Soul Seers Complete Set (20 page)

 
“No, Ella,” he whispered against my lips. “Too soon. I’ll
control myself. I promise.”

“Fuck control. I want you,” I
affirmed before lunging forward, grinding myself against his erection, and
melding my lips with his once more. I trailed my fingers through his soft, damp
hair with one hand and dug my nails into his shoulder with the other,
effectively pressing his body harder to mine.

One of his hands left my ass and
began trailing its way up the side of my body beneath my blouse. Skin-on-skin,
the feeling of his touch had me whimpering and begging for more. Just before he
reached my breast, he began trailing his hand back down, continuing along my
jean-clad leg and to the back of my knee.

The fiery action and wicked
possibilities left me feeling lightheaded and weak. If I didn’t calm myself, I
wouldn’t stay upright much longer.

Grabbing lightly at my leg, he
started to bring me down, unwrapping my stems from around his waist. As he
slowed our passionate kisses, Jonah projected,
Not here. Not now. Christ, it sounds so wonderful to hear you say you
want me. But, you deserve so much better.

“Goddamnit, Jonah!” I exclaimed as
I lightly banged my fists against his hard chest and buried my face in the soft
spot between his peck muscles. I knew he was right. When I lost all semblance
of control, he made sure to find it. But geez. My clit was throbbing. And if I
was this frustrated about stopping our near-sexual encounter, I couldn’t
imagine how unsatisfied he must be. Can anyone say
blue ballz
?

Jonah chuckled as he set both my
feet on the ground and backed away slightly. “Don’t you worry about me, love.
Just knowing you’re here with me is satisfaction enough for a lifetime.”

Handing me the towel, he held out
his arms and bowed his head as if he were waiting for me. Quickly catching on,
I spread the towel in my hands and began running it through his hair. Jonah
lifted his head, allowing me to make my way across to his face and down his
neck and chest. He looked delicious when he was all drippy-wet, but the playful
act of drying him was oddly sensual and made me grin from ear to ear.

After our rather adventurous
towel-drying session, Jonah smiled wide as he said, “I can’t wait to show you
the project I’m working on.”

Like an excited schoolboy, he
grabbed my hand and bounced his way over to a door where a sign hung that said
“Off limits for the rest of the month”. With a light click of the locking
mechanism and a quick flick of the light switch, we entered the room now bathed
in the powerful glow of the florescent lights above.

After my eyes adjusted to the
bright lights, I took in my surroundings. All the workbenches were pushed
together at the center of the room and supported several sheets of drywall.
With light pencil marks, numerous outlines of frogs in different positions
decorated the plain gray surface of the soft material.

Mesmerized by the simplicity and
the possibilities of this massive project, I slowly trailed my fingers along
the smooth sheetrock surface, feeling every minor divot the pencil marks made.
Jonah watched me as I made my way around the tables. After observing me for a
moment, he walked over to the corner of the room where there was a large metal
cabinet with a combination lock securing the doors.

As he masterfully unlocked the
doors to the cabinet, twisting his skilled fingers back and forth over the knob
of the lock, he began to tell me about his project, explaining everything in
great detail.

“The nature museum has
commissioned me to do this piece to display a certain species of frogs. The
wall of frogs will hang in the entrance, just to the left, as you walk into the
foyer. At the moment, I am in the process of positioning the frogs across the
wall, but I do not plan to actually bolt them down until the finished pieces of
drywall are hung,” he explained as he set several different ceramic frogs
gently onto the surface of the drywall.

Amazed with his attention to
detail, I leaned in for a closer look. I couldn’t believe how realistic they
looked. I reached out to touch one, but immediately retracted my hand. Worried
I may be overstepping my boundaries by touching his work, I looked up to him in
a silent request, asking his permission to handle the dainty little frogs.

He nodded once, encouraging me
with a small smile and said, “Go ahead. You can pick it up and hold it if you
want. It won’t bite you.” I looked up at him with a pseudo snarl on my face to
show I wasn’t happy with his little joke. He began to chuckle lightly as he
held his hands up in defense and said, “Holding one is the only way you’re
going to notice the certain feature I want you to see.”

