Five steps in, my feet froze in place. Instantly everything was far too hot. Breathing was tight. Skin prickling. Everything fuzzy. Then tilted.
Gwen had warned me about dizzy spells, and had me practice taking a knee immediately. I did, dropping to the floor with my hands out in front of me so that I couldn’t fall on my face.
“Christ,” I heard Liam exclaim. He was beside me in a blink. His large, warm hand was in the center of my back. “Just breathe. I’ve got you.”
“Dizzy,” I mumbled, holding onto the floor for dear life.
“Lie down,” he ordered, and somehow the feeling of him taking over made me feel a little better. He helped me to lie gently on my back, and placed my palms on the floor.
“Breathe all the way in, and all the way out,” he said calmly. “Feel your lungs being full, and being empty. Gentle as an ocean wave.”
He knelt behind me, and cupped the back of my head in his large palms. “Think about the soles of your feet stretching away from you, and the top of your head floating toward me. Give your entire body a little wiggle, and think about being an inch taller than you thought you were.”
The dizziness was already passing a bit, as I shifted my shoulders and legs. Visualizing that my body was longer somehow shook the strange overheated tingly feeling out of me.
He set my head carefully back on the floor. “I’ll be back in one second,” he said.
I heard him dart to the kitchen, rummaging through my cupboards and drawers. Then he placed his palm on my forehead. “Take a whiff of this.”
Cautiously sniffing the air, I grinned. “Peppermint?”
His chuckle was becoming more adorable every time. “Yeah, it’s supposed to be good for nausea. Apparently, a good thing for dizzy spells is to engage all of the senses, and ground yourself.”
I breathed in the fresh, cooling fragrance again. “Now I’m craving peppermint ice cream,” I giggled. “But it really is helping. Thank you.”
I could hear the crinkle of the paper towel in his left hand as he stroked my forehead with the right. Having a huge man hovering over me like this would have freaked me out in any other circumstance. But feeling cared for and safe right now while my body was suddenly weak was a blissful comfort.
I took another slow breath as he waved the peppermint near my face. “It smells so blue,” I said.
“Great,” Liam said, and I could hear his smile. “With your senses all messed up, are you going to become one of those people that see music and hear numbers?”
“Synesthesia,” I said automatically. “Probably not. I likely just miss seeing the color blue.”
“Is that your favorite color?” he asked softly.
“All of the blues and teals and purples are my favorites,” I said. “I can’t pick just one. It’s the entire range.” His palm was stroking my entire head now, his fingers trailing through my hair. “What’s your favorite color?”
He paused. “You know the shade of a roasted sweet potato? Sort of a smoky deep orange?”
I couldn’t help laughing. “Well, that’s a weird one.”
He laughed with me. “I know. But it makes me think of fireplaces and pumpkin pie and everything in the fall.”
Without thinking, I reached out to him, clutching his forearm. “That’s very poetic for a tough guy.”
“What makes you think I’m a tough guy?”
Reaching farther, I placed my hand on his chest, patting all the way to the left and the right. Then across his shoulders. “Oh, I don’t know. I suppose anybody with a body like this could be a poet. Sure, why not.”
He took my hand, kissing the back of it again before placing it on the floor. “Well, you don’t know me very well yet. There’s no reason I couldn’t be a part-time seamstress.”
“Professional knitter,” I said with a grin. “That must be what bulked up your arms.”
“A professional spins their own yarn, you know,” he said in a hilariously haughty voice. “All of that spinning, and knitting intricate sweaters every day, it wears a man out.”
“You poor thing,” I laughed.
“How are you feeling, little one?” he asked gently.