A strangled sound erupted from Dash. Smothered laughter. Noelle’s eyes popped open and she stared blindly at the car. A very blue Corvette.
* * *
“Well, it’s definitely an improvement, but not quite what we were hoping for.”
Dash tried desperately to smother the laughter, but he wasn’t succeeding very well.
“At least we don’t have to worry about flying lemons anymore.” His foot connected idly with the tire. “Blue would work well...if Kris was traveling through the sky on a warm summer afternoon.”
A choked gurgle erupted from Noelle. Dash jerked his gaze away from the car and back to her. She stared at him, horror and hurt filling her eyes for the briefest moment before that damn mask slammed back over her expression.
But he’d seen it.
“Jesus. Elle.” His voice was low, full of the regret rolling through him. He took a single step toward her, planning to wrap her in his arms and soothe away the damage he’d unintentionally caused. But she stumbled backward, shaking her head.
Dammit! He knew how touchy she was about her powers. Knew how much she’d struggled growing up. But it had been easy to forget those old insecurities and assume they were long gone. From the moment she’d come back, Noelle had been nothing but competent, confident and efficient.
But that didn’t excuse what he’d just done. He’d hurt her, and that was the last thing he’d ever wanted to do.
“You know that’s not what I meant. My mouth gets me in trouble.”
Her eyes flared. Her gaze dragged down to his mouth. A hot blast of need shot through him. Part of him wanted to follow through on the unwitting invitation. He’d wanted to kiss her from the moment he’d walked into the Evergreen boardroom and seen her sitting in one of the dark leather chairs.
He could make her forget, soothe the emotional wound he’d just inflicted. Coax her to forgive him with his tongue instead of words. But that tactic hadn’t exactly worked well for them in the past. Anytime she’d gotten upset about something, his solution had always been to distract her with sex. To remind her just how compatible and perfect they were together.
Instead, he rolled his head, stretching tight neck muscles, and tried to find the core of control that was slowly slipping through his fingers.
“Don’t beat yourself up over this, Elle.”
“Don’t.”
He wasn’t sure whether she was talking about the nickname or his pacifying words.
“It’s a difficult spell. Even the most powerful from the clan would struggle. Besides, you almost had it right until the last moment.”
Her gaze collided with his. “What...what do you mean?”
He shrugged. “Half of the car had disappeared and then it...was back. And blue.”
Eyes wide, her beautiful mouth fell open. It only made him want to kiss her more.
Slowly, a brilliant smile melted across her face. It was like watching the best sunrise, the ache of it difficult to take. It lit up her eyes, making them shimmer just like his glass.
God, she was gorgeous. And he loved to see her happy. There was a time when his whole existence was tied up in drawing out that smile. Even then she’d been so serious and intent.
“I did it?” she whispered.
This time when he moved closer she didn’t pull back.
“Yep. What happened?”
Her teeth clicked together. Her gaze jerked away. And a soft burst of color seeped across her skin. “Something distracted me.”
Reaching for her, Dash ran his hands down the curves of her arms. Why did she have to be wearing that jacket? He wanted to feel her skin.
“Okay. Then why don’t we try again?”
Turning her back to face the car, he flicked a glance over his shoulder and found Montreal, his head elf, in the crowd. Dash silently flashed his right-hand man the order to have the area cleared and knew it would be followed.
Wrapping an arm around Noelle’s waist, Dash let his palm settle across the taut expanse of her tummy.
“What are you doing?” she asked, her voice low and husky. The sound of it burned across every nerve ending in his body, but he ignored the reaction. That was not what she needed right now. Or wanted.
“Helping you.”
“I don’t need your help.”
“Probably not, but you’re going to get it anyway. Relax.”
A harsh sound that was a combination of disbelief and jagged humor escaped her.
She shifted, probably completely oblivious to the fact that the tiny movement rubbed her rear straight across his groin. If she kept it up she was going to get irrefutable evidence of just how much he still wanted her.
Dash tightened his hand, holding her still. Her spine stiffened, and then she slowly began to melt against him. Her head dropped to his shoulder and she let him take her weight.
Her arms hung limply at her sides, her fingers still wrapped tightly around her wand.
Bending, he brushed his lips against the delicate shell of her ear and whispered, “Close your eyes.”
She did, the softest sigh slipping through her parted lips.
Dash bit back a groan.
He touched her throat, unable to stop himself from running the pads of his fingers down the slope of her exposed neck. But he forced himself to continue, over her shoulder, down her arm to the hand holding her wand.
Twining his own fingers with hers, he raised her hand and pointed the slender blade of wood at the car.
“Start again.”
She shook her head, the round point of it rubbing against his chest.
“I’ve got you, Elle,” he promised. “It’s only you and me here.”
Her ribs expanded under a deep breath. She held it in before slowly blowing it out again on a steadying stream.
This close to her, he could feel the moment her powers surged to the surface. The glow of it was intoxicating. He’d never understood how she couldn’t get it.