I felt like a child on Christmas
morning, taking a peek at a shiny new toy with excitement. Slowly, I picked up
the tiny creature, no bigger than the palm of my hand. The texture and coloring
of the matte glaze made the fake amphibian look soft, but in reality the
surface was very unforgiving and cold. If you were to put it next to a real
frog, the detail and likeness would be uncanny.

“What species is this?” I asked,
still studying the piece with intense concentration, turning it in my hands and
inspecting every intricate feature.

“It’s called a White’s Tree Frog,
usually native to areas of Australia and New Guinea…”

His voice trailed off. As I heard
his words hit my ears, I realized I wasn’t quite paying attention—and for
a very good reason. I could tell by the texture that the eyes were not ceramic,
but the color wasn’t quite discernible against the brown glaze until the light
hit it just right. As I turned the piece in my hand, the light reflected off
the gems, making them glisten with an amethyst luster.

“Jonah!” I gasped. “What did you
do?” I was so mesmerized—I hardly noticed that Jonah had approached me
from behind until he spoke.

“There’s a piece of you in
everything I create, Ella,” he said, enunciating each word softly into my ear.
“You see, for so many years I have woken up with one thing on my mind… your
eyes.” His breath on my skin made my stomach flutter and a quick intake of
breath hiss through my teeth and catch in my throat. “Your eyes have been my
only motivation all these years. Those beautiful, hypnotic, amethyst eyes.
You’ve become my calling card. I’m known to put my own touch on a project that
just so happens to end up using the color purple in some way. Most of the time
it’s only a subtle use of the color. But, it all pales in comparison to you.”

“I don’t know, Jonah. This… this
is just breathtaking. I have no words to express how amazed I am with your
brilliance. The subtle touch of the eyes makes the piece… well, perfect.”

“And you’re my inspiration,” he
said as he pressed a light kiss just behind my ear, causing goose bumps to
crawl all over my skin.

I just stood there a moment,
continuing to admire the frog in my hand and reveling in the feel of his
strength behind me.

“What’s even better is the nature
museum has a large dome skylight right in the center of their lobby. So, at
certain times of the day, the sun will shine just right to make each eye
sparkle and reflect minute amounts of color throughout the room,” he explained
as he reached for another, somewhat larger frog and held it up to the light,
twisting and turning until the eyes glimmered with brilliance.

I couldn’t speak. Just imagining
this piece hung in the museum made me dumbstruck with wonder.

“Have you ever been to the nature
museum here in town, Ella?” Jonah asked, positioning himself beside me.

I shook my head while turning to
look at him.

“I’d love to take you sometime.
It’s a great place. They have a lot of art exhibits, fossil exhibits, a
planetarium, a butterfly garden, and even several nature trails to walk around
in outside. I could spend hours there just looking and enjoying all the things
they have.” His words became wistful, making me realize there is even more
facets to this man I do not know.

“I would love that. It sounds so
wonderful. And spending that much time with you would make it even better.”

“Great! It’s a date. I’ll check on
their hours…”

We stared at each other for
several moments before I broke our stare and looked back at the little frog in
my hand. I moved it around, watching the eyes twinkle with brilliance, and
wondered just how many other works of art he had on public display that have a
piece of me somehow entwined within his art.

“So, would you like to help me
work on this tonight?” Jonah asked, effectively bringing me out of my daydream
and back to reality.

“I wouldn’t want to mess anything
up, especially since this is a paid job.”

“You won’t mess anything up, Ella.
Not only do I trust you and your skills as an artist completely, but the task I
had in mind is rather simple, really,” he said with shrug as he leaned his
elbow on the table and stared me. “Well?”

“What did you have in mind?”

“I have about five dozen more
frogs that need their amethyst eyeballs,” he explained with a huge grin and a
wag of his brow.

“Oh, I think I can do that!” I
responded with excitement.

“Of course, if you would rather go
home, I can take you before I get to work. You don’t have to feel obligated to
help.” His voice wavered with a hint of apprehension. I could tell by his
thoughts he definitely didn’t want me to go, but also didn’t want to force me
to stay.

“Jonah, there is nowhere else I
would rather be than right here with you,” I said honestly, touching his face
and offering him a light peck on the side of his mouth.

We spent the next several hours
adhering dozens of beautiful amethyst gems to the eyes of the little frogs and
laughing about everything and nothing as we got to know each other more.

