Soul Seers Complete Set (5 page)

He edged closer to me, his lips
hovering precariously close to mine. A sudden gasp of breath was all I could
manage before our lips met.

His chest pressed hot and hard
against the soft swells of my breasts. Our tongues met and tangled together.
Swimming in the taste and feel of his warm tongue, I lost all sense of reality.
I struggled for air but couldn’t pull away. He consumed me.

His mouth probed at mine. His
teeth nipped and his tongue laved at my upper lip before he moved to the corner
of my mouth, continuing his assault along the edge of my jaw to the soft spot
just below my ear.

Forgotten were my doubts and
fears. All that existed in that moment was this man. His touch, his kiss, his
very nature wrapped around me and filled me with desire and need.

I wrapped my arms around him,
gliding my fingers through his silky, light brown hair at the nape of his neck,
pulling him closer. Even the satiny feel of his hair was doing me in. His
strong hands held my back tight and tangled in my hair. I lulled my head to the
side, offering my neck as he trailed kisses down my jaw. Throwing my head back
gently, I willingly offered him more of me.

His kisses trailed down the
lace-trimmed neckline of my tank top. The wet sensation of his tongue tracing
the swell of my breasts made a moan escape my mouth in a sound of pure ecstasy.

He slowly pecked and licked his
way back up to my mouth, devouring me again.

His strong fingers caressed my
cheek and the side of my head as he began to pull away, my lips already going
through Jonah withdrawal and my mind crying out for it to never end. Our
breaths were short and erratic. Our foreheads pressed together, the tension between
us exploding like a firecracker, sizzling through our bodies.

A dazzling smile spread across his
face as he projected a single word.
Wow
.

We both shared some pretty erotic
images through the moments of our first kiss. There was no way we could, or even
wanted to, hide what we thought of each other. Every sexual thought Jonah had
about me was not just suggestive and spicy, but filled with admiration and
respect for me.

Pulling away, he said, “I don’t
want this to end, but we should get Skip and Cora back to the stables before it
gets too late.”

I nodded and let him help me to my
feet. “Could you make sure that twisted stable guy stays away from me? His
thoughts were nauseating and I definitely don’t doubt he’s the type of man to
act upon them.”

“No worries, Ella. I wouldn’t let
him come near you with a twenty-foot pole. If I could turn him in for being the
sick bastard that he is, I would. That’s one of the curses of this gift, right?
Not being able to do anything about what you know is wrong because there’s no
plausible way of proving it,” Jonah said with a grave tone hardening around his
normally gentle voice. He too noticed how sick the man’s thoughts were and I
was thankful to have his protection.

We rode back in verbal silence;
all the while our minds were both going a mile a minute. I wanted us to spend
more time together tonight and my thoughts sure as hell let him know that.

Hell yeah, we’re spending more time with each other
tonight. I don’t think I could let you out of my sight right now anyway. I need
to be with you right now. I’m worried you’re too good to be true.

The rest of the evening was near
perfection. Since the horseback riding left us in a rather undesirable hygienic
state, we went back to my house to shower and change. Jonah was prepared with a
change of clothes and a movie.

“I loved
Firefly
and never had the chance to watch
Serenity
. I’m so happy you brought it!” I exclaimed as I skipped
over to the DVD player and started the movie.

Settling in under Jonah’s arm, we
watched
Serenity
and enjoyed each
other’s company. He smelled divine. Masculine man with just a hint of my
shampoo mixing with his spices.

I must’ve fallen asleep. Jonah
shifting beneath me and kissing my forehead woke me. My eyes fluttered open
just as he picked me up and began carrying me down the hall.

I can walk, Jonah
, I
thought as I looked up at his devastatingly handsome face. I could definitely
get used to being under this man.

No need to walk when I can just as easily carry you
, he projected back, smiling down at me as he read my
thoughts and turned sideways to enter my room.

Gently, Jonah set me down on my
bed and snuck in beside me, lacing his fingers through mine, and lazily
stroking the top of my hand with his thumb. I was now wide-awake as a large
bass drum took up residence in my chest, robbing me of air, and making me
nervous as hell.

After about five minutes of
innocent hand-holding and not-so-innocent thought swapping, I decided I wanted
to go farther. Now that I had a taste of Jonah, I was starving for more.

Bravely, I sat up and positioned
myself over this gorgeous man, straddling his hips. Bracing my elbows on either
side of his head, I hovered mere centimeters away from his lips, daring him to
close the gap.

A sexy-ass grin crept up onto his
face.

Digging his fingers into my hips,
he lunged forward and took control of my mouth. His taste exploded onto my
tongue and sent flurries of pleasure cascading through my body.

His strong hands began their
ascent. Slowly lifting my tank top, his fingers caressed the sides of my back
and continued to make their way up.

