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She nodded, sniffling She could deny hi, because as he’d said, she was his "I love you"
It was out there before she could stop it The first tiirlhood The declaration had terrified her, because she’d realized it waswoman’s crush The all-powerful sorcerer was a charismatic part of him, but it was the man, Derek Stormwind, the one who liked to sith her at the beach, who didn’t like raisins but loved oat a car, the one who got cranky if she tried to elicit dialoguecoffee… That ho she truly loved
Even more remarkable, he’d said it first And he saw all parts of her the sah he’d told her she had tremendous potential as a witch, when it came to this, it was more basic than that
At the end of the day, doesn’t e how I feel We’re just two people doing our best to figure out each other’s hearts, and that takes more lifetimes than even I have But I’d spend every one of the to e how he felt She knew it "I love you," she whispered again, her voice broken with the weight of all the knowledge she now held about love and loss
"I know that, girl" He put his jaw alongside her teently now, his body a reassuring bulwark "Though it’s nice to hear"
She closed her eyes She shouldn’t have said that, even here in this fantasy world It was time to end it "Will you turn off the lantern? I want to sleep with you in the hayloft" Touch you in the dark
"I’m sure I could conjure a saddle blanket or two to make that happen, protect this pretty, soft skin of yours Hold on" His hands slid away, though one lingered on her buttock, gave it a firm squeeze before he moved to the table, leaned over the lantern She turned her head to savor that one last look at hi to be leaving tomorrow She needed to put some distance between her and this rooain She’dher in al the way she looked She i; her in the red corset, tied up for hihs
Leaning down, he cupped the top of the lantern, blew it out
Chapter 5
SHE WAS AGAINST THE WALL, EXACTLY WHERE SHE’D started, except at sos folded up in front of her She was still fully clothed, though her panties were soaked, telling her she’d actually had the intense orgasm she’d experienced in the fantasy The skin between her shoulder blades was sore and throbbing, as if the brand had marked her in truth That bit of information startled her, but not as much as as directly across the rooh still standing, Derek stared at her Between the iron lay on the floor The residualoff it
She was sure she lost all color in her face, because when she shot to her feet, she swayed, uncertain of her balance Fu the door open and fled into the hallway
The roo the steep winding staircase of an antebellu climaxes and complete panic was inadvisable, she hit it at a run As a result, she stu for the banister, she lost purchase, flailed
In that harrowing moment, when she teetered on the brink of physical catastrophe, she wasn’t too worried She’d given Raina the ht deal with all of it, and wherever she ended up, Heaven or Hell, she wouldn’t have to face this She wouldn’t keep ainst a dense wall of air, one that caught her at a forty-five-degree angle before she could pitch down the stairs True to a sorcerer’s nature, he pulled that power right from the closest elemental, the sturdy old oak of the stairs For a second, as that energy surrounded her, she could feel the last day of the oak’s life, the recipe of a su the full greenery of the trees, the intent heat of the sun
She struggled against it, the unique, seductive touch of his ic, but it held her as easily as a butterfly in a net, easing her upright without daave him the needed moment to catch up to her Heedless of their precarious perch, she tried to shove hi her to face him, one foot braced on the stair above hers, the other just below, caging her against the railing It also put thenificant difference in their heights "Slon, daht" She punched at hi her wrists, he set her down hard on her backside He put hihs as she struggled She snapped at his arm like a rabid coyote before he pulled her wrists out fro his flesh out of reach