Soul Bound by Courtney Cole Page A

to mine that I gasped.  He covered my mouth with his and kissed me in a way I’d never been kissed before. 
    My heart raced and I clutched at his back, feeling the strong muscles beneath my fingers contract as he moved.   I slipped my foot along his calf as I returned his kiss, licking his lower lip lightly.  He groaned and plunged his tongue into my mouth and I arched against him.
    “Sweet heavens,” I gasped, trying to breathe.  Electricity sparked in the air, crackling around us. It caused my hair to stand on end.
    “I want you,” Brennan said softly, nipping at my lip lightly.  “You’re all I think about, Em.  Every minute, every day.”
    “I know,” I answered.  “We’re going to have to focus, though, Brennan.  We have to concentrate on the matters at hand.”
    “This is the matter at hand,” he growled lightly against my mouth. “You’re in my hands right now, Em.  We’ll think about the rest later.”
    “Alright,” I panted, trying to catch my breath as Brennan ran his hands everywhere on my body.  Everywhere he touched felt like it ignited into flames and it was growing more and more difficult to catch my breath and focus.  Colors from around the room swirled together in the corners of my eyes and Brennan’s aura appeared to me, bright golds and yellows outlining his body as bright as the sun. I blinked hard and struggled to focus. 
    I could feel the essence of his soul pulsing in his chest along with his heart.  It was pounding hard and I could hear each individual beat.  I unconsciously moved toward him, an automatic response to his aura.  I struggled to move backward but the urge to be near him, to inhale him, was very, very strong.
    “I can’t do this,” I gasped, pushing at him.  “I can’t.  I’m going to kill you by accident.”
    He grasped my face in his hands and pulled me back to him.
    “Yes, you can, Em.  We have to master this.  You can do it.  You won’t hurt me.”
    His breath was on my lips, a mere inches from mine.  I felt an obscene amount of desire to simply take a breath and inhale his soul… the soul of the man that I love.  It was an unconscious need.  I fought hard against it, but it was still there, loud and clear. 
    “Easy for you to say,” I muttered as I swept my hands against his flat abdomen and sucked in my breath again. “You don’t have to try not to kill me .”
    Brennan rolled me over abruptly, pinning me to the bed beneath us and hovering above me.  The dim light from the dawn outside gave him an ethereal feel, as though he was an angel…or a god. 
    “True,” he acknowledged.  “But I have to try and not be killed.  I think that’s equally as daunting.”
    He lowered his head and kissed the side of my neck, his lips feather soft.  I shivered as a chill ran up my back from the light touch.  He smiled in response. 
    “I don’t think that’s a great plan, as far as staying alive,” I mentioned as I leaned up to meet his kiss.  “You should be moving away from me.”
    “Yet I’m not,” he pointed out. 
    “I know,” I groaned and sucked on his bottom lip.  He moaned in response, triggering a surge of need in me that I didn’t expect and couldn’t control.  I arched up to meet him and a sudden flash of light caught my attention.  I froze and an acrid scent swept into my nose.  And then a crackling sound filled my ears.
    “Fire!” I gasped, pushing out from under Brennan.
    We both lunged to our feet and found that the roof to our hut was smoldering and then before we could even move, it burst into a roaring flame.  I couldn’t help but screech and point as Brennan threw open the door and raced outside.  I could hear screaming from outdoors, but didn’t know who it was coming from. 
    Smoke was quickly filling the small hut, so I joined Brennan outside, coughing as I stumbled out the door. 
    Brennan was staring at the fire, an expression of extreme concentration on his face. Within a few seconds,