Soul Seers Complete Set (18 page)

“How did you know?” was the only
question I could manage.

He shrugged as he looked at me and
said, “I have no idea. I’ve been in complete confusion over why I dreamed of
you every night since.”

“Jonah, this was the day of my
accident,” I breathlessly muttered as I pointed to the date on the sketch. It
didn’t take me long to find the oxygen I needed for my shrill to become louder
as I spoke. “This was the first night I was unconscious. This was the date my
entire life changed!”

Tears began to trickle down my
face again and I cursed myself for being such a sniveling idiot. I couldn’t
help it though. So many emotions were ravaging my heart and my mind. My body
had no idea how to deal with these emotions and just decided to act like a
sissy girl about it all.

One of my tears splashed bitterly
onto the once-flawless drawing, causing some of the tender strokes to bleed and
spread through the paper.

“Shit, now I’ve messed it up!” I
sniffled as I reached out to try and wipe away the moisture from his
illustration. Of course, that just made it worse.

“Shhh. Ella, don’t worry about
that. I don’t need my drawings anymore now that I have the real you,” he
soothed. Realizing I was worse for the wear and not calming down any time this
century, he picked me up and dragged me into his lap. He sat there and held me
against his chest as he wrapped his fingers through my hair and grazed his
thumb over my cheek to catch the errant tears slipping from my eyes.

“I know this is all very
confusing. I wasn’t sure how to even tell you about my dreams. I was so worried
you would think I was some sort of freak stalker or something.” Jonah paused as
he continued to hold me close. He sighed heavily before saying, “Even though I
would do anything to make sure you’re never in pain, I can’t help but wonder what
our chance of meeting would have been like if it weren’t for that godforsaken
accident.”

With that thought to chew on, I
had to agree.

I sat for several long moments
cradled against my Jonah. I could feel my pulse thrumming through my body with
each beat of my heart. The whooshing sounds became louder and louder against my
eardrums with each thrust of liquid, like the ultrasound rhythm of a baby’s
heart beating through the mother’s uterine walls. It was then that I noticed I
could also feel Jonah’s blood pulsating through his veins. I can’t explain how
I could feel it, but I could, as if his pulse was under my own skin. Then I
detected the distinct feeling that his heartbeat was in sync with mine. Every
beat of his heart drummed with the same rhythm. It had to have been just a
coincidence, but the thought that our hearts beat together as one wasn’t
totally far-fetched, considering…

The idea that we had a deeper
connection than just our dreams made my heartbeat increase with nervousness.
Newfound pressure built up within the tiny tracks under my skin and I could
feel the pulsating drum of my core through my entire body. Curious as to what
his reaction would be, I closed my eyes and laid my hand on his chest. I wanted
to feel his beating heart. I needed any reason to force myself a little closer
to him.

Without fail, his pulse picked up
the pace, matching mine in perfect synchronization.

“Jonah…” I whispered.

“Yeah, I feel it. Christ, Ella. I
feel it, too,” he confirmed, squeezing me tighter. Our bodies felt like the
constant rhythm of a train barreling down the tracks, thudding in a seamless
tempo with one another, as if we were one being instead of two.

“What do you think it means?” I
asked, worried I was getting ahead of myself with this feeling of succinct emotions
playing out in our bodies.

“I’m not sure, but I love it. I
love the feeling that we’re so perfectly in tune with each other,” he sighed as
he pressed me tighter against his chest. I buried my nose into the crook of his
neck and inhaled, smelling his scent and feeling the pace of his blood pumping
in cadence with mine.

At this point in time, we were
somewhat facing the headboard of his bed and I took that moment to look up at
the drawing of me riding Cora. Astonishing. Not just the fact that he dreamed
of me, but he also dreamed of my mom’s horse and the exact image of what I
thought to be the personal memories of my coma-vision. He managed to capture
every minor detail of that night, even down to the clothes I was wearing. I
then noticed the name down in the bottom left corner.

Lavendine.
The name of
his studio.

“Jonah, why do you have the name
of your studio at the bottom of my drawing?”

“Because, I named the studio after
you. Or, what I called you at the time,” he deadpanned. His admission caught me
off guard and caused me to sit up slightly so I could look into his eyes.

“Lavendine is what you called me?”
I asked, wondering where the name came from and why he would call me that
instead of my real name. “Isn’t that like, a type of lavender plant or something?”

“Well, not the way I intended it.
Remember, I didn’t know your name until today. To me, you were the girl with
amethyst-colored eyes. When it came time to name my studio, I wanted something
that made me think of you. Lavendine is a synonym for amethyst quartz and it
seemed to fit perfectly. Not enough people knew what the word meant to suspect
I had an ulterior motive for the name.”

I looked up at him and smiled.
“That’s so cool.” My heart expanded at the thoughtfulness of the name. I was a
definite sucker for wistful and personal conclusions.

It didn’t take long for him to
realize I wanted him to kiss me. Within moments, he pressed his lips to mine,
this time much harder and more passionately than before. Tongue against
delicious tongue and beat against metrical beat, Jonah overwhelmed my senses
and consumed every coherent thought in my brain.

Supporting my head, he leaned me
back so I was now flat against the bed and positioned himself alongside my
body.

The feeling of our blood pumping
in rhythm with each other was even more pronounced now that we were permanently
lip-locked. Our winded panting was definitely not synchronized like our hearts,
but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the feel of his breath against my skin.

Trailing my fingernails up his
bare back caused a grunt to emanate from his chest and his teeth to dig into
the skin just above my collarbone. As Jonah nibbled at me with his scruff, a
trickle of my laughter lifted through the air and was quickly swallowed up by
his kisses.

