Soul Seers Complete Set (4 page)

“One of the reasons I wanted to
take you for a ride tonight is to show you a place along this trail I love to
go. It’s about halfway through the trail and has a trough where the horses can
hydrate and rest. Sound good to you?” Jonah asked. I could tell there was doubt
in his voice and he was still blocking something.

What is he hiding?

“Sounds wonderful,” I assured.
With that, he showed his dazzling smile and clicked his tongue in rhythm with
his heels to encourage Skip into a steady gallop. Naturally, Cora and I
followed causing a smooth laughter to leave my mouth.

If I thought I appreciated Jonah’s
beauty before, now I cherished his attractiveness even more as I watched him
steadily ride Skip with confidence and grace. We had to slow as the trail
became narrower and the sun continued to dip below the trees.

The midway stopping point was
absolutely breathtaking. By the time we reached Jonah’s resting place, the sun
had set completely. He dismounted Skip quickly so he could help me down from
Cora. I could already feel the bruising between my legs from the
saddle—an effect that was bound to happen since I hadn’t ridden in so
long.

Without warning, he increased his
hold on my hips and lifted me. I almost squealed in surprise, but he quickly
brought my body against his and allowed me to gently slide down until my feet
grazed the ground. His muscles flexed deliciously as I dug my fingers into his
arms. He held onto me firmly, one hand at the small of my back and the other at
the center, just below my shoulder blades. Pressing our bodies together, he
groaned before regretfully letting me go.

Damn. I definitely didn’t want our
embrace to end. Feeling his hard body up against my soft parts made all kinds
of delicious thoughts and feelings flow freely through me.

As Jonah tied the leads to the
trough, I slowly ambled toward the shore’s edge. In front of us was a lake with
dark water shimmering in the moonlight. The moon was large tonight, like a
brilliant crystal ball full of unique mountains and valleys, giving off a
beautiful iridescent light through the night sky. The reflection of the moon
shone off the surface of the lake, clear as crystal, pure as a rippled blanket
of ice. It was so peaceful and quiet. The only sounds were light chirps from
various insects, a few quiet croaks from the frogs, and the gentle lapping of
water as it kissed the bank of the lake.

I just stood there, admiring the
view. Jonah came up behind me and gently wrapped his arms around my waist,
placing his thumbs in the belt loops of my jeans, and causing my awareness of
him to spike.

Very beautiful
, he
projected. But I knew by his open thoughts he wasn’t talking about the view.
His musings definitely made me feel attractive. I felt his breath near my ear
and heard him gasp slightly as one of my curls fell forward and brushed against
his face. I wanted to turn my body and wrap myself around him, but he held me
in place as his finger slowly pushed the tendril of hair back behind my ear.

I felt his hand continue to brush
against the back of my ear and push my hair to the side even more, exposing my
neck to his touch and causing me to tilt my head slightly, giving him more
access to whatever part of me he wanted. I felt his breath on me and, suddenly,
it’s as if all the oxygen on earth had been used up completely. I couldn’t
breathe.

“The sight before us pales in
comparison to your beauty, Ella,” he said adoringly and I felt the tickle of
his breath on my neck. Warmth sizzled through my abdomen as his words whispered
over my ears, seductive and alluring.

As he pressed his body against my
back, he wrapped his hands around my waist once more, sticking his thumbs into
the waistband of my jeans. His fingers gently grazed my hipbones. His touch
made me arch my back and tilt my head to rest on his shoulder.

Keeping his hands on my hips, he
bent down slightly and placed a few light kisses on my cheek. His lips, hot as
fire, brushed along the column of my neck. The soft pecks on my skin were
enough to make a thousand sparks flicker through my body, like sparklers on the
fourth of July.

I brought you here to try something. I’m not sure it will
work because I’ve only ever tried with my dad and he’s not able to read minds
like you. But I still would like to try.

What is it?
I asked.
Suddenly, he let the mental block he had on his thoughts release the surprise.

