Paranormal Anthology With a TWIST (5 page)

You made this?
he thought.
She’s beautiful. She looks like you. Her
face… it’s you.

I nodded as I stared at the sculpture hanging on the wall.

With those thoughts, I turned to meet his piercing emerald eyes.
The way he looked at me made my heart beat wildly and my stomach turn into a
swarm full of butterflies. He had a smile that had me hanging in midair. He
then made the few short steps it took to be right in front of me.

Tracing my jaw with his finger, he whispered, “Breathe, Orella.”

I didn’t realize I had been holding my breath. An involuntary gasp
left my lips as I looked him over. Such good looks surely had to be criminal.
The sound of my full name from his mouth sent shivers of excitement down to my
core. This man had an effect on me more than words could express.

I closed my eyes and began to breathe. With each breath, I could
smell his scent, feel his warmth. When I opened them, he was still smiling,
obviously humored that he found my weakness… him.

His thoughts were nothing but flattering—telling me how
beautiful I was and how he could stare at me for hours. Of course, my dirty
mind began taking a course toward the gutter and my gaze involuntarily began
descending lower and lower down his front until...

“So,” he interrupted my thoughts… that he could hear! I really
wasn’t getting used to the fact he knew what I was thinking. I knew I had
better get used to embarrassing myself around Jonah, because there was no way I
could stop him from reading my thoughts. He chuckled as he continued. “You
ready to go?”

I just nodded and gave him a shy smile.
Yet again, Ella is speechless.
He held his hand out and I gladly
took it. His fingers were warm. Silky, yet strong. After locking my door, we
headed down the steps toward a very sexy, black Charger parked near the
sidewalk.

Very nice!
I thought as he
opened my door for me.

You mean sexy
, he responded while
he made his way around the car, making me nod in complete agreement during my
moment of privacy.

“So, what’s this surprise?” I asked, eager to know what was in
store for the evening.

He winked and put the car in drive. “You’ll see.”

Then I realized that I should be able to read him, figure out what
this surprise was before it ever happened.

“I’m surprised you’re able to keep it from me. Are you able to
block things like your father?” I asked in an attempt to get him to think about
it.

“I know what you’re trying to do,” he said with a smile. “Not
nearly as good as him, no. But he’s taught me to practice with blocking small
things. If I focus on blocking one specific thought, I can usually hold out for
a few hours at least. Eventually, my mind gets the better of me and I end up
letting it slip.”

Several minutes of small talk later, we pulled up to a local state
park. I looked at him and couldn’t contain my smile. He definitely did have
something up his sleeve. I still didn’t know what, but obviously he put some
thought into it. Too bad he was blocking it all from me.

“Have you ever ridden a horse before?” he asked as he opened my
door and offered his hand to help me out of his sleek sports car.

I smiled gleefully as I remembered my mother. “My mom used to have
horses. But my dad sold them after she died.”

“Oh, so you’re a veteran rider. I’m glad to hear you’re not afraid
of them.”

Afraid?
I thought as I
rolled my eyes.
Who in their right mind
would be afraid of a horse?

He took my hand and led me through the park over to the stables
where two beautiful Appaloosas stood waiting, already saddled and ready to go.

Oh, wow. They are so
beautiful!
I thought as I squeezed his hand and bounced on my tippy toes
with anticipation. Just the thought that he arranged this for me made me want
to pounce.

He definitely
deserved a kiss for this one!

I might hold you to
that, Ella
, he thought as he nudged me with his shoulder, still holding my
hand as he teased me.

Once we approached the stately animals, I noticed the stable
attendant’s thoughts about me were very… shall I say, vulgar? His thoughts,
assuming to be thoughts of admiration toward certain parts of my body, were
bordering to the point of insulting. I stopped short, unable to get any closer
to the man. He truly had a sick, twisted mind and I feared for the women who
actually crossed his path.

Knowing when I was in danger, I backed myself up to stand behind
Jonah, clutching his t-shirt in my fists so tight I was surprised I didn’t hear
a tearing noise.

“We can take it from here,” Jonah sternly informed the attendant
with ice clearly coursing through his words. He glared at the man who just
nodded and winked at me as he walked away.

A shiver ran through my spine as I heard Jonah mutter in his mind,
What a sick douche. Stay close to me,
Ella. I definitely don’t trust that man
.

I just nodded my agreement and took a few deep breaths to rid my
mind of the man’s twisted thoughts, still clutching onto Jonah’s shirt for dear
life.

“Which one would you like?” Jonah asked as we approached the
majestic pair. I reached out and ran my fingertips along the silky, prickly
nose of the white one. “This boy’s name is Skip, short for Skipcoat. And that
pretty girl over there is Cora. She’s a Quarter/Appaloosa mix. Skip is a little
more on the wild side, so it all depends on how confident you are with riding.”

Skip was the typical Appaloosa, with small brown spots covering
his white coat. You could tell he was a fiery one.

 
“I haven’t ridden
since I was thirteen. Plus, Cora has such beautiful coloring. I think I’d like
to spend some time with her.”

Jonah handed me a few apple treats and gave me a peck on the cheek
as he nudged me into Cora’s direction.

Cora held her beautiful mane high as I walked over to her and let
her nuzzle the treats out of my hand. Her coat was a lovely chocolate brown
with a patch of white around her rear, sporting little brown specks to match
Skip’s coat perfectly.

I could hear Jonah’s thoughts as he watched me. His admiration
only made me smile more as I pressed my lips to Cora’s nose, giving her a light
peck on her whiskers.

