Her hands roamed over his chest, feeling his heart beating against her palms as his hands moved up her body, trailing up her arms with a feather-light touch until they reached her collar, then her neck.
His hand came around her throat, fingers gently pressing into her skin, and her heart rate spiked against the delicious pressure. As they continued kissing, his hands slipped further up, into her hair, which was still twisted up.
‘Take your hair down,’ he said, his voice gravelly.
She shivered, doing as she was told, and something glinted in his eyes.
‘So youdolike to be commanded,’ he said.
‘Shut up.’ She pushed him back onto the bed.
‘So bossy.’ He grinned, pulling her onto him, then rolling her over so he could trail kisses down her skin. She gasped in delight, holding tight onto his hair as he went further down, kissing her just where she wanted.
A starry eternity later, when they were both thoroughly exhausted, they fell asleep, bodies entwined.
She hoped he was right—that everything would be perfectly fine—but even as she fell asleep to the steady pound of his heart, her own heart dreaded what was to come.
33
Bisma woke to howling winds.
The Enchanted Forest was crying out. She didn’t understand; the poisonous border should have kept the workers away, and even if it hadn’t, they couldn’t have caused that much damage in such a short time.
‘Xander,’ she said, untangling herself from him. ‘Something’s wrong.’
She sat up, throwing the blanket off. When she stood, Xander was right behind her, groggily blinking.
‘What is it?’ he asked.
She went to the window, but she couldn’t see anything beyond the flying leaves and the shaking branches of the trees.
She quickly threw on a sweater and her boots, then ran down the stairs, Xander following. They left the treehouse, heading for the border. As she ran, she had a terrible feeling.
The Forest was in pain; she could feel it in the air. It was worse than when the workers had cut down the trees. Those had been scratches, while this felt like a deep wound.
What was happening?
Then she saw the smoke. She stopped in her tracks, horror cutting through her.
They had set the Enchanted Forest on fire.
‘Xander, the Forest,’ she said, her voice breaking.
He was beside her, seeing what she was seeing.
She started running again, heading for the smoke.
As they approached the border, she felt the heat and saw the flames. Everything was covered with thick black smoke.
‘Forrie!’ she called, coughing. The fire was spreading fast. A branch reached out and lifted her and Xander from the ground, depositing her up high on one of the trees so they could see exactly what was happening and breathe more easily.
The poisonous border had been reduced to ash, and all the trees beyond that were aflame. The sound of crackling wood was loud in her ears, over the pounding of her frightened heart.
‘There!’ Xander said, pointing.
She followed his gaze and saw Frederick and his workers. They had enough kindling and oil to set the entire Forest on fire.
‘They’re going to burn it all to the ground,’ Bisma whispered, appalled. Tears pricked her eyes.
