Page 21 of A Balm of Healing
She moved her efforts backward and continued her search, only to find the faintest trace of magic. Only a pinprick. But it was there.
“I need to feed your magic,” she stated in her no-nonsense healer tone. “It shouldn’t hurt, but it will make you feel…uncomfortable? Like you ate too much during a feast.” She steadily focused her attention on the pinprick. Giving it light. Giving it life. “If you need me to stop at any time, let me know.”
The small bit of magic latched hungrily onto her power, and she grunted as she braced herself against its devouring flame. It tried to steal what she possessed, fighting with all its might to survive. But she only allowed it morsels of her healing, a little bit at a time.
His magic grew steadily as she coaxed it out of the shadows. Emeric gasped, arching his back, his fists clenched.
“Should I stop?” she asked.
He only managed a shake of his head, and she continued feeding it with a steady hand.
Sun Fae like herself recharged their magic with sunlight. Shadow Fae recharged theirs in the moonlight. But Forest Fae, at least those descended from nymphs like Emeric’s people, recharged their magic with the essence of the earth mixed with positive emotion.
A part of her wondered if a lack of happiness had made his situation worse.
All at once, it felt as if her magic exploded within him until it depleted entirely. A rush of energy exited her body. She gasped, the sound followed by a thick, overbearing silence.
Her jaw slackened, and she sat back on her heels, stunned as she watched his chest rise and fall with each breath. “I-I-I’m sorry,” she stammered, eyes wide. “I don’t know what happened.”
Had she fed his magic too fast? Too full? Had she destroyed any chance he had at gaining back his ability?
Slowly, Emeric slid his arm across his face until it covered his eyes, but she still caught the sheen of moisture trailing down his cheeks.
She squeezed her eyes shut, a shuddering breath escaping her as she bowed her head with regret. A healer was meant to help, not harm. And she feared she may have hurt Emeric, the one person she wanted to help more than anything.
Emeric’s gentle fingers brushed against her cheek, and she felt him tuck something between her ear and spectacles. She barely dared to open her eyes, only to inhale sharply when his touch caused the snowbalms to grow eagerly, flowering over her head until they formed a crown of white, petal bells.
“What?” she gasped. “I thought…”
But her words trailed off when he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her against the warmth of his chest. Relief settled over her, followed by a raging fluster as he ran a hand down her back and held tightly onto her waist.
It wasn’t the caress of an acquaintance but something so much more.
“You are…extraordinary,” he murmured into her hair.
Her entire body warmed with his declaration, with the quiet rumble of his chest when he spoke, and she couldn’t help herself from clutching tight onto the front of his shirt.
“I’m only doing my job,” she said quietly, but the way she clung to him as if he were her sunlight bellied her words.
“You will make an even bigger name for yourself in Heulwen. People will flock to you just to experience your healing touch.”
The thought of leaving him created a pit of panic in her belly. She wanted him. She needed him. In her life. Everyday. No matter what she had to give up to accomplish that.
Her expression crumpled as her hands traveled up the sturdy muscles of his chest, and she threaded her fingers through his hair. “Tell me now if you want me to stop. I don’t want you to reject me again.”
“I never meant to the first time,” he replied in an equally husky tone. “I never thought I would be kissed again in my lifetime. You took me by surprise.”
“Then I count myself fortunate, indeed.” She kissed one side of his mouth and then the other. “That other women didn’t discover the handsome man in the chair before I did.”
Laughter erupted from him, and she promptly devoured the sound of it with her lips. His touch, his kiss filled her with immense warmth. She drank him in as if he were sunlight and her magic was starving.
A heady breath escaped her when he pulled her onto his lap and held her securely around the waist. She ran her hands up his chest, feeling each dip and groove of his muscles, and slipped them beneath the fabric of his shirt to his sturdy shoulders.
One by one, Emeric pulled the pins out of her hair until the brown waves cascaded down her shoulders, and with equally careful hands, he set her glasses aside as well. She inhaled sharply when he dug his fingers into the long locks and gently pulled her head back to expose the delicate skin of her neck. A trail of fire followed in his wake as he kissed along her throat, to her jaw, and then nipped on her ear.
“Emeric!” she gasped, followed by a giggle.
But when he pulled her even closer, he effectively silenced her words with another passionate kiss. As she roamed her hands over his back, shoulders, and through his hair, it wasn’t enough. She wanted more. To be even closer to him. To taste him. To breathe his air.
