Page 26 of Someone to Call My Own
“What does that mean?” he asked uncertainly.
“Silver signifies a person’s physical or spiritual awareness. The brighter the silver, the more abundantly the person is in tune with those things. Pure silver usually signals a spiritual awakening.” Jonathon snorted skeptically. He could doubt all he wanted, but my eyes clearly detected bright shades of silver mixed in with the darker, murkier tones. “The darker tones result from a person blocking energy. It means they’re skeptical, guarded, and not open to new ideas.”
“I’m surprised you don’t see pure black,” he responded.
“Do you know what a black aura means?”
“No, but it sounds ominous.”
“It can be,” I replied, thinking of the grief and repressed anger the color represented, “and you do have some black mixed in with the bright and murkier shades of silver.”
“You’re saying that I have a spiritual or physical awakening inside me, Emory?” I noticed that he didn’t deny or doubt the other parts.
“It’s a small part, but it’s there.”
“Back to us,” Jonathon said, clearly uncomfortable with the thoughts of spiritual and physical awakenings.
“There is no us,” I corrected.
“Emory,” Jonathon said with a sigh, “you said you had a vision about us. Care to tell me what it was about?”
“No.”
“Oh, I think I can guess.” He smiled wolfishly at me, and my body reacted on its own accord. “Emory, I don’t have the advantage of psychic premonitions, but I don’t need them when it comes to you and me.” I opened my mouth to argue, but he held up his hand. “Let me say what I need to then I’ll go.” I nodded my head for him to continue. “I felt the way your body reacted to my touch, and I have never felt that in the twenty-four years that I’ve been sexually active. I know that you felt it too. I’m also aware that the thought of us together terrifies you and I understand why.”
Jonathon inhaled a shaky breath and released it slowly like he was trying to calm a racing heart too. “It scares me too, Emory. You see, I’ve never had someone to call my own and my soul tells me that you’re the one it’s waited for all these years.” I had to fight the urge to cover my ears. I just told myself to listen to what he had to say so he would go home. Listening didn’t mean I had to take it to heart. “I don’t know when or how, but someday I will call you mine, and you will turn to me instead of away. You’re the answer to everything that’s been missing in my life. I’m not psychic, but I know it’s true.”
I tore my gaze away from his because I saw the truth in his eyes. No matter how much I wanted to deny it, our lives were put on a path to intersect.
Jonathon rose slowly to his feet and made his way to the door. “Emory, do you want me to stop coming around Josh and Gabe’s house? They were your friends first.”
As much as I wanted to say yes, I couldn’t. Loneliness clung to Jonathon like a cheap cologne, and I would never deprive him of friendship. Yet, I couldn’t form the words to answer his question, so I just shook my head.
“I gave you an out, but you didn’t take it. I think part of you wants what I can give you, but you’re still too far in denial to accept it.” I couldn’t look away from Jon’s face as his blue eyes darkened with desire that burned hot enough to singe me where I sat. “One day, I’m going to learn every part of your body with my hands, mouth, and my cock. There will be no parts of yourself that you keep from me, Emory. Until then, take care of yourself.”
I slumped over the kitchen table when I heard the door click softly behind him. I willed my heart not to listen to his words, even if my body was jonesing for a chance to take him up on his sexy offer. I was physically and emotionally exhausted and knew there was no way in hell I could return to the barbecue across the alley. I groaned when I remembered the childish way I acted. I bet their tongues would be wagging for days. Josh and Gabe would probably ban me from attending their dinners for making an ass of myself in front of Gabe’s colleagues and friends.
I didn’t think the day could get any worse, so I didn’t even bother checking the caller ID on my phone when it rang. I kept my forehead pressed to the table while I pulled the phone out of my pocket and blindly slid my thumb across the phone as I brought it up to my ear.
“Hello?”
“Are you ready to stop this nonsense now, Emory?”
I was wrong. My day definitely took a turn for the worse when I heard my mother’s voice. You know, the same mother who wanted to reconcile but couldn’t take my call and waited over two months to return it. I responded by hanging up on her without uttering a single word.
One of the perks of being the heir to the Whelan Whiskey empire was that I never ran out of liquor. I rose to my feet and grabbed a bottle from the cabinet. I didn’t bother getting a glass or ice. The kind of day I had was enough to drive anyone to drink, but the biggest reason was the unshakeable belief that Jonathon Silver was right.
Isaid I would leave him alone, yet I stood on Emory’s front porch not even three months later. I had a legitimate reason for being there, but I wasn’t sure he would believe me. We’d seen each other a few times since the chat in his kitchen, and we were always cautiously civil to one another. I was always aware of where he was in a room or even a crowd, but I knew he didn’t want to hear that from me.
I had never been much for dancing, but on the night of Josh and Gabe’s bachelor party, I wanted nothing more in my life than to hold Emory in my arms while we moved to music. I didn’t care if it was fast or slow; I just wanted to feel his body close to mine. Emory never got on the dance floor even with his friends, and I didn’t have the nerve to ask him. He went back to his hotel room early, and I retreated to my office because I wasn’t sure what else to do with myself anymore.
The phone conversation I had with Beau the morning after the bachelor party prompted me to drive to Emory’s house and ask him for a favor he had every right to refuse. Hell, I didn’t even expect him to answer the door, but he surprised me.
“Jonathon,” he said flatly. He sounded like some stuffy schoolmaster or something, not that I had fancy schools in my background. It was obvious that he wasn’t going to make this easy on me, but that was okay because nothing had ever come easily to me in life. “What are you doing here?”
Okay, maybe I was hoping for a little friendlier reception. Damn, Emory’s attitude annoyed me. I’d given him space and left him alone when all I wanted to do was hold him close. Did he think this was easy for me? I had never wanted to hold on to a man long enough to let the sweat dry on our bodies after a bout of hot, rough sex. Not Emory; I wanted to hold on tight and not let go. It really pissed me off too.
“Forget it.” I turned away headed for the porch steps.