“Well? You ready?” Jonah asked as he wrapped one hand around me
and rested his chin on my shoulder.

“Most definitely,” I said with certainty.

Grabbing my waist, he held me just long enough to make sure I
successfully hiked my butt up onto Cora’s saddle and planted my feet securely
in the stirrups.
Good thing I wore boots
tonight.

Jonah chuckled lightly at my wayward thoughts then hopped up onto
Skip, causing the horse to prance around at the sudden pressure to his back.
The sight made me giggle out loud like an air-headed schoolgirl. I quickly
covered my mouth to stifle my laugh and flashed him a small smile.

We started off down the trail, side by side. Not only was I
thankful for this experience, but I was also glad it was finally just the two
of us… well, along with Skip and Cora, of course.

Chapter Six

“One of the reasons I wanted to take you for a ride tonight is to
show you a place along this trail I love to go. It’s about halfway through the
trail and has a trough where the horses can hydrate and rest. Sound good to you?”
Jonah asked. I could tell there was doubt in his voice and he was still
blocking something.

What is he hiding?

“Sounds wonderful,” I assured. With that, he showed his dazzling
smile and clicked his tongue in rhythm with his heels to encourage Skip into a
steady gallop. Naturally, Cora and I followed causing a smooth laughter to
leave my mouth.

If I thought I appreciated Jonah’s beauty before, now I cherished
his attractiveness even more as I watched him steadily ride Skip with
confidence and grace. We had to slow as the trail became narrower and the sun
continued to dip below the trees.

The midway stopping point was absolutely breathtaking. By the time
we reached Jonah’s resting place, the sun had set completely. He dismounted
Skip quickly so he could help me down from Cora. I could already feel the
bruising between my legs from the saddle—an effect that was bound to
happen since I hadn’t ridden in so long.

Without warning, he increased his hold on my hips and lifted me. I
almost squealed in surprise, but he quickly brought my body against his and
allowed me to gently slide down until my feet grazed the ground. His muscles
flexed deliciously as I dug my fingers into his arms. He held onto me firmly,
one hand at the small of my back and the other at the center, just below my
shoulder blades. Pressing our bodies together, he groaned before regretfully
letting me go.

Damn. I definitely didn’t want our embrace to end. Feeling his
hard body up against my soft parts made all kinds of delicious thoughts and
feelings flow freely through me.

As Jonah tied the leads to the trough, I slowly ambled toward the
shore’s edge. In front of us was a lake with dark water shimmering in the
moonlight. The moon was large tonight, like a brilliant crystal ball full of
unique mountains and valleys, giving off a beautiful iridescent light through
the night sky. The reflection of the moon shone off the surface of the lake,
clear as crystal, pure as a rippled blanket of ice. It was so peaceful and
quiet. The only sounds were light chirps from various insects, a few quiet
croaks from the frogs, and the gentle lapping of water as it kissed the bank of
the lake.

I just stood there, admiring the view. Jonah came up behind me and
gently wrapped his arms around my waist, placing his thumbs in the belt loops
of my jeans, and causing my awareness of him to spike.

Very beautiful
, he projected. But
I knew by his open thoughts he wasn’t talking about the view. His musings
definitely made me feel attractive. I felt his breath near my ear and heard him
gasp slightly as one of my curls fell forward and brushed against his face. I
wanted to turn my body and wrap myself around him, but he held me in place as
his finger slowly pushed the tendril of hair back behind my ear.

I felt his hand continue to brush against the back of my ear and
push my hair to the side even more, exposing my neck to his touch and causing
me to tilt my head slightly, giving him more access to whatever part of me he
wanted. I felt his breath on me and, suddenly, it’s as if all the oxygen on
earth had been used up completely. I couldn’t breathe.

“The sight before us pales in comparison to your beauty, Ella,” he
said adoringly and I felt the tickle of his breath on my neck. Warmth sizzled
through my abdomen as his words whispered over my ears, seductive and alluring.

As he pressed his body against my back, he wrapped his hands
around my waist once more, sticking his thumbs into the waistband of my jeans.
His fingers gently grazed my hipbones. His touch made me arch my back and tilt
my head to rest on his shoulder.

Keeping his hands on my hips, he bent down slightly and placed a
few light kisses on my cheek. His lips, hot as fire, brushed along the column
of my neck. The soft pecks on my skin were enough to make a thousand sparks
flicker through my body, like sparklers on the fourth of July.

I brought you here
to try something. I’m not sure it will work because I’ve only ever tried with
my dad and he’s not able to read minds like you. But I still would like to try.

What is it?
I asked. Suddenly,
he let the mental block he had on his thoughts release the surprise.

His idea, as did his lips, had me excited. Jonah wanted to try and
project his thoughts as images rather than words. Similar to the way we picture
things in our minds and use our imagination to come up with some sort of visual
concept of our thoughts.

“However, this is more of a guided metaphysical meditation
technique. I’m going to meditate, pretend I’m somewhere else, and actually feel
my surroundings. I haven’t been able to push my meditations to my dad. I can
only seem to push images and visual thoughts to him, but he hasn’t been able to
feel what I feel. I know it sounds odd, but you know how a dream seems so dang
real? As if you can smell, taste, hear, just like you would in real life?” he
asked. I just nodded, so he continued. “I’m hoping that because you already
possess the soul-seer gift, you will be more susceptible to the imagery in my
meditations.”