Page 55 of Charmed
Looking at her, he thought of the young princess who had been put under a spell by a jealous fairy and made to sleep a hundred years, until wakened by true love’s gentle kiss.
“Anastasia. You’re so beautiful.” He touched her hair, indulging himself. He’d never watched her sleep, and he had a sudden, tearing urge to have her in his bed, to be able to open his eyes in the morning and see her there beside him. “What am I going to do?”
Sighing, he let his hand fall away from her hair and moved to the stove to shut off the kettle. As gently as he had with Jessie, he lifted her into his arms, and, like Jessie, she remained lax. Gritting his teeth against the knots in his stomach, he carried her upstairs and laid her on his bed.
“You don’t know how much I’ve wanted you here,” he said under his breath as he slipped off her shoes. “In my bed, in the night. All night.” He spread the covers over her, and she sighed, shifting in sleep and curling into his pillow.
The knots in his stomach loosened as he bent to touch his lips to hers. “Good night, princess.”
***
In her panties and T-shirt, Jessie padded into the bedroom before dawn. She’d had a dream, a bad one about the haunted house at school, and wanted the comfort and warmth of her father.
He always made monsters go away.
She scurried to the bed, and climbed in to burrow against him. It was then that she noted it wasn’t her father at all, but Ana.
Fascinated, Jessie curled up. Curious fingers played with Ana’s hair. In sleep Ana murmured and tucked Jessie under her arm to snuggle her close. Odd sensations tugged through Jessie’s stomach. Different smells, different textures, and yet she felt as loved and safe as she did when her father cuddled her. She rested her head trustingly against Ana’s breast and slept.
***
When Ana woke, she felt arms around her, small, limp arms. Disoriented, she stared down at Jessie, then looked around the room.
Not her room, she realized. And not Jessie’s. Boone’s.
She kept the child warm against her as she tried to piece together what had happened.
The last thing she remembered was sitting down after she’d put on water for tea. Tired, she’d been so tired. She’d rested her head for a moment and … and obviously had fallen fast asleep.
So where was Boone?
Cautiously she turned her head, unsure whether she was relieved or disappointed to find the bed beside herempty. Impractical, of course, given the circumstances, but it would have been so lovely to be able to cuddle back against him even as the child cuddled to her.
When she looked back, Jessie’s eyes were open and on hers.
“I had a bad dream,” the girl told her in hushed morning whispers. “About the Headless Horseman. He was laughing and laughing and chasing me.”
Ana snuggled down to kiss Jessie’s brow. “I bet he didn’t catch you.”
“Uh-uh. I woke up and came to get Daddy. He always makes the monsters go away. The ones in the closet and under the bed and at the window and everywhere.”
“Daddies are good at that.” She smiled, remembering how her own had pretended to chase them away with a magic broom every night during her sixth year.
“But you were here, and I wasn’t scared with you, either. Are you going to sleep in Daddy’s bed at night now?”
“No.” She brushed a hand through Jessie’s hair. “I think you and I both fell asleep, and your father had to put both of us to bed.”
“But it’s a big bed,” Jessie pointed out. “There’d be room. I have Daisy to sleep with me now, but Daddy has to sleep all alone. Does Quigley sleep with you?”
“Sometimes,” Ana said, relieved at the rapid change of topic. “He’s probably wondering where I am.”
“I think he knows,” Boone announced from the doorway. He was wearing only jeans, unsnapped at the waist, and he looked bleary-eyed and harassed, with the gray cat winding between his legs. “He howled and scratched at the back door until I let him in.”
“Oh.” Ana shoved her tumbled hair back as she sat up. “Sorry. I guess he woke you.”
“Right the first time.” He tucked his thumbs in his pockets while the cat leapt onto the bed and began to mutter and complain to his mistress. The knots in his stomach were back, doubled. How could he explain what he felt on seeing Ana cuddled with his little girl in the big, soft bed? “Jessie, what are you doing?”
“I had a bad dream.” She leaned her head against Ana’s arm and stroked the cat’s fur. “So I came in to getyou, but Ana was here. She made the monsters go away just like you do.” Quigley meowed plaintively and made Jessie giggle. “He’s hungry. Poor kitty. I can feed him. Can I take him down and feed him?”
