Мишель Роуэн - Hot Spell

“The clock. It’s…it’s glowing…”

He looked at it to see it surrounded by a soft white light. The clock itself had frozen at the last stroke of midnight, its pendulum still. “Why the hell is it glowing?”

“Because it’s midnight.”

“What does that mean?”

The next moment, the glow turned into a blinding pulse of light that blanketed the entire bedroom for a split second before disappearing. The door to the room slammed shut and a thunderbolt of pain ripped through Amanda’s head. She brought her hands up to her temples. Her knees buckled. Jacob caught her before she hit the ground. When she looked up into his face she found it looked as tense as she felt.

“What the hell?” he managed. “What was that?”

“I’m not exactly sure.”

But there was something wrong. She could feel it down deep in her bones. She didn’t have to be psychic to know that something had changed, shifted, with the clock striking midnight and the painful pulse of light. But what was it?

“Are you going to fill me in on everything Casper was saying to you or do I have to guess?” Jacob asked.

“I wish I knew.” He still had his arm around her and for some reason or another she didn’t immediately pull away. Better to stay this way for another moment just in case she lost her footing again. “They wanted us to clear out of this room before midnight but I guess it’s a little late for that.”

“Sounds ominous. There’s nothing worse than vague ghosts.”

She couldn’t help but laugh nervously at that. Maybe she was overreacting. Maybe the spirits had been playing with her. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d encountered otherworldly beings who got their fun messing with the minds of the living.

“We can leave now,” she said firmly. “We have all the research materials we need. There’s definitely something strange about that clock.”

“I totally agree.” He was close enough that she felt the warmth from his breath brush against her cheek. The pleasant sensation was enough to cause a small wave of dizziness and she braced herself against him. His arm tightened and his other arm slid around her other side, effectively holding her in a firm embrace. She rested her head against his chest and listened to his heartbeat. Then she moved her hands up over his chest to his face and looked into his green eyes for a moment before sliding her fingers into his hair.

“What are you doing?” he asked, his voice a bit raspy now.

“I wanted to see if I was right.” She bit her bottom lip. “And I am. Your hair is just as soft as it looks.”

“Just what every guy wants to hear.”

“We need to go now.”

“I totally agree.”

But they stood in place in the middle of the room without moving.

Damn, she’s so beautiful .

“What did you say?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Nothing. I didn’t say anything.”

“Weird. I could have sworn you said…well, never mind.”

She breathed him in. He wore a familiar men’s cologne, but she couldn’t think of the name. It was very light, though. Nothing cloying or distracting. She liked it a lot. She liked the warm, sexy way Jacob smelled.

His grip on her grew tighter and his hands slipped down to just below her waist. “Amanda…” he breathed.

She liked how her name sounded when he said it. Like a sigh of contentment. A moan of pleasure.

His gaze was focused on her as she met his eyes again. She could feel his erection, the hard length of him pressed against her stomach.

You want him to make love to you so much you can barely remain standing, Catherine’s words from earlier ran through her mind.

As she realized how true it was, Amanda’s breathing came quicker, short gasps of air as Jacob cupped her buttocks and brought her up against him, firmly against that hardness. The sensation managed to make her damp with immediate arousal. It would have stunned her, embarrassed her, if it hadn’t felt so damn right.

Unable to control the impulse, she slid her hand down between them and stroked him through the stiff material of his jeans. His erection strained against his zipper and he gasped at her touch.

“What are you—?” he began, but she’d gone up on her tiptoes to crush her mouth against his. The kiss swept whatever he was about to say away. Her mouth opened to him and the feel of her tongue against his coaxed a dark groan from deep in his throat.

For a moment she could have sworn she could read his thoughts. He liked kissing her a lot. He’d waited so long for this to happen.

Her imagination was obviously working overtime. She wasn’t a mind reader.

A surge of emotion flowed through her at the feel of his mouth on hers, his hands rubbing her ass and pulling her up closer against his arousal. His muscles tensed as she broke off the kiss and moved her lips down his throat. She moved her hand from the evidence of his desire to pull at his gray T-shirt, lifting it to bare his tanned, muscled chest. He raised his arms, wordlessly, so she could remove the shirt completely. She ran her fingernails down his hot, smooth skin and then drew closer so she could lick a wet stroke of her tongue across his left nipple.

His fingers dug deeply into her sides. “Amanda” .

The urgency with which he said her name brought her slightly out of her aroused daze. She took a sharp breath, surrounded by the delicious scent of him, still tasting him on her lips and tongue. She wanted more.

A slow realization came over her. This was Jacob Caine . She didn’t want to spend time with him, didn’t want to get assigned as his partner. She’d resisted this with every fiber in her being.

If that was so, then why was she groping him like a drunken woman at last call?

Her mind cleared a little, enough for her to feel a cold sliver of embarrassment. She looked up at him to see there was only desire in his eyes that had darkened significantly.

“It’s the clock, isn’t it?” she managed, a level of clarity coming into her mind.

“What?”

“It’s cursed. That’s what Catherine was trying to tell me. It’s making us do things we wouldn’t normally do. Making us lose control.”

He blinked. “Do you really think so?”

“Yes. We need to get out of this room before something really bad happens.”

“Okay.” His jaw tensed. “Although I have to admit, I don’t think I can move at the moment.”

She breathed in, immediately distracted as her senses filled again with Jacob. His hot, spicy scent, the taste of him on her lips, her body tingling where he’d touched her, the achingly raspy sound of his voice, the dark look of desire in his eyes. And his body…even with his shirt on she’d known that he was an incredible-looking man. Without it…well, she was at a loss to describe how devastatingly attractive she found him. It sounded like a cliché, but he made her knees weaken.

So that was five senses.

What about the other one?

Her sixth sense was what had gotten them in trouble in the first place.

He released her as if it took a great deal of concentration on his part. “We’re not thinking straight. You’re right. This must be a spell.”

The moment he let go of her she felt bereft. Being close to Jacob, feeling his skin against hers, seemed too necessary and addictive.

She needed him. Catherine had been right. She wanted him to make love to her so badly she could barely think straight.

“We need to go,” she said firmly. “Now.”

He nodded in agreement, but instead of moving toward the door, he kissed her again, his hands boldly moving down to cup her breasts through her thin sweater a moment before he pulled the cashmere garment off her completely.