^^ Well i didn't expect so many people to comment right away after the last chapter. It was great! Thanks all. As I promised a lot earlier then usual (by about 5 days) a new update.

Video on the side---> totally sets the mood for this chapter ;)

Lot's of love, enjoy reading.

xxx

Robin

'Are you sure Missy?' I asked hesitantly as I stared at my reflection in the mirror.

I was wearing a skintight dark red dress, it was the color of blood... The dress wrapped around my torso elegantly and accentuated my breasts with a narrow split down the front to reveal the inner slopes.

The dress left my back bare but flared out around the hips, if I twirled around the skirt would form a perfect circle around me. It reached till just past my knees with layers to show darker red and black underneath.

Of course Missy had also managed to get me into heels, I couldn't help it, they were just so pretty that I had to try them on. Once on Missy hadn't let me take them off again...

They were red too, darker than the dress and ribbons tied them to my feet that wrapped around my legs in elegant crosses all the way to my knees. They were so dainty and small that they made my already small feet look tiny.

'Nathaniel said to wear something comfortable...' I told my friend for the umpteenth time but I knew she wouldn't listen. To be honest... I thought I looked pretty in the mirror and the heels and dress might not have been all that comfortable, at least they made me feel really sexy and feminine.

I liked how the low but very narrow plunging neckline accentuated my mothers angel wing necklace too.

Missy sat me down on a chair and started on my hair and make up, twirling strands into curls and pinning them on my head in a fancy pattern. It looked really pretty and made me think of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...

'You look stunning already Amy and I'm not even done yet!' Exclaimed Missy as I expressed my doubts again. I was really really nervous about tonight... Would Nathaniel like the dress? Or would he think I was too young after all?

She did my make up very lightly, just some eyeliner and eyeshadow to accentuate the color of my eyes. She said I didn't need anything else and when I asked her about the hickey she'd laughed.

'Honey... You'll be with Nathaniel, he'll want to be able to see it! No need to hide it now... There you're all done, lets see if the boys downstairs approve.'

She made me wait in her bedroom while she called Elliot and Jake to come up stairs. Jake was fine, apparently the hospital thing had been excuse so he and Nathaniel could leave school earlier... Why they had to leave early Jake wouldn't explain.

When Elliot came in he whistled loudly, 'You clean up real nice Amy... Nice work baby,' then he'd just totally turned around to hug Missy and kiss her. Jake shook his head at the antics and then smiled at me, 'He's right though, you look amazing. Nathaniel is going to have a hard time keeping himself from eating you alive!'

I stared at Jake and felt just a tiny bit scared by that comment... Who complimented someone by saying they might get eaten alive? That's just plain weird!

'Go on downstairs then Amy, Nathaniel is waiting at the bottom.'

I looked at the three people in the room and then breathed in deeply, alright time to face Nathaniel.

As I slowly descended the grand flight of stairs I felt a bit like I was in a movie. Nathaniel was waiting for me at the bottom and he wore a handsomely tailored suit, black with a dark red tie, I had the feeling that was Missy's doing.

He looked breathtaking and his stormy gray eyes stared up at me filled with unadulterated desire. That send hot shivers down my spine and I nearly stumbled on the last step, his arms catching me before I could fall.

He smirked at me: 'Falling for me already Ams?'

Blushing I shook my head, 'I'm just not used to heels...'

'I told you to wear something comfortable a ghrá mo chroí,' his voice was suave as he slid an arm around my waist and started guiding me out of the house. My heels clicked on the marble floor and then on the cobblestones outside.

'You know what Missy is like, I bet she bullied you into wearing that tie so that we would match,' I told Nathaniel with a smile. We'd reached his car and like a gentleman he opened the door for me before running to the other side and getting in himself.

'Oh yes she did, she knows red is one of my favorite colors... You look very edible in red,' he said when he got inside and started the engine.

Seems like Jake's comment wasn't that weird after all... If Nathaniel thought I looked edible.

'You have some Native blood in you haven't you?' he asked me suddenly.

I nodded, surprised that he had noticed. 'Yes my mother was Cherokee...'

