Prologue

Prologue

January 1866

Charlotte POV

Taking a walk by the seashore this morning brings about a happy feeling in my soul. Looking out over the water, I can see forever. Or at least it seems like it. There is no end to the water. It goes on and on. I watch as the waves rise and fall, lapping quietly against my feet. This is bliss.

As I watch the water glide over the sand to my feet, I realize that my hand is not empty. I am holding the hand of another. A strong hand, with long narrow fingers. A hand that I can tell embodies strength. My eyes slide from the hand up the lean but muscled arm which is attached to a shirtless torso that is drool worthy. While not overly muscular, the torso is firm and lean. A torso that is no stranger to hard work.

I feel my smile widen on my face as I take in the form before me. I lick my lips as desire consumes me. I can feel my cheeks deepen with a blush as my eyes lift to meet the same brown eyes that I dream about so often. My dream man is not much taller than I am and I can gaze into his eyes without the need to tilt my head back too much. His eyes are shining with love and I watch as desire pools in them.

“I love you,” I whisper, before his lips crash against mine.

The desire and passion between us threaten to consume me and I am barely able to keep the fire at bay. Our tongues are entwined and my hands roam his chest and arms, as I learn the curves and flat places of his gorgeous body. I am breathless when we finally break our kiss and I rest my head on his chest, trying to steady my racing heart.

“Char,” he murmurs to me. “I love you so much.”

I lean my head back and look into his eyes and I see pain instead of the love I was expecting to find. I tilt my head and squint at him in confusion. What was going on? Why did he look like he was in pain?

Before I could speak, he was ripped my embrace. I screamed for him and tried to reach him, but I was not able to touch him. He was being dragged into the sea, away from me. The monster’s arms looked like tentacles, similar to an octopus. One tentacle was wrapped around his forehead like a bandana. The other tentacle was reaching into his chest, as if attacking his heart.

“Let him go!” I cried out to the monster. But it refused to stop dragging him into the sea.

As the sea began to pound the shore in angry waves, I cried out to my love, “Please don’t leave me! I need you!”

“I don’t want to but, I am powerless to stop myself. Something is pulling me from you. Don’t let it take me from you. You must fight. Fight for our love,” he cries, his voice carrying over the crashing of the sea.

I bolted upright in bed, my breath coming out in gasps. It was dream. I had been dreaming of this brown eyed stranger for as long as I could remember. Most of the time, the dreams were sweet. I would dream about a life with him. In my dreams, he was the owner of a fleet of merchant ships. He enjoyed sailing the seas, but in my dreams, I was his true passion.

I had been dreaming of him more often over the past few months. The dreams were becoming more distraught. I settled back into my bed and offered a quiet prayer up to God to protect this man. Who was he to me? Why did I keep dreaming of him? I had always assumed he was just a figment of my imagination, but now I wasn’t so sure. This one had felt so real. If this man was real, what was happening to him? Was he in trouble now? Or was this danger still to come in the unknown future?