Standing on the porch was the most beautiful artist I have ever laid eyes on. Jonah looked the part in his clay-stained cargo pants and sweaty black shirt that hugged every ripple of his slender, yet toned, body. He wasn’t overly muscular. His body was the perfect combination of muscle and meat. Good enough to sink my teeth in to.
“Hey,” he said as he stepped into the doorway, closing the space between us with a sultry look on his face. You know I can hear your thoughts, right? he pushed, letting me know he heard my overly uninhibited biting fantasy.
I just gaped at him with wide eyes as he backed me up against the wall, splaying both of his hands against the hard surface on either side of my head. Staring directly into those piercing emerald eyes, I couldn’t help but want to taste him.
Slowly, I shut my eyes and closed the gap between us, molding my lips to his in a gentle, passionate kiss. His hands left the wall and found my face as he returned my caress.
Open your eyes, Orella. I need to see you, Jonah projected.
Never breaking our hold on each other, I did as I was told, opening my eyes to see him staring at me intently. His tongue pushed past my lips. His taste exploded like pop rocks in my mouth. I couldn’t help it—my eyes rolled to the back of my head and fluttered shut with the decadent feel of his tongue against mine.
With a pop of our lips and a dramatic exhale from my chest, Jonah broke our embrace, breathing heavily as he held my face in his hands. Needing the feel of his arms around me, I slowly brought my face to his chest, burying my cheek against his strong muscles and wrapping my hands around his back.
Holding onto me with a gentle touch, he said, “Ella, I’m all sweaty and nasty. I probably reek.”
“Mmm. You smell good,” I mumbled against his chest as I closed my eyes and squeezed him tighter.
I felt his body rumble with laughter. “Somehow, I doubt that.”
“You do.” I landed several small pecks against his chest before pulling away to look up at his handsome face. “Tea?”
“What?”
“Tea. You came over for some tea, right?”
“Oh, yeah. Somehow, I think my mind became distracted with other more important things than tea,” he said as he smiled and placed a small peck on my lips. “Mind if I go to the bathroom and wash up first?”
“Of course not. It’s just down the hall,” I said as I separated my body from his and pointed toward the bathroom. “I’ll be in the kitchen. Do you like milk in your tea?”
“Just a bit, thanks.”
As I busied myself with the tea bags, I imagined what it would be like to wake up next to Jonah in the morning. I bet I would never want to leave the bed. My thoughts then led to my dream last night. It would be embarrassing to have such a vivid and twisted dream like that and have to explain it to him when I woke up.
The thought that Jonah’s concentrated stare could comfort me so much was a relief to the horrible imagery of the dream. I still wondered what it meant and why Divinus seemed to keep popping in my subconscious when I’ve never met the man before. The fact that he would hurt Jonah right in front of me was unnerving. Yet the look of pity on his face was the exact opposite of his brutal actions, which caused all kinds of confusion to swim in my head.
Jonah suddenly appeared across the room, clearing his throat and startling me. I whipped around and felt like I was caught with my hand in the cookie jar.
“What were you just thinking about?” he asked as he slowly stepped toward my frozen body, which was now pressed up against the counter.
“Oh, nothing,” I said, attempting nonchalance as I waved my hand in the air haphazardly and broke eye contact with him.
“It wasn’t nothing, Ella. I can see and hear your thoughts clear as day when I’m this close to you. I can see what you see. Feel what you feel. You’re frightened and you seem to have an image of my father in your mind. What’s wrong?” he finally asked as he gently hooked a finger under my chin and brought my eyes to meet his.
Damn. My weakness.
“Really, Jonah. It’s some stupid dream I had. I don’t mind telling you, but can we go sit out on the deck out back? I’d love to start enjoying this beautiful day,” I coaxed, hoping to at least bask in the sun while I told him of my twisted nightmares.
“I think we should know by now that our dreams deserve more merit than we give them,” he said honestly. Tilting his head toward the French doors leading to the deck, he added, “C’mon. Let’s go talk about this dream.”
Grabbing our now lukewarm cups of tea, we headed out back where the mid-morning sun shimmered through the trees, casting shadows among the patio furniture and making the temperature perfect for dream confessions.
“Okay, I’m just going to spit it out because I actually do think the dream means something—I just don’t know what,” I said as I sat in the chaise lounge and gestured for him to sit with me. Luckily, the chaise was just big enough for the both of us if we snuggled close, which is exactly why I chose this spot.
“Trust me, sweets, I should know more than anyone how dreams can overtake your thoughts. So, I know we can look at it from all angles and see if it really means anything,” he assured me with a light peck on my forehead.
“Well, my dream started out at a very fast pace, but also very disorienting. I was in some sort of maze. You know those mazes made of nothing but tall bushes? It was like that. I felt like I was running away from something, but I didn’t know what. I was in a lot of pain. Mostly my legs, but also my chest and head were hurting, too. After touching my head, I realized I was bleeding, but it didn’t scare me as much as it would have in real life.
“After continuing to run for what seemed like forever, my legs and chest were hurting so bad, I thought I wouldn’t be able to carry myself much further. Each breath I took was like a stabbing pain in my chest,” I said as I grabbed onto the area of my chest that hurt.