'I thought you just had a nice tan from the summer,' Nathaniel explained, with a look at the narrow neckline and the cleavage showing. 'But that's not a tan, it's your natural skin color...'

Blushing I nodded, it was the one thing Eliza had never called ugly... I had the distinct feeling in fact that she'd always been jealous of my skin.

'Where are we going Nathaniel?' I asked him, scanning our surroundings. Not that I recognized where we were going, after all, I still didn't know the town all that well. We just turned into a small road, out of town and into the forest that lay around it.

'It's a surprise a ghrá mo chroí,' he said with a smirk that told me he was really enjoying this. His accent had gone back to sounding Irish and I felt happy about that, it was a sign he felt comfortable around me wasn't it?

After a few more minutes the road had wound it's way up and then lights came into sight. Nathaniel helped me get out of the car and lead me down a small path to the opening of a small meadow.

The meadow was covered with lanterns hanging from every branch, lighting up the place like a fairytale. In the middle lay a large plaid, spread out and weighted down on the corners so the wind however slight, couldn't take hold of it.

Just beyond the blanket was a small spring with crystal clear water. It was very shallow and candles had been placed around it on every flat rock visible. There were floating candles in the water too.

I could only stare in wonder, had he really gone through all the trouble of making the meadow look like this?

'Do you like it a ghrá mo chroí?' Nathaniel whispered in my ear.

'It's so beautiful...' I told him softly, my voice catching in my throat. I almost wanted to cry because I felt so special...

A soft push in my back made me realize he wanted me to go to the blanket and sit down. I blushed and walked over to it, happy to sink down on the softness and hide my legs underneath the wide skirt of the dress. It was colder outside then I expected.

Nathaniel had been carrying a large picnic-basket with him and I felt silly for not having noticed it before. He sat down beside me and started unpacking it, revealing plates and glasses and a bottle of sparkling champagne.

Then he took out steaming warm pastries and other delicious smelling food.

He smiled at my wide eyes as he piled food on a single plate. 'Who knew Elliot was so good at cooking?' Then he handed me the plate and stretched his legs out behind me, so that part of my side was leaning against them, it felt nice and warm and immediately I didn't feel cold anymore.

As I took a bite of the food I couldn't help but sigh at the explosion of taste on my tongue, this was absolutely divine.

I took a small bit between my fingers and reached over to him, 'You have to try this, it's heavenly...'

His eyes followed my hand and then he obediently leaned forward to allow me to put the food in his mouth. I shivered as his lips brushed my fingers...

He chewed slowly and then swallowed, 'He should go professional with food like that...' he murmured. His eyes were still on me as I tried more of the food, watching my expression avidly as if it was the most interesting thing in theç world.

'Aren't you going to eat?' I asked after a while, feeling uncomfortable with him watching me eat.

He shrugged, 'I don't eat much a ghrá mo chroí. Would you like some wine?' he started pouring the clear champagne into two wine glasses and handed me one without waiting for a reply.

'Surely you must eat something Nathaniel...' I frowned at him as I put my plate away and accepted the glass he handed me.

'Don't worry about me Ams, I will explain something to you in a short moment. Let me enjoy watching you for just a little longer,' Nathaniel said, his voice soft and amused. A twinkling in his gray eyes as he looked at my face as if trying to memorize every little detail.

Blushing I looked away and took a few sips from the champagne. Why was he looking at me like that? Was he afraid I would disappear? Or run away?

His fingertips tilted my chin up so I would meet his eyes, 'I just want to remember you as you are now...'

I stared at him and suddenly worried that he was going to be the one to run away. He changed his mind, he didn't want to lose his job after all...

'I want to remember you as you are before I tell you my secret a ghrá mo chroí.'

Secret? Was he going to explain me about the mind reading thing? I already guessed that much hadn't I? And I hadn't runaway screaming or declared him a lunatic...

Since I had finished eating Nathaniel repacked all the food items back into the basket and pulled out a plate of strawberries. I had told him those were my favorite fruit, if it was up to me I'd eat them everyday...

