Jumping in Puddles

by Barbara Elsborg

  Jago wrapped his hand around hers and tugged her toward the place where he’d seen her standing. “What can I do to make this a faerie wedding?”

  “Lots of twinkling lights, maybe potted trees covered in lights, plants, ivy, draped filmy fab…ric.”

  His imagination, or was she dragging her feet?

  “You could put…pretend diamonds on the table…lots of…flowers…”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.”

  He looked down. They were standing over the old fireplace. In the days before chimneys, there were just holes in the roof to let the smoke escape. Something glinted, and he crouched to look. As Ellie had said, a bit of copper wire was caught in the gap between the stones. As he rose to his feet, Ellie collapsed.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Ellie blinked up at the ceiling soaring sixty feet above her head. Jago was talking on his mobile and pacing.

  “Hey,” she said and he spun round.

  “Hang on, Henry. She’s awake. I’ll call you back.” He dropped next to her and stroked her hair. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.” Ellie tried to hide her eyes. She suspected they looked wrong. She’d used too much energy. She wasn’t surprised she’d collapsed.

  “You’re not fine. You’ve been unconscious for more than fifteen minutes. I debated calling an ambulance, except you just looked as though you were asleep. You didn’t bang your head, because I caught you. But I couldn’t figure out what was wrong, and I’m a bloody doctor. Christ, you scared me.” He hugged her, and Ellie clung to him.

  “Sorry. I have these blackouts sometimes,” she lied. “I’m not allowed to drive, operate heavy machinery, or walk around with a pencil in my mouth. The doctor said it was nothing to worry about.”

  “It fucking well is something to worry about. Did you feel sick or light-headed? I fetched a glass of water. You’re probably dehydrated.” He jumped up to grab it from the table, and she drank it all.

  “Sorry,” she whispered.

  Jago sat beside her and rubbed his thumb on her arm. “Did the doctor say it was vasovagal syncope?”

  Huh? “I don’t remember.”

  “When did you see him or her?”

  “A year ago.” Like never.

  Ellie hated lying, but she could hardly tell him the truth that she was never ill. She’d been forced to engineer this visit to the baron’s hall because it had belatedly occurred to her that after telling him she’d found it open, she couldn’t let him find it locked. Then she’d had to manufacture the wire, and that sapped the last of her energy. She’d definitely overdone it with the strawberries. Hence the blackout, though there was always the possibility that the Kewen or whatever lurked under the floor was sending her a message. Find me.

  “You’ve done too much today. Out in the sun picking all those strawberries. I don’t know how you managed to gather so many.”

  Seemed her ability to make someone forget didn’t necessarily last. Had Henry recalled what she’d said in the tea shop? This was a reminder of why she rarely used her magic. She wasn’t very good at it.

  “I’m ambidextrous.” Ellie slid her hand under his T-shirt onto his belly, and his skin fluttered. Jago groaned. She slid her other hand under too. “See. I have talented hands.”

  “Stop trying to distract me.”

  “Is it working?”

  “Yes.” He rolled onto his back and pulled her on top of him. “I feel like I’ve been caught up in a whirlwind. Positive things are happening with the house, the garden’s going to make money, Denzel will get the wedding he wants for Liz, and I have a very beautiful, sexy, stunning, clever… I’ve forgotten what I was going to say.”

  Ellie laughed.

  He frowned. “Your eyes look…wrong…pale.”

  Oh fuck. Ellie cupped his cheeks. Forget my eyes.

  Jago pulled her down and kissed her on the nose. She spread her legs wide to straddle his waist and rubbed her belly against his rock-hard erection. Another greedy kiss shot a jolt of lust all the way to her toes.

  “I want to move and I can’t,” Jago said with a groan. “The door isn’t locked, anyone could come in, the floor is hard, and there’s a comfortable bed not far away, but none of that is as important as keeping you right where you are.”

  He slid his fingers inside her shorts and onto her butt. Ellie groaned and writhed harder against him. Sunlight suddenly poured through the window, spotlighting them in the middle of the room.

