duvet, crawled into my king-size sleigh bed, and finally had the nerve to peek at him. He hadn’t moved—his hand still gripped the pot in the exact position I handed it to him, and a large bulge was ever-so-evident in the front of jeans.
After a deep swallow, I forced myself to look away from that area of his jeans, and waved him forward. “Here, I need that.”
His piercing eyes stared intently into mine, but he closed in on the bed and offered the pot. I applied the mixture to the balls of my feet and rubbed it in. Once finished, I placed the pot on the nightstand and grabbed the glass of moon potion, taking another few sips. “Okay, good to go.”
“Your magic is complicated.” He chuckled with a shake of his head, but Goddess did his laugh sound deep and seductive, only igniting more flames within my already scorching body.
I stared at my feet and pretended to rub the oil in a little more to avoid him. “Complicated it may be, but it works.”
“Good point.” He raised the blanket up, waiting for me to scoot underneath, as if he was, in fact, caring for me. “Can I help at all?”
“Um…no.” When I glanced up at him, his lips were pressed into a firm line, giving the impression he didn’t enjoy the spell I was about to do. “Stop looking so worried, it’ll be fine.” I tried to find a sneaky motive for why he’d care as much as he showed now. Sadly—or maybe not so sadly—I couldn’t find one.
His brows drew together. “I don’t like you doing this alone where I’m not there to protect you.”
“Well…” The sheer frustration on his face made me pause. For every time I suspected he was out to get me, he’d do something to make me think otherwise. Even if he had a job to do, the gentleness and concern emanating off him couldn’t be faked, and why did my heart flutter that his worry might be genuine? “Not much you can do about that.”
“I know,” he grumbled, turning away, and then he sat down in my wingback rocking chair in the corner of the room. “Will you sleep now?”
I nodded before I lowered my head to the pillow and pulled the warm duvet up around me, inhaling the calm scent of hazelnuts. “If I scream bloody murder, wake me up.”
He frowned. “Do you expect that to happen?”
“It’s a precaution.” I snuggled into my pillow and shut my eyes, willing myself to sleep. Not all that difficult of a task—with all that had happened, exhaustion was easily found, but then an issue rose. Kale might have remained quiet, yet his fierce examination of me continued. “Problem?”
“No.”
“Why are you staring at me?”
He chuckled. “How can you tell when your eyes are closed?”
Because I can feel your sexy eyes all over me. “I just know, and if you want me to sleep, stop it.”
He hesitated, then said in a dangerous low voice, “I’m looking at the floor.”
Liar. But I wasn’t about to prove him wrong while I lay in bed. No need to increase the temptation to say screw contacting the spirit and screw Kale instead. Shoving all of those thoughts from my mind, I drew in a long breath, focusing away from the naughtiness threatening to overwhelm me, and concentrated on only blackness.
While relaxation settled in and I drifted off, my focus shifted to Kale’s deep breaths, and I allowed the sounds of his breathing to pull me into sleep.
A haze of color sped across my vision: pinks, oranges, and greens. When the colors cleared, I inhaled a sharp breath and I found myself in a meadow. A lovely piece of heaven that made me believe, without a doubt, I was in a dream; flowers didn’t have this type of color in real life.
“You are stunning, witch.”
I spun around and blinked, but my shock remained as I stared at Kale. His gaze burned with a heat, leaving no misunderstanding that he meant what he said. The expression he wore now didn’t compare in the least to what I thought he’d look like when aroused.
“Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” I grumbled.
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