CHAPTER SIX #2
My tummy twists, heart thumping at the thought of kissing him.
An alarm cuts through the air, and he jerks upright, pulling his phone from a pocket. “That’s the station. Gotta get to work. Gotta go save lives, babe.”
This just keeps getting worse. “Babe” is exactly the last word Luke would ever say. If he didn’t hate me before, he sure does now.
But book-me keeps going. I set a hand on his arm to stop him from turning away. “Let me make you dinner! For saving my cat.”
“You got it.” He chucks me under the chin. “How about Friday?
“Friday night is a date night.” I bat my eyelashes so hard I get dizzy. At this rate, I wouldn’t blame him for assuming I have a medical condition.
“You know it, babe.” He chucks me under the chin again. “It’s a date.”
I let out a sigh as he hops the fence and races back into the house next door. It’s the same cute little cottage Mrs. Greely lives in, but inside the book, Luke and I are neighbors instead.
Unable to turn away, I watch him until he disappears inside.
Then golden sparkles surround us, and the book world spins and spins until I’m carried away. We land back in my kitchen, my abandoned cup of chai still sitting on the counter, the apple tree outside still bare and snow covered.
The second the spell releases me, I sag, the smile slipping from my face. “Oh, god, Luke just saw me in lingerie!”
“You think that’s bad,” Princess Buttercup says, her tail lashing. “Whatever this is just turned me into the type of cat to get stuck in a tree. As if I’d ever! The indignity!”
Shock skips through me, and I gape at her.
“What was that?” Princess Buttercup’s front paws cling to my shoulder. “Why were we somewhere else?”
I stroke her soft back, amazed that she talks. “You’re my familiar!”
“Of course I am.” She stares at me, her amber eyes amused. “Did you think I’d let anyone else have my human?”
A laugh sputters out of me, making my chest shake. “You think you own me?”
“Don’t I?” She wiggles. “Put me down.”
“As you wish.” The familiar phrase slips out of me as I bend over, so she can jump to the floor.
“See. My human.” She prances across the kitchen, her tail held high and triumphant, and stops in front of her bowl. “More food.”
“You already ate.”
“Wet food’s good, but it’s not real chicken.” Her clever eyes watch me for several seconds. When her ploy doesn’t work, she plonks down and lifts one back leg, toes straining toward the ceiling as she starts to take a bath.
“We need to talk about this. You’re my familiar! You’re supposed to help me with my magic.”
“Is that what the apple tree was?” She lowers her leg and looks at me. “Magic?”
“Yes. I did a spell—by accident—and it sends me into a book. The cat in the book must have gotten caught in the tree so that the main characters could meet while undressed.”
“Well, I don’t like it. I’m not an incompetent climber.”
“You’re an inside cat, and I adopted you from the shelter as a kitten. You’ve never climbed a tree.” I don’t remind her about her curtain-climbing phase. She grew out of it a couple of years ago, and I never want to go back. Her claws would positively shred all of my new curtains.
“That doesn’t matter.” Princess Buttercup lifts her chin regally. “If I climbed a tree, you can be assured I’d do it the right way and not get stuck.”
I bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud, teeth digging in as my shoulders shake. She’s so adorably sure of herself.
“Anyway, you’re a powerful witch. I’m glad I picked you all those years ago.”
“Don’t you mean you’re glad I picked you?” I say.
“Hardly.” She trots over and winds around my calves. “You’re not remembering things clearly. You came into the room with several other humans, and I picked you.”
The tiny animal shelter out by the highway only has enough workers to let people in to adopt a couple of days a week.
I visited the cat room in one of the Saturday groups.
While the other people headed straight for various cats that caught their eye, I stood in the center of the room, uncertain.
Then a tiny ball of calico fluff marched up to me and meowed a demanding squeak.
I picked her up, and she nestled against my neck, showing off her extra-loud purr for the first time.
And just like that, I was a goner, already in love.
“You’re right.” I crouch to give her some chin scratches. “You totally picked me. Thank you.”
She nudges her head into my hand and gives her signature purr, the happiness of the sound still one of my favorite things in the world.
