“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.
“Of course. You’re the only person I would trust with such a treasured possession of mine,” he answered with a smile, holding his hand out for me to take.
Jonah led me out into his living area where it was rather dark. The only light within the small space was the faint glow of the streetlamp outside the front window.
Without warning, we saw movement coming from the other side of the room.