Seraphina: Initiation (11 page)

“Come, climb into bed with me.” I finally
say through the darkness.

“Are you sure?” he whispers.

“
Well,
I
’
m not going to be able to get
any sleep with you staring at me angrily all night!” I joke as I
roll over giving him room. Without having to say another word, Nate
is climbing into bed behind me. Wrapping his arms around me and
drawing my back close to him. He rests his head on the top of mine
and kisses the back of my head goodnight. I can’t help but think we
fit together perfectly. It’s like we were made for each other, like
two interlocking puzzle pieces. I shiver at the skin on skin
contact when I realize I’m wearing nothing but the towel from
earlier. The heat of his body and the image of the puzzle pieces is
what I’m picturing as I finally begin to drift off to sleep. Just
as I’m on the verge of unconsciousness I hear him whisper, “I love
you,” softly into my ear.

I’m not sure if I responded out loud or just
in my head but I remember thinking, “I love you too,” before I
finally drift off to sleep.

***

I can feel the heat from the fireplace.
We are in the living room, lying on a new bear skin rug in front of
the fireplace. Nate
’
s
arms are around me, I can feel his heat. I can sense his love, his
passion, his lust for me. I feel the softness of the rug against my
back as I look up at Nate by my side. His hands find their way to
my face. He runs his thumb down my cheek before pulling me into a
kiss. My hands find their way around his neck and I pull him closer
to me. The kiss deepens and I groan in passion. I push him down and
roll over on top of him. I
’
m straddling him while his hands explore my
body. He kisses down my neck and I moan, so loud it echoes
…

I awake straight up in bed, breaking free
from Nate
’
s arms around me with my sudden
movement.

“My God, Sera what was that?” he asks now
fully awake as well.

“Another dream,” I breathlessly try and
explain why I woke so abruptly.

“That dream!” he states trying to catch his
breath before he collects himself, “I was there with you! I could
feel it!” he quietly tells my ear as he puts his chin on my
shoulder.

“What? You felt my dream?” I whip around to
face him embarrassed.

“No, I was
in
your dream Sera! It’s
as if you pulled me into your dream with you!” Slightly embarrassed
I turn away from him because find I don
’
t
know what to say,
How is that possible? How can I do that? Why
that dream of all dreams?

Sensing my embarrassment he changes his
tone, “Don
’
t get me wrong—it was a good
dream, come back to bed,” he states lying back down and I can sense
his smile in the dark. My heart melts and I lay back down against
him hoping not to have another embarrassing dream.

My eyes flutter open to the sun beginning to
stream into my room. I notice Nate
’
s arms
are still wrapped around me, but it’s my hands I’m staring at.
Directly in front of my face my hands are grasping the jeweled
dagger from the basement. I quickly hide it under my pillow before
Nate can see it. A part of me hates that I depend so much on him,
so helpless. As if sensing my change in consciousness, Nate rolls
over onto his back and pulls my head onto his chest.

“Morning,” h
e groans and
I suddenly remember bringing him into my dream from last
night.
Last night, of all nights, the dream was so… private.
How am I ever going to live that down? What if he expects me to
take things to the next level because of it? I don
’
t think I
’
m ready for
that just yet. Things are getting so crazy as it is I
don
’
t need my feelings for Nate to
interfere with my head.

“Morning,” I reply propping my head on my
hands over his chest to peer at him.

“Oh, God you are one of those morning people
aren’t you?”

I giggle, “No, not really, just trying to
distract you from last night!” I admit with a cheesy smile.

“Mmmm, about last night… Next time you want
to suck me into one of your dreams, don
’
t
cut it off when it was just getting good!” he jokes putting his
arms behind his head smugly.

I scoff as I sit up and smack him with my
pillow a few times to diffuse some tension.

“Heyyy,” I hear him yell from under his
hands, “I was just kidding!”

I throw off the covers and hop out of bed
before I come to the realization that I
’
m
only wearing a towel. The towel drops to the floor as I stand up
straight. I gasp and drop to my knees to pick it up, but
I
’
m pretty sure Nate didn’t miss the
show. Standing back up with my towel secure, I run into the
bathroom and throw back on the nightgown from last night. Stepping
back into my room, I realize Nate is still in bed. I feel a huge
smile cross my face and I take a running leap back onto the bed as
I inquire, “What
’
s on the agenda for
today?”

“Trying to control your powers so last night
doesn’t happen again,” he states before correcting himself, “The
first dream of last night that is,” he tells me with a sly smirk
and a slight twist of his head.

I feel the blood rush to my cheeks, see
I
’
m definitely never going to live this
down. Trying to change the subject I blurt out, “Uh, I
’
m starving... Let
’
s go
eat!” as I push him out of bed. I have to push him through my room
and out the door to the steps. When we reach the top of the stairs,
I walk around him and grab the banister with one hand about to take
a step when I feel Nate take my other hand in his. I glance up to
his beautiful blue eyes and we descend the steps together. I
can
’
t help the corny smile that crosses
my face. Once we reach the bottom step, his eyes glance behind me,
and I see his smile change before I turn to see what he
’
s seeing. My eyes fly to the living room where the
fireplace is still lit. I could have sworn Nate put it out before
we went to bed last night. I release his hand and walk into the
living room. That’s when when I notice on the floor in front of the
fireplace lays the bearskin rug I dreamt of last night. That was
definitely not part of the décor yesterday. I
’
m starting to realize maybe my subconscious
conjured it somehow. I turn to Nate for answers but he is staring
at the rug as well, “That was a dream last night, right?”

“I have no idea anymore, this is uncharted
territory,” he responds shrugging it off and reaching for my hand
again. I look down at our clasped hands and there
’
s something so simple, yet so intimate about it. I
look back up into his deep blue eyes and continue to walk hand in
hand through the dining room up to the kitchen.

