Neverland (23 page)

As if I’d hit an air hole, I drop three feet. Gasping, I struggle to gain control and plummet another couple of feet. Peter’s arm is around me in an instant. “Angel,” he yells through the wind. “Where’s your happy thought?”

Gone for a careless moment.

From the depth of my heart I pull Paulina’s laugh and Brittney Renae’s giggle. “I’m all right. You can let go,” I tell Peter.

He eyes me with skepticism, but eventually he pulls his arm away from my waist. Still, his gaze remains on me like that of a hawk. I try to ban Jamie from my thoughts altogether and save thinking of him for later. When I’m home.

We fly for what feels like hours in the same direction. The sky doesn’t change. Neither does the dark blue sea beneath us. It’s impossible to say how far Tameeka’s pixie dust will carry me—if I’ll make it to London after all or just plummet to the waves at some point. Peter has come with me way farther than I expected.

“Shouldn’t you return to Neverland?” I ask him.

He arches a brow at me. “And risk you losing your happy thought again? I don’t think so.”

“But you can’t come with me the entire way, can you?”

“I’ll have to.” He laughs and it sounds as carefree as ever. “Hook has been after my life for a long time. But if I let something happen to you on this journey, he’s going to
really
kill me. So just concentrate on whatever keeps you up in the clouds with me and we’re both going to be okay.”

His bright spirit cheers me up. I enjoy the idea of having company for the rest of the way. And then I see it. There’s land ahead. “Peter!” I gasp and point down to the green spot that flashes between the clouds.

“I see it too!” He takes my hand and pulls me on a little faster, already descending.

So this is it. This is
home
. My heart clops like a racing horse. In just a few minutes I’ll be with my family again. What will the twins say? Oh, I can’t wait…

At a killer speed, we dive through the clouds. The sun stands lower now and casts a dreamy glow on the island and the ocean around it.

Island?
Wait.
I know London is located on an island too, but this one beneath us looks too darn familiar. It’s shaped like a freaking half moon.

Peter seems to realize where we are at the same time, because he pulls me to a hover in the air. When he looks at me, his eyes are wide with shock and sorrow.

“How can this be, Peter?” I plead. “We’ve never changed direction and we’ve gone so far!”

His face scrunches in mournful lines as he shrugs, forlorn. “It seems like Neverland doesn’t want to let you go.”

Remembering what Jamie showed me on the map of Neverland the other day after we returned from the sailing trip, I wonder if the same happened today. Did Peter and I fly around the globe where Neverland is located? Is it really a small star and not just a place you can fly away from?

With all my hope, my happy thought slips away from me. Suddenly I have no grip on the air anymore but only dangle from Peter’s hand that is tightly wrapped around my wrist. He pulls me to his chest and sinks toward Neverland. Tears are battling to the surface of my eyes.

For a brief moment I wonder if Peter will take me to his tree house in the jungle, but as we’re headed toward the shore on the west side and the sails of the Jolly Roger come into view, it’s clear he knows where I want to go.

He lands on deck and releases me. Every pirate on board gapes at us, open-mouthed. Even Jack Smee’s eyes are wider than saucers. But the only one I want to see right now is sitting on the pile of wooden boxes and gazing out to the sea. Knees pulled to his chest, he’s resting his arms on them. The big black hat dipped forward, there’s a sad tilt to his head.

Breaking away from Peter, I run to Jamie. He turns at my footsteps on the floorboards and jerks around. In another second he is on his feet and wraps me in his tender embrace. “Angel, what the— You’re back!” He pushes me away from him to look at my face. There’s wonder and confusion in his eyes. “Blow me down, why did you— Ah, Angel!” Crushing me to his chest again, he strokes his hand over my hair and neck. He wants to laugh and I think he wants to cry at the same time. But he’s too startled to even get a complete sentence out of his mouth.

Moving my arms around him, I dig my fingers into his shirt at his back and bury my face against his chest. “Flying didn’t work,” I sob.

“What?” He holds me away from him once more and brushes the hair out of my face with both hands. “How could it not?”

“I don’t know.”

“We went straight north all the time,” Peter explains from behind me. “But somehow we reached Neverland from the south again.”

