Chapter One

Savannah was dreaming. She knew this because she was wearing a dress, when she'd never even owned one. The white gown swayed in gentle waves around her ankles, simple and elegant; her feet were bare. Fresh cut grass edged between her toes, and she sighed long and deep. She stood in front of the most beautiful house she had ever seen. Three stories of Southern charm stood majestic and proud amid a backdrop of vibrant starlight. Darkness gathered on the wide front porch to form the figure of a man.

"Savannah, come here," he commanded in a voice that flowed like honey. "Come closer." With an outstretched hand, he emerged from the shadows.

Savannah smiled, fully engulfed in her dream-like state. He was beautiful. She drank in the close-cropped blond hair and vivid blue eyes. "Are you an angel?"

"Hardly." He shook his head. "Yet here I am."

Thick fog the color of his eyes swirled around her legs, pushing her forward, toward the house, toward him. His breath was a sigh against her brown hair.

"You look like an angel," she insisted.

"Do I now?"

"My own personal angel, come to rescue me. I like it." She nodded her approval. "But what took you so long?"

"I'm here now," he echoed in a broken voice. He pressed his lips to hers in the softest hint of a kiss and slipped her hand into his own. "Will you walk with me?"

"Yes."

He led her through the woods that lay beyond the house, following a glittering stream to the north, stopping only when they reached a small clearing in the forest.

"What is this place?" Savannah gasped as a hundred twinkling lights began a soft glow along the trees. Blue paper lanterns hung from some of the lower branches, their gentle illumination cutting through the darkness.

"Did you do this?"

"This is my gift to you." He leaned in close. "It's not every night you graduate from high school."

"How did you know…?"

"I'm an angel, remember?" He grinned and spun her around in a wide arc. "Dance with me, Savannah."

"Everything is so pretty—I never want to wake up." She looped her arms around his neck and rested her head on a chest that was hard with muscle.

He was so warm, the scene so romantic. The best part, she dimly reflected, was that he wasn't real. She could do whatever she wanted, be someone else, because it was all just a dream. So she didn't feel awkward in the least as they swayed together under the moonlight.

"What if it wasn't a dream?" he suddenly asked, peering down at her with an intensity that made her face burn.

"But it is a dream," she insisted against his lips. They were so close. The slightest movement and—

"Savannah…" he groaned when her tongue slid against his bottom lip in a hot caress.

"Shh. Don't talk. Just love me."

"I always have." Her angel took control, his mouth teasing in one moment and demanding in the next. He was barely restrained, and his energy leached into Savannah. She pulled restlessly at the thin straps of her gown, tugging them off her shoulders and past her breasts. His hands were everywhere, questing, pleading, taking her higher with every touch. Then he thrust a hand behind them and pulled her onto the bed that materialized in one fluid movement.

Savannah's eyes widened, and she braced her hands on his bare chest. She was straddling his hips, and she arched instinctively, filled with a need that rasped against her nerve endings and set her on fire. Hard denim scraped at her delicate skin through the thin layer of her panties, and she ground herself against the bulge. In the next instant, the panties were gone and he loomed over her, bathed in soft light.

"You'll always be mine, Savannah."

* * *

Much later, they settled together in the deepening shadows and she pressed her face against his strong throat. "Don't leave." She yawned.

"I'll never leave you alone," he promised, pulling her closer.

"Savannah!" The voice cut through the peaceful night.

She jumped. "What was that?"

"No," her angel ground out, urging her swiftly to her feet.

"What's happening?"

"We have to get to the house. Now."

"But—"

"Run!" He propelled her through the woods at a breakneck pace.

"Savannah!"

"It's getting closer!" she said, her tone laced with alarm and her lungs beginning to burn from the exertion.

"Stay with me. Whatever happens, hold on to me tight and stay with me," he instructed.

"Wake up!" the voice boomed. She felt the pull and struggled against it. She was fading, her fingers already slipping from his grasp.

"No," he howled in rage, sinking to his knees in front of the house.

She was gone.