Free Spellbound by Emmie Dark Page A

he’d experienced battling his way up to Belle’s apartment swept over him again, and Nick was awash in a strange, edgy self-doubt. Had he been too rough? He’d thought she’d come again, but what if she’d faked it? What if he’d hurt her? What if she were repulsed by seeing him naked?
    The feelings were so foreign, and such a contrast to his earlier contentment, Nick had no trouble recognising them for what they were: imposters.
    ‘Belle, you’re not holding the crystal,’ Nick said, his eyes widening as the throbbing pain in his temples built further.
    Belle blinked and bit her bottom lip in what Nick was beginning to realise was a nervous habit. ‘No, I . . .’ She frowned. ‘I let go when . . .’ She sat up and began to hunt under the pillows.
    Nick watched; even through the crippling anxiety and growing headache, he couldn’t help noticing how her naked breasts swayed with her movements.
    After hunting under the pillows with no success, she leaned over the edge of the bed, searching around on the floor, her butt high in the air. If Nick hadn’t already been so exhausted and so strangely affected, he’d definitely have taken the opportunity she presented.
    ‘Here, I found it.’ Belle climbed back into bed, her cheeks pink with exertion. She repositioned herself against the pillows and sat back, holding the crystal up to Nick’s gaze. Nick felt a short burst of emotion that was suddenly extinguished along with the pain in his head.
    With the crystal now firmly clutched in Belle’s hand, his thoughts were once again his own. His contentment returned, along with genuine puzzlement. Before the crystal had somehow blanked out the fake emotions, he’d experienced an intense anxiety and the need to protect himself. The only feeling he could liken it to was when he’d once been mugged – the guy had had a knife and Nick had been too sensible to try to fight, but that instinctual protectiveness had still kicked in.
    What did it mean?
    ‘Belle,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘What are we going to do?’
    ‘What do you mean?’ That nervous, uncertain look was back on her face.
    ‘I mean that crystal. You need to be touching it or the spell comes back. We have to find a way to break the spell, or you’re going to have to carry that crystal around with you all the time. Well, any time I want to kiss you, anyway,’ he added with a lopsided grin.
    Her nose wrinkled and she gave him a shy little smile. ‘You want to kiss me again?’
    ‘I want to kiss you again and again,’ Nick confirmed. ‘But not right now. Right now I need a rest. That was wonderful, but it’s been kind of a big night.’
    ‘Mmm-hmm,’ Belle agreed wordlessly, snuggling next to him. Nick wrapped his arm around her and next thing he knew, he was asleep.

Chapter 6
    Belle lay in Nick’s arms, not willing to trust her own senses. He was really there. Lying next to her. In her bed. Moments ago he’d been in her body. The real Nick, not some magiced-up phantom.
    But all this stuff about a spell had her feeling uneasy.
    What was with the crystal? She rubbed her fingers over the cool, glassy surface. No matter how long she held it, the crystal never seemed to get any warmer.
    Other than that, it just seemed like a lump of rock. Kind of pretty, but nothing out of the ordinary. Holding the crystal made no difference to how she felt, and she still didn’t quite understand what difference it made to Nick. From what he’d told her, somehow he was prevented from speaking to her unless she was holding it. He’d been going to explain further, but then they’d got . . . distracted. Belle couldn’t help grinning.
    Some distraction.
    Nick shifted next to her. His deep breathing made her head rise and fall slightly as she rested on his shoulder. And she could hear his heartbeat under her ear.
    Funny how she could never remember lying like this with Tony. Probably because as soon as they had sex he ran off to shower, as if he had to