Page 59 of Freed By the Witchbone Knife

“Oh, did they?” My lips were a smile against his skin.

“Yeah.” His voice grew rougher. “They added their own personal touch. See?”

I wanted to see. But I didn’t want to turn my head away from where I pressed against him. But I did. And promptly burst out laughing. The pumpkin arrangement next to the fireplace already had little teeth marks scored into the pumpkins and a mess of straw on the ground around it.

“Listen, little witch.” His voice grew serious. “I want you to know that nothing Blackthorn said is true, eh?”

“Axel.”

“No. Listen here.” He pulled back until we were face to face. Close enough to kiss. Close enough that I could practically taste the cinnamon gum he must have been chewing earlier. “You’re not broken. You’re not damaged. You can’t go thinking that about yourself.”

“I… I know.” My voice was thick.

“We’ll get your magic back.” His expression softened. “Whatever it takes. Understand?”

I nodded.

“Good.” He set me down and stepped back. I immediately missed his warmth.

But I was also excited to explore, so I set about checking out all his hard work. There was a whole candle arrangement resting on the coffee table. Small pumpkins and florals accenting it. Sunflower arrangements sat on several surfaces. There were pumpkins everywhere. And little glass lanterns like the ones outside. All glowing with electric candles.

“Where did you…? How did you pull this off?”

“I drove into Ashton. Called all their craft stores and hardware stores in advance.” Ashton was one of the biggest cities in the country. “Purchased all their electric candles. Look at this.” He reached for a remote on the nearby end table, then clicked a button. All the electric candles went off at the same time. Then they clicked back on. “Got ‘em programmed, see?”

“Oh…”

“The rest of the stuff, the string lights and such, are on automatic timers. You won’t have to worry about them. The pumpkins came from Ashton as well. I didn’t want to clean out the local patch. They’ve got their big Fling coming up.”

A giggle erupted and I clamped my lips closed. “This must have filled up your entire truck.”

“A bit, yeah.”

It’s like a craft store had vomited up all its decorations. But in a tasteful way. Because he’d put real thought into this.

“I absolutely love it,” I said, failing to hide the emotion in my voice. “It’s… It’s the best thing I’ve ever seen. I… You didn’t have to do this for me.”

He gave a casual shrug. “I wanted to.”

And this was exactly why I was falling for him. Which meant I was in so much trouble. Because I was falling for a man who wasn’t interested in forming any kind of relationship with me.

16

The last of the equipment was loaded onto the UTV and secured so it wouldn’t come loose during their journey. Axel had thought of everything. Hopefully.

His heart continued to hammer a painful rhythm in his chest. For too many reasons. Some of which he didn’t want to dwell on.

“How about one teensy little hint?” Rebecca stood by, her arms crossed as she watched him skeptically. She was dressed for hiking.

That had been her plan this Saturday morning.

“You’ll see soon enough, lass. Just get on. Here—” He motioned her forward. She stepped up to the vehicle and then climbed in.

He spent longer than necessary buckling her into the harness. His fingers might have lingered. It was especially satisfying when her breath hitched as he checked the buckle around her chest, grazing the underside of her breast.

He needed the closeness, especially knowing what would come later. So he took his time, breathing in her scent. Letting it calm him before he got cold feet.

Then he rounded the vehicle and climbed in. It rocked with his weight. He fastened himself into place though it was unnecessary, given that a fall from this wouldn’t hurt him.