As the time crept closer to
midnight, I began to drag ass. Worried I would mess up on the eye application
process, I gently pushed the rest of the stuff away and laid my head on the
table, watching Jonah from the side of my vision.

“I’m sorry I kept you out so late,
sweetheart. I’ll just finish this one and we’ll head home,” Jonah said, never
really looking in my direction, but still able to see me past the frog held
high in his hands.

“It’s ok. I’m fine,” I slurred in
an attempt to let him know he didn’t need to cater to me.

On the way back to my mother’s
house, my lazy ass managed to fall asleep. Yeah, I know. It was literally only
four or five blocks away. There was no reason for me to fall asleep so quickly.
But, after walking to Lavendine earlier that morning and the emotional upheaval
I had to deal with today, I’m surprised I lasted as long as I did.

I was startled awake by the
feeling of someone carrying me. With a death grip around his neck, I looked up
at Jonah’s face and immediately relaxed with the awareness he was moving me
from the car and into my room. I relaxed my hold and propped my cheek up on his
chest, relishing in the feel of his heartbeat next to my ear still in perfect
rhythm with my own.

As he gently laid me on the bed,
my eyes fluttered open to look at him, causing my mouth to water with desire.
Are you leaving?
I projected, too tired
to talk.

Yes, I have to go. I’m sure your mom wouldn’t appreciate it
if I stayed the night. Plus, I don’t think I could keep my hands to myself if I
did,
he thought with a smile as he stroked
the hair out of my face.

“I don’t want you to go,” I said
out loud as I gripped his hand and brought it to my lips, placing a long kiss
in the center of his palm. I knew I sounded childish, but I didn’t care.

“I know. I promise I’ll call or
text you tomorrow… first thing in the morning. Okay?”

I just nodded and gripped his hand
tighter, my eyelids getting severely heavy with every passing moment.

Jonah bent over, gave me a soft,
reverent kiss on my lips and said, “Goodnight, my sweet Orella.”

I was so far gone, I don’t even
remember him shutting off the light and walking out.

Turn.

Green leaves surround all sides of me.

Turn.

Tall walls of green are all that are visible as I keep
running.

Turn.

More green. The bushes of leaves are everywhere in sight as
I continue to round each corner. Perfectly straight walls made of dark green
leaves start to puzzle me.

Turn.

More of the same. Spinning in a circle, I try to regain my
sense of direction, but the stark white sky is void of any discernible rays of
sun. The sun must be there, because it is bright out—almost blindingly
so. Yet, I cannot tell what time of day it is or which direction I am headed.

I must keep going.

Turn.

Disorientation and confusion are beginning to take over my
senses. I know I must keep running, but this maze of greenery seems to never
end.

Turn.

My head hurts. Every turn seems to make my head spin and
ache. Touching my fingers to my forehead, I notice something wet and a bit
sticky. I see there is blood on my fingers. I am bleeding and I don’t know why.
Regardless of the blood that is now matted in my hair, I have to keep going.

Turn.

I see something white up ahead. My legs are hurting so
much. Almost as if they are severely bruised. But the green leaves are becoming
less and less. I must be getting close. I need to keep going.

Turn.

More white walls are just up ahead. The patches of green
are less abundant. A sharp pain in my chest is making it hard to breathe and my
legs feel extremely weak. But, I must get on with this. I have to.

Turn.

I can’t tell if this maze of white, sterile hallways is
comforting or overwhelming. It’s hard to tell where one wall ends and another
begins. I feel the smooth surfaces to try and find any corner or change in
direction.

Turn.

I feel myself dragging, becoming more weak and scared with
each painful step I take. I’m in pain. I need help. I need to keep going.

Turn.

Collapsing, I hear my skin make a high-pitch squeaking
noise on the surface of the cold, white floor. Looking at my battered body,
wondering what is causing such excruciating pain, I see pale, sickly skin
covered in dark bruises and scratches. My clothes are gone. I am naked, weak,
and in pain.

I try to stand up, but my legs will have nothing of it.
They hurt so bad, I almost pass out from the pain. Crumpling to the floor once
more, I push myself up with my hands and look at my surroundings beyond my
frazzled hair. I am no longer in the maze. I must have made it out. But, now
where am I? The large space doesn’t seem to have any sense of closure as I
can’t tell where the walls end and the ceiling begins. Everything is white. The
white is so blinding, it causes me to wince as I search for someone, anyone, to
help me.

