Page 36 of Rejected Nanny Mate
She didn't look convinced. “Maybe. For now, I can't help but think it's just going to complicate things.”
“What do you mean?”
“Things aren't exactly normal for me right now, you know,” she waved her hand to the house around us.
I winced, and not just from the pain of her ministrations. “You mean because you're working for me.”
Gwen wavered. “Well, yes and no. This is the first real forward momentum I've had trying to do the job I went to school for, and it's been great. You've been great. But once this is done, I'm back to the same old same old, and I'll either have to stagnate where I am or push forward and change things for myself. And I'm not exactly a go-getter,” she laughed self-consciously. “Now I have to add magic into the picture, and I don't even know where to start. Part of me hopes that it was just a fluke and it will never happen again, but...”
“But?”
“But it would also be nice to be part of the...witches club, I guess, with Nayeli and Kiera.”
“And that's why you'll need to talk to them,” I said.
“Maybe.” She didn't sound convinced, and I hated seeing her unhappy.
“What's the alternative? Ignoring it and hoping it will go away?”
“Wouldn't be the first time,” she grumbled, and a flare of anger went through me, thinking about how she'd been treated her whole life.
“That's bullshit,” I said. “Don't ignore it, Gwen. Not only will it make you stronger, but you'll be able to protect yourself.”
“Protect myself? From what?”
“From anything. Everyone.”
She sighed. “Okay. So, we talk to the witches, and I'll see where it goes.”
It wasn't the acceptance that I really wanted from her, but it would have to do for the moment. Gwen sat back on her heels, and I looked down at the work she'd done. She'd cleaned my wounds and bandaged the smaller one, but there were at least two that were going to need stitches, unless...
“Why don't you try to call it up again right now?” I didn't want to push her, but maybe she'd listen if it meant we didn't have to call the pack healer. I had a feeling that she didn't want to have to deal with any of my other pack members tonight, even if it was someone as innocuous as the healer. “If you could at least stop the...oozing from these wounds, I would be grateful.”
Gwen bit her bottom lip, considering. “I can't guarantee anything, but I can try. If you're sure.”
“Please.”
Her hand rested against my abdomen, and her warm brown eyes met mine, holding me captive. She took a deep breath, and her lips formed the words “okay” without a sound.
Closing her eyes, Gwen inhaled deeply, slowly, a wrinkle of concentration forming between her eyebrows. I held still, watching her carefully.
At first, nothing happened, and I was about to tell her that it was okay, when she gasped, and her hand started to glow.
Just like the magic had flowed through her and into me, this time, it flowed from her hand, over the gash, and while it didn't close, it shrank and scabbed over.
Gwen's hand fell away, and the light faded. She was breathing a little heavily, her pupils blown wide, her skin flushed.
“Wow,” I breathed. “That was amazing. You're amazing.”
She looked down, bashful, and my gaze caught on the curve of her neck, her shoulders, the slope of her chest. Her shirt was low-cut, and my body was reacting to the proximity, the healing, the fact that I'd almost died.
“Thank you,” she said. “I didn't know if it would work or not.”
“Can you try the other ones?”
She nodded, her hands resting on my knees as she shifted forward and looked up at me. This time, she didn't close her eyes, and the sight of her watching me as her hands glowed was incredibly intimate.
The warmth seeped through my skin, into my bones, and in my weakened state, it was one hell of a fight not to pull her into my arms and kiss her, to show her just how much her trust in me mattered. How thankful I was to have her there with me.
