Soul Matched (The Soul Mark Series Book 1)

by Cara E Holt

  “There’s only one girl I would want to pair up with and I am looking at her.” He says seriously.

  “ Yeah well she’s not in here. So maybe you should go find her.” I reply coldly. I can’t look him in the eyes and look over his shoulder at nothing in particular.

  Lorcen snakes a hand around my waist and pulls me to him. “Trust me. I’m looking right at her.” His eyes stare into mine and all I can think about is kissing him again. Stop it Ebony! I tell myself. Lorcen sighs and takes my hand and drags me out of the kitchen despite my weak protests and pulls me through a door into what I find to be a small closet.

  “Why do you think I want Morgan?” He asks me frowning. Even frowning he is damn gorgeous.

  I look down at my hands. “You kissed at flashlight tag. I heard her bragging to her friend about it.”

  “Ebony look at me.” He says lifting my chin until I meet his gaze. “Morgan flashed me yes. I kissed her on the cheek, nothing more. I was on a mission to find a certain blue eyed girl.”

  “According to what I overheard it was more than a peck on the cheek.”

  Lorcen grins. “Morgan’s lying. I like the fact that you are jealous though.”

  “I am not jealous.” I snap defensively crossing my arms and frowning at him.

  “No?” Lorcen asks moving closer. I step back and hit the back of the closet. Lorcen pulls me to him and I forget to breathe again. He moves closer his eyes on my lips and my breath hitches in anticipation. His lips find mine and I respond urgently. I wrap my arms around his neck and press myself closer to him. My body is on fire and the kiss is everything and more. I open my eyes slightly and blink in surprise when I see there is a glow of light surrounding us. Lorcen realises I have stopped responding to his kisses and opens his eyes and I see them widen in surprise. As he pulls back the glow disappears and he has a mightily pleased look on his face.

  “ Were we glowing?” I ask in shock.

  “Glowing! My kisses are good but not that good.” He stands there grinning.

  “ I think someone must have slipped alcohol in my drink. I could swear we glowed.”

  Lorcen shakes his head. I’m about to press the issue when the door swings open and a couple stand looking at us, clearly looking for a quiet place to make out. Lorcen takes my hand and pulls me out with him. He fist bumps the guy as he passes him and winks at the girl.

  “Want to get out of here?” He asks me and alone time with Lorcen sounds very appealing but sadly my mum is picking me and Taylor up at Midnight.

  “ I can’t. Mum’s picking me and Taylor up at midnight.” I am pleased when I see he is disappointed.

  He pulls me to him. “What are you doing tomorrow?”

  “Nothing.” I reply shakily.

  He smiles that heart stopping smile that shows the dimples in his cheeks. “You been to Cat Rock Park yet?” I shake my head.

  “I’ll take you tomorrow. Pick you up at say 11am?

  “I’d like that.” I am in a blissful haze of happiness and I know that my heart is in big trouble.

  He smiles and leans in to give me a peck on the lips. “It’s a date then. Want to get some air?”

  I nod and we head out back again and Lorcen takes us over to a bench hid around the side of the yard. We sit side by side holding hands and sit silently for a while.

  “I love this time of year back home. Autumn is my favourite season.”

  Lorcen grins and seems happy with my statement. “Me too. I’m not a fan of summer.” When he smiles at me like that all rational thought goes out of my head. Lorcen turns in his seat to face me better.

  “Blaine was holding your hand earlier. I didn’t like it.” He states. I like the fact that he is jealous.

  “He rescued me from your creepy brother.”

  Lorcen looks taken aback. “Devlon was here?”

  “Yup and he said some weird things. “ I shiver thinking about it. “ He called me something like Shee fa? He said I would make a fine queen. Very strange. I think he may have been on drugs.”

  I look at Lorcen and he looks concerned. “My brother is not a good person Ebony. I’m sorry you had to deal with him.”

  “His touch was icy cold.” I say with shiver.

  Lorcen puts his arm around me. “He won’t come near you again, I promise.”

