Soul Seers Complete Set Page 20

  As our passions increased and our kiss deepened further, I lowered her to the soft ground, never breaking my hold on her lips. Lavender blooms surrounded us, blocking us from the public eye. Not like there was anyone else around anyway.

  With the knowledge that she and I could read one another’s dreams, I only hoped she was sharing this dream with me. I wanted her to shiver as my teeth lightly dug into her ear. I wanted her to feel my heavy weight pressing between her legs as I devoured the sensitive, pulsating section of her throat. I wanted her to hear the pleasure she gave me as I moaned through our passionate kisses.

  Clawing at my back, she gripped my t-shirt and began pulling at it with eagerness. I broke our kiss just long enough to sit up and pull it over my head. Her hands grasped feverishly at my chest, lightly digging her fingernails into my muscles. Looking down at her, I watched a smile play at her face as the sun lit the fire in her amethyst eyes.

  I growled as I dove down, spreading my hands into the soft ground near her head and making my way straight to her waiting lips. Right before our mouths melded together, Ella pushed at one of my shoulders, effectively twisting me and rolling us over in one easy move.

  Within moments, a beautiful, amethyst-eyed goddess straddled over my body, causing the soft glow of the sun to cascade around her golden hair. My hardness jumped at the look of her above me. She bit her lip, obviously stifling a smile, as she trailed her fingertips up and down my torso.

  Bringing her soft hands up to my face, I turned my head slightly and planted a gentle peck along the side of her thumb as I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feel of her touch. Her exploring fingers grazed back down my jaw and neck, to my chest, and down my abdomen, sending shivers through my body at the exquisite sensation.

  Her fingers lifting from my body had me opening my eyes, wondering why she stopped touching me so intricately. The smoldering look in her eyes told me more than words could express.

  Ella closed her eyes and arched her back. Crossing her arms around her torso and bunching the hem of her dress in her hands, she slowly began lifting, the soft fabric inching its way up her soft skin, until successfully pulling her hair free. With a slight shake of her head and a small smile, she opened her eyelids and watched me explore her body with my gaze.

  I nearly convulsed at the sight of her braless figure straddled over my hips. My eyes explored every inch of her as rays of sun continued to stream all around.

  Reaching out with my fingertips, I touched the deep scar that ran along her front. Lightly, and without a word, I ran my finger from the top of her scar just below her left rib all the way down until the jagged edges disappeared beneath her panties.

  Her expression morphed to sadness and I immediately regretted making her feel that way. Within moments, she brought her arms around herself in an attempt to shield her upper body from me.

  Grabbing her wrists, I said, “No, Ella. Please. I want to see you. Don’t cover yourself.” After a moment, she nodded and brought her arms to her sides.

  Placing my hands on her thighs, I gently squeezed and continued to stare at this beautiful and brave woman.

  “It’s ugly,” she said matter-of-factly.

  Unsure of what she was talking about, I asked, “What is?”

  “The scar, silly. My nightmare scar. Along with a severe concussion, it was one of the worst injuries I sustained in the accident,” she explained as she looked down and touched it with a single fingertip.

  “Nothing could ever be ugly on you, Ella,” I affirmed. I was rewarded with her beautiful smile once again.

  We stayed in that position for a while—just staring at each other as if nothing else in the world existed but us. I was longing to touch her, but the worry I would go too far held me back.

  After a few moments, Ella reached down and grabbed my hands from her legs. Tentatively, she guided both my hands up to her face, placing a light kiss in my palm. Both my hands held her for an instant before she continued to use my wrists to guide my fingers down her body.

  “Ella, are you sure?” I asked, worried she was only doing this because she thought I wanted it. Well, not that I didn’t want to touch her. I wanted nothing more than to touch every inch of her. But, I needed her to want this too.

  “Yes, Jonah. Touch me, please? I need you to touch me,” she begged.

  Her guided body exploration continued as she led my hands down toward her breasts. Perky nipples passed below my palms and I sucked in a ragged breath as I felt her tremble slightly beneath my touch. She let go of my wrists and brought her hands up behind her head, running her fingernails through the hair at the nape of her neck and effectively thrusting her breasts further into my touch.