Her entire life she’d struggled against being different. She’d tried desperately to fit in. The problem was she couldn’t. She was different. That was what he’d loved about her.
Unlike everyone else, her power was fueled not just by the cold core of Winter, but also by the bright sunlight of Summer. Together, the best of both worlds entwined inside her. Her skin glowed with the force of what she held deep inside.
She was one of the most powerful witches he’d ever met. She just didn’t trust herself...or accept what was there. She fought to close off the piece of her that she didn’t think belonged, which only drained her energy instead of feeding it.
So he’d help her tap into that potential. At least for today.
“Do you feel that?” he whispered. “The ball of energy churning deep inside you?” His hand flexed where it rested over her belly. “You must. I can feel it, and I’m only holding you.”
Slowly, his fingers spread wide, slipping farther out across her body. “Let it go.”
A small sound of refusal squeaked out of her.
“Yes,” he argued. “All of it.”
He could feel her struggle, not just in the tensed muscles pressed hard against him, but in the twisting center of her power. She was trying to cut it in half, to cordon off what she thought wouldn’t help her.
“No. Don’t fight it. Don’t try to force that warmth down. I want to feel it, Elle.” His mouth grazed her skin and his breath slipped across the sensitive spot just behind her ear. “Let me,” he growled.
The burst of it nearly knocked his hands away from her body, but his muscles instinctively tightened and held on. Heat rippled down his body. Wherever they touched burned, but it didn’t hurt. In fact, it felt heavenly. Like the warm cocoon of his hot shop.
He was so preoccupied with the revelation of just
how powerful she really was now that the lock holding her Summer magick captive had burst open that he hadn’t been paying attention to the car.
It was gone. Or, rather, it appeared gone. If he reached out, his hands would still brush across metal.
Unlike before, when the car had disappeared an inch at a time, one burst of energy and it had vanished.
“Elle,” he murmured. “Open your eyes.”
She did, her eyelids dragging slowly up as if weighted with sleep. He remembered that sated, drowsy, satisfied expression and wanted it again. More than his next breath.
Her gasp of surprise had him chuckling.
She whirled in his arms. One moment she was completely pliant and the next she was shoving at him like he’d suddenly turned into a serial killer.
Shocked, Dash let his arms drop from around her body and stumbled back a step.
The accusation that filled her expression slammed against him.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Dash Evergreen? I really don’t appreciate you playing with me. Aren’t you a little old to be pulling that kind of shit? Grow up.”
He opened his mouth to argue with her, but he had no idea what to say. How could he? What the hell was she talking about?
Spinning on her heel, the hard click of her stilettos hitting the concrete floor blasted around him like gunshots. His own temper flared. Before he could think through the implications of his actions, he was striding after her. Grasping her arm, he whirled her back to face him.
She glared, the sharp cut of her beautiful eyes slipping straight between his ribs. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Her teeth ground together as if she didn’t want to dignify his question with an answer. Too bad. He shook her shoulder, not hard enough to rattle anything, just to make her realize he had no intention of letting her go until she explained what she meant.
“That stunt back there. I have enough bullshit to deal with right now. I don’t need one of your pranks piled on top of everything else.”
“Prank? What prank?”
“All that husky whispering and those touchy-feely hands.” She dropped her voice down into a growling register. “‘I’ve got you, Elle. Let it go.’”
A sharp breath pulled in through her teeth. For the briefest moment he thought he saw the glitter of tears in her eyes, but she blinked and they were gone.
“What the hell did you hope to get? Me falling back into your arms?”
He did not appreciate her harsh laughter.
“Why let me think I was doing all of that?” Her hand swung to encompass the car, still perfectly invisible. “If you were just going to do it your damn self.”
She thought he’d cloaked the car. The realization did nothing to bank the anger flickering through him. It increased it. Why did she constantly underestimate herself?
His voice was silky and dangerous when he said, “That was all you, Elle.”
She scoffed, the harsh sound scraping across his eardrums. “Yeah, right.”
Jesus, he wanted to shake some sense into the woman. And then he wanted to strip her completely bare and revel in her heat and fiery passion.
“I. Did. Nothing,” he bit out.
“I felt it.” She flung the words at him like an accusation. “The burst of energy. I felt it.” Her voice wobbled. Her chin quivered. Her throat worked overtime, trying to swallow.
And the anger just...evaporated.
He didn’t mean to, but somehow his fingers tangled into her hair. His palm cupped the nape of her neck. Closing the space between them, he tipped her face and made her look at him.
The slick sheen of tears covering her eyes nearly sent him to his knees.
“God, I hope so,” he rumbled. “That was you, Elle. The piece of yourself you’ve kept locked down for as long as I’ve known you. That was you finally letting all of your power free.”
His control stretched to the breaking point, Dash couldn’t hold back. No longer remembered why he should even try.
His mouth slammed down over hers. He wanted to be gentle, knew he should hold back and coax her. But couldn’t find the willpower to do it. Not when he’d struggled to keep his hands off her for months. Not when it had been so long since he’d tasted her.
