The Beholder by Ivan Amberlake

Author:Ivan Amberlake
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Breakwater Harbor Books
Published: 2013-12-04T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

They were walking through a forest, sheltered by an elaborate pattern of low and heavy branches. Though they had to bow their heads to pass underneath, the branches didn’t bother Jason. He was distracted, his gaze lost in the magic of Emily’s amber eyes. Each time she turned to him they changed to a different hue of brown, like the predominantly yellow-brown amber they were now. Not as dark as they had been in the fusion … where he had been in her head.

Emily teased as she went, and her smile made her face even more appealing. Where are we going? Who cares? The only thing that mattered was her light footsteps beside him.

“Catch me if you can,” Emily said, then broke into a run among the weighty lattices of boughs.

Jason ran after her, admiring her nimble movements, and just when he’d almost caught her, she tripped and fell into a pile of leaves under a massive beech tree. He tripped, too, and rolled into the foliage beside her. Emily turned to him, her cheeks flushed as she giggled. They were so close to each other, closer than ever before. Her gaze met his fascination, and his fingers drew invisible lines, sliding from her forehead to her nose, then lower. His fingertips reached her lips, so alluring, so soft. He felt her hot breath and leaned in to kiss her—

Knock-knock-knock. Her lips were so close to his. Almost there—

Knock-knock-knock again, louder and more persistent.

“Wake up, sleepyhead!” Emily called through the door.

“Not now!” he muttered, still half asleep.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he said with a groan. “I’m coming.”

He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, then looked out the window as he stretched his muscles awake. Just like the house, the garden had bloomed overnight, becoming a completely different place from the neglected nest of weeds he’d seen the day before.

Clean, ironed clothes had been laid on an armchair near his bed. With a smile, Jason pulled on the white cotton shirt and flannel trousers, pleased to discover they were exactly the right size. She’d even placed a toothbrush and toothpaste in the washroom for him. Clean and refreshed, Jason headed downstairs, his mind still on the near-kiss. He wasn’t surprised to see the kitchen table already set with toast, croissants, orange juice, strong black coffee, milk—whatever he might want.

It was a beautiful day, and he poured himself a coffee before stepping into the sunlit garden. Emily was there already, wreathed in smiles, dressed in a clean, sleeveless shirt and purposefully crumpled shorts. If it were possible, she looked even more beautiful than she had the day before.

“Did you sleep well?” she asked, leaning forward to snap off a dead bloom.

I sure did, Jason thought. “Yep,” he said, the dream still vivid in his memory.

“Any dreams?”

He flushed, thinking the interrogation seemed awfully suspicious. She knows!

“Sort of,” he said, matter-of-fact. Two can play at that game. “But no nightmares. I see you’ve rearranged things around here. Looks great.”

Emily’s teasing smile was deliciously wicked.

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