Enchantment (44 page)

Channie’s nervousness spiked for a moment until he slid back under the covers. Josh’s trembling increased, but he didn’t say or do anything. He just laid back and let Channie explore. She traced every inch of his face with her fingertips, outlining the angle of his jaw, the curve of his lips and the almond shape of his eyes.

Channie’s head throbbed, but pleasure overshadowed her pain, muting it. The more she focused on Josh, the less it hurt. She slid her hand lower and traced the valley’s between the muscles of his washboard abs.
 

Josh grabbed her wrist and slid it back up to his chest.
 

“Josh?”

“Slow down for a minute.”

“Why?” Channie had thought he was enjoying this, but she must be doing something wrong.

“I don’t want to finish before we start.”

“What do you mean … oh.”
 

“Yeah, oh is right. As in oh my god you have no idea how good that feels.”

“Why don’t you show me?” Channie blushed. She couldn’t believe she’d actually said that out loud.

Josh’s breath hitched. Twice. He whispered, “Roll over,” so quietly she barely heard him.

His fingers sparked a trail of pleasure down her spine as he unbuttoned her dress. But when he slid it off her shoulders and unhooked her bra, her nerves returned. Josh had built this up in his mind for so long, what if she didn’t measure up to his fantasies?

“Channie?”

“Yeah?” Her voice squeaked like a mouse.

“It won’t always be this awkward.”
 

If she hadn’t known better, she would have sworn he was reading her mind. “I know. I just don’t want to disappoint you.”

“Babe, you could never disappoint me.”

Channie took a deep breath and slipped her arms out of her bra and dress then slid them both down to her waist. She rolled onto her side, facing Josh then palmed his cheek and said, “We do have more time. We have the rest of our lives. Tonight is just the beginning.”

Time stood still as the moon crept across the sky. Josh’s hands felt like raining water on her heated skin, washing all her inhibitions away.
 

“Make love to me Josh.”

Abby had told her that the first time hurt like a son of a bitch. And there was a small moment of pain, but it was far from unbearable. Abby had also told her that sex got a lot better over time. Channie couldn’t imagine how it could get any better than this.

Her entire body thrummed with pleasure, but she felt out of control. The memory of peering over the edge of the cliff at the bauxite quarry last summer rose unbidden in her mind. She had the same feeling of teetering on the brink, wanting to jump but afraid of falling.

Josh brushed her ear with his lips and breathed her name, “Channie.”

Her stomach tightened and spread warmth outward all the way to her fingers and toes.
 

Josh moved his mouth to her throat and whispered, “It’s okay, let go.”

Channie fisted the sheets in her hands and arched her back. “Josh!”
 

His voice was deep and gravelly. “I’ve got you, Channie. Trust me.”

She did trust him. She would always trust him. She let go … and fell. But this was so much better than cliff diving. She was falling and flying at the same time as wave after wave of pleasure rocked her body. She felt as if they would fly through the heavens together forever … and then it was over.
 

Josh called her name and shuddered, then collapsed on top of her. The weight of his body was a comfort, not a burden. If he weren’t anchoring her to the bed, she would surely float away. Her headache was gone. She felt completely relaxed, as if every joint had come unhinged. Her skin was flushed and covered with a fine sheen of sweat.

“Wow. What was that?”

Josh chuckled and said, “I believe it’s called an orgasm.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, the big O. You’ve never had one before?”

“I’ve never been with a man before.”
 

“You’ve never flown solo?”

“I sort of thought that was a guy thing.”

Josh kissed the top of her head then the tip of her nose. “Actually, it’s a human thing.”

They cuddled and kissed for a few minutes, then Josh bit his lip and pulled it through his teeth. “You wanna do it again?”

She did. She most definitely did.

~***~

Channie’s heart expanded, filling her chest with so much love she could barely breathe. Her connection to Josh was stronger than it had ever been. Magic hummed all around and through them as they gazed into each other’s eyes.