At the same moment, Jonah winced and drew in a sharp breath. “Like you broke a rib?” he asked.
“Yeah, I guess so. Can you feel this as I explain it?”
He nodded as he confirmed, “Yes. You’re feeling the pain as you describe it, Ella. Goddamnit, that hurts!” As he winced once more, I consciously felt the need to back off on the physical description of the pain I felt.
“I’m sorry, Jonah. I’m not trying to hurt you, I promise.”
“I’m just amazed you were able to put up with this type of pain in a dream. I’m about to double over and you’re just explaining it as if you’re barely feeling a thing,” he said as he started to sit up some.
I pushed him down and breathed in a few deep breaths, calming myself and attempting to get rid of any thoughts of pain from my mind. “Shhh. Just relax. Breathe. Look at me and breathe.” I cooed.
Jonah looked right into my eyes and immediately began to ease the tension in his muscles. I gave him a light peck on the cheek as I said, “I won’t continue. I’m sorry.”
“No. I need you to tell me this. Obviously this was a serious dream if you were in that much pain,” he said through gritted teeth.
“But, I if I think of all that happened in my dream, you’ll likely feel it too. I can’t stand to see you hurting.”
“The only thing that could hurt me right now is losing you, Ella. If there’s something important in your subconscious, both of us need to know. I’ll be fine,” he said as he thumbed my cheek and nodded for me to continue.
“All right. I’ll try my best to keep the pain part out of my description,” I said as I turned slightly and snuggled back against his chest. “So, as I thought I wouldn’t be able to run any further, I saw the green bushes begin to dwindle down, showing white walls in their place. It was still a maze, but it was now nothing but white all around. I had to feel my way along the walls just to find the corners.”
Taking a moment to breathe, I paused and pressed my ear to his chest—the sound of his heartbeat grounding me enough to continue explaining my dream.
“Unable to carry myself another step further, I collapsed to the hard white surface of the ground. When I looked up, I saw nothing but white all around me, but it didn’t seem like there were actually any walls in sight. My surroundings were only a vast white space of nothing. Attempting to get up, I buckled again and noticed I was pale, bruised, and... um... not wearing any clothes. Well, you get the idea...”
“Boy, do I,” Jonah said with a light chuckle. I just playfully swatted his chest, knowing if he could truly see the same image I was thinking of, he was now staring down at my nakedness.
“All right, perv. You get a free pass just this once!” I exclaimed.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he avowed as he pulled me to him and devoured my mouth.
I pushed myself away and said, “Enough of that for a moment, or I’ll never get this damn dream off my chest.”
“Wow, and what a beautiful chest it is, too,” he said with a wag of his brows.
“Damn it, Jonah!” I yelled as I swatted him once more, this time a bit harder than the last.
“Okay, Ella. I promise. I’ll be good... for now.”
“Thank you. So, anyway... where was I? Oh... So, looking up around the room again, I see a man in a long, white coat. Kind of like a doctor’s coat. When he turned around, it was your father.”
“How do you know what my father looks like?” Jonah asked with sincere curiosity.
“Because, he was also in my dream... err... coma. He came to my house wanting to meet me before you and I went out for the first time. But, that’s a story for another day. In this particular dream from last night, your father walked over to me with a fierce determination that frightened me. I was so desperate for help that I tried to reach out to him. But when I tried to move, I realized I was now secured to a platform of some sort. My arms and legs were bound and the pain was still radiating through my entire body, but mostly...”
“Yeah, your legs. Fuck!” Jonah groaned as he sat forward and grasped onto the lower part of his right quad.
I closed my eyes and took several more deep breaths, clearing my mind of all pain. I can do this. I can describe this dream without the pain.
“I’ll try to finish up quickly and pain free, Jonah. So, Divinus approached me. He was all gray, like a black and white photograph and even though he frightened me, he had this look of pity in his eyes. Then, you walked in. The only color I could discern was the green of your eyes. Looking at you didn’t really take away all the pain, but it made it more bearable. Like, you were giving me strength to deal with it. You stood next to your father and me, but it was like you were meeting me for the first time. I didn’t see any sort of recognition in your eyes, only approval. You kept staring, looking deep into my eyes, and nodding to me as if you were giving your father permission for something to happen. Before I knew it, Divinus slashed your wrists, causing your blood to poor all over my naked skin.”
My heart rate sped up at the memory of how his blood felt against my skin. How each drop singed the surface of my body and sent shockwaves straight to my heart.
Sitting so close to Jonah, I could feel his heart increase right along with mine. I gently placed my hand on his chest and looked up at him.
“You get it, right?” I asked as a lone tear trickled down my cheek.
He nodded and clutched my hand, securing it to his chest before saying, “Yeah, I get it. I feel it. And I know why you think this dream is so significant.”
“Tell me. Tell me why,” I whispered.
“Because our hearts beat together. It’s as if our blood is entwined with each other. I can only feel it when I’m touching you, but it’s very clear there is a more intimate connection between us than just our dreams, Ella.”
I just nodded and forced a small smile on my face. I was relieved he felt as strongly as I did, but confusion still wracked my brain as to why we were so connected.
“I think I might know why,” Jonah added, stunning me completely silent.