CHAPTER14
“Uh, Aodhan?” Blankets rustled as Cathy shifted position. “Something is digging into my back.”
“Sorry.” Hitching sideways, he fished out the offending grimoire. “I was reading in bed last night.”
“Why am I not surprised.” Her body relaxed a little, though not enough to trespass onto his side of the mattress. “Are you sure you’re okay? I can move over a bit.”
“Not unless I’ve accidentally blessed you with the ability to levitate. You’re practically clinging to the edge by your fingertips as it is.” Aodhan settled back into the corner of the bed nook, trying—and failing—to find a more comfortable position for his shoulders. “Don’t worry. I usually fall asleep sitting up anyway.”
Cathy let out a soft breath of amusement. “With a book on your chest?”
“However did you guess?”
“Your spell must have given me psychic powers.” She paused, and when she spoke next, she sounded rather more apprehensive. “The link between our auras wouldn’t actually do something like that, would it? I mean, you can’t read my mind now, right?”
“That would be one hell of a side-effect. Relax. I would have mentioned if anything like that was possible. Your thoughts are still your own. As are mine.”
At the moment, Aodhan was very grateful for that fact. In truth, he wasn’t really sitting up in bed out of habit. He had rather more control over his autonomous systems than the typical male, but having Cathy’s curves less than a finger-width away seemed to be giving his body ideas of its own. His blood kept trying to rush somewhere entirely inappropriate.
Goddesses, give me strength. Aodhan drew one leg up a little further, praying that Cathy wouldn’t notice his embarrassing state. She might not be actively repulsed by his nature—her surprise that he might think so had been genuine—but that didn’t mean she’d welcome his show of interest with open arms. Or legs.
She was so close. By unspoken agreement, they’d both remained fully clothed, but he could still feel the warmth of her body along his. It was all too easy to imagine her straddling him, the heat of those soft thighs clamped around his hips…
Not helping. He gritted his teeth, mentally reciting a minor cooling cantrip yet again. It didn’t have much effect.
The damned tree wasn’t helping either. He’d coerced it into modifying his sleeping nook a bit—otherwise Cathy would have had to use him as a mattress, and that was also not a helpful mental image right now—but the oak had been oddly reluctant. Even now, the wood underneath the piled blankets shifted a bit, stealthily creeping back to its original dimensions.
“Stop that,” he hissed.
Cathy, who already seemed to be trying her best not to breathe, went even more rigid. “Sorry.”
“Not you.” He gave the wooden wall next to him an irritated slap. “I was talking to the tree. Apparently it has an aesthetic objection to a wider bed. Keeps attempting to undo my alterations.”
“Maybe it’s trying to tell you something.” She managed to squirm round to face him without bringing their bodies into contact, which was quite a feat of contortion in the limited space. “I’m sure you know what you’re doing, but are we really close enough for the spell to work? This isn’t exactly what I’d call snuggling.”
“It’s good enough.” It had better be good enough, because if she got any closer he was going to have to pretend to have a complete nine volume set of the Bestiary Mythologica down his robes. “Your aura is already picking up aspects of my own. The bond took more powerfully than I anticipated.”
A lot more powerfully. He’d known that Cathy was a rare woman, but the shock of coming into contact with her true self had nearly blasted him out the nearest window.
You’re very shiny, Motley had told her, and now Aodhan knew why. Underneath the quiet, muted veil of her outer aura, she blazed.
He’d been expecting to have to force even the smallest of connections between them. Instead, it had been all he could do not to lose himself entirely. When he’d touched the core of her being, plunged into the endless depth of her power…
Aodhan fingered the glowing lines around his wrist uneasily. He could sense their auras mingling down the bond he’d created. It wasn’t just a one-way process. Her cool, bright energy seeped into him like summer rain into parched ground.
The link between them was a thin, tenuous thing, nothing like as strong as the connection between rider and steed. He’d carefully designed the ritual to ensure that the effect would not be permanent. Yet now, he found himself wondering how easy it would be to break.
If he would want to break it.
Idiot.He clenched his fist. It was just the Call, of course. A stupid, bestial instinct, the ingrained obedience of a domesticated animal.
Aodhan hid his marked arm under the covers. “Get some rest. Concealing your aura won’t do any good if you’re stumbling around like a drunk troll from exhaustion.”
“I’m trying.” Cathy squirmed deeper into the blankets. “I’m sorry. You must be tired too, and here I am tossing and turning.”
“You could be motionless in an enchanted slumber, and I’d still be wide awake. I’m not used to sharing my bed with anyone.”
“Really?” A teasing note entered her tone. “What about the crow-cat?”