Chapter 16 - Just a Spell
Icrashed backward against a clump of dried bushes. Glancing around quickly, I was relieved to find that we had indeed arrived back at the barren desert beneath my clock tower.
Groaning, I ignored the aching in my back from the impact and secured my grasp around Allie. Immediately shooting upward to fly us to my loft, a simple spell set the metal door to my loft flying wide open.
I hauled Allie’s icy figure onto my bed to assess her condition. My shoulders slacked in relief to find she was breathing again.
“Allie?” I called to her. “Wake up. We’re back.”
“I wanted—a discovery—I’m sorry—”
“Allie?” I frowned.
Somehow, her temperature was still dropping. Her eyes fluttered open and closed, as if she was floating in and out of consciousness. She tried to shake her head. “It was the only—I had to find—” She mumbled unintelligibly. “Those ghosts—”
I shook my head. “Those ghosts won’t harm you now. You almost froze to death—again. You shouldn’t have gone to the underworld.”
She was delirious. “I’m dead. I died—”
“No, Allie, no. You’re alive.” Shrugging off my cloak, I tore open the neck of my shirt, took her hand, and pressed it against my bare chest. I winced at the ice of her fingers but murmured deep in my throat, “Feel this. Your heart beats beneath my chest. I am alive. You are alive.”
I couldn’t help my eyebrows furrowing in concern as I looked her over.
Her face was pale, eyes closed, lips blue.
Not much different from when I had first found her frozen in the wastes.
Except…
Heat. She needs heat.
My chest heaving, my gaze pinned on her mouth. Allie’s heart pounded harder in my chest as a dull ache tugged at the pit of my stomach. My lips tingled.
It’s okay if you want to kiss me… Perhaps if my life depended on it…
I stroked her bottom lip with my thumb. “Allie…you need to get warm.”
I bent my head and covered her mouth with mine to initiate a revival spell. The drain on my magic was immediate. Such was the nature of energy transfer magic. Last time, it didn’t even occur to me to use this much of my power on her for healing purposes.
But now…
No time to hesitate, I pushed my tongue past her cold lips to give her my heat.
Even as I convinced myself I was doing it to save her life, I couldn’t help the rumble in my chest at the taste of her. God, but she was sweet.
The last thing I should be doing was kissing this girl but there was a vague prickling in my chest. I couldn’t lose her.
A faint moan escaped Allie. A hint of surrender that lit a fire deep in my soul.
“Yes, Allie.” My murmurs against her lips were husky and low. “I am here. Feel me.”
It was working. Her fingertips grasped at my neck had warmed considerably.
It was enough.
When I moved to break off, a sting of reluctant protest burned my chest.
But Allie lifted her chin, chasing my lips for more.
God—
A helpless groan pulled from my throat and I dipped my head to capture her mouth all over again.
I grasped the nape of her neck to angle her head to receive my warmth better, in turn deepening the kiss, slanting my lips punishingly hard across hers…soft, pliant.
Another groan tore from my throat when those same fingers slid up into my hair, clutching at me. She was tugging me closer.
Allie’s rigid body was warming up, yielding, and my healing spell slowly grew into something else.
Shifting my hard body to cover hers, my insistent lips traced a hot line past her jaw, beneath her ear, down her neck. My nose dug into her hair as I cradled her body against mine. The fragrance of flowers filled my lungs once again. When I shifted again, I couldn’t help my hips nestling between her legs. Down there, she was much, much…warmer.
I groaned yet again. I hadn’t had a companion share my bed in a few days. The tug of want deep in my belly was close to unbearable, but somehow, for a change, it was more than her body calling to mine. The aching constriction in my chest was of a different nature. Looking up at her face, I moved my hand to brush her hair back.
I wanted to gaze into those lustrous eyes. I wanted her to give me that derisive look. I wanted her to try to make me laugh again.
I stroked her cheek to whisper, “Allie…”
As if on cue, Allie jerked to sit up with a loud gasp.
Eyes wide, I rolled to avoid smacking our foreheads together and fell off the bed with a hard thump on the wooden floor.
“Ow—!”
Groaning, I rubbed my back as I sat up on the hard floor. I took a few moments to catch my breath, to calm myself down.
Ah, dammit.
I felt…interrupted. I couldn’t help the annoyance in my tone. “Was that really necessary?”
Allie’s gaze darted this way and that as she got her bearings. Then she covered her mouth with her hand. That look in her eyes was an easy giveaway. She knew exactly what we’d just done.
She could probably still feel my kiss.
I sure as heck could still feel hers.
I glanced away. “Um…” I debated getting up and walking away if only to escape the discomfort, but this was my loft.
She pushed her hair back behind her ear. Her face flaming red, she cleared her throat. “So…that wasn’t exactly CPR.”
Cracking my neck, I shifted in my seat. “It was a healing spell. Sorry if I—”
“Oh, no, no.” Allie waved her hand to dismiss. “I understand. It’s fine.” Dropping her gaze, she stroked her bottom lip with her finger in deep thought.
“What?” I asked.
I thought her cheeks tinged pink again.
Narrowing my eyes, I prompted again, “What?”
“Nothing, um…” She hesitated. “Remember I kept saying everything in this world tastes like waffles?”
“What about it?” I raised an eyebrow.
“They do though.” She nodded. “The Duchess’s soup. The Hatter’s tea. Everything in this world tastes like waffles to me… Except you.”
Swallowing hard, my gaze dropped to her red lips, still plump and swollen…because of me.
Allie had tasted like strawberry tea.
And cloudy days and lost memories…
Before I could stop and wonder if she perhaps liked how I tasted, I shook off the notion.
Ignoring the stir in my stomach, I straightened up. “Either way, you’re still alive. And we made it back. Even with all the shenanigans from that mad Hatter.”
Sliding her legs to the side of the bed so she could put her feet on the floor, she bit her lip. “I’m sorry we weren’t able to get the Hatter’s Heartlamp.”
I shook my head. “I reckon there was no way that the Hatter would have let us get that Heartlamp. If indeed it was even a real one to begin with. It’s possible many of those things were mere illusions. I think that madman was simply toying with us.”
Her face pale, Allie gave a disheartened nod. She understood I was also referring to the alleged doorway back to her home. Her gaze was still on the floor. “Thank you for saving me. Even though, I now understand it’s because you were only trying to protect yourself.”
I opened my mouth to argue but stopped myself.
Her restless eyes couldn’t settle on a spot. Her mind was likely still reeling from everything that had just happened.
I frowned. An unspoken protest weighed on my chest. She didn’t know I didn’t have to rescue her. She didn’t know I could have just let her get mauled by the ghosts. I wanted to explain. I wanted her to really understand…
Allie pushing up off the bed nearly startled me. “I should…probably get some rest,” she declared. “Now that I’m…” She trailed off, her voice faltering.
Stuck here, I finished for her in my head as there was a dull thud in my chest. With me.
But before I could offer any sort of comfort, she had hurried away to clatter down the spiral staircase.