My weakness takes over and I once again collapse to the
floor. My upper body, being the only part of me that was once upright, now
collides unforgivingly against the hard surface. I roll over to my back as my
ribs protest every little movement, causing all of the air to whoosh out of my
lungs as I struggle to breathe through the agony.

Slight movement to my left catches my eye.

There is someone. To my relief, I see a man. He must be a
doctor. His back is turned to me, but I see he is wearing a large white
doctor’s coat and white scrubs. He almost blends into the background with his
all-white attire. His hair is dark and his skin looks… gray?

He turns and looks at me with pity in his eyes. Pity and
determination.

I squint to try and focus better. Is that… that’s Divinus!
It’s Jonah’s father!

Desperate to get his help, I try to reach my hand out to
him, but it is stuck. Looking down at my bound hands, I realize my entire naked
body is now bound beneath white nylon ropes.

I bang my head on the surface beneath me. I am now on my
back with my arms and legs bound and broken. And in pain. Lots and lots of
pain.

A tear begins to trickle down my temple and puddles in my
ear.

Turning my head, I see Divinus has made his way closer to
me. Everything is white, except for the gray monochrome color of his flesh. His
eyes are so dark—they are nearly black in color. I feel undeniably
frightened by him. Now that I am naked, bound, and utterly defenseless, I am
unable to reign in my emotions.

A loud sob leaves my throat and is the only sound I can
hear.

Divinus is kind in his movements, as if he wants to comfort
me, yet he doesn’t speak. A single, gloved finger comes to my mouth as he
attempts to quiet my uncontrollable cries.

Once I have quieted down a bit, he begins checking to make
sure I’m secured by tightening the nylon ropes around my body parts. Of course,
it’s definitely not a binding you would find in a hospital, if they even had
such a thing. This rope was coarse and scratchy as it harshly bit into my sensitive
flesh. Each punitive tug on my binds was like a cruel reminder my body was
bruised and broken, causing anguish to radiate through my entire body.

Footsteps. I hear footsteps coming closer to me. With a
painful gasp, I lift my head to see who is coming. My heart leaps into my
throat at the sight of him…

Jonah.

Piercing green eyes stare back at me and take all my pain
away. Not only do I no longer feel pain, but also a sensation of warmth is
spreading through my entire body, taking away the shivers that had possessed my
muscles.

Jonah is wearing a pair of white cotton pants that hang
loosely on his hips with a drawstring. His skin is also a gray monochrome
color. The only color I can see is his eyes. The eyes that take all my
suffering away and make me complete. The green emeralds entrance me as my sobs
quiet to a light whimper of desperation. Desperation for Jonah to release my
binds and take me into his arms.

He looks at me as if he doesn’t know me, yet is interested
in the creature that is bound and helpless in front of him. Our stares are
locked in place, like a magnet. A force of attraction we can’t break.

Without notice, Divinus grabs Jonah’s hands and with quick,
steady movements, slices both of Jonah’s wrists in a synchronized fashion. Just
as I was about to cry out in protest, the first drop of blood hits my flesh.

Searing pain radiates from the point of contact. My body
arches and lifts off the table in reaction to the burning sensation taking over
me. More of Jonah’s blood drips onto my skin, making me wish I were in the
deepest fiery pits of hell as it would surely be a reprieve compared to this
agony.

As his blood continues to pour all over my naked body, I
look into his eyes in astonishment that he is able to hurt me so badly. Once my
gaze meets his, I realize he is not trying to hurt me. I can’t hear his
thoughts, but I know his thoughts. It’s as if his thoughts are my own. He’s not
trying to hurt me. He's trying to help me.

The pain subsides as I realize Jonah’s true intentions. The
discomfort didn’t go away, but it seemed much more bearable now that I know my
Jonah would never purposefully cause me discomfort.

As I lay there staring into Jonah’s beautiful eyes, I feel
his blood seeping into my veins. Each new drop against my skin causes shocks to
pulse through my body and straight to my heart.

My eyes popped open, causing me to
wince from the bright sunlight that assaulted my vision through the open
curtains. Throwing my arm over my face, I moaned and turned my entire body away
from the blinding sun.