His idea, as did his lips, had me
excited. Jonah wanted to try and project his thoughts as images rather than
words. Similar to the way we picture things in our minds and use our imagination
to come up with some sort of visual concept of our thoughts.

“However, this is more of a guided
metaphysical meditation technique. I’m going to meditate, pretend I’m somewhere
else, and actually feel my surroundings. I haven’t been able to push my
meditations to my dad. I can only seem to push images and visual thoughts to
him, but he hasn’t been able to feel what I feel. I know it sounds odd, but you
know how a dream seems so dang real? As if you can smell, taste, hear, just
like you would in real life?” he asked. I just nodded, so he continued. “I’m
hoping that because you already possess the soul-seer gift, you will be more
susceptible to the imagery in my meditations.”

“So, it’s somewhat like hypnosis,
but instead of you describing your imagery in words, you will be describing it
with visualizations?”

He turned me around so we were
facing each other.

“Exactly. Of course, it’s a much
cooler parlor trick on someone who doesn’t have telepathic abilities, but I’m
hoping you and I can take a trip together… in my head,” he said with a smirk as
he tapped two fingers on his temple.

I then noticed he was holding a
rolled-up blanket under his arm. Just the idea of the purpose for that blanket
made my stomach jump with interest. He slowly laid out the blanket and guided
me to lie down. Jonah then eased his way down next to me, but faced his body
the opposite way so that we were head to head with our ears almost touching. If
we turned our faces toward each other, my lips would touch his forehead. The
thought made me smile and more naughty thoughts entered my bent brain.

If you start thinking like that, we’ll never get anywhere
, he chided.

I blushed as I apologized for my
wayward thoughts. He turned his head in my direction and said out loud, “Hey,
don’t be sorry. In all honesty, there is nowhere I would rather be than right
here with you, Ella.”

With that little confession, he
placed a light little peck on my nose and turned his face back toward the sky.

At first, Jonah started thinking
about the sky we were currently staring at through the canopy of trees. Within
the gaps of leaves and branches was a sky so brilliantly lit with stars, it
seemed we were the only two people in the universe. Out here in the state park,
there was very little light pollution to make the atmosphere murky. The
brilliance of millions of stars littered the black night sky like shining
crystals amongst a bed of velvet.

Slowly, things started to change.
The night sky still shone with brilliance as the stars twinkled overhead like
crystalline tears, but the trees and branches no longer obstructed my view. I
could feel a chill run through my body, but Jonah’s warmth next to me made it
bearable.

The stars began to multiply and
were shining so bright, the sky actually looked to be a deep midnight blue. I
could even see the misty flow of the Milky Way. Just below the swath of stars
was Jupiter, shining radiantly. The fields of stars were so brilliant and
plentiful—I could have sworn we were floating through space. Nothing else
around us but the dazzling stars, like tiny little holes in the floor of
heaven.

“Come on, Ella. Let’s stand up,”
Jonah said as he knelt beside me with an outstretched hand.

As I stood, I somehow knew where
we were. Not because Jonah told me, but because he knew. His thoughts were not
separate from mine. Our thoughts were one, together, up at the top of Mauna Kea
in Hawaii. The snow-capped mountaintop summit is one of the most popular places
in the world to gaze at the stars.

We took several moments to take in
what was quite possibly the most dramatic and stimulating scenery I had ever
experienced. Stargazing at the heavens, I could see from Polaris to the
Southern Cross, along with all the planets and constellations I had learned to
identify over the years.

“Isn’t it breathtaking?” Jonah
asked, as he held onto me tight and stared up at the starlit sky.

Looking at him, I could see the
reflection of stars in his eyes, like diamonds dripping from the universe and
winking at me through this beautiful man.

“You’re deviating from my vision,
Ella,” he playfully scolded as he turned to look at me.

“I can’t help it. Now it is my
vision too, Jonah.”

He reached out and touched my
cheek with a tender wisp of his fingers. The contact made my skin tingle, as if
I were touched by both fire and ice.