  Oh shit. The middle of the room. But she wasn’t tingling or anxious, more like overwhelmingly excited. Ellie tugged her T-shirt over her head, and Jago reached for the fastening of her bra. He tossed it aside and pulled her higher to bring her breast down over his mouth. Ellie whimpered as he teased her nipples, moving his mouth from one to the other, licking and nibbling. He supported her with one hand while the fingers of his other worked on the fastening of her shorts.

  All she could think about was having him inside her, filling her. Need clawed at her brain and at her heart. She stood to peel down her shorts and panties, and kicked off her sandals.

  Jago sucked in a breath. “Beautiful, sexy, stunning, clever girlfriend with…weird eyes.”

  Ellie saw the hint of uncertainty on his face, heard the hesitation in his voice, and it choked her. “Contacts,” she managed to blurt.

  He pushed himself up to stand in front of her, reached behind his neck, and pulled his shirt over his head. While she stared at his broad-shouldered body, he toed off his shoes, pulled down his zipper, and stripped off his pants and boxers. Tall, lean, and tanned, his cock rising straight out of a bed of dark curls, he was so perfect that merely looking at him sent tingles careening through her veins. For a moment, she couldn’t breathe at all.

  “Not going to faint again?” he asked.

  “No, but I could come just from looking at you.”

  He smiled. “Flattering as that is, I’d feel cheated if I didn’t get to touch.”

  He knelt in front of her, wrapped his fingers around her ankles, then slid them up her calves and around the backs of her knees, and on to trace figure eights on her thighs. Shivers of breath-stealing excitement echoed every touch. When Jago pressed his face against her belly, she threaded her fingers in his floppy hair and stroked the edges of his ears with her thumbs.

  A low moan burst from her when he rubbed his stubbled chin down her belly. He let his nose rest in her navel while he slid his hands inside her thighs and used his index fingers to spread the lips of her sex. No one had ever touched Ellie like this with her standing in front of them. He caressed her folds with his tongue, sucked at her wetness, and she could only breathe in staccato bursts.

  She trembled as his tongue slid slowly back and forth, licking up her cream. On each pass, he pressed deeper until his tongue was inside her and mimicking the action of a cock.

  “Leave me some hair,” he gasped, and Ellie loosened her hold, horrified to see black strands lodged in her fingers.

  “Oh God, sorry,” she whispered.

  “You’re worth it.” His eyes lit as a lovely grin spread over his face.

  When he focused on the nub of her clit and fluttered his tongue over it, she cried out, hovering on the verge of coming. Looking down, watching him do this brought another gush of moisture, and she felt herself running faster along the track, the finish line gaining definition. Jago’s hands settled on her butt as he ate at her, and Ellie sprinted the rest of the way, the race won, jolts of pleasure speeding through her like fiery comets. Her muscles locked and then released in a biting frenzy that she wanted to never stop.

  Only it did. That was sooo good.

  He pulled her down so she lay on top of him, face-to-face, her cream glistening on his lips, and he trailed his tongue over her mouth.

  “Taste yourself. You’re delicious,” he whispered.

  Ellie rocked against his erection, and he caught hold of her hips.

  “I’m too far gone for playing. Maybe when we’ve
done this eighty times, I’ll have better control.”

  She changed the angle of her hips so she caught the crest of his cock against her sex and rubbed gently.

  “Make that eight hundred.” He groaned, and Ellie slid down until she’d taken all of him into her body.

  “Oh fuck, fuck, fuck,” Jago panted.

  His hands settled on her hips, and she began to ride him.

  SHE’D BEWITCHED HIM. He was in her thrall. Under her thumb. At her mercy. Her slave for eternity. Jago bucked up into her as she pressed down on him, and the pleasure from being wrapped in the tight, silken glove of her sex overpowered the discomfort of lying on a stone floor. She gasped when he gasped, groaned when he groaned, and laughed when he laughed. They were so perfectly in tune, it almost scared him.

  “Jaaaagoooo…” She exhaled his name, and it was as if she’d caressed his soul, her soft voice sliding through his senses to send him even harder.