'Desert,' he smiled but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes this time. He seemed nervous somehow... Was whatever secret he wanted to tell me really that big that he was afraid to tell me?

I popped a strawberry in my mouth and stared at him curiously, 'You know you can tell me anything Nathaniel...'

'I know Ams, but this is... Well you'll understand once I've told you, I hope,' he shifted closer to me and ran his fingers over the hickey on my neck. 'It wasn't on purpose a rún, I lost control...'

I shrugged even as I shivered at his touch, 'I'm not mad about it anymore... For some reason it scared off Devon.'

'Good,' he nodded. Then hesitating as if he thought of how to phrase something he said: 'Do you really believe I can read your mind?'

Oh so it was about the mind reading after all. 'Either you're really good at reading facial expressions or you can read minds... Although...' I thought about how to explain the text message from the night before.

'Yes?' he prompted.

'That message you send me last night... About the lullaby and the hickey and Hay and I always being welcome... Why did you send that? How did you know I had just sung that lullaby? That's not even mind reading that has to be, I don't know... Telepathic. Or were you secretly standing outside my bedroom window or something?'

Nathaniel nodded, 'Telepathic is the word I'd use... I was at home, Jake and Elliot can testify to that. But... We have this connection Ams, I don't even mean to listen in but... well as with the lullaby... I just heard.'

I shivered as he confirmed that I wasn't imagining those things at least. I felt almost relieved about that.

'Do you have that with a lot of people?' I wondered.

He shook his head, 'No just you a ghrá mo chroí. Missy is the Telepathic one, not me... Or at least, I'm not very strongly Telepathic...'

'Missy is Telepathic? Oh no wonder she always looks like she knows everything!' I exclaimed. I was a little worried that I wasn't freaking out about this yet but I supposed it was because I already knew this, sort of...

'Nathaniel... Have you... When you eh read my mind, can you put feelings or thoughts in it too?' I asked as I thought about all the times I felt a soft caress on my mind, filling me with warm feelings. I remembered the image of us on the desk too... It made me blush again.

Nathaniel shrugged, 'Yes I suppose but you would recognize them as foreign... I can't make you think something.'

Relieved I nodded, 'So it was you that filled my head with nice things every night before I fell asleep? And countless other moments like that?'

A smile tugged at his lips as he nodded, 'Very good. I hadn't realized you had noticed all that...' He seemed a little proud of that fact even...

'I swear though a ghrá mo chroí that I haven't intentionally read your mind again after we made that deal... Anything I picked up since then was because you were sending so strongly,' he opened his arms and I gladly crawled into them, rejoicing in his warmth.

'Sending strongly?'

'Yes for example last night you angled a thought directly at me: "You're going to pay for that hickey Mr. Flynn! Oh and the deal is off!"' I could hear the smile in his voice as he said it. 'That was very funny a rún, I fell out of bed laughing.'

I shivered as he quoted the exact sentence I had thought last night, sending it to him because I felt like he'd spied on me with the lullaby.

'You really fell out of bed Nathaniel?' I frowned, I thought I'd imagined that happening. 'And did Jake barge in to check if you were alright?'

Nathaniel chuckled and that send a pleasant vibration through my body, 'Yes a ghrá mo chroí, that is exactly what happened.'

'You planted that image in my head then, because I remember it,' I told him.

I felt him shake although I couldn't see his face seated like this, 'No Ams... That was all your own doing.'

I twisted around so I could see his face, 'Are you saying I'm Telepathic too or something?'

He was frowning and tugged me into his lap, it made my heartbeat race. 'No I don't think you are... we are just, very connected.'

'Why?'

'Why what a ghrá mo chroí?' he focused his stormy gray eyes on mine.

'Why do you think we're connected?' I asked even as my heart screamed it me that it was true. That connection even now told me that Nathaniel wasn't as nervous as before, my easy acceptance of the whole Telepathy thing, it had eased his mind.

'Do you believe in love at first sight Amelia?' he asked instead of answering my question.

I breathed in sharply, was it a coincidence that he echoed Missy now or at least my very own thoughts when Missy told me about her feelings for Elliot? I knew that when she explained her feelings I had thought that before Nathaniel I wouldn't have believed it...

