Page 36 of A Spell of Heart & Havoc

“How does that feel?” she asked quietly.

17

DOVE

I lifted trembling fingers from Maerryl’s bandage. My heart pounded. It felt absurdly loud in the quiet of her room. Surely she hears it? I need to calm down.

“Better. Much better. Thank you,” she quietly replied. I felt her watching me, and my skin prickled pleasantly. I should move away. This was Maerryl. Maerryl! I loathed her.

Didn’t I?

But something was pulling me toward her. An undeniable tug, ever since we’d collided in the road. Since she’d saved me, and taken this injury doing so.

My breath caught as we moved closer.

I felt her chin brush against my hair. The warmth of her jaw pressed on my temple, and I smothered a gasp. Electric, a burst of searing heat where we’d touched. I leaned closer. She moved in too, nuzzling against me again like a cat. I could hear her breathing—It was unsteady, like my own, and it goaded me on.

Lifting my face, I caught her lips with mine. She inhaled sharply but didn’t move away. We stayed there for a moment that felt like forever, pressed together gently. It felt so easy. So perfect. Like her lips were made for mine, and they’d just been waiting to meet.

Licking into her mouth softly, I hummed with pleasure. She deepened our kiss, sparking a tingle all down my neck, through my chest, to the tips of my breasts. I let my body take over. Her lips were thinner than mine, the normally hard slash of her snarky mouth softening as it moved with me, letting me explore. My head spun.

I brushed the sharp line of Maerryl’s jaw with light fingertips, and she groaned. Sitting forward in her chair, she reached for me, pulling me closer. I stretched up from where I knelt, feeling the same need to be nearer. As near as possible.

My tongue moved against hers, heat stirring low in my belly. She kissed me like she never wanted to stop. When she nipped my lower lip again, just like she had in the road, I felt it straight down to my pussy—so sudden and fierce that I did gasp this time. Maerryl pulled back swiftly, hazel eyes searching mine.

I inhaled rapidly, trying to catch my breath.

“Blood loss,” I blurted. Her questioning gaze burned into me, and she cocked her head.

“You’ve lost quite a lot of—I mean, perhaps we shouldn’t do this when you’re, um, so compromised,” I said, drawing away and scrambling to my feet. “You’re not in your, ah, right mind.”

“Well, that’s certainly true,” she said, a smile touching her kiss-reddened mouth.

I backed away, moving toward my door. On the way, I placed the salve tin on a table. “Exactly. Right. So… I should just go. And, um, leave you to rest!”

“Dove, wait—” Maerryl’s voice followed me, but I hurried through the door and closed it with a thud. And then activated the magical seal for good measure.

What the fuck just happened??

Hours later, after I’d bathed and begged off from supper with excuses of a migraine, I lay in bed trying and failing to ignore the phantom memory of Maerryl’s lips. Snuggling into the downy pillows, I stared up at the silk canopy of my bed, mind whirring with everything that had happened. A light, chilly breeze came through the window I’d propped open. Petra came and went earlier, chattering away, asking question after question about my day at the priory. I’d answered distractedly, catching her up while leaving out the inconvenient incident. Well, a few incidents. An attempted robbery—or kidnapping? A kiss. And oh yes, another kiss.

Goddess. What was I going to do? Petra seemed slightly… not suspicious, exactly, but definitely concerned. She knew something was up. And part of me felt terrible for not telling her.

At least she seemed to accept my lie about the red stain on the front of my riding habit. I’d told her it was paint from class today—that one of the young children had smeared it on me accidentally.

Who had even initiated the first kiss, there in the road? No matter how closely I ran through the memory—and oh, what a gloriously sexy memory it was—I still couldn’t tell which of us was to blame. I suppose I’d hugged her. And then accidentally tackled her. But that had been in a relieved, thank-you-for-saving-me sort of way. Not a let’s-make-out-in-the-road type of way. Right??

Nevertheless, it had turned into that somehow. I’d felt like I just escaped death or kidnapping or at least a very embarrassing mugging. And Maerryl had been right there, underneath me, looking all brave and heroic and dashingly beautiful…

I shook my head, then grabbed a flouncy pillow and tried to smother myself. It is truly absurd you are even thinking about this so much. Get ahold of yourself, woman. What about the fact that a huge scary orc attacked you? And that it seems like your parents were right about you needing a bodyguard?

I hated when they were right. Thankfully, it happened quite rarely. But one thing was for sure—they could never know about the attack. Never. They’d probably lock me up and throw away the key.

Have to protect their asset. What would they do without their magical jewel-producing daughter, answer to all their financial woes? a nasty little voice in my head whispered.

That was unkind though. They did care about me, I knew they did. In their own way.

Sighing, I flipped over on my belly, pulling the thick comforter over my head until just my eyes and nose poked out. I gazed out the window onto the clear night sky, moon hanging low and yellow.