  He pulled her down for a kiss and grasped her butt as he bucked into her. Tongue and cock worked in unison, and fires exploded into life all over his body as orgasm simmered. She gasped into his mouth as he thrust deeper into her. He kissed her lips, her cheeks, her throat, and then pushed her up again to make her ride him harder.

  Everything wound him tighter, each thrust into her heat, and every withdrawal when she clenched around him so that the pressure on his cock made his toes curl. Her breathing grew choppier, as did his. Ellie was part lost on her own journey, her eyes wild as she looked down at him. She changed the angle again, twisted as she took his cock inside her, and propelled him toward the edge of the waterfall with no way to swim back, his long, deep, driving thrusts an involuntary expression of his desperation to come.

  She came and dragged him with her, the contractions of her body yanking the orgasm out of him, cum spurting from his cock, filling her as he jerked and cried his way to satiated bliss. He had only enough energy to pull her to lie on his chest. He listened to her ragged gasps and pounding heart in tune with his as they floated down from the high.

  “Oh God,” he whispered. “How come it keeps getting better and better?”

  “You just need more practice. You’ll get the hang of it eventually.”

  He growled and nipped her chin. Ellie laughed and snuggled against him.

  “People used to do this in here,” he said. “They all lived in this one room. They must have had to fuck in here too.”

  “I wonder if they tried to keep quiet or didn’t bother.”

  “What would you have done?”

  “In those days, whatever my husband told me to do.”

  He laughed and took a deep breath before he asked his next question. “How come you hadn’t been with a guy before?”

  “I had. I’d just never gone all the way.”

  Jago swallowed hard. “Why did you with me?”

  She tensed and then relaxed. “It felt right. You feel right.”

  “Only right?”

  “Good.”

  He gave a dramatic sigh. “Only good?”

  Ellie pinched the back of his neck. “Stop fishing. You know you’re fantastic, wonderful, stupendous. The best I’ve ever had. Well, you will be when you’ve practiced a bit more.”

  “Here’s the—” Henry’s voice rang out in the hall, and the pair of them froze. “Ah, we’ll come back later.”

  A door slammed, and he and Ellie burst out laughing.

  * * * *

  Ellie sneaked out of Jago’s bed at sunrise, showered, dressed, and headed for the scullery. Her eye color restored, she had energy again, which was just as well. She needed to hull and wash the strawberries before anyone turned up to help; otherwise, she’d have to work at normal speed, and they’d never get it done. At some point today, while everyone was busy, she’d lever up the stone in the baron’s hall. Seeing what was there might help her decide what to do.

  When she’d finished and went back to check on Jago, he was still sleeping. He looked sweet, younger, much less troubled. Since she’d met him, worry had rarely left the face of this dark, unreadable Lord of the Manor. To Ellie he was a man with the weight of heavy responsibility on his shoulders, a man not living the life he should be. His hair was ruffled, his mouth slightly open, and she wanted to smooth his hair down and kiss him. She loved his eyelashes, loved the feel of them on her skin. The bruise around his eye was almost gone, and as she touched it with her finger to make it disappear completely, he blinked himself awake.

  “Morning,” he mumbled and then frowned. “You’re dressed, and I had plans.”

  “And did it involve sword play?”

  He chuckled. “Might have.”

  “Big day today. Lots to do. You need to get up. I have to go and check everything’s ready.”

  She gave him a quick kiss on the lips and headed for the door.

  “What about what I need you to do?”

  “You could always deal with that yourself.”

  “Nooo. I need you now. You’ve ruined me. I hate my hand. Darn it, I’ll have to struggle and use my mouth.”

  Ellie tripped and nearly fell. She turned and stared at him. “You can’t be that flexible.”

  “Want to see?”

  “Later.” She laughed and skipped out of the room.

  One foot outside the hall into sunshine, and she gasped. At the far left hand side of the lawn Henry stood in front of a partially inflated blue-and-yellow bouncy castle.

  She ran down to him, remembering halfway there the last time she’d seen him. Or rather he’d seen her. No point pretending it hadn’t happened. She came to a halt at his side, smiled at him, and didn’t get the answering smile she’d expected. Her shoulders slumped.

