Spellbound

by Ophelia Silk

  Adelaide paused, however, as her fingertips looped through the lacing of Jane’s dress. “Alright?” Her voice was even lower than usual, nearly a rasp.

  Jane reached up, threading her fingers through Adelaide’s damp hair. “Yes.”

  Adelaide pulled. Jane closed her eyes, feeling her dress fall to the floor at her feet rather than seeing it. She felt lighter without the damp fabric, and warmer, better able to enjoy the sensation of Adelaide’s lips against her skin. She wanted that warmth all over, wanted it to sear into her bones.

  She curled her hand into a fist in Adelaide’s hair, and Adelaide moaned. The sound washed away what little doubts or fears remained. There was no room for that here between them. No room for anything between them.

  “Addy, please,” Jane gasped. “Please. I want you. Now. Here.”

  Adelaide pulled her closer. “I want you, too. Jane.”

  Never had her name sounded sweeter on Adelaide’s lips.

  Her hands found the buttons of Adelaide’s dress. She moved to allow easier access, and Jane thought she was murmuring the words to a spell. She heard the sound of fabric shifting behind her, and glanced over her shoulder to see quilts and cushions sliding to the floor, creating a make-shift bed in the flickering light of the fire.

  She turned back to face a sheepish Adelaide. “Well. I didn’t think that it would be very comfortable on the floor.”

  Jane stood on her toes to press a lingering kiss to the corner of Adelaide’s mouth. “So considerate.”

  She unbuttoned Adelaide’s dress carefully, letting it slide down her waist. She gripped it, thinking vaguely that she should hang it somewhere so it didn’t wrinkle. But then Adelaide was grabbing her by the shoulders and pulling her in for a more lingering, hungry kiss, and it drove all other thoughts from her mind. She let the fabric fall with a wet thump to the floor, and distantly she was aware of Adelaide kicking it in the general direction of her own dress.

  Their shifts quickly joined them, and then there was nothing between them. Jane pressed her body against Adelaide’s, so warm and smooth. Adelaide gripped her by the waist, Jane threw her arms around Adelaide’s neck, and this time when Adelaide trailed kisses down the curve of her shoulder she shivered so hard that it exhaled from her throat as a hum, nearly a whine. Jane had sometimes imagined what it would be like to have a lover, but she never imagined this—this needing. “Adelaide, please.”

  “Here—here.” Adelaide pulled her in the direction of the fire, urged her down. Jane went willingly, the quilts and blankets soft against her back, built up like an embrace. The fire was warm at their side.

  Adelaide sat on her knees between Jane’s legs, but for several moments she didn’t move. The firelight cast flickering, dancing shadows across her sharp face, turned her eyes to amber. “What?” Jane asked.

  “You’re beautiful,” Adelaide whispered. “Gods above, you’re so beautiful.”

  Jane felt a flush that had nothing to do with the fire at their side. She sat up, trailing her fingertips down the pale line of Adelaide’s throat. The firelight softened the sharp angles of her shoulders, swelled against the curve of her chest.

  “I love you,” Jane whispered, and kissed Adelaide again.

  Adelaide’s hands swept up Jane’s ribs, cupping her chest. Jane sighed, arching into the touch. When Adelaide kneaded her breast, sweeping her fingertips across her nipple, she made that needy hum again. Warmth shot through her veins and pulsed between her legs. She felt trembling, boneless. But far from weak.

  “You can lay back, that’s it,” Adelaide whispered. “I love you, Jane. I want you.”

  Jane lay back against the blankets, legs splayed and mind hazy. Distantly she heard the rain patter against the side of the house like a dream. She breathed in sync with it, in sync with Adelaide’s lips at her collarbones, in sync with the fingertips that trailed down her sides, moving carefully to avoid the mostly-scarred-over wound there.

  Slowly, Adelaide worked her way down. Jane stroked along the back of her shoulder, urging her further, where the want thrummed beneath her skin. Adelaide’s fingertips trailed up her thigh, making almost lazy swirling patterns.

  When Adelaide’s warm tongue ran out along her nipple, Jane gasped. Her hips jerked almost involuntarily into Adelaide’s hand. Heat didn’t just tingle through her but flooded her. “Oh!”

