He remembered! The changes in Ethan might have tinged him with dark edges, but he was good inside and he was still my Ethan. I didn’t care if he existed outside of my realm. My love for him swelled with the blush of the sun sliding sleepily over the horizon. The rays hadn’t made their way to my room yet, but I already felt their warmth radiating through me.
I smiled at him and slid the sheet down. “About that promise you made before you left…” As I started to pull at the thin baby-pink ribbon bow that held my strapless bra together, Ethan grasped my hand.
“Ethan…” I let out a confused sigh.
When he shook his head, I thought my heart might break from disappointment. “I’ve been waiting for just the right light,” he said and then slowly pulled one of the ribbon’s tails.
He’d made me wait for the right light? I wanted to punch his arm and kiss him at the same time. As I stared into his deep blue gaze full of love, intensity, and absorbed focus on his task, my insides churned with excitement and anticipation. This was why I loved him so much. He surprised me in beautiful, heart-stopping ways.
Just as the first tendrils of sunlight reached my room, the bow unraveled. Ethan took his time tracing a finger past the hollow in my throat, then down the center of my chest. When his knuckles brushed the top curve of my cleavage, I sucked in a breath and goose bumps scattered across my skin.
Ethan’s eyes snapped to mine, a dark, sexy smile tilting the left corner of his mouth. My heart stuttered as he grasped my waist, then slowly pulled me close. Kissing his jaw, I slid my hands along his shoulders and welcomed his warmth as everything inside me bloomed to life.
* * *
I’m floating on a plane of blissful, skin-buzzing happiness. Ethan touches my hair. A curl lifts and he inhales, drawing in my smell. Then his fingers slowly slide along my jaw and down my throat. Everywhere he touches, I tingle.
It bothers me that I can’t see him, so I pull my sleepy eyes open long enough to catch a glimpse of him. He’s shirtless and still wearing his black dress pants as he sits in the chair by my bed. Those pants are coming off, even if I have to undress you myself. As soon as the wicked thought flashes through my mind, another thought occurs. Why is he sitting? My eyes flutter and as my body starts to stir, he lays his hand on my shoulder and whispers, “Shhh.” As lethargic warmth flows through me, he lightly trails his fingers across my arm.
“I love you, Sunshine,” he murmurs in that deep baritone that sends chills down my spine as he continues to trace along my belly and then down my leg to my toes.
I mumble it back. I think. At least, I thought the words, “I love you too.”
He chuckles and I smile before I lose myself again in sleep’s blissful arms.
* * *
Houdini’s wet nose nudged me awake from a deep sleep. “Houdini!” I fussed, pushing him away as I tugged the covers to cover me. Wait? “How’d you get in here?”
My eyes flew open and I turned to ask Ethan when he’d let Houdini back in. Only a folded piece of paper lay on the pillow next to me. I didn’t get to say goodbye. Sadness flickered through me as I slowly unfolded his note.
Nara,
I’ll be back by Monday night. Don’t take off the necklace I gave you. It will keep you safe. I might not know how I know that, but I just do. Please trust me on this. Stay safe, and…no more Internet searches, library research or interviewing people about ravens, swords or tattoos. I promise to share what little I know when I get back. I have more questions about your connection to ravens too.
Happy birthday, Sunshine! I hope you enjoy your present.
TTTWFO,
Ethan
Present? I glanced around my room and my attention snagged on a six-inch square box wrapped in comics newspaper and a manila envelope leaning against it on my nightstand.
As I moved to sit up, something sharp poked my hip and then tickled my right side. What’s in my covers? I yelped and leaned back to quickly push away the covers. There’d better not be a spider under there.
When my gaze landed on the lone black raven feather tucked along my hip inside my lacy underwear, tears prickled my eyes. “Oh, Ethan…” I said, swallowing my emotion as I slid the feather out. “I love the way you make promises.” He’d insisted that we wait to go all the way until he got back, saying, “It’ll be too hard not seeing you everyday afterward, Nara. I never want to leave you again.” I smiled and ran the soft vane along my fingers. This feather was softer than the feather I’d lost, but the quill felt stronger. Where did he get it?
I tucked the feather in my hair, then found my bra in the covers and quickly tied it back on.
The manila envelope read Open First, so I gently lifted the sealed back. My heart jerked when I started to pull it out and saw it was a sketch of me. Had he drawn me like he’d said he wanted to? Pausing, I took a breath and slid the drawing the rest of the way out.
It was a gorgeous drawing of me laughing as I leaned over to throw a piece of bread to geese in a pond. As always, Ethan had dated the drawing in the right-hand corner. He’d drawn it the same day we’d gone on our picnic.
I smiled as I set the drawing on my bed. When I pulled the box closer, I read the note taped to the top of the box.
For those special moments you never want to forget. When it comes to you, all I need is a pencil.