God, that was a horrible dream.
Even though I was awake, the feeling of pain and helplessness still coursed
through my body in waves. I cursed the fact that my dreams had such a strong
feeling of reality, like my body was corporeal through all of my delusions. My
body still felt shocks of pain… no, not pain… agony! It felt like I was
recovering from my accident all over again.

Looking over at the clock and
seeing the glowing letters tell me it was now ten in the morning, I realized I
slept much longer than I usually do. Of course, it felt like I was wandering
through that maze all fucking night, especially since my legs actually ached
with the feeling of muscle exhaustion.

Grabbing my phone, I did the first
thing I always do when I wake up… check my text messages. Most people think
that getting up to pee is the first task in the morning, but with technology
overpowering us more and more every day, I bet that statistic has changed.

A huge smile spread across my face
as I noticed a text message from Jonah.

I’m so glad I got to know you better yesterday, Ella. Feel free
to call me when you wake up.

Before I responded to him, I knew
I had to get up and start my morning.

As I went to the bathroom and
brushed my teeth, I realized I couldn’t hear my mom. Usually her thoughts were
louder than anyone else around me. Peeking down the hall towards her bedroom
door, I noticed it was open, which probably meant she wasn’t in there. Within
moments, I found a note hung to the refrigerator door letting me know she had a
few errands to run and would be back after lunch.

“That’s odd,” I said out loud. She
usually always took me with her wherever she went. Not that she had to take me
with her, but she usually always chose to. She said she didn’t like to be alone
and the company made her happy. As soon as the thought hit my head, a huge grin
spread across my face.
I hope a man is
the reason she chose to go without me today.

As the water for my tea increased
its temperature in the kettle, I pulled my phone from my robe pocket and
thumbed for Jonah’s number. My stomach jumped with the anticipation of hearing
his voice.

“Hey beautiful,” the sexy voice on
the other end said with a slight breathlessness, like he had to run for the
phone.

My perma-grin was only visible to
myself as I looked at my reflection in the microwave’s glass door. “Good
morning, Jonah. Did I call at a bad time?”

“No, of course not. I was just
loading the kiln with some larger pieces. The result of a workshop I hosted
last week. The pieces aren’t heavy, they’re just very tall, which makes them
difficult to keep them steady while loading,” he paused for a moment and took a
deep breath. “What have you been up to this morning?”

“I actually just woke up. I
usually never sleep this late,” I admitted.

“Did I wear you out last night?”
he teased.

“Something like that,” I responded
as the kettle started to whistle. I quickly pressed the phone to my shoulder
and rescued the boiling water from the burner.

“Tea, huh? This may be a bit
forward of me, but mind if I come over for a cup?” I froze. I definitely wanted
him to come over, but I was certainly not ready. Heck, I still needed a shower!
“I’m sorry for inviting myself. You can say no. I would really like to see you
though,” he disclosed with a bit of bashfulness in his tone.

“Oh, I don’t mind. I would love
for you to come over. I’m just not showered or dressed yet. I was contemplating
how quickly I could make myself presentable,” I said as I hesitated and bit my
lip. “I want to see you too, Jonah.”

“Aw, hell. I’m sure you’re as
beautiful as ever. I know I’m not much to look at after loading this kiln all
morning. Plus, it’s just a cup of tea, right?”

“Right,” I agreed as I turned the
burner on low and darted to my room for some rescue clothes. I’ll be damned if
he sees me in my robe.

“Great. I’ll see you in ten,” the
distant voice said over the phone with a grunt, probably due to loading another
piece in the kiln.

“I’ll be here.” Hanging up the
phone and throwing it on my bed, I frantically searched my closet for something
comfortable to throw on. Choosing my signature jeans and a black tank, I
quickly got dressed.

As I threw my messy curls up in a
ponytail, I suddenly felt lightheaded and had to grasp at the side of the
dresser for support. Ever since I woke up in the hospital, I’ve had to deal
with overcoming this weakness that plagued my body. It seemed whenever my heart
rate increased and I tried to be more active, my muscles would give up rather
quickly and I would find myself on the floor more often than not. Plus, I really
pushed my limits yesterday with all the walking and then certain forbidden
activities with Jonah.

“Get a grip, Ella,” I scolded with
a few deep breaths, attempting to calm myself enough to regain my balance.

In no time at all, Jonah’s knock
on the front door had my heart sprinting out of my chest yet again.