They still had many challenges ahead of them — the mage war and training Josh to use magic was at the top of the list. Josh’s clan still wanted to murder her family. Abby was somewhere in Mexico and Channie had no idea if she’d ever see her again. Josh’s Olympic dreams were on hold if not destroyed. But when he held her naked body against his own, nothing else mattered.

They’d completed every task the Book of the Dead had demanded before the deadline. The full moon still bathed their faces with its luminous glow. Maybe, whatever ancient magic was at work had decided to reward them by restoring Channie’s powers. She followed the path of Josh’s love into her heart-of-hearts and searched for the slightest hint of Enchantment’s magic. All she found was love — but it was enough.
 

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An excerpt from
Taken
, the next book in
The Channie Series
, is on the following page. The whole book is available on Amazon.

Bonus content: excerpt from
Taken
, Book 2 of
The Channie Series
by Charlotte Abel available now.

It was a little after midnight when Channie woke up. A thin coating of ice on the edge of the quilt crackled when she reached for Josh. Where was he? He wasn’t where he was supposed to be — spooned against her back, keeping her warm. She found him on the other side of the bed, facing the wall, his knees drawn tightly against his chest.
 

Channie couldn’t keep from shivering, but Josh was as still and cold as a block of ice. Her heart stopped until she slid her hand to his throat and found his pulse. She shook his shoulder and said, “Josh, wake up.”
 

He moaned but refused to move. She shook him again, harder this time, but couldn’t rouse him.

She got out of bed and fumbled around in the dark until she found the kerosene lantern and box of matches under the bed. Her hands trembled as she struck match after match with stiff fingers. When the lantern finally sputtered to life, she lifted it to Josh’s face.
 

His eyebrows and feather-duster lashes looked like they’d been sprinkled with powdered sugar. She set the lantern on the floor and patted Josh’s cheeks as she fought the panic clawing at her heart. The north wind whistled through the cracked boards of the shack and swirled little piles of snow into the corners. She abandoned all pretense of gentleness and slapped him. “Come on Josh. Wake up.”

He blinked his eyes open and licked his lips. “Channie? What’s wrong?”

“We’re freezing to death. You need to cast another warmth spell.”

Channie and Josh were holed up in “The Shack” out by the abandoned bauxite quarry, hiding from the Veyjivik trackers. The rickety old shed was not meant for year-round habitation. The roof leaked. The windows were boarded up and there was a twelve inch hole in the floor by the door. There was no electricity, no running water and no fireplace or wood-burning stove. But it was isolated and well hidden. And that’s all that mattered. Avoiding the Veyjivik Trackers trumped everything else.

Josh swore then said, “God, I hate this dump.”

Channie didn’t like it either but whining about it wasn’t going to change anything. “If you can just cast one more spell that’ll last ‘till dawn, we can build a fire in the pit outside tomorrow—”

Josh struggled to sit up and said, “I’m sorry, babe. I don’t have enough energy for a warmth spell. I’ll go start the fire.”

There was a reason mages heated their homes with wood. The energy required to fuel a heat spell was greater than the warmth produced. It was not an efficient use of magic. But the feather bed and pile of quilts Aunt Wisdom had given them in addition to their combined body heat and the occasional warmth spell had been enough — until two nights ago when the weather turned bitterly cold. Every time Channie complained, Josh had cast another warmth spell. He’d obviously pushed himself too far.

She said, “You can’t go outside. You’re too weak.”

Josh collapsed against the mattress and closed his eyes. “Then come back to bed. We’ll figure something out tomorrow.”
 

Channie was shivering uncontrollably now. It would be so easy to just crawl under the covers and fall asleep. But if she did, they’d both be dead by morning.
 

Aunt Wisdom had given Channie, Josh and Hunter disposable phones to use in an emergency. This was definitely an emergency but the shack was miles away from a cell phone tower. She’d have to drive half way to Whistler’s Gulch, in a blizzard, down miles of switchbacks, to get a signal and she didn’t know how much longer Josh would last without heat. Fire first, then go for help.

