Yesterday's Magic (31 page)

“Jed,” she whispered.

His head snapped up. He pulled back, enough
that her bunched up dress fell free. She unwrapped her legs and
when she stood, moisture trickled down her inner thighs.

Wow. No plane, no seatbelt, no damn dry
pretzels. But she’d been flying. The take off had been swift,
engines had raced, and the landing had been so very sweet.
Welcome to the Mile High Club, Bella.

She really did feel a little lightheaded.
“Maybe we should light a lantern,” she suggested.

He yanked up his pants and stepped back so
fast that he tripped and something, cans she thought, clattered to
the ground. She heard a match strike twice before he finally got
the lantern lit. Soft light filled the room.

He stood five feet away, his face full of
concern. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t know what just
happened.”

She’d just gotten royally fucked and it had
been very nice. That’s what had happened. But now what?
Hello
seemed to be a bit after the fact. “What are you doing
here?” she asked.

“I saw the light in the store and I thought
someone had broken in. It never occurred to me that you might have
spent the night.”

She took a step toward the scattered cans and
winced. Her dress might have fallen back into place but her hip
joints were still thinking about it.

He lunged for her, as if he was afraid she
might fall. “You should probably sit down,” he said.

She shook her head. “Jed, I’m fine.”

He stared at her. “I used you pretty hard,”
he said, his voice rough, full of remorse.

She rolled her eyes. Deliberately. And with
her eyes, that was a damn fine way to make a statement. “Jed, blame
doesn’t become you. Look, it wasn’t planned but all in all, it was
very nice. I could have stopped you. I know I could have if I’d
tried.”

“I’m not so sure,” he said.

She was sure. Jedidiah McNeil was a pain in
the rear but he wasn’t the type to force a woman.

He stared at her. “What now?” he asked.

“Are you hungry?”

He blinked his eyes, as if that might help
his hearing. It clearly wasn’t the question he’d expected. “I
guess,” he said.

“I could make some tea. And there are
crackers and dried fruit.” She pointed to the back room. “Maybe we
could just sit and talk.”

He cocked his head. “You want to talk? After
that?”

“Well, I don’t think I have the strength to
do it again. At least not this minute.”

He studied her. “I can’t figure you out.”

“I’m not that complex, Jed.” It was a lie.
Being half-witch, half-mortal made her more complex than most. But
there were no explanations she could give him. She sat down on the
bed.

She held out her hand. “Please, Jed. Just
sit. We don’t need to talk.”

He took her hand. They didn’t sit, however.
Instead he lay down on the bed and pulled her down in front of him.
He tucked his legs in behind her and held her spoon fashion. His
big body radiated heat.

She felt warm and safe and she couldn’t feel
a lump or a bump in the mattress. She felt peaceful. In her head,
she knew the peace was fleeting. It was December fifth. Tonight she
would kill a man and there was nothing peaceful about that. It
would be the most difficult thing she’d ever had to do. The most
important. She could not fail.

But, as she snuggled her bottom closer to him
and felt an immediate response, she allowed herself to simply enjoy
the moment, to feel absolutely blissful.

They slept. She wasn’t sure for how long but
it was still dark when they woke. This time, Jed pulled her into
his arms and very slowly, very gently, made love to her. He
undressed her with care, he worshiped her body with soft kisses and
gentle licks, and when she shattered in his arms, he held her
tightly to him and she desperately wanted time to stop.

They slept again and this time when they woke
up, it was just getting light outside. He stretched, groaned, and
sat up, swinging his bare legs over the side of the cot. She
continued to lie on her side. She reached out and ran a lazy finger
up his spine. She smiled when she saw the gooseflesh on his arms.
“Don’t tell me you’re ticklish,” she said.

He turned and lightly wrapped a hand around
her wrist. “I won’t, then. Don’t make me hurt you,” he teased.

Too late. It was going to hurt like hell to
walk away from this man. Her body, which had been toasty warm a few
minutes ago now felt cold. “You’d better go,” she said.

He frowned at her. “What’s wrong? Why so
serious?”

“It’s going to be day soon,” she said.
“Someone will see you leaving here.”