  “God, you’re beautiful,” I whispered as I teased her nipples. They were perfect in every way, fitting effortlessly in my hands. As I continued to pass my thumbs over her in a provocative rhythm, I watched her face contort in expressions of pleasure.

  Needing to taste her, I removed my hands from her breasts and wrapped them around her waist, sitting up in the process. She still stayed straddled across my lap and a delightful chuckle left her mouth at my quick movements.

  Dipping my head slightly, I cupped her right breast and covered her nipple with my mouth.

  “Oh, Jonah!” Ella cried. My tongue quickly teased her as I sucked her into my mouth in a desperate attempt to get her to cry out my name again. Her fingers laced behind my head and pulled at my hair while she thrust her chest out even further.

  Without missing a beat, I switched to the other side and was rewarded with more of her enthralling moans. Christ, her nipples were like warm butter melting in my mouth. I couldn’t get enough.

  As I continued paying attention to her delicious breasts, she began moving her hips slightly in rhythm. Our hearts were going a mile a minute and her pulse was like title waves coursing through my veins.

  Without warning, Ella pushed me back to the ground and hovered over me, her hair falling around my face like a curtain—a beautiful, golden curtain. She crushed her lips to mine in a quick, sultry kiss before placing several pecks to my neck and torso, making her way down my body.

  Realizing what she was going for, I grabbed her arms to stop her descent. “Ella, no. You don’t have to do this.”

  “Shh, Jonah. I want to taste you,” she said sweetly before placing another small peck on my abdomen just beside my belly button. A primal groan was all that I could manage at the feeling of her hand touching my length through my jeans.

  Right when her fingers began fumbling with my button, I heard footsteps crunching their way through the tall, lavender blooms. Our heads both whipped in the direction of the sound at the same time, which made me more confident I had really heard them. I saw no one. The only disturbance was a slight wave to the flowery stalks.

  “Jonah?”

  “I know, love. I heard it too. Here, get your dress back on,” I suggested as I held the thin piece of fabric in front of her. She hesitated, but did as I said.

  “But, this is our dream. There can’t be anyone here we don’t want to be, right?” Ella said as if she was thinking aloud rather than waiting for an answer. However, I had an answer for her.

  “Ella, there are certain soul seers that have the bad habit of stalking dreams. It’s a form of telekinesis that is very powerful. Many call them dream walkers, but they’re so much more than that. They have the ability to control dreams—make the dreams go the way they want,” I explained as I put my shirt on and sat in a crouched position.

  Ella knelt next to me, grabbing onto the sleeve of my shirt and tugging down in a nervous fashion. I covered her hand with my own and gave her a small smile—an attempt to reassure her everything would be okay.

  “I knew it wouldn’t take long for you two to shack up,” a female voice said behind us, causing us to stand up quickly and whirl around. I pushed Ella behind me, unsure of what danger we were in, if any.

  “Eve? You’ve got to be shitting me. You’re a dream walker?” I a
sked, wondering how the hell I missed that on her job application. “Ella, Eve is one of my part-timers over at Lavendine.”

  “Wait, I’m confused. This… this is my neighbor, Jesse. At least, I thought she was,” Ella said, making her way beside me with a perplexed look on her face. Then she looked at Eve, squinting her eyes with determination, and asked, “Who are you?”

  A wicked laugh sounded from her mouth. “Isn’t that the million-dollar question? I’m sorry, but you’re not ready yet. Besides, it’s time to wake up—”

  Chapter Five

  I gasped a lung full of air as I felt Ella’s nails digging into my side. Opening my eyes, I saw she was cradled against my chest, an agonizing look on her face as she held onto me for dear life. She wasn’t awake yet.

  “Ella! Wake up!” I quietly demanded as I sat up, forcing her to sit up with me. “Please, wake up.” My voice was nearly a sob. I was worried about what that dream walker might be doing to her in the dream.

  A few moments later, Ella’s eyes popped open and a few massive tears dripped down her face as she gulped for air. I kept my grip on her, not wanting to push her, but dying to know what had happened.

