Free Kiss & Spell by Kris Eton Page A

all right?" Justin treaded water, making sure he had a tight grip on her.
    The minute her head was above water, she flailed and twisted. She gasped to catch her breath.
    He held her fast, and he kicked back toward his boat. The paddleboat had drifted away. Too far for him to reach at this point. He helped her to the side of his boat, where she clung to it silently, her hair a tangled mess around her head. Holding onto the boat's edge calmed her. He scrambled back into the boat and reached over the side to help her in.
    "Grab my hands, and I'm going to pull."
    She nodded, her face pale.
    He pulled as hard as he could, but the boat tipped precariously in her direction and he stopped. His vessel was too small for that kind of maneuvering. He saw the fear in her eyes, though. The abject terror. She breathed shallowly, and her face was white. Regardless of the instability, he had to try once more. He moved his cooler to the opposite side of the boat, hoping for a more even weight distribution. On his knees this time, he grabbed her under her arms and pulled with all his strength.
    He managed to get her up over the side, but the extra weight made the boat dip so low that it took on water quickly. Marissa scrambled out of his grasp, but the boat tilted wildly. Before he could tell her to sit still, the tiny watercraft flipped over and dumped them both back into the lake.
    She flailed wildly. He swam with a sure stroke toward her and locked his arm around her. Once she realized she wasn’t going to go under, she relaxed, but he could feel her shivering in his arms.
    He couldn’t flip over his boat and hold onto her at the same time. “I’m going to get us over to that island.” He kicked in the direction of a small piece of sand and trees about fifty yards away. As he paddled them toward shore, he looked back at the small metal boat, upside down with the cooler bobbing next to it.
    Marissa went limp, her body drifting with his strokes, floating on the surface of the lake. Although it was difficult to swim with her extra weight, he managed to get them to the island in record time.
    As soon as his feet hit bottom he let go of her. “You can stand now.”
    Marissa stood in the waist-high water. Her clothes clung to her like plastic wrap, tight and revealing. Although he’d sworn off women, especially this woman, his damned body couldn’t help but react to the puckered nipples so obvious beneath the wet fabric, and the full curves of her breasts and hips. He turned away before he did something stupid.
    “Thank you.” Her voice was a bare peep over the sound of waves lapping the shoreline.
    “I hope you’ve got cash on you because you owe me for the boat . . . .” The cooler floated past, its lid open. One soggy sandwich trailed behind. “And my lunch.”

Chapter Fourteen
    Marissa waded out of the cold lake water. If she’d been alone, she could’ve saved herself with magic, but that was the one thing she had to avoid. His anger was palpable. He’d rescued her, sure, but he seemed to be anything but happy about it.
    Anger.
    That was an odd reaction.
    She thought he would be fearful of her, not angry. Her mistaken display of magic was what sent him running, right?
    Water dripped from her jeans. The fabric clung to her, making it difficult to walk. Sand coated her bare feet. Somewhere in the lake she’d lost her shoes. To add insult to injury, the sun disappeared behind a thick band of clouds, and she shivered at the loss of heat.
    Justin had grabbed the cooler and was using it as a bench, watching her. Even though she knew he was upset with her, when his gaze settled on her all she could think about was his naked body handcuffed to his bed, his penis erect under her ministrations. Her already hard nipples tightened further, two knobby points of desire.
    “What did you mean back there?” Since he clearly didn’t want to share his bench with her, she found a rock and perched on it. “You said that you ‘knew what I