She dashed into the kitchen and preceded to get busy, praying that she wouldn’t screw this up.
Maddox grimaced in agony as his veins boiled. The iron, working its way through his system like a fast-moving poison, was more than doing its job. He was vaguely aware of Blondie…no, he silently corrected himself, Wynter, dragging him through the dirt and pine needles, up the wooden steps, and through the door to the cabin, and from what he could tell, he was lying on the floor.
He heard her rushing about and ground his teeth together, willing himself to sit up. He’d be damned if he would go out this way!
He. Would. Not.
He forced his eyes open just as she rushed past where he lay and disappeared into the kitchen, almost as if she were nothing more than a vision, and he found himself thinking that he could really get to like this woman.
Christ, his body ached.
A groan of pain slipped from his lips as he finally managed to raise himself up far enough to twist the tiny bit needed to lean up against the corner of the sofa, his forehead glistening with sweat from the effort.
He saw movement from the corner of his eye and turned his head to see that beautiful face poke through the door. When she saw him sitting there she ran toward him, her blonde hair flailing behind her like a curtain of gold.
“Maddox!” she cried, and he could see the panic in her incredible eyes.
“Can you help me onto the couch?” He asked, his voice no more than a raspy croak and he found himself unable to tear his gaze away from her incredible face. If he was going to die, he wanted it to be the last thing he saw, wanted her scent in his lungs, and he’d be damned if he would do it lying on a dirty wooden floor!
She carefully eased her arms around him and tried to pull him up, but the energy that he’d managed to muster up to try and help ease the burden of his weight rushed out of him in an instant, and he fell back down against corner of the sofa, closing his eyes and wanting nothing more than to just rest.
“Oh, no you don’t, Buster,” he heard her grind out before he sensed her rushing back into the kitchen, and he had the insane thought that she was like a beautiful little hummingbird.
Wynter stood in front of the stove, her face scrunched up in concentration as the overpowering smell of mud wort and arrowroot permeated the air, so strongly that it was making her eyes water. She held her breath as she leaned over the simmering concoction.
She dropped in the large morel mushroom. The same mushroom that had been the reason for her fall in the first place, before grabbing the nearby paring knife, and poking her finger. She let a few drops of her blood drip into the pot as she chanted the words of the spell over and over, her eyes sliding shut and causing the tears that had built up to slip free and slide down her cheeks, although she was oblivious of them. She was much too fixated on making sure she was saying the words of the spell correctly. She was leaving nothing left to chance.
This had to work. It just had to!
She thanked the Heavens that this had always been one of the legends that had always fascinated her as a child, one that she had read over and over again. Almost as if fate had been watching over her.
She turned and dashed out of the back door to grab a handful of dirt and a few stones before running back inside. She tossed them into the pot and grimaced at the sickening smell as it wafted up and hit her full force, but if it worked…she swore she would wear the stench as her new favorite cologne!
“Pure of heart, untouched soul, this witch gifts the power to heal and make this dragon once more whole,” she whispered vehemently, before pouring the thick, tar-like concoction into a heavy mug and rushing back into the living room.
She knelt next to Maddox, her eyes searching his face. He was deathly pale and so still that her heart seemed to stop beating, but as if sensing her presence, his eyes opened the tiniest bit and his lips turned up into a small, wry smile.
“Wynter,” he croaked, his voice nothing more than a weak whisper. “I like it.”
“Shh, don’t waste your energy. Here, drink this,” she instructed, bringing the cup to his lips.
She turned the mug up and he drank, wincing as the taste hit his tongue, which, she was pretty much certain was at least one hundred times worse than the smell, but what was a witch to do? Spells didn’t come with seasoning packets! And, if it worked, screw the taste!
He closed his eyes once again, and she watched with growing relief as his breathing began to even out a bit, becoming stronger and deeper with each passing moment, and she exhaled a thankful rush of air. Next, she checked his wound, blathering on and on about how she was not about to let him leave her now that she had finally remembered just who in the hell she was! She knew that she was rambling, but just couldn’t seem to stop herself.
She carefully pulled the cloth away from his stomach and was more than just merely grateful to see that the bleeding was slowing down considerably.
She stood and ran back upstairs to hopefully scrounge up some bandages and alcohol. That was, if she could find some. She needed to dress his wound. When she hit the top of the stairs, she noticed herself in the mirror at the end of the hall, and realized that she was nude from the waist up. She felt her entire body flush with mortification before dashing into the bedroom and snagging one of his shirts. Slipping it over her head, she rushed about, refusing to let embarrassment keep her from doing what needed to be done. She would deal with all of that later, she told herself, a huge part of her praying that he had been much to weak and preoccupied to notice.
Guh!
Maddox slowly opened his eyes and looked down to find Wynter laying against his legs, fast asleep and snoring softly, and he couldn’t help but smile.
Damned if the little witch hadn’t brought him back from the edge of death!
He looked down at what had once been a gaping wound, only to find nothing more than a small scar, and was once more in awe of her.
She was damned amazing.