  “She held me—not with her arms or any sort of physical force. She just stared at me and held me in place. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. You had disappeared and I didn’t know what to do,” she mumbled with her face buried into my chest.

  “Shh. Okay. Come here,” I said as I coaxed her back down. My muscles hurt, so I knew hers had to be killing her. I was also extremely thirsty.

  Laying her down gently on her pillow, I scanned the room and found two glasses of water near the side of the bed she was laying on. Reaching over, I grabbed one and brought it to her mouth. Her moans told me just how thirsty she was as she gulped at the clear liquid.

  “Slow down a little. You don’t want to drink too much right away.” Reluctantly, she pulled away. I took a moment to gulp down the last of the water in that glass, feeling the sores on my tongue burn with the chilled contact, and relaxed down on the bed next to her.

  “Jonah, what the hell happened?”

  I shrugged, causing an ache to spike through my shoulders. “I don’t know. I have no idea how I didn’t see it before. I’ve worked with Eve every day for the past year. How could I not see that she was a Soul Seer? A dream walker at that.”

  “Has she ever visited your dreams before?” Ella asked, concern turning into slight anger.

  “No, not at all. You’re the only one that has ever been in my dreams,” I assured her as I stroked her face and stared into her eyes.

  “I can’t believe I trusted her,” she whispered, another tear trickling down the side of her face. “She… she was my best friend—my only friend—since I woke up over a month ago.”

  “I’m sorry.” Looking over at the clock beside the bed, I saw it was just after five in the morning. “Damn. We’ve slept for a while and I still feel totally exhausted.”

  “Welcome to my world,” Ella mumbled. “I’ve been having seizures since the accident, but they seemed to be getting better for a while.”

  “My dad told me this one was my fault because I was upset and my blood pressure was causing you stress. I’m so sorry, Ella. If I had known…”

  “Shh,” she said, placing her fingers against my lips. “It’s not your fault. I may be confused as hell about all this, but I am confident of one thing.”

  “What is that?”

  “You.”

  Her comment made me smile as I kissed her forehead and held her tight. She was my constant over the past six years and the fact we felt so together in this mess made me feel like everything would be okay in the end.

  “Other than what’s-her-name barging in, that dream was pretty damn hot,” Ella mumbled against my chest, making me laugh and then wince at the pain a light chuckle caused.

  “Oh, don’t make me laugh! My muscles are so sore. God, Ella. Is this how you feel after every seizure?” I asked as I placed my hand on my chest and attempted to breathe.

  Ella turned slightly in my arms and propped her chin on my chest to look at me as she spoke. “Worse, actually. I think I feel a little better because you absorbed some of it. I usually bite my tongue pretty bad, too. But I think your dad may have done something to prevent that because my tongue isn’t sore.”

  “Mine is. My tongue is not only sore, but feels like it’s three times the size of my mouth,” I explained with a mumble as I stuck my tongue out to show her the bite marks.

  “I guess he wasn’t prepared for you to seize as well. What exactly happened?”

  “He called me in and told me to calm down—that my anger was causing you to seize. Your mom suggested I lay next to you to quiet my nerves and try to calm you as well,” I explained as I stroked her hair. “As soon as I touched you, I remember feeling the contractions of every muscle in your body and mine—like we were attached somehow.”

  “Christ, I’m so sorry, Jonah,” she whispered. Just as I was about to protest, letting her know it wasn’t her fault, she lunged forward and captured my mouth with hers.

  Yeah, my muscles hurt—yeah, my tongue hurt—but having her lips pressed to mine made the pain more than bearable. The warm feel of her mouth seemed to soothe every ache—ease every pain—heal every wound.

  All too soon, Ella pulled away, splayed her palm on my chest, and propped her chin on top of her hand. Her smile was dazzling, even in the dim glow of the clock beside her bed.

  “Kissing you makes me feel like a bird,” she whispered as she closed her eyes and breathed a heavy sigh.

  “A bird?” I questioned, just for the chance to hear her voice some more.

  “Yeah. I feel like I’m soaring… flying free… like a bird.”

