My Soul Keeper (12 page)

I appear in a field, watching a funeral. It’s Matthew’s; the sadness here is overwhelming. Once everyone leaves, I follow Maliki to the ocean.

“I need information. Do you have anything else?” My impatience is evident in my question and tone.

He turns to me. “I was waiting to hear back from a source but things don’t seem right.”

“I saw a dark soul today in her school. It was pure darkness. It can’t be a coincidence. Gabrielle is being so vague with answers.”

“Go to the girl. I will try to find out more.”

I shake his hand and pull him toward me for a quick embrace. “Thank you.”

The day drags and all I can think about is whether I will see Shamar today. Lucas passes me in the hall, and again my body responds. I need to find out why.

I stand at his locker. I’m not waiting long when I sense his approach. With fist bumps from his friends, Lucas stops and gestures for the rest to go on without him.

“Hey, gorgeous.”

He places his hands on either side of my head, leaning into me. I watch his lips as he talks.

“Why do I feel this heat with you?” I breathe, then immediately feel embarrassed for saying it. His lips pull up into a cocky grin.

“Mmm, I knew you were hot for me.” He laughs then stops when I scowl at him and try to push him away. He stops me from breaking away from him. “I’m sorry. I was joking, Simone.”

“I have eyes, Lucas. I can see that you’re hot, okay, but apart from that, I’m not interested.”

“Ouch.”

“You know what I mean. I don’t want to date you but my body is drawn to you. Does that make sense?” I ask, confused myself.

“When souls are meant to be together, it doesn’t matter if you want to
date
or if you’re ready. Some things are just fated to happen.”

I’m stunned by his reply. Who knew he was deep? Souls? Fated?

“You believe in soul mates and fate?” I ask, cocking an eyebrow.

“I know when something is mine and I feel the pull to you too. You’re meant for me.”

“What if I don’t want to be yours?” I’m just humouring him now because I’m freaked out by this whole conversation.

“You do, though. Your body is trying to tell you. Let me kiss you and I’ll prove it.”

His hands drop to my hips and his lips are so close.

“God, slut much, Simone? Weren’t you dry humping some poor guy on the football field yesterday? Now Lucas up against your locker?” Mia spits.

Lucas snaps his head to her. Rage transforms his features.

She takes a step back and drops the books she was cradling to her chest. He turns to me. “What guy?” His voice has pure venom seeping from it. “What fucking guy?” I flinch at his volume.

“Simone, you okay?” Liam asks, stepping in front of Lucas and forcing him to move away from me. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Lucas replies.

The bell rings to announce the next class. Liam waits until Lucas and Mia has disappeared before he relaxes his protective stance. He turns his soft dimpled smile to me.

“You okay?”

I throw my arms around him and squeeze. “Thank you for always being there for me.”

“Did he hurt you?”

I shake my head. “No, no. It was Mia being bitchy. She upset him.”

“She really is trying to take Amanda’s place as school bitch, huh?”

He puts his arm around my shoulder “Come on, I’ll walk you to your class.”

I reach the gym locker rooms and it’s quiet except water tapping the tiles in the showers. I wander over to turn them off and see Amanda. She looks so frail. She’s lost her usual tanned glow, her skin now pasty pale. She’s become thin and I see scratches down her back. I gasp and startle her. She turns; her thighs are bruised.

“Amanda, what happened to you?”

She reaches for her towel and covers her exposed frame with it. “Dyke much, Simone?”

“How did you get those bruises?”

“Mind your own goddamn business. I fucking hate me and I hate you, so fuck off.”

I step back from her verbal assault and turn to leave her there. I can’t take much more of this school.

As I push open the door, I come face to face with Shamar.

“Hey,” I stutter.

“Hey.” He smiles.

“What are you doing here?”

He looks up and down the hall like he’s only just realised he’s in school.

“I was just wondering if we could have lunch together.”

He sucks in his bottom lip and my eyes focus on the action. I feel the same electric jolt in my core and the charge ripples in the air around us as I look up to see his eyes on my lips.

“I would love to.”

I reach for his hand; he intertwines his fingers with mine, causing my stomach to flutter.

“So, where to?” I ask, breaking through the exit doors. The sun beats down, warming my skin.

“You drive, I’ll direct,” he says with a smile that flips my stomach.

I find myself standing outside a film studio’s emergency exit.

“Do you have a different plan to get in because these doors only open from the inside,” I inform him.

“I have a way of opening the doors but I need you to turn away and not peek. Can’t have you seeing how I do it, only to bring other guys here to impress them.”

“So have you brought me here to impress me?” His heart-stopping smile has my knees going weak.

“Do you need impressing?” he asks, stepping closer to me.

I look down to my feet, needing to breathe and take a minute before I can look back into those mesmerizing eyes.

I hear him tut a couple times before I feel his hand pull my face up to his. “You’re too beautiful to show that beauty to the below. Only up, Simone. Show your beauty to the Heavens.”

He licks his lips then brushes them over mine, barely touching them, like mist on a window, and leaving them damp.

“Turn around. I want to open the door and show you something I think you’ll like.”

His breath heats my skin. He’s so close. I close my eyes for a second to try and regain control of my breathing. I step back and immediately miss our closeness, but I turn away despite my body’s ache to touch him.