  “Where did this come from?” she asked.

  “Diane’s brother. He had a cancellation, so he’s letting us have it for free.”

  “I hope you gave her a kiss.”

  Henry raised his eyebrows.

  “What was that?” A guy in his early forties appeared from round the back of the castle, wiping his hands on a rag.

  “Diane’s brother Mark,” Henry said. “This is Ellie.”

  “This is so great.” Ellie shook his hand. “Can adults use it?”

  “Yes, but you can’t have both on together. My son and I will look after it. You want us to charge?”

  She looked at Henry. “What do you think?”

  “I’d say no. Let’s not be greedy.”

  “Okay. I just need to tinker with the generator. Nice to meet you, Ellie.”

  When the man was out of earshot, Henry turned to her. “Don’t hurt Jago. He’s already got too much to deal with for you to use him too. I trust you’ve not said anything to him about your ridiculous theory that he and Denzel are my sons.”

  “No.” Shit. Was everything she’d done through magic going to go into reverse? Ellie had a sudden vision of the strawberries reappearing on the plants, Jago’s room becoming untidy again. But maybe the memory reverse had never worked to begin with.

  “Wastebins,” Ellie said. “I’d forgotten about those.”

  “I’ve some old dustbins that would do. I’ll pop bin liners inside.”

  He turned to go, and Ellie caught his arm. “Please don’t be mad with me, Henry.”

  “I’m not. I’m just worried about Jago.”

  Ellie chewed her lip as he walked away. Her mobile vibrated in her pocket.

  “Ellie Norwood?”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s Billy the balloon man.”

  “Oh hi.”

  “I’m really sorry, but I’m not going to be able to make it. My lad’s broken his leg and been taken to the hospital. I feel bad letting you down.”

  Ellie chomped back her groan. “I’m sorry to hear about your son. You couldn’t by any chance drop off the balloons and pump, could you? I’ll have a go.”

  “It’s not as easy as all that.”

  She heard the defensive tone in his voice. “I’m sure it isn’t, but I could make snake
s, couldn’t I? Just twist as you blow them up?”

  He sighed. “Okay. I’ll drop them off on the way to the hospital.”

  “Thank you. If you leave them at the door of the gatehouse, that would be great.”

  Ellie put the phone away and unlocked the door. At least that had saved fifty pounds she didn’t have.

  She showered, changed into a white dress covered in red poppies, and put her hair in a loose bun at the back of her head. The ring went into her pocket, and she pushed a couple of tissues on top to keep it safe.

  By the time she emerged, the garden in front of Sharwood was a hive of activity. Ellie made her way to the open-sided marquee where cups and saucers were being laid out. A photographer was snapping away.

  “Hi, Ellie,” Diane called.

  When Ellie looked up, Diane winked at her. “Everyone, this is Ellie, who’s done most of the organizing.”

  Ellie waved her hellos and blinked when the photographer shoved his camera in front of her face.

  “Where did all these cakes come from?” Ellie edged away to Diane.

  “We made them. Not everyone’s going to like strawberries. Where are they, by the way? Do they need hulling?”

  “They’re done. Has the cream arrived?”

  “Yep. The churn’s in the corner. It’s a refrigerated unit, which is brilliant. I bought a lot of ice pops I froze overnight. They’re in that cool box.”

  Ellie hugged her. “Wow, Diane. Thank goodness for you.”

  “Oh, you’ve no idea how happy I am.” She bent to whisper in Ellie’s ear. “I’ve wasted years because I was too scared to make the first move. You pushed him to make it, and I’ve never been so happy.” Diane let her go and smiled. “You look pretty happy too. Pretty and happy.”

  “I’m not sure Henry thinks I’m right for Jago. I’m probably not.” But Ellie didn’t want to talk about it. She’d made things complicated by falling for him. “Bad news on the entertainment front. The balloon man canceled. The good news is he’s bringing his balloons, so I’m going to do it. As long as no one asks for anything other than a snake, I’ll be fine.”