Pounding rattles my front door, making us both jump.
“Skye,” Luke bellows.
“Snickerdoodle!” I jump to my feet. “How did he get here so fast?”
“Is that the smoky man?” Princess Buttercup asks. “I like him. He’s warm.”
He pounds some more, the thumps echoing through my small cottage until it sounds as if he’ll break down the wooden door. Fae are so much stronger than humans, he very well might, whether he means to or not.
I race to the front entry, stopping only to throw on my winter coat, belting it around me instead of taking the time to do up the buttons.
I feel kind of ridiculous wearing heavy wool over lingerie—like a stripper ready to go from zero to sixty with one disrobe—but I can’t handle him seeing me in my camisole and panties in the real world.
Luke, it seems, has zero issues with being just as naked as in the book, because when I throw open the door, he’s wearing sinfully tight brown leather pants and nothing else, not even shoes.
I skitter backward, and he strides forward, his tail lashing out to close the door behind him.
My heart gives a skip, then races. It was one thing to be so close to all that bare chest while in my pretend backyard.
It’s a completely different thing to be faced with the reality of him here, in the tiny entryway of my home.
The real Luke is even larger than the book version, his partially spread wings adding to his size.
More than that, there’s the force of his magic—it rolls over me, taking my breath away.
“What was that?” he growls. “I spoke words that weren’t mine. I did things I don’t do!”
Like smile. God, that devastating smile. Too bad he’ll never give me one because he actually wants to.
“Why was it different from the dance lesson?” he snarls. “Why did it take over my body so completely this time?”
“The dance lesson scene didn’t have a lot of couple-specific dialogue.
It’s written in a more narrative style that summarizes their actions instead of offering a second-by-second description.
” I purse my lips. “This most recent scene must have had specific dialogue and actions.” My cheeks heat as I remember the excessive eyelash fluttering.
“So we were made to do what the main characters do.”
“Why aren’t you certain about this morning’s scene?”
“I only read the opening part of the book,” I squeak, a little mouse. “I didn’t make it to the cat-in-a-tree scene.”
“I hate that scene.” Princess Buttercup saunters past me and winds around Luke’s legs.
“I know you do, sweetie,” I say.
“Wait.” Luke’s golden eyes spear into mine. “The cat is your familiar?”
“You can understand her?” I thought I was the only one who could. From everything I’ve read, it’s part of the witch-familiar bond. Except for Hannah, that is, since her magic gives her the ability to talk to all animals.
“No, but I can tell that you do.” He grunts, his wings settling on his back. “It’s a good sign. It means you’re a powerful enough witch to take control of your magic.”
The tip of his tail twitches, and the cat pounces. Her front paws, spread wide at the top of the leap, snap together as she lands on the end of his tail.
Luke makes a strangled sound.
“Sorry!” I yelp. “Princess Buttercup, stop that! You’re hurting him.”
“Actually, it tickles,” he says, an unfamiliar tinge of amusement coloring his voice. His gaze goes a little soft as he watches her chew on the tip of his tail. “She reminds me of the younglings.”
“Younglings?” I say quietly, not wanting to break the spell of this gentler mood he’s fallen into.
“We have several dragon younglings in Alarria. They’re all raised together in the nursery cave, deep in the Dular Mountains.”
“That’s the Faerie realm you come from?” I’ve heard about it. It’s where the pizza pixies lived before coming to Ferndale Falls and where most orcs—and Naomi—still live.
He nods.
“And you miss them,” I say.
“I miss having a hand in their schooling.” He straightens, his face regaining its usual stern expression. “A proper education is especially important for dragons, since they will grow up to become preeminent scholars.”
Uh huh, sure. I don’t argue with him, but I saw that bit of longing—he misses them.
“None of that is why I’m here. We need to break your spell before we’re pulled back into further scenes like this morning. I thought the dancing was bad enough, but this…” He shakes his head, anger flashing in his golden eyes.
I want to sink into the floor.
Luke absolutely hates that he had to flirt with me. So what’s he going to do if we have to kiss… or more?