My Soul Laid Bare: Book 4 (The Soul Keeper Series) Read Free Page A

last song of the night, Elijah and I escape to the grounds to explore. He takes his coat and places it over my shoulders. The grass is thick and soft, and my heels sink into the dirt. Elijah picks me up and carries me to the small gazebo still lit with twinkling Christmas lights. The landscaping is all neatly manicured without being too eccentric. Sprawling live oak trees are strewn with thousands of lights, dotting the lavish lawn like stars in the night sky.
    He slowly sets me down, but stays pressed against my body. It's gorgeous here; the perfect setting for the perfect date. His hands cup my cheek warming my cool skin. He brushes his lips over mine softly at first and then deeper until I'm lost right along with him. His tongue sweeps inside doing its best to drive me insane. I'm stuck inside a dream, a fairytale I never want to wake up from. How does he always have such perfect control? I want to strip him down right here under the starry sky and show the moon she should revolve around his glorious body instead.
    “ Brennen,” he says after I evict an involuntary moan from deep within his chest. “You make me never want to let you go.” His voice comes out low and sultry, and I know the depth of his words is true.  I'd shackle our bodies together just to never have to be away from him again.
    Then the trickle begins. Something dark, something unholy, downright evil is coming for us. I can feel it on the brink. Deep down I know Malphas is out there, planning with expert care how he'll take us down. He'll be the poisoned apple, and more likely, I'll take the first bite without knowing. Death will follow swiftly after, and not even true love's kiss will wake me from this nightmare.

     

Chapter 2 ~Lost and Found~
     
    It feels good to be back in my dorm. It's funny how much I had longed for that break, and now I wish I'd never left. Who knew so much could change in the course of a week? Elijah carries my bag up the stairs to my room and sets it on the end of my bed. His cashmere covered arms emit heat like a furnace as they wrap around my waist. I melt into him and run my hands up his sculpted back. He releases a sigh, and I wonder what it would be like to have him sighing like that in other lust driven ways. 
    Lexi must not have made it back from Colorado yet. It feels good to be in Elijah's arms and all alone. We're so close. I can feel his heart thudding next to mine, playing out some wild African beat just for me. I'd give anything for a simple love, just him and me, no impossible destiny, no demons hunting us, just Elijah's perfect love raining down over me like hurricane.  It would be the perfect storm of attraction and heat; blanketed with a love so deep we could never reach the top.
    “So Sam wants to get settled in, and then take me to dinner to celebrate his first night here. I have to keep him away from Lexi. If word gets out that she knows Jesson, Elena and Inara, I'm going to have some serious splaining to do Lucy. She already thinks Inara left a few months ago because she couldn't handle the pressure.”
    “ Actually it was easier to just wipe them out of her memories altogether. When she comes back, all she will know is that your former roommates dropped out of school, and now you can have separate rooms.”
    “ You shouldn't play around with people’s minds so much,” I say searching his eyes for a glint of guilt behind them.
    He dips his brow low and ticks his head back as if he can't believe I would mind. “We only do it when we have to protect our secret, and there is absolutely no other way.”
    “ Reminds me of the flashy thing on Men in Black. Hmm, let me guess…we're all aliens, right?” I reduce my eyes to slits hoping he'll confirm the theory.
    “ Always trying to decode the universe,” he gives a soft chuckle. “So do you think you're ready for a date with Sam?”
    “ No, I'm dreading it.”
    “ Call him and cancel. Spend the night wrapped in my arms. I'm much better