  I lean on his shoulder and we sit quietly. I can’t explain how I feel around him, when he touches me it like it reaches my soul. I have liked guys before and dated, but this feels different, this feels significant. We are disturbed from our bubble by Taylor shouting my name.

  “I’d better go. My mums probably out front.” He stands with me and leans in and kisses my forehead. I was kind of hoping for more but it is sweet and makes me smiles.

  “See you tomorrow at eleven.”

  “Tomorrow.” I agree and turn and head back up the garden. I can feel his eyes on me and turn and wave.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The next morning my alarm goes off at nine and I bounce out of bed feeling excited and anxious about my date with Lorcen today. I attempt to eat breakfast but find I am too nervous to eat and end up just having a coffee. I spend a while deciding what to wear and settle on Skinny jeans and a purple t-shirt and pair of low heeled brown boots. I tie my hair up into a pony tail. I sit on my bed and scroll through my Facebook. It is strange to see posts from my old friends back home and to know I am no longer a part of their lives and will unlikely to be so again. A knock at the front door has me jumping up anxiously, I grab my back pack and fly down the stairs as quick as I can so that I can answer the door before my mum does.

  “Bye mum.” I shout before opening the door and stepping out on to the porch. He stands there smiling and I drink him in, he really is perfection. He is wearing black sunnies covering those beautiful eyes. He is wearing black jeans and a grey t-shirt. The jeans accentuate his muscular thighs.

  “Ready?” He asks me offering out his hand which I take without thinking about it and follow him to his car. Things should feel awkward after the kisses last night but somehow it doesn’t it just feels right. We stop at his car and I whistle.

  “Nice car.” It is a little sports car that looks far too expensive for a senior in high school. Lorcen smiles opening the door and holding it open for me. I slide into the leather seat and admire the inside, it reminds me of Lorcen, perfect but warm. I jump and yelp when I feel something wet on my ear. Lorcen laughs.

  “ Hawkeye no licking my date.” He laughs rubbing the nose of the grey shaggy dog that is peering over my shoulder excitedly.

  “ Hi Hawkeye,” I say giving him a stroke on the head, he responds by trying to lick me again and I laugh. Lorcen is watching us and smiling.

  “ I think he like’s you.”

  Lorcen starts the car and we set off. Hawkeye settles down on the back seat of the car. We arrive at a car park and Lorcen asks me to let Hawkeye out the back and he grabs his bag from the trunk.

  “I thought we could hike up to the lake and let Hawkeye have a swim while we eat.” I nod In agreement and take in the beautiful surroundings as we start walking.

  “You like walking?” I ask him, he seems at home in this environment.

  He smiles and those cute dimples surface. “I love the outdoors. I love being out on my horse or walking with Hawkeye, away from the expectations of everyone.”

  “We don’t often get the weather back home to enjoy the outdoors, it’s normally raining.”

  “Scared of getting your hair wet?” He teases me.

  “You should be scared of seeing me with wet hair, it is not pretty.” I joke. “Have you ever been to England?”

  “I have. My family we have a house there, in Cornwall near the coast.”

  “Really? I love Cornwall, we’ve had quite a few family holidays there.” I’m so busy taking admiring glances at Lorcen that I’m not looking were I am going and trip on a rock which sends me flying forward, I’m just preparing to face plant the floor when Lorcen reaches round my waist and
pulls me back up against his chest. I grimace, I bet he thinks I’m such a clumsy idiot.

  “You’re a little clumsy aren’t you?” He says playfully in my ear and I shiver at the goose bumps it gives me. I mumble an apology and he releases me smiling. “I quite like coming to your rescue.”

  I stand there looking at him like a crush struck teenager, which I guess I am. He offers me his hand.

  “I think I should hold your hand the rest of the way, for safety reasons.” He winks.

  I take his hand smiling. “Thank you for thinking of my safety.”

  We continue along the path holding hands with Hawkeye walking in from and I don’t think the day can get much more perfect than this.

  We eventually come out onto the edge of a beautiful lake. Hawkeye immediately dives into the water and I laugh watching him. I walk to the edge to take in the view as Lorcen unpacks a blanket and lays it open the grass. He sits down and pats the blanket beside him gesturing for me to join him. Nervously I walk over and sink down beside him facing him. Lorcen unpacks a tub with sandwiches and two can of coke.

