Page 76 of Rewitched

“I thought it was just light-heartedness or a good luck charm!”

She flared back. “Oh, forgive me for not baby-proofing the place. If you couldn’t tell from the outfit, I wasn’t expecting visitors!”

“Do you know how powerful infatuation is? And you just place it next to the bloody chocolate biscuits?”

“I was distracted! You being all large and overwhelming in my living room, turning up unannounced with big yellow flowers that smell all…nice. Maybe if you—”

“You’re telling me we’ve both just sunk an infatuation potion?”

“Looks that way!”

“For someone who overthinks every possible element of life into oblivion—”

“You don’t know anything about me!”

“I know enough!”

They had been taking unconscious steps towards each other. Their shoulders rose and fell in unison, both breathing heavily. The fire in the hearth crackled and popped against the silence, the energy between them echoing the sound. Suddenly, Rune’s hand found Belle’s waist, closing the already shrinking space between them. He tugged her sharply towards him as though it were instinct, as though he had to, as though he couldn’t possibly contemplate her body not being pressed against him for a second longer.

His lips found hers, and Belle felt as though she would melt as her stomach flipped in an intense, tugging somersault. The kiss was all-consuming, the frenzied feeling of a forest fire ravaging everything in its wake. His hips fit perfectly flush against hers, he rolled against her as though to prove it, and a throaty, gravelly sound came from the base of his throat.

“It’s the potion…” she whispered. She knew it, grappling for an ounce of reason or control but only finding need when his arms wrapped around her and his hands followed the base of her back.

“Just go with it. Do you want to go with it?”

“Yes. Definitely yes. Do you?”

“I’ve never wanted anything more.”

Belle’s hands moved to tangle in his hair as the kiss slipped deeper, Rune taking stumbling steps backwards towards the sofa as they collapsed onto it together without separating.

“I was wrong, by the way.”

“About what?” Belle said breathily, leaning in against him as her fingers fumbled at the hem of his T-shirt, tugging it over his head as quickly as humanly possible.

“I don’t know enough,” he breathed back. “I could never know enough about you,” he said, leaving behind slow, hungry kisses on her throat to linger and burn on her skin. “You’re fascinating. And a wonder. And weird. And beautiful. And impossible. In the best ways I’ve ever known anybody to be. I want to know all of you. Everything.”

His words buoyed her confidence beyond its usual remit. She threw a leg across his lap and his body responded, hitching her to sit just right as she straddled the thighs of his jeans. Belle felt out of control in her own body, like her instinct had been heightened to a level she’d never found before.

“Look at you.”

The words caught in his throat in a growl as his gaze flipped between exquisitely soft admiration and a liquid, languid desire that she thought might just kill her. He held her steady on his lap, a burning friction palpable between them, thumbs brushing over the curves of her as his grip just below her ribs tightened possessively. Whatever magic was passing between them was a force to be reckoned with.

The tinkle of glass snapped their senses like an elastic band. As a cushion toppled from the couch, the small vial that had held the infatuation potion was knocked off the coffee table and smashed into an array of tiny pieces on the wooden floor. They both turned their heads to look at it, and it was as though they had awoken from a dream, reality barging into the scene. A spell broken.

What was she doing? If this was going to happen, she didn’t want it to be because of a spell. She swung herself off his lap. Rune gave a sniffed half-laugh.

“That was some potion,” Belle said, her voice sounding hoarse as her shoulders heaved and she caught her breath.

“Right. The potion,” he said quietly.

“Amazing what some blood orange, rose quartz, ginger and vanilla extract can do together…Smelled like cake mix by the time it finished brewing. Good to know it works. I can’t…I can’t believe that just happened. Can you believe that? That’s the worst possible thing we could have let happen.” She gave a strained fake laugh and chanced a glance over at him still sprawled on the sofa.

His smile had fallen, the usual look of composure returned as he stared fixedly into the flames of the fireplace. He tugged his T-shirt back over his head. “The worst possible thing,” he agreed quietly.

“Not our finest hour,” she rambled, replacing the sofa cushions that had tumbled to the floor.

Rune studied her face for a moment. He shook his head, as though clearing his thoughts. “Totally. My bad. I shouldn’t have…”