  Adelaide smiled. “There we are. Just like that.” She stroked along Jane’s entrance. “You’re plenty warm here, aren’t you?”

  “Adelaide…” Jane couldn’t keep the pleading out of her voice. Didn’t want to. Here, with Adelaide, she could be vulnerable.

  Adelaide hummed against her skin, pressing her lips warm and sure against Jane’s thigh. She parted her legs eagerly as Adelaide travelled up. Jane looked down and locked eyes with Adelaide’s dark ones, even darker as her pupils widened, full of lust, full of love.

  “Yes,” Jane gasped. “Yes, Addy.”

  Adelaide pressed a final, gentle kiss to the inside of Jane’s thigh. And then her tongue, wet and warm, ran along the length of her entrance, a jolt of heat searing up her spine as it reached the top. Jane’s hips jerked, nearly involuntary, seeking pleasure that Adelaide was all too happy to provide.

  Jane cried out, shutting her eyes to better lose herself to the feel of Adelaide’s lips, her body hovering over Jane’s, her hands. Her breath came in ragged pants that echoed in her ears, which was strange, considering just how breathless she felt. She felt as though she were swelling too big for her skin, a boiling pot about to overflow.

  She reached out, curling her hand into a fist in Adelaide’s hair. Adelaide moaned low against her, and it was that, the vibrations of her lover’s own pleasure, that finally sent her over the edge. She cried out something that tried to be Adelaide’s name.

  It was pure adrenaline, pure heat, the realization of the want that had been steadily building in her. Distantly, she was aware of Adelaide stopping just as the sensation of her tongue became overpowering, leaving her with only a lingering sweetness. Adelaide curled warm into her side as her breathing evened and her trembling stopped. The kisses that she pressed into Jane’s shoulder burned like the embers in the fire beside them, a comfortable warmth.

  “You’re wonderful,” Adelaide murmured, running a hand through Jane’s hair. “Wonderful.”

  Jane sighed contentedly, closing her eyes and basking in Adelaide’s warmth. She felt even warmer than usual, actually. And the hands that stroked Jane’s hair trembled slightly.

  Jane opened her eyes. She hadn’t forgotten, the way that Adelaide had moaned, the want she had felt pressed flush against her own skin. A flush had crept all down Adelaide’s pale chest, and her eyes were blown wide.

  “Adelaide.” Jane propped herself up on one arm. “Can I…” She placed a hand on Adelaide’s thigh, earning a gasp from the other woman.

  “If-If you want to,” Adelaide said. “I don’t want you to feel forced…”

  Tenderness washed over her, every bit as powerful and potent as her earlier release. She reached out, stroking Adelaide’s cheek. “I don’t feel forced. I want to do this. As long as you want me.”

  “I do.” Adelaide said. “Of course I do.”

  “Then lay down.” Jane sat up, urging Adelaide onto her back in the spot she just vacated. Adelaide nearly fell into it, the movement boneless and graceful all at once. Her eyes were wide and as unguarded as Jane had ever seen them, naked in their want.

  Jane stroked her fingertips along Adelaide’s cheek. “I want to be the one who touches you,” she said, her words faltering and slow. “I want—I want to be the one who gives you pleasure, because you deserve it. You deserve it so much, Addy.”

  It would feel wrong to bring up the women that Adelaide had been with before, here in this quiet moment between them. But Jane thought about them, thought about the ones who fell willingly into Adelaide’s bed but didn’t do it for her pleasure, only their own.

  She didn’t want to be like tha
t. She wanted to be better than all of them.

  So she lingered, exploring Adelaide’s body with eager hands, her tongue. By the time one slid up her thigh, it was already slick and warm with want. Adelaide’s pulse was at her fingertips. She ran a fingertip experimentally along her entrance, and Adelaide’s entire body shuddered, a moan that was half whimper escaping her lips.

  Jane smiled against Adelaide’s flushed skin. So this was what the witch sounded like when she wasn’t trying to keep her air of mystery.

  Remembering how Adelaide had moaned against her, she let her free hand tangle in Adelaide’s hair, pulling gently while her other rubbed in the same motions Adelaide had used against her. Adelaide’s back arched, body tight with need in the firelight.