He watched her sleep a moment, thinking how lucky he had been to cross paths with this beautiful woman. He didn’t know how long he lay there, staring at her perfect face, so relaxed in sleep, but she must have sensed he was watching her because her lids fluttered open and she was suddenly staring back at him, those amazing turquoise orbs virtually stealing the breath from his lungs.
“Hey,” she whispered sleepily before it hit her that he was awake, and she abruptly sat up, her glorious eyes wide and her mouth turning up in a smile sent straight from the Heavens. To say that it lit up her face was a severe understatement. She practically glowed.
“Oh, my God!” she squealed in delight. “You’re awake!”
Maddox chuckled. “That I am,” he replied, grinning. “Thanks to you.”
Her smile faded as quickly as it had appeared, and she shook her head. “It’s because of me that you almost died to begin with,” she replied somberly.
He grasped her arms and pulled her against his chest before taking her mouth.
He had wanted to kiss her from the moment that he woke, and he was not about to listen to her blame herself for something that had not been her fault.
So, instead, he silenced her in the best way possible.
He ravaged her mouth hungrily..., greedily, feeling his strength rushing back in a powerful surge, and he wrapped his arms around her, caging her body against his as their tongues dueled and sparred, playing a game of tag he had no chance winning.
Or desire to.
She moaned in response and he swore the sound shot straight through his chest and reverberated right through his bones.
It was phenomenal.
She pulled away slightly, much to his chagrin, her kiss-swollen lips whispering across his and he shivered.
“You need to rest,” she scolded, although her voice held no conviction in it whatsoever, and he couldn’t help but smile.
“Like hell,” he growled, before standing, careful to keep her held tightly in his arms. He was not about to let her go anyti
me soon. “Wynter…” he stopped, staring into her eyes, not quite sure what it was he wanted to say, but knowing that this incredible creature had come to mean so very much to him in such a short span of time that he should probably say something.
“Yes?” Her smirk told him that she was toying with him, attempting to play coy, and he kissed her yet again, quickly but thoroughly.
“What’s your last name?” he asked, and she giggled.
“Why do you want to know?”
“I want to know everything about the woman I happen to be falling in love with,” he answered honestly and had to bite back the urge to break out into laughter when her mouth dropped open in surprise. She was freaking adorable.
He waited for her to reply, but she remained silent and instead threw her arms around his neck and slammed her mouth back down onto his, kissing him with her entire being.
That sealed it. There was absolutely no going back now.
He carried her through the living room and up the stairs, taking them two at a time. He burst through the doors of the master bedroom, not pausing for even a second before heading directly over to the bed and carefully sliding her down the length of his body, reveling in the feel of her soft, feminine body brushing against his solid one.
She looked up at him, her eyes snapping and crackling with the heat of desire and he knew in that instant that it wasn’t just a matter of him falling in love with her. He had already fallen. Irrevocably and completely in love with this amazing woman. How that was even possible, he didn’t know. All he knew was that he had.
Him!
Who would have ever thought?
His mother’s face popped into his head and he couldn’t help but chuckle. Not the most opportune time, but damn, he hated when she and that old bat were right!
Wynter.
His smile widened as the name and what Elsbeth had seen hit home. Damn these legends and prophecies, he mused, shaking his head with wonder.
“Something funny?” she asked haughtily as she trailed her fingers along his chest, running them up and over where his heart was slamming against his ribs.
It was time to see if everything that the old bat had foreseen was true. Time to find out if this woman did have fire in her veins.
He leaned down and once again took her lips greedily, as if he were a starving man and she his only nourishment. His hands moved over her body before drifting down to the button of her jeans and quickly making them disappear. He was aware of the soft whoosh as the heavy material dropped to the floor, and felt her step out of them before kicking them away. He snagged the hem of the tee shirt she wore and pulled it up and over her head.
He moved back slightly when they broke apart to remove her shirt and looked down at her, his body on fire as his eyes took in her perfection. Her skin was smooth and unblemished, kissed lightly by the sun to give it a golden hue and he found that he wanted nothing more than to taste and experience every single inch of her. It was a need that was unfettered and demanding, and he couldn’t fight it a moment longer.
Not that he had any desire to whatsoever.
He grasped her waist, gently guiding her to sit down on the edge of the bed and he knelt down in front of her, almost as if he were worshiping her.
But…good God! Wasn’t he?
He moved between her thighs as he planted soft, feathery kisses along her tummy, making his way up to her perfect breast, his tongue lovingly moving around first one nipple and bringing it to a tight, hardened peak before moving to the other and bestowing the same, loving attention.
And one of the only thoughts to invade his mind at that moment was…the iron had killed him, and he had surely died and gone to Heaven.
Wynter made a sound from deep in her throat, much like that of a growl, as Maddox’s incredibly firm and skilled mouth teased her into a near frenzy, causing her body to shake and vibrate with pure, unabashed need.
She curled her fingers into his thick, silky hair and pulled him closer, her legs wrapping themselves around his middle as she silently begged him for more.
Her blood felt as if it were liquid fire and it coursed through her veins in a pure rush of desire. She wanted this man more than she had ever wanted anything else before. There was just no denying it.
