Free Storm and Stone by Joss Stirling Page A

went all husky. She was ashamed of her hopeless weakness around him and decided to deal with it by just ignoring it. Remember, he hasn’t noticed you as a girl; don’t embarrass yourself. ‘So you’ll stick with Dance then?’
    ‘Yes.’
    That was a huge relief. She’d not wanted to be the only one without a partner. ‘Great. I’ll try to jettison the bad attitude and I promise not to shout at you again.’
    ‘You probably will.’ Even in this poor light, she could see that his smile was wry. ‘I seem to provoke people to do just that. Even Joe, who has the most long-suffering nature of anyone I know.’
    ‘I won’t.’ Without meaning to, Raven swayed a little towards him, near enough to scent his mixture of faded aftershave and damp fleece sweater. She found the combination very appealing. Then Kieran reached out and touched her cheek with his fingertips, like a moth coming down to rest briefly. Hardly there, this slight point of contact still felt unnervingly intimate. Warmth spread through her, a sense of peace settled inside. His touch untied some of the ugly knots in her core, ones that had twisted and tightened as anxiety mounted with every passing day of this school term. She closed her eyes, allowing herself to succumb to the magic. His fingers skated down to her neck, touching the sensitive hollow of her throat.
    Then as suddenly as the spell was cast, he broke it. Fingers lifted, taking something with it. ‘You had grass caught in your hair from my jacket. I’ll walk you back to the castle.’
    She opened her eyes, mortified that this moment had been all one sided. His face gave nothing away. ‘Oh, OK. Thanks.’
    ‘Shall I take the torch?’
    ‘Sure.’ Confused as to what had just happened, she let him lead the way back inside.

 
    It was close to eleven when Raven finally made it back to her room. Reliving the memory of his touch on her cheek, she took a moment to realize that something had changed. The second bed in the room was occupied.
    ‘Gina?’ She quickly switched off the main light she had turned on, so as not to dazzle her friend. She groped for her bedside lamp instead.
    Gina turned over, her dark blonde head buried under the covers. Raven couldn’t bring herself to wake her. What if Gina’s lateness had been because she had been ill? Curiosity wasn’t enough to justify disturbing Gina when she was fast asleep.
    Glancing around the room, Raven took in the other changes. Gina’s possessions were neatly lined up on her side of the dresser, jewellery already hanging from a pretty ornamental stand, nothing tangled or heaped up. Raven noticed her ankle bracelet among the gold chains—Gina must have borrowed it last term. Raven thought she’d lost it—she’d tease her about that in the morning.
    Opening the wardrobe to hang up her sweater, she saw Gina’s clothes were folded on the shelves or on hangers. Her shoes were in a regimental row under her bed. Someone else must have unpacked for her because her friend was constitutionally messy. That supported the idea that Gina was still convalescing and needed lots of TLC.
    Looking forward to a morning catch-up session, Raven kicked off her sneakers, threw the rest of her clothes on the upright chair and tugged on her favourite pyjamas decorated with faded cartoon moose; they’d been her mom’s, once-upon-a-time.
    ‘It’s so good to have you back, Gina,’ she whispered to the darkness, happy to hear the sound of regular breathing from across the room. ‘I’ve got to tell you about this gorgeous but totally dementing guy who’s joined us this term—he’s got this blue-blood air and is way too handsome for his own good so I shouldn’t really like him, should I?’ She ran her fingers over the spot he had touched. ‘I’m sure you’ll have a lot to say on the subject of Kieran Storm. I don’t know if I want to kick him or kiss him: how mixed up is that? You know me—unsure of my moves around boys. Well, he has that effect