I felt my cheeks heating up as I blushed but I nodded at him, 'Yes I believe in it.'

The muscles in his arms were tense as he wrapped them around me, 'So do I... I also believe in Soulmates. Have you heard of that principle?'

Twisting further in his lap I made sure I was facing him by wrapping my arms around his neck, my fingers automatically entangling in his silky hair. 'I have heard of it...'

For a moment Nathaniel closed his beautiful eyes, breathing in deeply as if he enjoyed the feel of my hands in his hair. My heart was beating wildly in my chest now, nervous about what he was going to say next.

'Amelia...' He trailed off and for the first time ever I realized that he was unsure of himself. As if he was afraid that his next words would scare me off.

'You think we are Soulmates?' I asked him, wanting desperately to ease his mind. I couldn't stand to see him unsure, it wasn't right.

He gasped at my bold words, his eyes flying open to meet mine, 'Yes I believe that.'

Smiling at him I leaned in and softly brushed my lips across his in a feather light kiss. 'So do I...' because the word Soulmate rang like a chime in my mind. I could only too well remember what it had felt like when I first laid eyes on him.

Love at first sight definitely fit that description but it was more, much more then that. Because I felt whole around him, complete and despite our differences I also felt safe and accepted and he always made me feel at ease. So at ease that I found myself telling him things I usually didn't share.

The need to share with him was very strong too, and the need to actually BE with him even stronger. That elastic band feeling, it felt like being away from him literally put a strain on my body and it was so hard to be around him when I couldn't actually touch him.

Not to mention that mental connection we obviously shared...

Nathaniel kissed me again, fiercer than my kiss had been but gentle none the less. It wasn't like any of the kisses we'd shared before... except maybe the first one.

'You believe me? You don't think I'm a... creep? A freak?' he asked a little breathlessly, pushing me down on my back on the blanket. Hovering over me, leaning his weight on his arms on either side of me.

'Nathaniel... Of course not! I wouldn't think you're a creep... I feel the same,' I pulled his face down to mine for another kiss.

'Good,' he said as we came up for air, 'Because I love you and I'm not letting you go.' His arrogance restored now obviously.

Despite the fact that I knew what the whole Soulmate principle implied I still shivered in delight at hearing him say that he loved me. It made me glow on the inside and wishing to share that feeling with him I reached out, not with my body but with my mind.

'I love you too Nathaniel...'

He moaned, 'So maybe you are Telepathic a ghrá mo chroí... You're too good at it already.' I felt him touch my mind with his and he reflected what he felt back, just like I had done.

The fierce drive to protect me was shocking and made my heart swell, followed by so much tenderness and love... He was glowing too from the inside out. Desire had flared up in him now and he attached his lips to mine again.

Kissing me so passionately that my toes curled in my shoes.

He held himself in check though this time, his gray eyes boring into mine as we parted for air. His hands still on either side of me holding on to the blanket we were lying on.

'Ams...' he started but feeling confident I shushed him. 'Nathaniel will you tell me what a ghrá mo chroí means now?' I asked him.

He frowned at my interruption but then said: 'A ghrá mo chroí means: my heart's beloved. I call you that because it is what you are...'

I smiled, 'That is really sweet...' The thought that he'd basically been saying he loved me all this time was really amazing. Blushing I kissed him again.

'Do I need to have an endearment to call you all the time too?'

He chuckled, 'No, I rather like it when you call me Nathaniel... No one these days uses my full name anymore.'

I pushed him over so he was on his back and straddled him, I had only been able to push him over because he had allowed me to. I knew that if he wanted to remain on top, he'd have no problem staying there.

He raised a single eyebrow and looked up at me with an amused expression on his face, although I could feel that the action had aroused him. I was sitting right on top of the evidence. My skirt flared out around my hips so that it draped over his chest and down his legs.

'Was there something else you wanted to tell me?' I asked him, remembering how I had interrupted him and that we had sort of gotten sidetracked on the whole Soulmate thing. It wasn't what he originally wanted to tell me.