Sacrifice by Heather McCollum

Author:Heather McCollum [McCollum, Heather]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Time Travel, Paranormal, Fantasy, Historical, Victorian, Demons-Gargoyles, Action-Adventure, Psychic
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Published: 2016-08-31T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

“Open your eyes, Anna.”

Drustan tugged the soaked wool from her delicate, cold form. Its sopping weight stuck to her, nearly frozen to her skin. He yanked it, throwing it away from him. The fire that his magic had started withered down to a natural flame, struggling against the gusts that found their way into the cave. But he couldn’t let go of Anna to release his magic. She was too cold, dangerously cold, wet and unresponsive, the pallor of death.

Drustan tore open the buttons that kept her gown together and rolled the icy fabric down Anna’s arms, stripping her to her undergarments. Shucking his outer jacket, vest and shirt, Drustan pulled her up against his naked skin. She jerked as her icy skin touched his heat. With a snap, Drustan threw the dry blanket he’d brought around them both and wrapped her in his arms.

Her head lay against his collarbone, and he rested his chin gently on her wet hair. He leaned against the rock wall with her cradled on his lap. “Come on, Anna.” All he wanted were signs of life. A drip of water from the ice in his hair fell on Anna’s forehead. He bent down to kiss it off, and something like a small sigh escaped her lips. He held still, coiled, willing his heat into her, waiting to see if the noise meant she was waking.

Damn! Even with all his power, his magic couldn’t help her. He stared at her slightly-parted lips and porcelain face. Her wet lashes lay stuck together in points against her smooth skin like the painted lashes of a china doll.

Anna shivered against him. Yes! Drustan’s relief exploded along his tight muscles, jostling her gently as he pulled her tighter against his chest. He feathered kisses across her forehead while deep shudders racked her soft body. “That’s it, Anna, fight off the cold.” He yanked his warm hand out of the covers and placed his palm on the icy cheek turned away from his chest. In the dimness of the tiny fire, he watched her eyes squeeze tight and then blink. Once, twice.

“Anna?” he said, softly.

Her lips rubbed together, the icy gray beginning to fade. “What…what…took you so long?” she asked.

He huffed and couldn’t help the smile from working up from his frantic heart to his mouth. “Damn dragonflies are bloody hard to follow in a blizzard.”

She brushed her head against him, pressing closer to the heat of his body. He reveled in the feel of her thawing, and watched the little flame die away on the damp twigs set before them. Anna tried to push upright, but he held her close. “Let the heat penetrate. You were like a flower encased in ice when I found you,” he said, listening to the shrill, twisting wind outside. He would never let her out of his sight again.

“Hypothermic,” she said, her head bumping his chin as she tried to look below the blanket. Her cold hand lay upon his bare chest, then jerked back.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.