He had every nerve ending in her body singing, and she never wanted it to stop. She wanted the music to go on forever.
She felt drunk. Light-headed.
Dizzy.
He worked his way back down her body, his full, skilled lips leaving a searing white-hot trail of heat behind wherever he happened to venture and it was pure ecstasy.
She sucked in a quick, shaky breath as his mouth finally made its way down and met her core, and she swore to all the Gods in Heaven above that she was simply going to spontaneously combust.
Hot, demanding…amazing, his tongue moved against her heated flesh and took her soaring to the point of madness, her body vibrating with a demand that was out of control, and she couldn’t have held back the explosion of pure, exquisite delight that hit her full on as he slipped first one, then another finger slowly inside of her if she had tried.
She fell back against the bed, throwing her arm over her eyes as every freaking color of the spectrum burst and exploded behind her lids in a splash of blinding, blissful light. Biting down on her bottom lip to keep from screaming like a banshee, she climaxed again and again. It was as if he had opened the floodgates and there was no stopping it.
“Maddox,” she cried, knowing that if she didn’t have him inside her…and now, she would surely die.
“Yeah, baby?”
She reached down and pulled at his hair. “Come here,” she implored huskily. “I need you.”
There was no need to act lady-like or proper, she decided. They were way past that. She knew that with him, she could be herself. She could be completely honest and open with him and not be afraid to be who she was or to demand what she wanted.
And…she wanted him. Badly.
“You have me, baby,” he murmured in response before standing and lifting her up in his arms, only to lay her back down on the bed, cushioning her head on the soft down pillows. She watched in breathless wonder as he removed his jeans, dropping them to the floor before sliding up next to her.
He nibbled playfully at the pulse that was thrumming erratically in her neck before he moved between her thighs, his impressive erection making itself known in a very huge way and she wigged against him, silently urging him to finish it. She was on fire and he was the only thing that could put that fire out.
She slid her hand between them and wrapped her fingers around his steely shaft, eliciting a sexy as hell groan from the man above her and she couldn’t have stopped the satisfied grin that quirked her lips if she had wanted to. She loved that fact that she could make him moan that way. She loved that he was as affected by her as she was by him.
It was as sexy as hell.
She looked up and met his gaze, their eyes locking and holding with a clash of emotion, silently conveying what didn’t need to be said with words. It was an unspoken truth that they both knew beyond a shadow of a doubt.
They were where they were destined to be.
She guided him into her slick, waiting heat, her body stretching to accommodate his more than ample girth, and she sucked in another shaky breath as he slowly slid into her to the hilt, filling her.
“Oh, good Gods, Maddox,” she gasped, unable to say anything else.
She squeezed her eyes shut and bit down on her lip as the realization hit her that for the very first time in her entire life, she actually felt complete. She belonged to this man and she to him. She had never been more certain of anything ever before.
He was home.
They were where they were meant to be.
And, she knew it to the very depths of her soul.
His mouth descended on hers and he kissed her again as he began to move his hips, slowly at first, but with a growing intensity as the passion between them fl
ared up and burst into flame like a match to dry tinder. She pulled him closer, wanting to get as close as she possibly could.
The sensation of their perspiration-soaked bodies moving and sliding against the others as he rocked all the way in, then pulled almost completely back out before slamming into her once again had her on the edge of sanity. She felt herself once again dangling on the edge of another mind-blowing orgasm and she tried to hold off so that they could reach that pinnacle together.
The way it should be. The way the universe had planned.
Maddox reluctantly tore his mouth from hers, his jaw clenching as the first tremors of his orgasm began to hit him like a sledgehammer to the gut. He increased his thrusts and felt her tightening up around him as she reached hers and as it ripped through her, it took him right along with her.
He gritted his teeth as his entire body tensed with the onslaught of just about every damn sensation hitting him all at once like they never had before, and he rode out the waves of pleasure and just enjoyed the feeling of her body as it pulsed and tightened around him.
It was…euphoric.
When he felt her beginning to relax and her breathing begin to slow, he fell back onto the bed beside her, pulling her tightly into the circle of his arms as he willed his heartbeat to even out.
That had been…Holy Christ!
She snuggled up against him and draped her long leg over his, and he thought that nothing had ever felt better. The idea that he would ever enjoy having a woman cuddle against him never would have entered his mind. Not until this amazing creature fell into his life. This was what true contentment felt like, and he want a thousand lifetimes of it!
“Clarke,” she whispered sleepily against his chest and the warmth of her breath caused him to shiver in the most delightful way. It was like warm, wild honey.
“Hmm?” he questioned, not sure if she had fallen asleep and was dreaming or not.
“My last name. It’s Clarke. Wynter Clarke, and I’m a witch.”
Maddox wrapped her a little more securely in his arms after pulling the comforter up over their cooling bodies. The sublime contact of lying there, skin to skin, was like a slice of Heaven, and he was finding himself growing hard yet again, and he wondered if he would ever get enough of her; only to answer his own question a second later without a single doubt in his mind.
Wynter's Kiss ( A Paranormal Romance) Page 7