Chapter2

#Chapter2

The jolt of the tall, dark stranger’s feet hitting the ground was like a bolt of lightning charging through the ground between them, straight to the young witch’s nerves. She shifted on her feet to keep steady when the quake came to her legs, and they buckled.

The bright sun hit his broad shoulders, and Imara could make out the lines of his perfect muscles through his dirty, tattered shirt. Every step closer he came brought a flip-flop to her heart, and her knees grew a little weaker.

Imara glowed like a wildfire while she stood there bathed in sunlight, and he slipped his fingertips through his hair to catch a better glimpse of her magic. A hot breeze caught her body, and it carried the scent of apple pie as the trembling man walked through it. He understood then and there that she belonged to him.

Peeling his eyes away from her long enough to offer his hand to the man beside her, Ben lifted his chin to Thorin. /"Mr. Parker. I’m Ben Logan./"

/"Oh yes, Mr. Logan./" After shaking his hand, Thorin pointed at him as he glanced over at his sister. /"Imara, this is Ben. His family runs the farm right down the road from us./" Dark eyes burned with jealousy as they minded every movement Thorin made as he slid his hand around her back and tugged her to his chest. /"Why don’t you say hello to the nice man, Sweet Girl?/"

The farmer held his hand over his breaking heart as if he could catch each piece as it fell to the ground, and his eyes followed along as he tipped his head to her. /"Mrs. Parker./"

A blast of high-pitched laughter came from the pit of her stomach, and her hand slapped to her chest as she waved the other one in the air in front of her. /"Good Lord, no!/"

A mouthful of perfect white teeth smiled at the confused deliveryman as Thorin shook his head. /"No, Mr. Logan. This lovely creature standing beside me is my sister./" She wiped her eyes with her fingertips until Thorin nudged her with his arm. /"Imara, would you be so kind as to introduce Ben to Sofia?/"

/"Yes, of course, I will./" After she fanned her face and dried her eyes, she nodded to the house. Every primal instinct Ben possessed kicked into gear when her fingers met his arm and tugged him along with her. /"Please, come with me, sir./"

Tingles spread over her back while she led him around the side of the house, and she realized he was watching her move. She glanced back over her shoulder to find his eyes on her ass, but they snapped up to hers as soon as Sofia’s voice came from the kitchen.

A blue dishtowel took a quick swipe of the inside of a cup before Sofia draped it over her shoulder and held out her hand. /"How do you do?/"

Like he was dead for a hundred years, and she was the hand of God, each cell of Ben’s body instantly sprung to life when Imara touched his shoulder. /"Sofia, this is Ben Logan from the farm down the lane./" It left behind a cold ache that seeped deep into his bones when she snatched her healing hand away and held it out before her. /"Mr. Logan, this is our cook, Miss Sofia./"

Every good manner he ever learned disappeared when his thumb motioned over his shoulder without ever taking his eyes off Imara. /"I have your grocery delivery, Miss Sofia./"

Her wise blue eyes darted between the two awkward souls gazing at each other in front of her and nodded to the kitchen door. /"You can bring it around the side here, dear./"

The witch fidgeted with the charm on her necklace while explored every inch of him until he cleared his throat when he caught her. The alabaster skin on her face became the deepest shade of pink as she blinked away, but he tugged at her fingers and breathed across her ear before he left. /"I’ll be back right back./"

The moment he rounded the corner of the house and disappeared, she fanned her face and turned into Sofia’s arms. /"Great balls of fire!/"

A shrill cackle came from Sofia’s nose as she rested her chin on the top of Imara’s head. /"Yes, he’s quite a handsome fella, isn’t he?/"

Sofia rocked her back and forth against her chest, and Imara laughed at the way her body turned against her. /"My knees are shaking./"

Chubby hands slid to Imara’s shoulders as Sofia pushed her back and met her eyes. /"Yes, I think he was feeling the same./"

The Healer’s hand moved over her heart to soothe the flutter, only to have it kick back in when the wagon wheels rattled as they circled the driveway. /"Really? How can you tell?/"

She tugged Imara into her side, and she whispered in her ear as the wagon came to a stop in front of them. /"He was breathing so hard that I thought he might faint right here on the ground./"

Sofia passed through the doorway to clear a space and give them privacy as Ben climbed down from the carriage. The only words that came when Imara opened her mouth to speak were the ones her brother yelled as he came looking for her. /"Imara!/"

/"Just a moment, Ben./" She held up a thin, shivering finger and peeked around his shoulder. /"Yes. Did you need something?/"

Still buttoning his vest as Thorin came to her side, he nodded at Ben before he tucked in his watch and pressed his fists on his hips. /"I need to run into town to find someone to help fix the roof. Would you like to ride along and keep me company?/"

Two fingers waved back and forth in front of Ben as he broke into their conversation. /"I can do that for you, Mr. Parker./"

The charming wizard never met a stranger, and he wrapped his arm around Ben’s shoulder, then tugged him into his side like they were already family. /"Well, that would be fantastic!/" He rubbed the stubble on his chin and shrugged as he stepped away. /"Whenever you have a spare moment, of course./" With his lips twisted, Thorin lifted his eyes to the branch and shook his head. /"Do you have someone who can help you? Our caretaker is afraid of heights./"

/"Um, yeah./" Barely able to keep his eyes off Imara, Ben tried to shake off the spell he was under. /"No problem at all. I don’t have anything going on tomorrow afternoon. We can come after our morning work./"

Thorin cringed a little when he realized what he’d walked in on, and he wrapped his hand around Imara’s elbow. /"Come, Imara, let’s stop bothering Mr. Logan so he can get his work done. He’s probably eager to get back home to his family./"

He pressed his hand on her back to usher her away, but she glanced back over her shoulder and wiggled her fingers. /"Goodbye, Ben./"

Before it drifted off into the breeze, he stole one last deep breath of her, and it was like the first lungful he ever had in his life. The blast of her life force entering his blood made him stumble back into the wooden bed of his cart. A burning ache spread out through his chest, and he clutched at his heart as she turned the corner. /"I’ll see you tomorrow.