“It’s like when we went out with the Jolly Roger,” Jamie concludes in a flat voice. But then another rush of excitement shakes him. “You’re back!” He sighs and hugs me so tight, all the air whizzes out of my lungs. “We’ll find another way,” he promises after a tender kiss to my hair. “Don’t you worry, we
will
send you home.”

I lean into him and know he won’t rest until I’m back at my house in London. But for now, he’s just happy to see me. And I to see him.

“What do you think went wrong?” he asks over my head.

Turning to the other side, I see Peter shrug. “Maybe we didn’t go up high enough. But seriously, I have no idea.” Then he narrows his eyes and steps closer.

A queer tension grips me. “What?” Jamie and I ask at once.

“You said you can leave Neverland only the same way you came here, right?”

My brows knit together like his as I nod. “Why?”

“Angel, you didn’t
fly
to Neverland.” His voice drops to an ominous level. “You fell.”

Oh my God.
The air freezes in my lungs. He’s right. “So there’s really no way for me to leave this world—” Lips trembling, my voice breaks on the last words.

Peter grimaces. “I wouldn’t exactly say that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Basically, that you just have to fall off somewhere to get back. But I don’t think a knee-high chair will do.”

All my hope is tied to Peter’s idea. “Then what do you suggest?”

The guys exchange uncomfortable glances then Jamie asks me, “How high was that balcony you dropped from?”

It was on the first floor. A glance around the ship and the lowest mast comes into focus. I point my finger at it. “About as high as that.” Jamie’s grumble as he contemplates it draws my attention. My eyes dry as they widen in understanding. “You’re not expecting me to throw myself down from a mast?”

He rubs his nape and shakes his head. “Not from this one. The boxes beneath would shorten your fall.” He pauses. “We’re going up there.” With a nod to the side he indicates the mast in the middle of the deck. The highest one. With nets attached to climb up and several crosspieces.

My throat is tight. “And just how high do you want me to climb?” From the look on Jamie’s face I get that he intends to go up all the way. Lips compressed, I nod, resigned. If their plan doesn’t work, I’m going to be mash on the main deck. “Just great.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll come up with you, Angel.” Jamie takes my hand, kisses my knuckles and pulls me against him. “And Peter will wait down here to catch you if anything goes wrong.”

Peter coughs. It’s one of those freaking coughs that tell you in an instant that you missed something essential. Something that might take your life if you’re stupid enough to ignore it.

“What?” I drawl, fighting these creepy misgivings.

“It might not work if I catch you before the impact. I really think you have to go through with it. And Angel—”

“What? There’s more?” I blurt, almost hysterical now.

“You’ll have to wash off all the pixie dust too.”

“There’s a snag in everything, huh?” Laughing when you don’t in the least feel like doing so is a weird thing. I can’t stop, until it turns into sobbing and Jamie hugs me to his chest.

“Shh,” he soothes me. “It’ll be all right. You can do this.”

He leads me into his quarters where I go to the primitive bathroom for another shower—hopefully my last one in Neverland. Using only one bucket of water this time, I save the other for washing all the pixie dust out of the dress. Done with that, I slip into a shirt Jamie gave me. The white linen clings to my wet skin and reaches to the middle of my thighs. The wide collar slips off one shoulder as I head out of the bathroom.

In the doorway to the quarter deck, Potato Ralph waits for me to hand him my wet dress. He offered to dry it over the stove in the galley for me. Jamie closes the door behind him then turns to me, his gaze roaming over my body from my eyes to my naked toes and back. I’m just standing there in the middle of his room, feeling cold and scared of what’s still to come tonight.

“Can I get you something?” he asks after some time. “Something to drink or—”

“How about some of the rum you drank the other night?” I kid with little amusement.

Surprised, he tilts his head and arches his brows at me. He looks sweet and makes me smile. “Never mind,” I say and shake my head. Not knowing what else to do, I climb onto his bed and pull my knees to my chest, hugging my thighs beneath them.

His hat dangling from his hand now, Jamie comes over and sits in front of me, one leg tucked underneath him, the other foot still on the floor.

“When Peter and I returned and saw you on deck, you seemed sad,” I say after a while of silently staring into his shiny blue eyes.

There’s no change in his serious but soft expression. “I wasn’t sad. I—” His gaze drops to my feet and after a moment lifts to my face again. His eyes fill with ache. “When you were gone, Angel, I hit rock bottom.”

