Page 104 of Dark Embers

He frowned, then shrugged and stepped back to give me room to work. I appreciated that. I couldn’t be burdened by my resentment toward him while performing the spell. It wouldn’t work if my focus wasn’t trained on healing this girl.

So I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, in and out, imagining I was exhaling these negative feelings. I had to remember why I was here. It wasn’t to argue with Caesar and let him know how much he’d hurt me. I’d come here to heal a broken mind that might contain clues necessary for Arya’s safety.

That realization gave me the resignation I needed to let go of my issues with Caesar and any doubts I had of my own abilities, emptying my mind of everything but determined compassion.

When I was finally ready, I turned to the unconscious girl beside me and placed my hands on either side of her head.

“Ka em khenert tep,” I said, willing healing magic to flow from my heart, down my arms into the troubled mind in my hands. “Nehep en aha seneb.”

I could feel the magic doing its job, working through the mental blocks imprisoning her mind from the damage to her skull. But it wasn’t enough yet.

I repeated the spell once more, pushing more magic through my body into hers. Little by little, the dark shroud around her mind was withering away, disintegrating into oblivion.

Finally, her body would take no more of my magic. I opened my mouth to tell him it was done, but the clicking sound of the door being unlocked made me snap my head in that direction.

Caesar wore the same look of panic on his handsome face, and before I knew what was happening, he grabbed my arm and yanked me behind a curtain and onto the bed it concealed.

The curtain had barely settled when the door opened and light footsteps carried toward us. I bit down on my lips and froze, my body pressed so tight against Caesar’s behind me that my hips ached with the tension.

The footsteps passed us across the room, and I suddenly realized I’d left the grimoire on the table. What if whoever came here took it? Icould notlose that book! If our intruder made any sounds that suggested they were taking it, not even Caesar would be able to stop me from blowing our cover.

“Now, where did I put my…” mumbled a soft female voice, and I assumed she must have been the lead healer Caesar had sent away for a break. So much for that.

“Ah, there’s my phone!” the woman exclaimed, followed by a shuffling sound.

Caesar and I held perfectly still as she stood there beyond the curtain, the light sound of tapping suggesting she was now scrolling on the very device she’d returned to find.Dammit, lady, you’ve got it so go!

The woman hummed to herself and then finally traipsed down the aisle of beds and closed the door.

Caesar and I didn’t exhale until we heard her footsteps disappear down the hall outside. I released all the tension in my body,collapsing onto the bed and against Caesar’s firm chest behind me.

“I never thought to make sure she had her phone before she left,” Caesar grumbled, then he looked down at me. “Do you think the spell worked?”

I swallowed. “I think so. I could feel it working away at whatever was blocking her mind, until it just stopped taking any magic. I think it’ll take a few minutes for her to rouse.”

He nodded, his chestnut eyes lingering on mine. As I looked up into his warming gaze, my body began to stiffen again for entirely different reasons.

We were pressed against each other on a small bed, his arm still wrapped around my waist, and I could feel the unmistakable bulge of his desire thickening against my ass.

“Um, Caesar…” I began, but my voice trailed off as I stared up at him.

We were in dangerous territory. I knew that I should get off the bed and distance myself asap, but my body had no desire to create any such removal from this seductive creature. His body felt so good against mine, the proof of his desire fueling my own. His arm around me felt too heavy to resist, especially when his hand flattened possessively against my stomach.

“I know I shouldn’t want you,” he murmured softly. “There are a thousand rules that say I shouldn’t. But…I’m tired of fighting it. I want you, Shea.”

Those words were like a battering ram, completely obliterating every wall I’d struggled to maintain. With unbridled passion, I grabbed his face and pulled it down to mine. Our open mouthsfit together like two perfect pieces of a puzzle, and I melted at how incredible it felt to be kissing him again.

I was tired of fighting it, too. This man was made for me, shifter or not. If we weren’t meant to feed this fire, why did we burn for each other so brightly? I wanted to burn with him. Ineededhim to scorch me.

His hand slid heavily down my belly and between my thighs, making me whimper in pained relief as he pressed it over my aching pussy. I squirmed against his hard touch, urging him to do more with the sway of my hips as they ground back against his pelvis.

“Wait,” he said breathlessly, breaking away from my hungry mouth.

My heart fell, the certainty that he was going to end this once and for all tearing me up inside. Not now. Not when we were so close. Please, no.

“You said Letti should wake up any minute,” he said. “We should leave before she does. Come with me to my room. No one will find us there.”

My lips split into a grin so wide it hurt my face, excitement and promise swirling my need into a potent cocktail. We slipped off the bed, and I stuffed the grimoire back into my bag before following him to the door, both of us taking one last look at Letti over our shoulders. Her complexion looked much better.

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