  I smile. “What?” Lorcen asks observing me.

  I shake my head. “I didn’t have you down as a picnic sort of guy.”

  He grins. “I can do romance, if I like the girl enough.” He looks at me seriously then. “There’s a lot more to me Ebony than what you see.”

  I don’t quite know how to answer that statement but I am more than prepared to stick around and get to know all there is to know about Lorcen Wilde. He hands me a butty and we sit and eat for a while in silence.

  “So have you always lived in Weston?” I ask, keen to learn the ‘much more’ to Lorcen that he hinted at before.

  He shakes his head and looks somewhat awkward. “No I moved here about eighteen months ago.”

  I sit up surprised. “Oh, you just look so settled here I presumed you had grown up here.”

  “So what brought your family here?” I ask, he frowns and I worry if he thinks I am nosey.

  “Destiny.”

  “Destiny?” I repeat puzzled, I wonder if he is teasing.

  “It felt like the right time to come here.” He adds and looks away out to the lake. I decide not to press any further.

  “Do you have any other brothers or sisters?”

  He nods and holds up two fingers. “One brother and one sister, both younger.” He sighs. “My sister is a handful.”

  “I can imagine you being a protective older brother. Keeping all of her male admirers at bay.”

  He nods and looks at me intently. “ Something I imagine your brother is familiar with.”

  I blush and look down at my hands. “Hardly.”

  Lorcen looks at me in disbelief. “You really don’t know how others see you, do you?”

  His eyes hold mine and I sigh inside, he is so damn gorgeous and I’m not quite sure why he is sat here with someone as ordinary as me.

  “Last night when we err, when we kissed, I still can’t get past the fact that I’m sure there was a glow.” I realise how stupid I sound but I have been thinking about it since last night and I’m a hundred percent sure there was a glow.

  “I definitely remember the kiss,” He teases leaning over into my personal space.

  I gulp. “ I’m sure we glowed.”

  “You do realise how ridiculous that sounds?” He replies with a chuckle.

  I find myself getting annoyed and stand to move myself away from him, crossing my arms and frowning at him. “I know it sounds ridiculous thank you but I also know what I saw!”

  “People don’t glow Ebony. I know my kisses are awesome but they aren’t that good.”

  I huff. “Deny it all you like but we did.”

  Lorcen stands. “You’re awful cute when you’re angry.” He gives me that smouldering gaze that melts my insides. He reaches for my hand and I step out of his grasp and turn and face the lake.

  “Let’s not spoil our date.” He says coming up behind me and putting his hands on my hips. Being this close to him makes my thoughts go off kilter. “ Lets not fall out.”

  I turn to face him and we are so close, his lips within an inch of mine.

  “I have an idea.” He says huskily looking at my lips. “How about we test the theory.”

  His lips touch mine tenderly and he softly kisses me, I try to stay aloof but I can’t and I find myself responding to the kiss and opening my mouth to allow his tongue to explore. My arms find their way around his neck. I feel his lean body pressed against mine and I wonder what it would be like to run my hands along his naked chest. I could kiss him all day and never get tired of the feeling and sensations it creates in me.

  Lorcen pulls back breathlessly and gestures around us. “See no glow.”

  I tut at him but smile. “Not this time, no Lorcen.”

  He strokes my cheek with his fingers. “I like the way my name sounds on your lips.”

  I blush meeting his eyes and he is observing me intently. “You’re all kinds of beautiful Ebony Lockhart.”

  I think at this point my heart goes into overdrive and does a happy dance around my chest.

  The moment is interrupted by Hawkeye coming bounding out of the water and shaking himself causing wet lake water to shower all over us.

  “Bad doggy!” Lorcen chastises Hawkeye. We pack up our picnic and then spend some time throwing a stick into the lake for Hawkeye to fetch.

  “We should head back.” Lorcen suggests and although I agree I don’t really want this day to end. We make the walk back to the car.

  “I had fun today.” I tell him shyly.