Two seconds later, he whispers my name. I turn to see him inside, holding the door open and nodding his head to me to go in. I oblige and let my body brush past his on the way. I catch him inhale a deep breath as I do and a smile spreads across my cheeks; I’m glad I have the same effect on him as he has on me. He takes my hand and leads me to a set. I feel a wash of emotion as I look around.

“It’s the sky?” I ask but it’s more of a statement.

He smiles with a nod. “Sort of. This movie’s about a war in Heaven.”

He turns on a machine and it actually gives off the effects of clouds. The blue dome we’re standing in feels like we’re in the sky; it’s surreal.

“How can they do this? Can I lie down?” I ask.

He chuckles in response. “Of course you can. It’s a simulator, it takes money and illusions. I brought lunch, it’s in the basket.” He points to a picnic basket on a blanket next to a prop white tree.

“How did you know?”

He frowns. “That you’d be hungry?”

I smile. “No, about my need for the sky.”

He looks more confused. “Your need for the sky? I’ve noticed that you like to watch the sky. What do you mean ‘need for the sky?’”

I shrug and give him a tight smile. “Does it sound weird that I feel a connection to the sky, like there’s someone calling to me from there?”

I watch his face turn from confused to intrigued. “The world is bigger than people think, Simone. There’s nothing weird about feeling connected to a beautiful part of it.”

He strokes my cheek with his thumb and guides me to sit with him on the blanket. He opens the basket and hands me bottled water. He pulls out a Subway package, making me laugh.

“Ham and cheese or meatball sub?” he asks, waving them in the air at me. I lean forward and place a chaste kiss on his lips.

“Thank you for bringing me to Heaven,” I whisper against his lips.

“Your touch is my Heaven, Simone,” he whispers back.

If he wants me to fall for him, he’s going about it the right way. I knock the sandwiches from his arms and climb into his lap, crushing my lips to his. His hands encase me. They roam over my back and I feel like there are sparks shocking every cell in my body. My skin tingles with anticipation. I’ve never had sex or really even wanted to, but here with Shamar, my body feels ready to take whatever he deems me worthy of.

His tongue dances over mine. I moan into his mouth as I reach for his shirt, tugging it upwards. He leaves a gap between us to remove his shirt. I gasp as my eyes feast on the smooth lines of his well-sculpted body. Jacob was fit from sports and had a gorgeous body, but Shamar's could rival any of the Greek Gods’.

I bring my lips to flutter kisses over his chest. I love how his chest rises and falls more rapidly with each press of my lips. His thumb brushes my cheek and his hand clasps my face.

“You’re so beautiful, Simone. Every kiss, every touch, is more amazing than the last.”

He skims the spaghetti straps off my dress down each shoulder. When his lips touch my skin, I moan his name softly. He groans deep against my skin and flips me so that he’s lying on top of me. My dress has risen to my hips, his hardness resting between my thighs pushing against the sensitive heat burning for him. My panties and his jeans are the only barriers and, when he rocks forward, my moans become louder. He tugs my dress and it falls under my breasts, giving him a view of my pink strapless bra. His hot breath heats my skin as he kisses over my bra, my nipples pebbling under his assault.

“Oh, God.” I sigh. I’ve never been this turned on in my life but it’s so much more than just a sexual thing. I feel a deeper connection to him and I’ve never felt more ready.

“I want you,” I tell him between deep breaths. His intense eyes bore into mine like I’ve just offered him life. “But you need to know that I’m a virgin.”

I drop my eyes because I’m a little embarrassed. His lips crash into mine; I feel such passion from him. He pulls away and stares into my eyes.

“Do you even know how amazing you are? I am so honoured you want to give me that gift, Simone, and I want to accept it with every fibre of my being… but we can’t. Not today. I want you to know me completely and be one hundred percent ready to take that step.” He kisses me again, and then tugs my dress back into its rightful position. He pulls me so I’m sitting.

“Let me feed you before you have to head back.”

I smile but I feel a little rejected. I know I shouldn’t; his words are everything I wanted to hear from Jacob. Instead, he nagged me to give up my V card. Shamar looks at me like he knows what I’m thinking and brings his hands to my face.

“I want you, Simone. I really,
really
want you but you’re too special to me to rush. I want you in every way; I want your trust, your friendship, your heart.” He places his hand over the erratic beat in my chest. “Your body and soul.” The look in his eyes radiates devotion. My heart feels like it’s beating out of my chest and drumming against his palm.

I watch Simone walk back to the school building. She keeps looking over her shoulder at me and I swear my heart stops every time she does. God, the sun highlights her beauty; it smiles over her skin like it’s worshipping her.

She wiggles a little finger wave before disappearing. I can’t help but shadow her for the rest of the afternoon; the dark soul at her school troubles me.

After sitting through two hours of history and resisting the urge to materialize just to correct all the false information the teacher is feeding the class, the bell finally rings. I follow Simone to her car. Leah’s waiting for her.

“Spill.”

Simone looks at Leah coyly and gushes, “Oh my God, Leah. He is so amazing. I know it’s soon but I think I’m falling for him.”

I hear nothing else - not the conversation or the bustling parking lot full of students. When my head finally clears, I’m standing in an empty lot; even Simone has left. What brings me out of my state of shock is Gabrielle in deep debate with the dark soul at the far end of the school building.

After Simone’s confession to Leah, I’ve never wanted answers about her destiny more. If she is in fact falling for me like I am her, I need to know what is planned for her. I go to my dear friend, Archangel Chamuel.