something. Instead, I just sat back with her. I had made a promise, and I was not going to break it. I heard her heart speed up as I looked at her. Reading her words that were so full of passion had caused me to be full of lust. Dominique was looking back at me, and I could not only feel her lust but smell her arousal. I waited to see if she would make a move. If she did, I would gladly oblige her and satiate her lust, but she didn't. I couldn't because I was a man of my word. When she didn't move to start anything, I had to take my mind off of it, so I decided to ask her about the dreams.

"How do you think of the stories you write?"

"I dream them. Most of them start with a dream, and I do the rest. I just write the dream out, and if it seems like part of a story, then I build it around the dream and make it longer. Most of my stories are pretty short. This particular story I haven't written a bit of. I've been having these vivid dreams for about eight months now. They started a couple of months before I met you. Then they just started taking over my life. I stopped having them for a little while, but then they returned with a vengeance."

"I've had two seizures, and they always hit me when I seize. It's like I can't bring myself out of it until the story I need to see is told. The characters in the story are the ones I dream about. I found it really strange when I met you; you had the same name as the main character. However, I can't see his face at all in the dreams. I just feel what Rose is feeling. I mean, like I wake up feeling what she is feeling. It's like I am Rose."

"That's interesting. Perhaps it is a story you need to know, and that is why you keep dreaming about it."

"Maybe. I don't believe in all that stuff. I never have, but this story, I don't know. It's alive for me. I want to know, no, scratch that, I need to know the story's ending. It's killing me that I haven't seen it. For a long time, I was dreaming the same dreams over and over again. Now I'm dreaming different dreams, but they keep replaying in my head. So if I never get to the end of the story, I will write one. I think they deserve a happy ending after all the crap they have gone through to be together."

"You don't believe in all that stuff? Do you consider stuff the dreams? The love between your characters? Or soulmates?"

"I don't believe in premonitions or soulmates. Not sure why you would think they are soulmates by what you read. I believe in love. I've experienced that. I just don't think it lasts forever, but that's because of my personal experience with it," Dominique replied.

"Are your characters not soulmates? You said they have been through a lot to be together. Does that not make them destined for one another?"

"I believe they love each other and are fighting for that love. I don't see where that makes them soulmates. In a part of my story, an old woman tells Nathaniel that he and Rose are destined for each other. I guess you could say that means soulmates. I've just never believed in soulmates. I believe in love and fighting for it, keeping it alive no matter what. That's something I believe can happen, not just meeting someone and knowing they are the only one for you."

"Perhaps one day you will be proven wrong," I said.

"Maybe, but I don't see it happening tonight, so I'm not going to worry about it. If it happens, you will see one shocked person," Dominique laughed.

I smiled at her but not because I was happy. Tim had been correct in saying Dominique did not believe in soulmates. She would understand everything once I finally brought myself to tell her what was really happening between us. I pulled her against me and just held her for a while. Eventually, Dominique went back to sleep, and I returned to my room to wait for another dawn.