Ethan
Touched by his sweet note, I picked up the box and tore through the comics. When all the paper fell away, I smiled through the emotion clogging my throat. Ethan had bought me a camera.
Houdini started whining, reminding me that he needed to go outside. “Okay, boy,” I said, setting the gifts and feather back on my nightstand.
I hurried over to my dresser, grabbing a sweatshirt and jeans from the drawers. Once I’d slipped on my pants, I pulled on my sweatshirt as I walked back across the room. My shoulder twinged with a slight burning sensation from my movements, so I tugged the neck of my sweatshirt over my shoulder and glanced in the full-length mirror as I started to pass it.
I froze, my fingers digging into the collar. Tearing the sweatshirt off, I dropped it on the floor and turned my back toward the glass.
“Holy mother!” I slid trembling fingers over my shoulder to touch the tip of the stark white feather, then moved closer to inspect the tattoo on the back of my left shoulder blade. The vane looked just like a normal white feather, but the end of the quill didn’t resemble a traditional feather. It was smooth on one side, but the other side had a jagged, tooth-like edge.
As I ran my fingers along the bottom of the quill, trying to see the uneven edge better, I remembered when I’d felt a burning sensation along my shoulder blade. I was in the coach’s closet with Ethan when he kissed me on the shoulder. The moment wasn’t just a physical sensation, but it had felt emotional and connected. Special. I’d felt…special!
Had he done this to me? Anger flared, quickly followed by disbelief. I chewed my lip for a few seconds as I reasoned through it. Whatever it meant, Ethan would never mark me with a tattoo, magically or otherwise, without asking me first. I had felt something shift between us when he kissed me in that same spot.
Could it have happened like my lucid dream? Triggered subconsciously? Intentional or not, it came from Ethan, so why was my feather white and not black like his? Like his! Things clicked into place that hadn’t made sense to me before now. As I shrugged back into my sweatshirt, I thought about how the guy from the library and Drake had called me names like tweet, fledgling, and little bird. Both had also been raring for a good fight. And after everything that’d happened, I was pretty sure Harper wasn’t trying to save me from being hit by that swinging door at CVAS like she’d said. Ha, she’d probably kicked the wedge away, sending the door flying. I’d felt her warm breath on my neck, because she’d been looking down the back of my shirt. She was trying to see if I had a tattoo on my back. They all thought I was Corvus like Ethan!
I moved on shaky legs to close my window and saw snowflakes starting to fl
oat down. Instead of closing it, I opened it fully and stuck my hand out. Several flakes landed on my palm, melting the instant they hit my skin. Who or what were Drake, Harper, and the guy from the library? And why did they want to fight Corvus? Did Ethan know what they were? Had he heard of the Order?
Tension tightened my shoulders, and I fisted my hand around the melting snowflakes as I looked up to see a snowstorm had started. God, I had a feather on my shoulder! My mom would freak if I ended up with a sword tattoo across my entire back. It wasn’t like she’d believe me if I said, “It looks real for a reason.”
I took a calming breath and closed my eyes tight against the frigid wind, whispering, “Hurry home, Ethan. We have a lot to talk about.”
Thank you for following Ethan and Nara’s journey!
If you found Lucid an entertaining and enjoyable read, I hope you’ll take the time to leave a review and share your thoughts with others.
* * *
Stay tuned for book three in the BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS series! To keep up to date on when the next BRIGHEST KIND OF DARKNESS book will release, join my free newsletter http://eepurl.com/jriS9
Other P.T. Michelle Books
Brightest Kind of Darkness Series
Brightest Kind of Darkness (book 1)
Lucid (book 2)
TBD (book 3)
Other Recommended Books
The McKinnon Curse series
by J.A. Templeton
Destiny’s Fire
by Trisha Wolfe
Acknowledgements
To my critique partners, J.A. Templeton and Trisha Wolfe, this book wouldn’t be as polished without you. Thank you for helping make it shine.
To my proofer, Pam Berehulke, for your tireless edits and feedback. Here’s to more fun debates on “weird exceptions” to grammar rules.
To my husband, I appreciate you telling everyone you know, “Hey, did you know my wife writes young adult books? You should check them out.”
And to my children, who’re always willing to give their opinions on covers and such, and who know that when Mom’s working on a book and she says she’ll be there in a minute, it’s probably going to be an hour. Thank you for your patience and support…and for not being afraid to pick up a spatula.
About the Author
P.T. Michelle is the young adult pseudonym of Patrice Michelle, author of fifteen paranormal and contemporary romances and novellas. To learn more about P.T.’s fiction, visit her at the following places:
Website
http://www.ptmichelle.com
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/PTMichelleAuthor
Twitter
http://www.twitter/pt_michelle
Newsletter (free newsletter announcing releases and special contests)
http://eepurl.com/jriS9
Contents
Title page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Other P.T. Michelle Books
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Lucid, YA Paranormal Romance (Brightest Kind of Darkness Series, Book #2) Page 31