Climbing the three steps, I turn to Nate and
state, “I want to cook!” as I push him into his seat in the
breakfast nook.

“Are you sure?” he asks me knowing full well
I have no culinary skills and we could conjure a meal in seconds. I
could attempt to conjure a meal, but to be honest I crave some
normalcy.

“How bad can I screw up eggs?” I joke over
my shoulder as I
’
m checking the cabinets
for a frying pan. When I find it I open the refrigerator for some
eggs. As I open the door, I feel the cold hit my bare legs and
I
’
m suddenly fully aware I
’
m wearing nothing but a short, sheer, silk
nightgown. I
’
m beginning to feel
Nate
’
s eyes all over me. I take a calming
breath, grab a few eggs, and turn to the stove pretending not to
notice. I turn the flame on when he finally speaks.

“
I feel useless! Can’t I
do something
?” he asks with a smirk I know implies more than
he says.

“Uh, you can make the toast!” I turn around
and joke, but he rises. Passing me so close he just barely makes
contact, but I can sense his body heat radiating towards me. He
pops a few slices of toast into the toaster before I feel his body
heat behind me again. My body stiffens when my senses begin to go
haywire. Then I feel his fingers touch my waist through my
nightgown sliding themselves lightly up and down the side of my
body. With his other hand I feel him move my hair to one side, over
my shoulder as he gently places a kiss on the back of my neck. His
body heat is rising behind me as he kisses down my neck to the tip
of my shoulder. I close my eyes relishing in his touch and let my
senses feel him. I let myself feel him, his touch, his emotions,
his heat. I can sense him, and… smell him? I smell something else,
something burning. I look over to see the toast hasn’t popped back
up. Regrettably and slowly pulling away, I walk across to the
toaster and pull out the black bread.

“I give you one job!” I joke waiving the
burnt toast in his direction.

“Sorry, I was distracted!” he defends
mockingly looking down like a puppy in trouble.

“
Well
,
don’
t let it happen again.” I parentally joke back
as I throw the blackened bread at him playfully. He flashes me a
heart-stopping smirk before sitting back in his place while I serve
him his eggs. We eat breakfast in silence. It
’
s hard to put into human words, but it
’
s as if there
’
s some
unspoken connection in the room. One that we are both aware we
want, but we don
’
t want to act on it. So
instead, we sit staring at each other, basking in the emotion the
other is giving off for what seems like forever until Nate breaks
the silence.

“Okay,” he leans back throwing his arms up
in defeat, “I think it
’
s time you put
some real clothes on so we can get some actual work done
today!”

I giggle looking down at the nightgown
that
’
s hugging my body before getting up
to change. I’m almost down the stairs when I hear,

“Aren’t you going to clean up your mess?”
Nate asks in his stern training mode voice.

“What?” I flash back around to ask in
surprise.

“I think it’s time you try using your mind
powers, clean this up,” he replies trying not to move his eyes
lower than my hazel ones.

I sigh before closing my eyes, trying to
remember how Nate explained using them. I focus my mind on all the
dishes being clean and tucked back into their little places in the
cabinets before snapping my fingers. I open one eye first to check
the table, when I see all the plates are missing from the table I
open the other. I smile proudly, shrug my shoulders before turning
around and dashing upstairs to put on something more,
appropriate.

A few minutes later, I
’
m running down the stairs in my training clothes
and my hand excitedly reaches for the front door when I hear Nate
cough behind me. I turn to see him standing in the dining room.
Confused, I walk towards him.

“Aren’t we going for a run?” I ask him
pointing over my shoulder to the door behind me.

“I
’
m sorry Sera,
but we can
’
t go outside anymore. If you
need to release some energy I made a treadmill in the
basement.”

I freeze staring past him and out the glass
wall of the dining room at all the trees and the gorgeous cliff and
my heart sinks.
I can
’
t go outside anymore? I can
’
t feel the sun on my face? The wind in my
hair? The heartbeat of the earth?
I’m a prisoner in my own
house. I know this is because of the bear yesterday and that this
is for my own safety, but I can
’
t help feeling
my heart
drop and I know Nate can see it sprawled all over my face.

“I
’
m sorry Sera,
but until you are trained you shouldn’t be in harm
’
s way… consciously, not if I can help it.”

I can
’
t be mad at
Nate he
’
s only trying to protect me, but
I can
’
t help the resentment I feel. I
turn around without a word, open the basement door against the side
of the staircase, and slam it behind me as I descend the stairs.
When I reach the last step, I eye the plain cement basement with
the treadmill in the middle of the room. He set up a flat screen
television with a picture of the forest, but it doesn’t help.
Looking around, in this dreary training facility I notice there are
no windows or air. I can
’
t help the anger
I feel, but instead of thinking about it, I try and focus it. I
turn the treadmill up and run. I run as fast as the stupid machine
will go. I run, trying to escape all the anger, all the sadness,
all the confusion and all the other weird feelings I can
’
t put into words. I run until all my overwhelming
emotions produce a tear.
I feel
it begin
to trace its way down my cheek. As if in slow motion, I see the
singular tear drop all the way down to the belt before my
foot extend
s and I step on it. I slam my
foot down as if I
’
m repressing all the
depressing feelings, all the anger I harbor. Somehow in all that is
going on I realize the old, depressed, weak Sera is gone. She died
that night in the middle of the street. The only thing that remains
is Seraphina. She is strong, confident, and she is who I need to
become. I slam my hand down on the ‘Stop
’
button and jump off the treadmill wiping my cheek before heading
upstairs, ready to learn how to become who I need to be.