Free Magic In The Storm by Meredith Bond

laughter.
    He started, and turned at the sound.
“Adriana!”
    “Perhaps it would be easier if you used a
tinder box,” she giggled, walking over to him.
    He looked at the heap of wood, pausing for
only the briefest moment before he laughed. “Yes. I wasn’t, er, I
mean...” he stopped and laughed again. “You must think me
completely insane.”
    “Well, I did wonder for a moment,” she said,
moving closer.
    “I’m not, really. But I am very happy you’ve
come.” He stopped suddenly. “How did you find me?”
    “It was quite easy, actually,” she said. “I
just followed all the yelling and noise.” She stopped a few steps
away from him, but he continued moving closer.
    “I’m sorry if I was being too loud,” he said,
the smile growing on his face. “But I’m very glad you were able to
find me. I shall have to try throwing wood more often if that draws
you to me. I may not have started the fire, but I got something
much better...” The ‘you’ was unspoken, but Adriana could
hear it in her mind, nonetheless.
    His voice had become quieter, and held a
deep, rich timbre that made Adriana want to reach out to him. She
held herself back, however, and contented herself with just looking
up at him, and trying to keep her breathing slow and steady.
    He was much taller than she remembered, but
even more impressive than that was the mere presence of him. He
radiated masculinity and virility. His simple white shirt, open at
the collar, did nothing but accentuate what Adriana now knew lay
beneath it. And the muscles of his strong legs were barely hidden
by his tight buckskin breeches.
    He stood so close, she could smell the fresh
clean scent of his soap, tinged with the not–so–pleasant smell of
the stable that lingered about him. She was near enough to him that
she could have easily reached out and placed her hand flat against
his chest just like...
    And then she saw she had. How had that
happened? There was something about him that she just could not
resist. She had to touch him, to be close to him.
    “Who are you?” she whispered.
    “I am yours.” The words echoed in her head
and touched her soul, and she knew deep down that indeed he
was.
    “Yes, but, I don’t understand. I know you,
but...”
    “I don’t understand it either, I only know
what I feel.” He placed his warm hand on her cheek. “And with you,
I feel happy.”
    “Yes! No one I’ve ever met before has made me
feel this way.”
    He smiled, and traced his thumb along her
cheek bone. “I want to know everything about you.”
    “And I want the same—to know you and to be
with you.”
    He gave a laugh. “Well, you’ve already seen
me, all of me.”
    Adriana gasped and took a step back, feeling
her face burn with embarrassment. She’d almost forgotten—her
sketchbook!
    He laughed again. “It’s all right. I just
wish I knew how you put your emotions into your drawings. And the
feel of the sun and the sounds, and... they are the most incredible
pictures I’ve ever seen. How did you...”
    “I didn’t!” she said, interrupting his
silliness. “It’s just your imagination. My companion says the same
thing, but really, those feelings are not in the picture. How could
they be?”
    Morgan frowned, making his eyes look even
deeper than they were naturally. “But I felt...”
    “Do you have my sketchbook? May I have it
back, please?”
    “You truly want it?” he asked, his lips
quirking up a little on one side of his mouth.
    “Yes!” He was teasing her now, she could
tell. Silently she pleaded with him. She was already embarrassed
enough that she had been caught having drawn pictures of him
naked.
    After a moment, he took pity on her and
turned toward his house.
    As he was about to disappear into the neat
little cottage, she called out, “You might want to get the tinder
too while you are in there.” If he could tease her, she could do
the same, she thought with satisfaction as he flushed before giving
a little