After grinding my hips and chest
into him for a few minutes, he stealthily rolled us both over so he was now on
top.

Damn. And I thought Jonah looked
good beneath me. He looked even more exquisite hovering over me with his strong
weight between my legs. The solid muscles of his arms pressed through the
t-shirt he wore, making me want to rip it off and toss it across the room.

God, I want you
, I
unintentionally projected. I wasn’t embarrassed though. I was thankful of the
honesty our telepathic abilities bestowed upon us.

I want you too, Ella. I want you more than my next breath.

With our foreheads pressed
together, we were both panting, unable to catch our breath between passionate
kisses.

Suddenly, my mom’s voice cut
through both our thoughts, as loud as if she were in the same room with us
shouting next to the bed.

Ella! Oh, Ella, please tell me you can hear me. I need you
to come back to me.
My mom’s words were a
desperate plea, as if it were her last hope to communicate.

As soon as her voice echoed
through my head, Jonah jerked his head up and looked around the room.

“Jonah, are you ok?” I asked out
loud, worried he may have heard her.

“I did hear her, Ella. She said
she needs you to come back to her. Back where?” he asked, sounding perplexed.

“How can you hear my mother’s
voice? I thought her voice was just a dream. A figment of my imagination. My
memories.”

Jonah shook his head as he said,
“I don’t know how or why, but she is definitely communicating with you, Ella.”

We both sat still, Jonah still
hovering over me, positioned between my legs as I gripped his strong biceps
with my fingernails. After several minutes of waiting, staring, and exchanging
thoughts, we didn’t hear any more from my mother. Writing it off as a fluke, I
smiled up at him and brought my head off the pillow to meet his lips.

Just as my lips pressed against
his warm, soft skin, I heard her again. This time, even stronger.

Ella. I can sense you. I know you’re there. Wake up!

I looked at Jonah and his lips
were moving with the words my mother was saying.

“Jonah, that’s not funny,” I
scolded as I started to push him off me. The fact he would make fun of this
situation was infuriating.

His lips began to move again with
my mother’s words.
Wake up for me,
darling. Things have been so lonely without you. Come now. Wake up. Wake up!

I shook my head and backed away
from him, frantically crawling backwards until I ran into the headboard. I felt
the tears threatening to brim my eyelids, but the sharp prick of tears was
nothing compared to the confusion that wracked my brain.

I felt my body slip, free-falling
through blackness. You know those dreams where you feel like the bed is tipping
backwards and you’re sliding precariously close to the edge, ready to fall with
the slightest breath? Well, I had already plunged into the darkness below. I
couldn’t actually feel anything. I could only sense I was falling, like you
would imagine wind ripping through your hair and weightlessness overtaking your
senses.

Wanting to see Jonah’s face again,
I desperately tried to think of him, worried this whole thing was just another
meditation experiment gone bad.

The feeling of falling into a
never-ending abyss suddenly came to a halt. Not so much with a jolt or any sense
I had landed, but just the feeling that it was done, that my mind had imagined
the falling and I was secured snugly in my bed.

Faintly, I heard the sounds of
machines beeping. Cold, sterile air coated my sensitive skin, giving me goose
bumps all over my body. The smell of disinfectant assaulted my nostrils, making
me very aware my Jonah was nowhere near.

I felt a warm, soft hand stroke my
forehead as I attempted to open my eyes. I winced at the pain brought on by the
barrage of bright lights above me. My eyes were coated with the stickiness you
feel when you’ve been asleep for too long and my vision was covered in a thick
haze.

“My Ella. Oh God, Ella. You’re
here!” I heard my mother’s voice shriek through obvious strained tears. The
sound of her high-pitched excitement made me jump.

I slowly turned my head and tried
to focus on my mother’s face. She was really here? But how?

“You’re in the hospital baby. It’s
ok. Don’t cry,” she assured me as she continued petting my forehead. Was I
crying? Of course I was. The one person I wanted as much as my mother was no
longer next to me.
He said he wouldn’t
leave.

I felt like I wanted to talk,
wanted to ask what the hell was going on. But I couldn’t. My voice just would
not work.

My entire body ached. Every muscle
felt weak and horribly painful. Almost like I had a full body charlie-horse
doing spasms under my skin.

Since I couldn’t make my voice
work, I just stared at my beautiful mother and let my mouth and mind form the
words I couldn’t seem to say out loud, “What happened?”

In an attempt to push away her
uncontrollable sobs, my mom sucked in a ragged breath and said, “You’ve been in
a coma for six years, Ella.”

The End of Part One

 
“Ut imago est animi voltus sic indices oculi.”
(The face is a picture of the mind
as the eyes are its interpreter.)

— Marcus Tullius Cicero