Lunacy Edge

Tick....Tock...Tick...Tock.

Hailey tucked her knees in against her ribs and arms curled over her head trying to force out the noise. It took her about 10 minutes of groggy irritability to remember she didn't have a tickling clock in her bedroom. When she shifted, where her usual cotton sheets would have crinkled, where the sheets she laid on swooshed. Her head jerked up sharply, her blurry eyes taking in her surroundings.

"Where'd my bed go?" She asked to no one in particular in a hoarse voice.

"Your old home." Came a deep, masculine voice from behind her.

That brought her sense to the forefront. She brought her head around and stared at the sexiest man she'd ever seen in her entire life staring at her with amusement in his deep eyes. "I gotta remember to stop eating cold pizza before bed." She muttered dropping her head again.

The chuckle that responded sent a chill down her spine. She ignored it, she'd wake up anytime soon, she was sure. She didn't even wanna try to see what could happen in this dream with that hunk, it would end before the good parts she was sure.

"Hailey..." The hunk spoke.

She squeezed her eyes closed. "This is real." He said.

"Yeah right." she chuckled.

"Look at me." He ordered.

She let out a groan and sat up again and looked at him. "What?"

"Do you really believe I'm a dream?"

"Of course not. That's absurd." She said clearly. "You're a figment of my imagination, which my subconscious took and plopped in my dream. That's science, you know."

He smirked. "Is it?" He chuckled again. "Think real hard. Concentrate. Is this a dream, really?"

She looked annoyed for a moment and then sat back to stare at him thoughtfully, obviously just trying to indulge her dream man. Then her eyes widened at him. "Crap!"

"See?" He grinned smugly. "How do you know I'm not a dream?"

"My dream people don't have faces. Well...they do, but blurry, indistinct faces. Your face is very clear...." She rubbed at her eyes and stared harder at him. "Where am I!?" Her head swung around staring at the room she was in.

The room looked about centuries in the past, and in a different time zone in a millionaire's castle! Her eyes swung around to the huge fireplace, to the four poster canopy bed, to the basin and vanity. It looked like she was on a movie set with no crew. She glanced down at the burgundy silk sheets to find herself naked to the waist and she let out a screech as she pulled the sheets around herself and glowered menacingly at her captor....her very handsome captor.

"Why am I nude!?"

He wisely hid a grin. "Uh....your clothes were....destroyed on your journey here."

"What journey!? Where am I? Who are you? Am I dead?" Her barrage of questions came at him swiftly.

"The one that got you here. Esson. Cullen. And no."

She glared hard at him. "Why am I here?" she whimpered cowering back against the headboard.

His eyes softened a bit and when he took a step toward the bed she froze, making him hesitate before he perched on the edge. "Its all very difficult to explain, but know I'm not going to hurt you. I'm...here to help you, okay?"

She seemed to search his eyes before nodding slightly. "Things like this don't happen to people like me. Are you sure this is real?" She whispered.

"Yes." He smiled.

"I might be having a nervous break down, I've never had one of those before. It could explain the clarity."

"You're not." He assured her.

She bit her lip. "Could you please start explaining...."

"Yes. We're not on Earth anymore."

She stared. "You're not an alien are you? Oh geez, they always take farmers, now they're taking nobodies." She muttered.

"I'm an alien in a way...I'm not....from a different planet though."

"If we're not on Earth, then...we're on the moon?"

He chuckled. "We're...on a different plane, so to speak."

She tilted her head. "Are we speaking in terms of science fiction planes or....machine birds?"

"Sci-fi." He nodded.

"Hmmm." She considered. "This is definitely not a dream, I don't get into deep details."

"Uh...the reason you're here is..." He rubbed at the back of his neck, a gesture she knew men did when uncomfortable and she tensed.

"Yes?" She urged, wanting to get it over with.

"To be my mate." He finished eyeing her warily.

She grimaced. "Does that mean like...you want me to breed?"

He burst out laughing. "I'm not that kind of alien, Hailey."

"How do you know my name?" She wrapped the sheets around her more comfortably. They felt nice, she thought wryly.

"That also, is hard to explain....I don't want to experiment with your body." He chuckled.

"Then....well mate on Earth means....sex, breed....friend in the okay, and you couldn't possibly mean mate in the marriage form so..." She halted at his intense look.

"I do mean that way....when I say mate, I mean soul mate."

She blinked. "You're not serious."

"Yes I am." He disagreed.

"But I'm....you're....."

Cullen stared waiting for her to explain further. "I'm what?"

"I don't know you." She said instead with a firm nod.

"We could get to know each other better." He sat closer.

She glared. "This is not funny."

"I'm serious!" He growled exasperated.

"I'm not pretty, why on earth would you want me to be your mate!?" She responded.

He blinked at her, shocked. "Who says you're not pretty?"

"I'm not. I have a mirror." She glanced around the room. "I had a mirror." She amended, annoyed.

"Then you have a disastrous eyesight." He muttered. "I find you lovely."

"Lovely? Lovely!? Are you insane?" She blurted out.

"No I am not and I am your mate and you are mine. You'll have to get used to it because I finally have you and I'm not letting you go." He sat in a tone that brooked no argument.

He rose stiffly and her bewildered eyes followed him as he walked to the floor. "There are clothing in the armoire. I will come for you in two hours. Take a bit longer to look in the mirror there, would you?" He said a bit annoyed, by all accounts as he slammed out of her new room.

Hailey dropped her head back on the head with a pitiful moan. "God Hailey you wake up with a the most gorgeous male you've ever seen and you remind him how hideous you are?"