“I don’t…”

“Care,” she finished. “Yes, you do. But
that’s okay. I understand. I won’t tell anyone that you were
here.”

All teasing had left his eyes. “I’m not
ashamed of being with you,” he said. “None of this is about
you.”

It was all going to be about her once she’d
disappeared and people started putting the pieces together. If
everybody knew that Jed had been suckered into bed by her, then he
would be the laughingstock of the community. There was no way she
was going to let that happen.

“I think you’ve been right all along,” she
said. “There’s no need for anybody to know about…this.” Good grief.
It made it sound like a science experiment. “About us,” she
corrected.

He studied her for a long minute. Then he got
up and slowly got dressed. He had his hat on and was buttoning his
coat before he spoke again. “I’d like to see you again before you
go tomorrow.”

She had a full schedule—she was killing a man
today. “I’m going to be pretty busy.”

He didn’t respond right away. “That’s fine,”
he said finally. “I’m planning on riding out this morning anyway.
There are a few smaller communities within this county that I’m
responsible for and I generally visit once a week. I haven’t been
since before you arrived in Mantosa. I’ll be back late tonight.
Will you be here?”

It wasn’t an innocent question. She could not
make love to him again. She’d never be able to leave. “I don’t
think so,” she said. “Since it’s my last night here, I’ll spend it
with Aunt Freida. I’ll stop by your office in the morning.”

He didn’t look satisfied but he didn’t push
either. He simply nodded and walked out the back door.

It was another half hour before Bella finally
forced herself to move. She picked up the remains of her panties
and realized they were a goner. Her bra was in better shape but she
didn’t have the energy to put it back on. Instead, she walked over
to the shelf of women’s underwear and picked up a pair of
pantaloons and a camisole. She ran her hands across the thin
cotton.

It wasn’t your typical souvenir but these
would be the only things she would take with her when she left
tonight. She’d wanted a music box from Saul’s but the man had been
pretty clear. If he saw her in his store, she could expect trouble.
She already had enough trouble.

She pulled on the blouse and skirt that she’d
worn the day before and ran a brush through her hair. She turned
and picked up the blanket on the bed, intending to fold it. Instead
she lifted it up to her nose and inhaled deeply. It smelled of
Jedidiah McNeil.

Feeling weak, she sat down. Sometime during
the night, when Jed’s arms had been around her, she admitted the
truth to herself. She loved him.

That and four dollars would get her a cup of
coffee at Starbucks. It just didn’t matter.

Their worlds were a hundred and thirty years
apart. She was a witch. He wasn’t. She loved indoor plumbing. He’d
never heard of it. The list of differences was endless.

She set the blanket down and went out to
light the stove. She hadn’t had the store open long when Thomas
Bean came in. “Your aunt is fine,” he said, without being
prompted.

She felt a profound sense of relief. Aunt
Freida might not really be her aunt but she’d come to care deeply
about her. “Who is with her now?”

“My mother.”

The corner of Bella’s mouth curled up before
she could stop it. Thomas saw it and he grinned, looking suddenly
much younger. “I know,” he said. “It could be a mistake but my
mother wants to get to know my bride.”

“Your what?”

Thomas’s chest pushed out and he almost
beamed. “I told my mother last night that I intend to marry your
Aunt Freida.”

“Have you happened to mention this to Aunt
Freida?”

It was as if she’d pulled the plug—the air,
the confidence, it dissipated quickly. “I was hopeful that you
might be of some assistance with that—you being family and
all.”

She wasn’t family and she was leaving
tonight. “I don’t know, Thomas,” she hedged.

“She values your opinion, Bella. Please,” he
begged.

Good grief. How many people was she going to
have to disappoint before she left Mantosa? She’d planned to close
the store for a couple hours anyway so that she could say goodbye
to Aunt Freida. Maybe she could slip in a word or two on Thomas’s
behalf. “I’ll see what I can do,” she said.

He nodded. “The store looks real nice, Bella.
Did you work on it all night?”

She’d been loved and held all night. But she
wasn’t telling Jed’s secrets. “No. I slept like a baby.”

