Heart jackknifing in her chest, she squeaked, “H-Hey, it’s done—”
Quick as lightning, a heavy hand clasped the back of her neck and drew her down to stare into dazed blue eyes.
A second passed where they simply stared at one another, their breaths mingling in the scant few inches that separated them. Nelly didn’t see recognition in his gaze, but she also didn’t see aggression. That had to be a good sign, right?
Keeping her voice low, she said, “You feeling all right, cowboy?”
Clark’s lips parted. His eyes, an infuriatingly pretty baby blue, opened wide in slow motion.
She parted her lips to say more, to at least partially explain what had happened, but he didn’t give her the chance. Between one breath and the next, he’d tugged her down and arched up at the same time.
It wasn’t quite a kiss. It was a seeking, sharing sort of touch. An exchange of breath and a request all in one hungry glide of his lips over hers. His car engine rumble switched to deep, sonorous purr.
For the briefest moment, Nelly was too shocked to do more than feel. Even her mind, tricky and quick as it was, struggled to accept reality as Clark made a soft, pleading note in the back of his throat, his lips moving restlessly over hers — back and forth, back and forth.
Please,the skimming lips plead.Let me in.
And then, like the flip of a switch, her magic and mind came back online.
Except there was no rush of memories. No debilitating psychic blow. She didn’t drown in Clark as his life washed over her.
Instead, her magic rushedout.
Hot, bright, and bubbling, it surged from somewhere deep inside of her to run through her veins at lightning speed. Before she could stop it, before she could even realize what was happening, it exploded outward — and into him.
ChapterFive
He wasn’tsure how long he’d been asleep, but going by the state of his head and his stiff back, he was willing to bet it had been a while.
Clark grimaced as he stretched, wondering why in the world the mattress in his nest had suddenly become so damn uncomfortable. Maybe it was time for a new one?Ugh, I just bought this one. If they say something’s good for a lifetime, it ought to last longer than a few mo—
His hand brushed something rough. A rug, maybe. Somewhere behind him, a fire crackled, sending waves of heat over him in irregular intervals.
And all around him, a sweet, sugary scent twined with clove, cinnamon, and pine.Nelly.
He wasn’t on his mattress. He wasn’t in his nest at all.
Clark’s eyes popped open. Above him, a ceiling bisected with roughly hewn beams glittered with strings of lights. They swam for a second, briefly doubled, and then came back together again.
It felt a bit like someone had driven a shovel through his head, or like that time when he and his childhood friend Kaz got into a scrap. The sonofabitch had fists like anvils and moved faster than a damn rattlesnake. Before he knew it, Clark was on the ground, spitting up a fang.
He couldn’t be mad, though, since he’d gotten a good hit in, too. Kaz’s nose never did look the same after that. At least Clark was able to get the fang replaced with a fancy synthetic one. He was pretty certain Kaz never did see a healer to get his nose fixed.
But he hadn’t gotten into a fight. Had he? No. He certainly wouldn’t have fought anywhere near Nelly, with her delicate human bones and skin. One accidental blow and she’d shatter. Just the thought made his stomach twist with nausea. No, he’d never—
Nelly.
Soft, sweet, sugary. Clark blinked, surprised by the force at which desire shuttled through him. It didn’t seem to matter that his brain felt like it had been stomped on. He was hard as granite.
Gotta find her.
Was he in her house? How had he gotten there? Was he— Yes, he was covered in a sweet, Nelly-scented blanket and his head propped up on a vanilla-infused pillow. How in the world had that gotten there?
Doesn’t matter. Need Nelly.
Sweat broke out over his naked torso as he tried to sit up, the urge to hunt the source of that sweet scent down like a drumbeat in the back of his pounding head. Luckily, he didn’t have to look far.
When he finally managed to sit up on his hands, the blanket pooling in his lap, a series of questions bounced through his head in the same instant that he spotted her:Why am I shirtless? Why do I have gloves on? Why the fuck am I still wearing my pants and boots? Gods, has she always been so fucking pretty?