I can’t believe you’re really here with me
, I heard Jonah think as we continued our passionate
assault on each other.

Loving the fact I could read him
again, I grabbed his face, pulled his lips from mine, and looked directly into
his eyes as I whispered, “I’m here.”

In response to my affirmation, he
devoured me once again, completely consuming me and leaving me downright
breathless. As he trailed his lips and tongue down my neck towards my chest, I
realized I wasn’t quite ready for this to continue. His lips tracing the line
of my top were like a bolt of electricity straight to my core, yet I knew I
wasn’t quite ready for this step of reality.

I immediately jumped for the
nearest out I could think of.

“Jonah, don’t you have to work
tonight?” I spat out quickly as his tantalizing scruff tickled my neck and made
me giggle like a child once more.

“I don’t care,” he mumbled against
my skin, making me laugh louder, pushing at his chest lightly to make the
tickling stop.

Jonah, please. I’m not quite ready for this
, I projected and began to mutter apologies in my mind,
knowing full well making him stop was unfair and would probably make him feel
very uncomfortable. I should know better than to get a man all worked up, just
to turn him down when he’s only following my lead.

He pulled away, cupped my cheek,
and said, “You have nothing to be sorry for. I don’t want to push you. Even
though I can’t seem to get enough of you, I completely understand and respect
that you’re not ready for anything this serious, Ella.”

“This serious? I don’t mind
serious. If anything, I welcome it. But, the sex? Well, let’s just say a coma
patient doesn’t experience a hell of a lot of sex,” I said with a shy smile.

“Shit. I didn’t even think of
that,” he whispered as he pressed his forehead to mine. “How old were you
during the accident?”

“Fourteen. Well, it was a few days
before my fourteenth birthday.”

“So, that means this is all new to
you?” he asked with a little hint of shyness. “I almost feel like I’m some
horrible villain trying to steal your virtue.”

I don’t want him to think of me as
a little kid, because I’m not. I may have not had any physical experiences, but
I was well educated about sex. And why did everyone get all embarrassed when
talking about sex? I know I don’t get embarrassed about this sort of thing very
easily. A little confused, yes. Because in my comatose state, I experienced
sex, which is very befuddling considering my body never had the experiences my
brain seemed to process.

“Yes, I’m a virgin. As a matter of
fact, you’re my first kiss,” I said confidently, hoping the detail of him being
my first would make him feel more at ease and he would draw comfort from the
fact that I had never been with another man.

“But, I’m confused. You just said
in your mind you had sexual experiences while in a coma?” he asked, while
backing away slightly and using his elbow to prop himself up next to me. “Did
you… well, was I the experience?”

I shook my head and hoped he
wouldn’t be offended. “No. I only knew you the day I woke up in the hospital. This
may sound weird, considering none of it was real, but I had a fairly steady
boyfriend in high school and we had sex on several occasions,” I explained,
pausing to think and choose my words carefully.

“What’s so weird is, during the
six years I was unconscious, I actually had a life. A life that felt so damn
real. I realize, now that I am awake, my emotions were muted at the time. My
feelings are so much stronger now than they have been for the past six years. I
also didn’t get quite so nervous in my dream-like state and I felt… prettier.”

“What do you mean—you felt
prettier?”

“I felt more attractive than I do
now. I had more confidence in myself and my appearance during… that life,” I
explained, swiping my hand in the air as if gesturing to something, even though
there was clearly nothing tangible about the visions I experienced during my
state of unconsciousness.

“I can’t imagine you being any
more attractive than you are right at this moment, Ella,” he complimented,
leaning down and pecking me on the nose. He stared at me for a long moment
before finally breaking our trance. “Now, if I have to keep my hands off you, I
need to busy myself.”

Looking over at the clock, Jonah
noticed it was now nearing nine.
Shoot,
her mom might worry if I keep her out too late. I want to take her to see the
project I’m working on though.
I hope
she doesn’t have a curfew.
I could hear his thoughts as he internally
debated whether to think of me as a child or not. I really didn’t want him to
think of me that way.

“Do you have to be home at any
certain time?”

I shook my head. “No. My mom knows
I am an adult. She is overly protective, but as long as I don’t make her worry,
I’m free to do as I please. Plus, as soon as my rehabilitation is over, I plan
on getting a place of my own and enrolling in school.”

“I like that plan. Well then, text
her and let her know we’re going to be at Lavendine,” he instructed as he
pushed himself off the bed and extended his hand out to help me up.

I gladly put my hand in his and
allowed him to help me. Instead of standing on the ground, however, I stood up
on his bed, towering over him and looking down into his eyes. Draping my arms
around his neck, he looked up at me and smiled. I was at the perfect height for
him to rest his chin between the swells of my breasts as he wrapped his arms
around my hips.

The messy curls of my hair fell
around us like a curtain as I bent ever so slightly and landed a soft, measured
kiss on his forehead. With ease, Jonah picked me up and allowed me to slide
down his body until my feet grazed the floor. I held onto his biceps with my
fingertips, enjoying the feel of his hard, bare muscles beneath my touch. I
placed a small kiss on his chest, right over his heart, causing a rather unique
surge of energy to flicker beneath my lips.

“Oh, Ella,” Jonah gasped and
pressed me tight against his chest. All too soon, he let me go. “Text your mom.
I gotta find a shirt.”

Well, damn. The last thing I
wanted him to do was cover that fine body of his.

Doing as I was told and never
taking my eyes off the half-naked man across the room, I texted my mom and
slipped my boots on. Just before stepping away from the bed, I grabbed his
first “vision book” and held it to my chest.

“May I?” I asked tentatively,
noticing he was watching my every move as he slipped a tight black shirt over
his taut abs.