It was less than an hour later that she saw
Rantaan Toomay stroll by the store. Once again, he hadn’t bothered
with a coat. He was smoking a cigar. He must have sensed her
staring at him because he stopped and looked in the window. Their
glances held.

It felt as if her breath was trapped
somewhere in her esophagus—making it feel as if she’d swallowed a
large bubble. She forced herself to wave. He nodded in return. She
saw the doorknob turn and suddenly he was in the store.

“Mrs. Wainwright,” he said. “You look
especially lovely this morning.”

She smiled. “Why thank you, Mr. Toomay.”

“I was hoping to convince you to share your
noon meal with me again. I find that having a lovely companion
eases the digestion.”

Oh, please.
“I’m sorry but I’m taking
lunch to my aunt.”

He puffed on his cigar. “My loss.”

Bella sucked in a breath. “I thought perhaps
we might have a drink together later.”

“As appealing as that seems, I’m playing
cards tonight.”

Not if she had anything to do with it. “I
wouldn’t want to interfere. Perhaps shortly after supper, well
before the card games start. I could come to your room.”

She let the words settle. This was not the
time to be coy. She needed time alone with him and it wouldn’t hurt
if he thought the time would be worth his while.

He raised an eyebrow. “Shall we say seven,
then?”

With any luck, he’d be dead before nine.
“I’ll look forward to it,” she said.

He left. Bella turned, pulled an empty bowl
off the shelf, and threw up in it.

***

After leaving Bella, Jed went home to get
cleaned up and into fresh clothes. He heated water on the stove and
then poured it into a washbowl. He lathered up his face with soap
and shaved.

He undressed and dipped a washcloth into the
water but stopped suddenly when he realized that he could smell
Bella on his skin. He tossed the washcloth to the side and stood,
naked as the day he was born, with his arm practically pressed up
against his nose.

Remembering.

And when his cock got hard, he closed his
eyes and wrapped his hand around it. He thought of her slick, wet
heat and the tight muscles that had squeezed him. He could hear the
small scream she’d uttered when she’d given herself up to her own
enjoyment and the taste of her lingered on his tongue.

He spilled his seed in his own hand.

And, God help him, he got half hard again
just thinking about how she’d taken him in her mouth and pleasured
him to a point that he’d been scraping and clawing at the bed with
his fingernails.

Frustrated that he was acting like a
thirteen-year-old boy, he cleaned himself up, got dressed, and
cooked himself three eggs and thick piece of ham.

While he chewed, he admitted that he could
not remember a time when he felt less settled. He felt as if he was
a ball of string and he was all wrapped up in a tight knot.

His house seemed too quiet, too empty, and it
occurred to him that anyplace that didn’t include Bella was going
to be lonely.

Oh, Christ, he was a damn idiot.

He’d fallen in love with Bella.

She was everything he hadn’t wanted. She was
beautiful, and lively and had a smart mouth that amused him. And
when she wrapped her legs around him and took him into her sweet
body, he felt complete.

He left his house and rode his horse to his
office. He opened the door and Bart, who was sitting at the desk,
looked up. “I didn’t expect to see you,” he said. “I thought you
were making your rounds.”

“I am,” Jed said. “I figured you’d have
coffee made and I wanted a cup before I left.”

Bart got out of the chair. “Pete and I
already had a cup,” he said.

Jed looked at his prisoner. The man was lying
on a cot in the cell, his face turned toward Jed. His eyes were
closed but it did not make him look restful. The man had aged
twenty years in two days. “How is he?” he asked, keeping his voice
low.

“He slept most of the night.” Bart poured a
cup of coffee into a tin cup and handed it to Jed. “You don’t look
like you got much sleep yourself.”

“A little.” Jed didn’t elaborate. He wasn’t
ready to talk about Bella. He was just coming to terms with it
himself.

Bart walked back to the desk. “I’ve got a
question for you.” He opened the second drawer. “What the hell is
this?” he asked. He pulled out the music box that Jed had purchased
at Saul’s. Before Jed could stop him, he opened the lid and the
music poured out.