She tucked the edges of the quilt around Josh and slid a knit cap onto his head then got dressed. She leaned over him and kissed his lips then clenched her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering. “I’m going to build a fire in the pit. I’ll be right back.”

He didn’t respond.

The fire pit behind the shack that served as their kitchen was out in the open, unprotected from the wind and driving snow.

Channie tried for half an hour to light a fire, but without dry wood, magic or shelter from the blizzard she knew it was futile.

Wait a minute …. What was wrong with her? Josh’s car had a heater.

She stumbled back to the shack, grabbed the keys off the nail inside the door and started the car. While the engine was warming up, Channie went back inside and wrestled Josh into his clothes and parka. She half carried, half drug him to the car and stuffed him into the passenger seat.

She gave the vehicle another five minutes to warm up then turned the heater on full blast. Josh groaned and slumped further down in the seat. He wasn’t responding to the warm air. She needed to take him to the emergency clinic in Whistler’s Gulch.
 

It would be risky. No one knew where the Veyjivik trackers were staying, but if Josh got within ten miles of them, they’d know it. And since everyone but Hunter was gone, they’d be suspicious about a strange, new mage in the area.
 

Trackers were worse than bloodhounds.

Channie rubbed Josh’s hands and patted his cheeks, but he didn’t respond. He needed help and he needed it right now. They’d just have to take their chances with the trackers.

She was grateful that Josh spent the first week of their honeymoon teaching her how to drive. She was also grateful that his four-wheel drive, cherry-red Rav4 had an automatic transmission. It would be hard enough negotiating the old logging trail in the dead of night during a blizzard. She didn’t need the added complication of a stick shift and clutch.

Channie turned on the headlights, put the car in gear and glanced at the gas gauge. It was riding on empty. At least Whistler’s Gulch was downhill all the way. She’d figure out how to get back after she got Josh to the clinic. One problem at a time.

Drifting snow had turned the pothole-riddled logging trail into a deceptively smooth, white road. It was a deadly illusion. Every time the tires slipped into a rut or bounced into a hole, Channie fought the urge to close her eyes and jerk the steering wheel in the opposite direction.

She leaned forward and squinted into the storm with white-knuckled intensity, but couldn’t see more than a few feet beyond the hood of the car. She fumbled her left hand along the steering column until she located the lever that controlled the headlights and switched to the high-beam setting. The falling snow seemed to change trajectories. Each pellet-shaped flake shot towards her on its own parabolic path, making her dizzy.
 

By the time she switched the headlights back to low-beam, the windshield had fogged up. Channie flicked her gaze to the climate controls for a split second. It wasn’t enough time to find the defrost setting, but it was plenty long enough for a hairpin turn to catch her completely off guard.

She slammed on the brakes and flung her right arm to the side, an instinctive and useless reflex, to protect Josh. The back end of the car fishtailed, hit a pine tree and rebounded back onto the road. They skidded and slid sideways for what felt like forever before the car finally stopped. Channie’s heart hammered against her chest as she visually checked Josh for injuries.
 

He rolled his head to the side and peered at Channie. “Where are we going?” His voice was weak and raspy.

“I’m taking you to the clinic in Whistler’s Gulch.”

“Why?”

“You’ve got hypothermia.”

“We can’t go into town. The trackers—”

“You were practically in a coma.”
 

“I’m fine. Turn around and go back.”

“You’re too weak to cast any more warmth spells. If we don’t find shelter from the storm, we’ll both die. And you need medical attention.”

“Isn’t your aunt a healer?”

Channie stopped the car and checked her phone. Nothing. She drove another two miles before a single bar replaced the “no signal” icon.
 

Aunt Wisdom answered on the first ring. “What’s wrong?”

“We’re freezing to death—”

“Don’t say anything else. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“We’re not at the—”

“Are you in town?”

“No, we’re about—“