Midnight.

Honey McCarthy danced, naked and alone, in the normally crowded staff commons cabin.

She swayed, shimmied and pirouetted, her body singing with the pleasure of dancing her own way - a wild mix of ballet and modern - far from the straight lines of the ballroom dancing she taught the guests down at the resort.

She should have been embarrassed, but there was no one else around.

And she knew it was only a dream.

Honey had been having this same dream almost every night for the past few weeks. But tonight it felt so real.

The fragrant night air brought a welcome respite from the heat of the summer day. Honey enjoyed the sensuous kiss of the cool breeze against her skin as she moved. Soft music was playing from somewhere nearby, though she couldn’t tell exactly where.

Honey didn’t care. She danced on, knowing something wonderful was coming.

The screened walls of the porch-like cabin let in the view of the woods and the lake on every side. The staff commons cabin was on a hilltop, far above the emerald lawn and stone cottages of Maxwell’s Family Resort.

In the dream, instead of one moon reflecting on the black surface of the midnight lake, there were three. She always noticed the triple moons right before the best part.

He would be there soon.

It always happened the same way.

One moment she would be dancing alone, and the next there would be a man watching her.

He didn’t approach from any direction, didn’t enter through the door. He was just… there.

The man in her dream was always the same, all flashing eyes and glistening muscle, an enormous brute with masculine features and an inquisitive half-smile.

The frank curiosity in his expression never seemed quite fitting in the presence of a naked woman dancing in the moonlight. Honey was very beautiful, according to her long list of creepy ex-boyfriends. She was used to the way most men looked at her.

But this man, this particular man, always seemed more interested in her dancing. He watched her as if mesmerized by the movements of her limbs, by the swirl of the air in her wake.

Honey shivered a little in anticipation of his arrival.

She moved in time with the music, her heart in perfect sync with the rhythm, each limb an extension of the melody.

Suddenly, she was dancing in slow motion, her hair floating around her head as she pivoted.

He was there.

She spun to find him. Her exertion was the same as before and so was her momentum, but somehow his presence was slowing down time, letting her appreciate the stretch and extension of each movement, see the shapes she drew in the darkness.

And then the music stopped and she came to rest before him.

He studied her solemnly, his eyes moving upward from her feet.

She tried not to shy away. Honey knew her dancing was beautiful but she was more athletic than the average woman and curvier than any ballerina.

The man, on the other hand, looked like a movie star or an underwear model. He was clearly out of her league.

But he didn’t seem to be disappointed. Though he showed no outward sign of disrespect, the time he took bringing his eyes up to hers told her he was memorizing every inch of her body with his inquisitive gaze.

She felt herself responding to his unasked question, nipples stiffening, an empty ache tightening in her belly.

She had never met the man before. Yet when his gray eyes met hers, the feeling was oddly familiar, like coming home and exploring exotic locales all at once.

Electricity crackled in the air and she felt the pull between them, inescapable as gravity.

A red light bloomed in her periphery, like fireworks reflecting on the lake, though she heard nothing and she couldn’t bear to tear her eyes from his to look.

She had the sinking feeling that always came when she had to talk with someone new. Honey wasn’t much of a talker, especially small talk or subtle flirtation. And she didn’t want to ruin this.

But he surprised her by taking her in his arms without saying a word.

And then they were both dancing in the gentle summer breeze.

His large warm hands molded her waist and hips as they swayed, rising and sinking to the strange music that swelled mysteriously around them.