  Then, she opened her eyes—sparkling, beautiful, amethyst eyes. I couldn’t help but reach for another gentle kiss.

  After a few short minutes of passionate kissing, we decided to get some fresh air out on the back deck. Settling in on the chaise, Ella and I were able to enjoy the stars while it was still dark.

  A slight morning chill ran through me as I held her against my chest and stared off into space. A few strands of white lights dangled around the deck, illuminating the golden waves of her hair. Buried in each other’s thoughts, we lay there and watched the dim glow of morning come upon us.

  “Ella?” I heard a distant voice call through the house. Footsteps banging on the tile floor of the kitchen let me know Delphina was headed our way.

  Ella sat up quickly as if she were a bit embarrassed to be glued to my chest, but didn’t bother to get out of the lounge. She just sat on the edge and waited for her mom to appear through the French doors.

  “Oh, there you are,” Delphina said as she stepped gracefully out onto the patio. She looked over at me and smiled. “Hi, Jonah. How are you two feeling?”

  “I know I’m definitely feeling sore and have no idea how Ella manages,” I responded kindly as I lightly rubbed Ella’s back, not wanting to bring up the issues we so badly needed to talk about.

  “Well, I want to bring them up,” Ella blurted, obviously responding to my thoughts. “Mom, we want to know what the hell is going on. There has to be an explanation for all of this. Jonah and I both think you and Dr. Chantrey are the ones with the answers.”

  I heard Ella’s voice shake. It was the first time I’d ever heard her get emotional in basic conversation. She sounded as if she would cry at any moment. Embracing my new corny self, I just couldn’t stand the thought of her getting so torn apart—especially considering my dad was the likely reason for it all.

  Thinking of the devil, he appeared behind Delphina. Still dressed in his suit, tie removed, my dad looked as if he slept on the couch. Considering it was barely six-thirty in the morning, my assumption seemed fairly plausible.

  Immediately, my blood began to boil. With just the sight of my father, my anger took hold of me. I wanted so badly to know why the hell he let me suffer for so long when he knew the
reasons for my obsession.

  Just before I came close to losing control, an angel touched me. Her touch was so simple, so pure, it managed to calm me in an instant. I looked down to see Ella’s hand resting on my knee. She grounded me.

  Chapter Six

  The dim glow of dawn allowed just enough light for us to see the facial expressions of our parents. Delphina looked so full of sorrow and pity. I knew she had her daughter’s best interest at heart through this whole ordeal. As always, my father wore his poker face like a champ—never giving away his secrets. It was rare I could ever draw an emotion from his eyes.

  They both walked out onto the deck and sat in the patio chairs directly across from Ella and me. Thankfully, Ella kept her hand on my knee—a constant reminder to keep calm.

  “I know you are upset, Jonah. I am going to try to recollect everything that happened the day you donated blood. But, you must stay calm. If all this means you two are somehow connected—well, I just do not want a repeat of yesterday,” my father explained while he sat with a rigid stance, squeezing his knees as if they would somehow brace his imminent fall.

  “I’m calming him,” Ella blurted out. “I don’t know how, but I am. So, please, tell us everything?”

  “You’re calming him?” Delphina asked, as if she were socked Ella had the gift of tranquility. Honestly, I had never met a Soul Seer with the ability to instantly calm another individual. It’s as if they’re able to take every feeling of turmoil away, leaving only peace and understanding it its wake.

  “I’m just as confused as everyone else about what’s going on, but I don’t want to talk about that at the moment. I want to talk about what the hell happened. Jonah and I desperately need to know why this has been done to us.”

  “Well, the night before your accident, Ella, I had a premonition. I was not sure when it would happen or even if it would happen, but I knew your mother was going to need the blood of a Soul Seer. I also knew the rules, but the vision I had of her was so convincing, I couldn’t sit idly by without at least being prepared,” he explained, before pausing to squeeze his knees a bit tighter. I was surprised to see his mannerisms were quite telling, given the fact his face never showed an ounce of emotion. If I didn’t know any better, I would say Ella made him nervous. Either that, or he had trouble talking about Delphina, bringing all kinds of new revelations to his reasoning.