A warmth crawls over me. I don’t know if it comes from his words or from his tender fingers that just curled around my ankles. His thumbs begin to stroke my skin. The warmth turns into a strange heat and spirals through me, making me shiver. “You know that you didn’t have to tell me about my past. You could have kept it a secret from me and made me stay with you.”

It’s a stupid thought and it shouldn’t have even entered my mind, but when I find myself lost in his touch, I wonder if after today I could be happy in Neverland forever. Jamie is a temptation I didn’t reckon with in my struggle to find home. All these feelings confuse me and I shake my head. “I—I thought that you…”

“That I like you? That I
love
you?” A slow smile curves his lips. “By now you should know that it’s all true.” His lids at half-mast, he leans forward and places a seductive kiss to my right knee. A tingle starts on that spot and races up to my stomach. Long, honey-colored lashes blink open. His mouth is still on my knee when he whispers, “And I guess it’s safe to assume you feel the same way about me.”

I do. But in my current state of paralysis I can’t even nod.

I barely register how he straightens again and moves a little closer. All I can concentrate on is how to breathe when his fingers slide up my calf and tenderly brush over the spot on my knee that he just kissed.

Am I shaking? Heck, I think I am. My knees almost knock together.

A frown mars his face at my nervousness, but it quickly turns into a knowing half-smile. He stops fondling me. Instead he takes both my ankles and gently lifts my legs to rest them over his thigh. I brace myself on the mattress. One of his hands slides over mine, the other lifts to the back of my neck.

My eyes averted, I see our shadows dance on the wall in the candlelight. They are nearing each other. Jamie’s soft breath caresses my ear. No, not his breath. His tongue. He’s nibbling my earlobe, then he takes it in his mouth and sucks gently. The tingle spreads in all directions now and makes me shiver a little harder.

“Are you cold?” he whispers.

“No.” I’m warm enough in his room, but damn, even my voice trembles.

Jamie kisses a path from my ear down to my shoulder. The collar has slipped away again, but it doesn’t seem to be enough for him. Dragging his fingers in a gentle caress around my neck to the front, he opens the top button of the shirt I’m wearing. His gaze holds mine. My heart pounds frighteningly fast. Surely, he must be able to feel it at every brush of his fingers against the upper curve of my breasts as he works the second button open. Seductively slow, he pulls the fabric down on one side. The mild scraping of his beard makes me aware of just how close he leans, feathering kisses all over my skin.

Only now I realize that I’ve been sitting rigid on the mattress. Feeling more shy than ever, I stroke his chest.

Jamie slides his fingers through mine and presses a soft kiss into my palm, never breaking eye contact. Then he strokes my cheek. His tenderness warms me.

Closing my eyes, I lean into his touch and, with the tip of his nose, he continues to caress my face. Angling his head, Jamie brushes his lips over the corner of my mouth. The kiss is so light, it causes the little hairs at the back of my neck to bristle. A shiver runs down my spine.

As if he knows exactly what he is doing to me, he does it again. This time, I can feel him smile. Or smirk? He sure enjoys my reaction to him. I don’t let him tease me any longer but tilt my head at the third caress. Briefly he stops, his eyes shining warm in the candlelight. Then he molds his mouth to mine, running with the fervor we both feel.

Fireworks of excitement start in my belly and rocket in every direction. At his gentle pressure, I open my mouth. Our lips barely touch when our tongues do.

Jamie’s palm slips away from my face. The tips of his fingers skim along the column of my throat, then his hold gets tighter as he slides his hand down my shoulder and arm just to break away before my elbow and lower to my hip. To feel his hand there makes me breathe a lot faster.

With his thumb, he brushes gently back and forth on my skin. Then he moves his caress down the outside of my naked leg. My concentration’s shot to pieces at his intimate touch. He deepens the kiss, running his fingers lightly up the inside to the middle of my thigh and back down to my ankle.

The world starts to spin around me. I close my eyes to shut it out. Jamie is the only one I let in. Using his upper body, he pushes me into the pillow behind me. Our fingers intertwined, he moves my hands over my head and presses them down on the mattress, shifting his weight so that I’m half trapped beneath him. His silky blond hair falls down over me as he kisses me. My eyes closed, I follow him blindly. All I feel is his mouth on mine and his touch on my skin.