  “Me too.” He agrees taking my hand in his. I notice the temperature drops suddenly and a sharp wind whips around us, I shiver and my eyes are drawn down the path ahead of us. Hawkeye who is slightly ahead of us lowers his head and growls.

  Lorcen looks on edge. “What is it boy?” Hawkeye growls in response and Lorcen takes my hand and pulls me behind him. I look round him and down the path I can see a dark furry creature running towards us it is moving too fast for me to make out what it is. Lorcen whips around to face me the worry clear on his face.

  “I’m sorry for this.” He says and places his hand on my forehead and I feel the world slip away and as my eyes close I see the blur of the fury creature racing towards us.

  I open my eyes and the sun blinds me. My eyes focus and I find two beautiful green eyes over me full of concern.

  “Hey.” He says stroking my cheek.

  I sit up and nearly butt heads with Lorcen. “That thing,” I point up the hill. “What was it?”

  “A bear.” Lorcen replies.

  Lorcen helps me stand. “A big angry furry one.”

  I look up the hill and back at Lorcen confused.

  “It didn’t look like a bear.”

  Lorcen smiles. “It’s gone. Hawk eye scared it away.” I look at him in disbelief and then at Hawkeye who looks like he couldn’t scare a kitten.

  “Hawkeye scared a great big angry bear away. How?”

  Lorcen shrugs. “Growled, barked.”

  “Why was I on the floor?” I ask pointing at the ground still feeling very confused.

  Lorcen laughs. “You passed out. Kind of becoming a habit.”

  I grimace and cover my eyes with my hands, “God. You must think I am the biggest wimp.” I feel Lorcen’s hands pull mine away from my face and he is looking at me with that gorgeous smile on his face.

  “Bears are scary. Need me to carry you?”

  I playfully hit him on the shoulder. “No thank you. I can walk. I’m beginning to think you like carrying me.” I tease him playfully and move to start walking but then wobble and nearly fall over. Before I can protest Lorcen sweeps me up and starts walking with me in his arms.

  Truth is being in Lorcen’s arms is the best feeling, this close I can smell his aftershave and it smells gorgeous. I think I may be ever so slightly addicted to being close to Lorcen. We walk the rest of the way in silence, I take sneaky looks at him
and he catches me out and smiles. I am amazed that he has been able to carry me this far, I mean don’t get me wrong I’m not fat but even so the walk back to the car was a long one. When we reach the car Lorcen places me down and my body slides down his as my feet find the floor. My heart at this point feels like it has dropped to somewhere around my tummy.

  “Thank you.” I mumble blushing, he smiles in response.

  “Anytime.” He reaches out and flicks a piece of grass off my shoulder and his hand then finds its way to my neck. Lorcen looks at my lips and then at my eyes and the look is enough to melt the entire cheer squad’s panties. “Your eyes are so blue.” He leans in and his lips meet mine, at first the kiss is gentle and soft but then I lean in and wrap my arms around his waist and it is like we can’t get enough of each other. Lorcen other hands travels down to my butt and he uses it to pull me closer to him. Hawkeye chooses this point to bark, making us both jump apart. We both laugh and take steadying breaths.

  Lorcen takes my hand and pulls me away from the car so that he can load our bags. Once Hawkeye is on the back seat we set off for home. The drive back is thick with tension and all I can think about is that kiss and how much I want to kiss him again. I sneak a glance at Lorcen and find he is looking at me, he smiles and winks and places a hand on my leg and leaves it there. Too quickly we are pulling on to my street. Lorcen frowns and I look to see what has changed his mood.

  “Blaine’s here.” He states pointing at the red pickup truck on our drive.

  “He and Scott have become good mates.”

  Lorcen nods still frowning. “Is he round here a lot?”

  I shake my head, why is he so bothered about Blaine? “This is the first time he’s been here I think.”

  I put my hand over his that is still on my leg. “Do you and Blaine not get on?”

  Lorcen smirks and squeezes my hand gently. “Let’s just say that he wants what I want.”

  “And that would be?” I ask curiously, puzzled as to why there is this clear dislike between them. Lorcen looks at me and leans over the gear stick so his face is inches from mine, “You.”