Just as I thought he was going to
kiss me, he interrupted my thoughts and said, “We better head back.”

Disappointment overtook me and our
vision suddenly took a nosedive in the wrong direction. Dark clouds loomed over
the star field ominously, plunging me into darkness.

Ella, don’t focus on anything else but me. Please, Ella.
Clear your mind.

I heard his command but my
imagination continued to run wild, overpowering not only his visions but his
words as well. Soon his pleading was nothing but a muffled string of sounds.

He’s leaving me. Just like my mother did. Just like my
father said he had to do. Just like my aunt does on a regular basis. Everyone I
begin to care for ends up leaving. It’s inevitable. Like I am some sort of
disease everyone has to run away from.

Lost and afraid of the darkness
that perished the vision, I began to run. I ran hard, fast. I ran in hopes of
finding him, finding someone, anyone who would give a shit. I ran to distance
myself from the despair brought on by the darkness.

I could no longer hear Jonah over
the whooshing sound of my blood pumping through my veins. The loud thudding of
my heart echoed in my ears. I felt like I was screaming for Jonah. Screaming
for my mom. Or just screaming for someone to hear. But, I couldn’t hear my own
screams. I couldn’t feel my own voice. It was like I was trapped in a vast
space of darkness with no walls for sound or light to reflect off of.

Ella, go back.

That angel. That voice. That
virtuous voice is my mother. But where did she want me to go back to?

Go back now. You need to go back. Think of Jonah. He’s
there. He needs you. He wants you to go back.

I tried to talk. To ask where she
wanted me to go. But again, no sound left my mouth.

Stop running. Relax. Lie back down and think of lying next
to Jonah on the blanket by the lake.

Without hesitation, and in
desperation to see him again, I did as she instructed immediately.

Envision the sounds of the water lapping against the shore.
Think of the sounds the insects make as they sing to their mates. Listen to the
sounds of the leaves rustling in the trees as a light wind blows. Now, remember
Jonah. Remember his eyes. Remember the beautiful crystalline swirled emerald of
his irises. Once you feel the heat of his hands on you, and his breath falling
on your face, open your eyes.

Do it now, Ella. Open your eyes…

“Open your eyes, Ella. Please,
look at me!” I heard Jonah’s voice repeating the now-distant sounds of my
mother’s voice.

Finally listening to their
commands, I awoke and saw those stunning green eyes riddled with worry and
fear.

“Oh, thank God you’re all right!”
Jonah exclaimed as he grabbed me, lifted me into his arms, and pressed me hard
against his solid chest.

I’m so sorry, Jonah. I shouldn’t have let my imagination
take over. I’m sorry…

“Talk out loud for now, Ella. What
happened?” he asked, worry still evident in his face.

“I…” I stammered, suddenly
embarrassed.

“Don’t be embarrassed. Just tell
me,” he pressed, pulling me away from his chest and clutching my face as he forced
me to look deep into his eyes.

“I wanted you to kiss me. And when
you didn’t, I guess I tried to take control of the situation. Or… I don’t know.
I just felt sad and it all went dark. It was so dark. I couldn’t see or hear
anything.”

“Shit,” he cursed under his
breath. “I wanted to kiss you too. But not then. Not in our minds. I wanted our
first kiss to be real.”

“I’m sorry,” I said as I bowed my
head in an attempt to hide from him.

He repositioned us so we were both
kneeling in front of each other. Grabbing my face in both his hands, he lifted
my gaze to meet his eyes, which were now warm with affection.

“I’ve wanted to kiss you since I
first laid eyes on you today. Your beautiful waves of gold, your stunning eyes
of amethyst, your luscious lips of rose, all such an exquisite combination that
has totally captured my mind,” he complimented as he stared at me. Brushing his
lips ever so slightly against mine, he asked, “Will you let me kiss you now,
Orella?”

“God, yes!” I exclaimed with the
long-felt urge to close the distance between us. I held back, letting him… no…
wanting, needing him to make the move.