Harmony by Sonya Bria Read Free Book Online Page B

half of which I’d never tasted before or even knew the names of. It was obvious that he was trying to please me. I beamed. “Are you trying to court me, Ian?”
       Ian fumbled with a container and said, “No, seriously Sophie, you have to eat to keep your strength up.”
           I laughed. I knew better. This mind connection rocked! “Ian, you liar! You are so courting me!” I jumped up and landed in his lap. We hadn’t been that close since I’d first met him. It felt so natural to be with him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and found myself lost in his eyes. What was it that I felt? His confusion, or was it grief? Longing for me? I desperately wanted to know. “Ian?” I spoke softly. “Let me see your eyes.” His stiff body relaxed, and I melted into him as he drew me closer. His breath on my face was so cold, but that was not why I was shivering. It was magical! I couldn’t help myself. Hesitantly, I brought my fingers to his lips and traced them lightly. I could feel his sigh. He could be so tender! He stroked my hair as I laid my cheek against his.
           Then it happened. I felt it all. He finally let me in. I didn’t know if it was by choice, but I was there in his past. I could see glimpses of his previous life. Ian was walking by the ocean, laughing and in love. He’d had another love at one time. She was indeed beautiful. Then there was enormous pain, suffering and torment. How could one being have endured so much? I was confused. I saw the moment he became vampire as if I were an actual eye witness… I thought how could that be ? It made my blood curl. He was with her at what looked like a dancehall, but he wasn’t happy, he was furious with something she had said. She laughed, pushed him away and suddenly he was ambushed. I felt not only his pain, but mine as well as teeth sank into his neck. His body writhed as his light dissipated and he was haphazardly slung over the shoulder of a hooded figure. My heart ached for all he’d lost and what he’d become.
           I felt the darkness in him rise, and he pressed his lips to mine. We became enveloped in a deep and binding kiss unlike any I’d ever experienced. It was a need that he had to be one with me and me in turn with him. The desperation was there to hold him, to be his anchor and not let the darkness win. I clung to him as tears streamed down my cheeks. The monster inside would destroy me if it weren’t for Ian. I now understood his conflict, why he guarded himself. It was all happening so fast that I could scarcely breathe.
           Ian leapt from the quilt, and I tumbled down as he darted to the tree line. He was so fast. I yelled after him, “Ian, wait! Don’t go!” My pleas went unanswered. I couldn’t see his eyes, but I could feel that they were dark and menacing. I slowly turned back to the cliff’s edge and waited. It seemed like an eternity. I was so sad that I could not help him. I was so lost in my own thoughts and confusion over his conversion that I didn’t even see him come back and sit down by me.
           “I’m so sorry, Soph,” Ian said as he tentatively laced his fingers with mine.
           “Did I cause you to lose control…to feel pain?” I really wanted to know.
           Ian turned my face toward him. “I was about to lose control, Sophie, and I didn’t want you to see. I know better.”
           “Oh,” was all I could muster. How could I feel so elated and alive while our kiss caused him so much pain?
           “Soph, don’t be mad at me,” Ian said.
           I couldn’t let him see that his reaction to our kiss bothered me, so instead I said, “We’ll just have to be more careful next time.” I lay my head on his lap and looked out over the horizon. I wasn’t sure how long we remained like that, but I quietly fell asleep.
    ***
           Ian gently nudged my ear with his lips. “Sophie, we need to get going. It’s time to