He might regret the moment, but not now.
Her squeak of surprise quickly morphed into a groan. Her mouth opened beneath the probing force of his. She let him in. More than that, met him measure for measure.
Her tongue tangled with his, taking just as much as she was giving. Hands tugged at his hair, coaxing him closer. She went up on tiptoes, pressing her body flush against his.
The past and the present melded together. The taste of her was just the same, peppermint and sunshine.
But the moment his hands brushed against the cold leather of the holster tucked between her shoulder blades cold reality came crashing down around him.
They both jerked back. Panting, they stared at each other. Dash didn’t know what to do or say. His body wanted her, so much that he throbbed with the pain of it.
But this wasn’t the girl he remembered. The one he’d fallen in love with so long ago.
This was the woman who carried a gun everywhere she went. The one who’d left him.
Chapter 3
God, she shouldn’t have kissed him, Noelle thought later that evening. Rubbing her hands down her face, she tried desperately to wipe the memory from her brain. Yeah, like that was going to work.
Even hours after walking away from him, she couldn’t seem to think of anything else. Her body still buzzed with energy and ached in all the right places. It would have been so easy to get swept up in the moment and give in to what they both obviously wanted.
And if she’d shared that kind of unbelievably overwhelming kiss with anyone else, she probably wouldn’t be pacing restlessly inside her room, but instead stretching languidly next to a warm male body.
Dash had been the one to make her body light up like a damn Christmas tree. He’d always been the one to do that. The only one. She’d dated and even taken lovers since she’d left him. But none of them had made her feel as raw and alive as Dash always had.
With a growl of frustration, Noelle yanked open her bedroom door and stalked out into the silent hallway. It was almost dawn. No doubt she’d need copious amounts of Diet Coke to keep her eyes open today, but for now, whenever she put her head down on the pillow all she could think about was rolling across the bed tangled in Dash’s arms.
Maybe a walk would clear her head and exhaust her body enough that she could at least get a few hours of sleep.
Like the barn, from the outside the lodge resembled a quaint ski cabin. But the place was big enough to house the entire Winter clan. The elves had their own village close by, protected by magick just as the lodge was.
Everyone had their own apartments but shared common spaces—the dining room, a game room, a movie theater, and a huge living area with soaring ceilings and a man-size fireplace. The lower floors housed the communications and security hub and Dash’s hot shop.
At this hour the hallways were quiet and deserted, or at least she thought so, until she rounded a corner and ran smack into someone. Belle’s high-pitched oomph and rounded green eyes greeted her.
“Noelle,” Belle said, her voice filled with anxious surprise.
“What are you doing wandering around in the middle of the night?”
Belle’s gaze jerked sideways, refusing to meet hers. Noelle had enough interrogation experience to know when someone was hiding something.
Her sharp gaze catalogued Belle’s attire, the same outfit she’d worn earlier but a little more rumpled. She clenched her fist around the familiar Cup of Cheer mug as if it was a lifeline. The shop had been closed for hours.
Noelle’s eyebrows quirked up and a smile threatened the corners of her lips. If she was reading the signs correctly, Belle Evergreen had just returned from a midnight tryst. For weeks she’d wondered just what the youngest Evergreen had been up to. Coffee breaks, my ass.
“I won’t tell your brothers,” Noelle promised.
Belle’s startled gaze flew to hers. “What are you talking about?”
“As long as you’re not spilling company secrets, I don’t care who you’re sleeping with, Belle. And neither should your brothers, although we both know they’re likely to go all caveman the moment they find out. So, I won’t be the one to tell them.”
Her entire body sagging with relief, Belle flashed Noelle a brilliant smile. “I appreciate it.”
With a shrug, Noelle left Belle standing in the hallway. It was none of her business, and women had to stick together.
The encounter with Belle gave her something else to think about as she wandered around. Eventually she hit the ground floor. She told herself it was simply to check in with her nighttime team. But she never quite made it that far.
For some reason her feet stopped outside the closed door to Dash’s workroom. Light shone through the crack at the floor. He was inside. Of course he was. This was where Dash came whenever something was bothering him.
Toward the end of their marriage it had upset her that more and more he’d sought out the hot shop instead of her. She’d woken up countless mornings to an empty bed, her heart a little crushed. Maybe if it had been another woman, she could have fought, but it wasn’t.
She had felt him slipping through her fingers and hadn’t known how to stop it. The more he’d hurt her, the more she’d withdrawn. The more she’d withdrawn, the more he’d disappeared. Looking back, she could see the vicious cycle their marriage had dissolved into. Maybe if they’d been older...
But they hadn’t been. Leaving Gingerbread and taking the position with the CIA had been what she’d needed. The chance to challenge herself in ways that didn’t require the use of magick. Considering she’d spent all of her youth struggling to become as adept at using it, it seemed like a good idea to try living without it. She’d had to learn how to rely on just her intelligence and physical strength.
Jingle Spells Page 16