  “Jane,” she moaned. “Jane, you’re so—” Her words fell into something incoherent as Jane pulled again, heat pulsing around her fingers.

  She could sense it, that Adelaide was on the brink of the same release she had found. She drew her hand away, even as Adelaide whined, her hips chasing it.

  “Shh, shhh.” Jane kissed her temple. “I’m not done. But I want to experience all of you.” She wanted to give Adelaide every bit of pleasure that she had gotten from her, and that meant the warmth of her lips as much as her fingers.

  She went down quickly, not wanting to lose any of the momentum she’d found. Adelaide rocked against her, hands gripping her shoulders, her words garbled mixtures of pleas and curses and above all, above everything, Jane’s name.

  It was Jane’s name that was on her lips when she finally came, her want finally satisfied. It was the sweetest sound Jane had ever heard.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  A World Remembered

  JANE WOKE ALONE in Adelaide’s bed.

  The spot beside her was warm, indicating that it was only recently vacated. She hummed as she curled into it, closing her eyes to better soak in the late sunlight streaming through the window. It was stronger than she was accustomed to—she’d slept in, but that wasn’t entirely surprising. It had been a late night. Laying together in front of the fire had only been the beginning.

  Jane giggled to herself. Her heart felt lighter than she could ever remember it being. She kept thinking of Adelaide beneath her, writhing, gasping, calling out her name as though it were the most precious thing on earth. It still managed to stir her, even after being so thoroughly satisfied.

  She sat up, looking around the room. It was empty, but she could hear clattering in the kitchen, the sound of someone humming.

  Grinning, she threw on the first thing she could find, a thin nightgown that clung to the curve of her waist and dipped between her breasts. Her parents would surely call it improper, as if they wouldn’t tell her in the same breath to wear the lighter dress when going to visit William. Laughter bubbled up in her again, and she had to press her hands to her mouth to quell it. Just now, everything made her feel light.

  As she went down the hallway, the humming grew louder. Adelaide busied herself around the kitchen, making a mess that brought fondness welling up in Jane’s chest all over again. She wore a black dressing gown edged in lace, tied so haphazardly that one round, pert breast spilled out of it.

  “If you’re trying to seduce me, you’re going to have to give me a few hours,” Jane said, nearly surprisingly herself with her own boldness. “After last night, I’m going to need some time to recover.”

  Adelaide looked up, a smile in her eyes. “I could tell, from how peacefully you were sleeping.” She crossed the kitchen, wrapping her arms around Jane’s waist. “I had to get breakfast started without you.”

  “Oh, dear. I’m shirking my duties, it seems.”

  “Not all of them, clearly.”

  “Is that part of my duties now?”

  “It could be.”

  “Hm. I believe I could be convinced.”

  Adelaide laughed. “You’re chipper this morning, aren’t you? It’s different.”

  “I feel different,” Jane said. “I can’t remember ever feeling this happy. This free.”

  Adelaide’s sharp grin softened into a smile. “I’m glad.”

  Jane leaned forward to press their lips together. Kissing Adelaide felt different, now that she’d unlocked that door within herself. But it also felt the same, steady and solid and sure. Adelaide’s arms around her waist felt like a promise.

  Even the foulness of the medicine did little to dampen Jane’s mood. She cleaned up after breakfast, not quite trusting Adelaide to do more than rinse the dishes and leave them wherever her arms could reach.

  Adelaide scribbled away in her notebook while she did so, humming under her breath again. The sound made Jane smile, breath full and easy in her chest. She walked to Adelaide and wrapped her arms around her shoulders from behind, swaying back and forth.

  “Dance with me,” she said.

  Adelaide snorted a laugh. “What?”

  Jane giggled, spinning so she stood in front of Adelaide, gripping her hands. “You sing so beautifully. It makes me want to dance.”

  Adelaide raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical, but stood willingly enough. “And where would a girl like you learn how to dance?”

  “Parties,” Jane answered simply. “Dancing is common at those.” She swayed back and forth with Adelaide’s hands in hers, to the tune that Adelaide was no longer humming. “But we don’t have to dance like that. We can dance anyway we like.”

  Adelaide laughed, tugging Jane into a twirl. “So we can.” She began to step around the room with Jane in a silly imitation of a waltz. “Do you like to dance?”

  “Yes,” Jane replied. It was an honest answer. Dancing was probably one of her favorite parts of parties. People got a little friendlier, and no one glared if you made a mistake in a step, it was just laughed off. It was scripted but flexible, expected but impulsive.

  Even dancing with William could be fun, even though she’d have to field laughing comments from the others later about lingering hands and decorum. It would be much more fun to dance with Adelaide. They’d make such a handsome couple, all eyes on them.

  She was so caught up in her fantasy, in the excitement of twirling with Adelaide, that she almost opened her mouth to suggest that perhaps they go to a party together soon.

  She snapped her mouth shut with such force that her teeth clacked together. She wouldn’t be able to go to a party with Adelaide. She wouldn’t be able to go to any party again, not unless she wanted to accept the way that the world was. Not unless she wanted to live that scripted life that her parents and everyone else expected of her.

  She didn’t. She couldn’t go back to that, not after feeling so happy and free. That meant no more parties. No more trading at the market. No more exchanging glances over barbs laced in polite tones. No more telling whispering stories. No more feeling like a part of things, a member of society. All of that, all of it would have to be sacrificed at the altar of freedom.

  “Jane?”

  With a start, Jane realized that she’d stopped dancing, her grip on Adelaide’s hand mostly mechanical.

  Jane looked up at Adelaide, smiling. “My mind must have wandered. I am still very tired.”

  Adelaide smiled, dark eyes fond as she pushed Jane’s hair away from her face. “A politer woman than me might apologize. But I don’t have it in me to lie.”

  “I know you don’t, my love.” Jane laughed. And the laugh wasn’t forced. Anything was worth this, was worth Adelaide in her arms. What were parties, silly meaningless connections to a society, in the face of one true connection with one person?

  The people in her town merely looked at her. Adelaide saw her.

  She stood on her toes to press a peck to Adelaide’s nose. “Thank you for the dance.”

  “Of course.” She glanced outside. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I don’t believe this dressing gown is quite warm enough.”

  “Oh. You’re going out?” Jane tried to conceal the disappointment from her voice. Adelaide going out was nothing new. The
y couldn’t just stay here until the food ran out, and of course Adelaide would have to gather things for her spells.

  But Jane’s world had shrunk to just this cabin and the garden. She could go out into the forest now, but what good would it do? She didn’t know what to get or how to achieve anything there. Her talents were better spent around the home.

  “I’ve come up with a new spell and I need ingredients that I can’t grow.” Adelaide stripped her dressing gown without any further preamble, letting it drift to the floor. She scooped up her dress from the night before and inspected it for a moment. Apparently deeming it fit for wear, she slipped it on. “I’ll be back with something nice to cook for dinner. Will you be alright?”

  “Of course.” And already, Jane could see some of the work that needed to be done. Clutter had accumulated, dust was beginning to settle on some of the furniture. Surely, the blankets that they used for last night’s activities, both the picnic and the quilt by the fireplace, would need to be washed.

  She was useful here, she had a place. It was a place she chose. That was enough for her.

  “I’ll be ready for dinner when you get back.” Jane crossed to Adelaide, pulling her hands away from the buttons of her dress so that she could do them instead. She pressed a kiss to the center of Adelaide’s chest, just where skin met fabric.

  Adelaide shuddered. “You’re making it very difficult to leave.”

  “Who said I wanted you to leave?”

  Adelaide hummed. “A tempting prospect. But I believe both of us will be happier with some game to cook for dinner. We’ll have to keep our stamina up.”

  Jane laughed a little. “I suppose you’re right, at that.” She gave up, pressing a kiss to Adelaide’s lips. “Stay safe. I love you.”

  “I love you, too.” And with that, Adelaide left.

  Jane stood for a long moment, ignoring Cabula as she wound around her feet. Then she picked up the dressing gown from where Adelaide had dropped it. It still smelled faintly of her. She swayed absently, humming the tune Adelaide had been. But she no longer remembered quite how it went, and it didn’t seem to break through the silence of the cabin.