Spellbound - Cara Lynn Shultz [122]
“Is that book the book?” Brendan asked, staring in awe at the intricate, hand-carved leather cover. I nodded, flipping through the pages.
“I have to read you something,” I said, launching into the text. I felt like my heart was a metronome, beating in time to the poem’s rhythm.
When I was done, I looked up at Brendan triumphantly.
“Can we believe that?” he asked tentatively.
“It was right about everything else,” I reasoned.
Brendan took the book from me and reread the poem. When he was finished, he stared at me with a dazed expression on his face.
“Don’t you get it?” I asked, placing my hand over his as he held the book in his arms. “You were the key! You saved me—you sacrificed yourself to save me.”
“It can’t be that simple.” Brendan shook his head in disbelief.
“Simple?” I snorted. “Yeah, it was really simple to escape a psychopath, battle him nearly to the death, then have you take him out, almost dying yourself, and let’s not forgot how I had to conjure a spirit, too. Really simple. And I had to go to a school dance.”
A slight smile began to touch Brendan’s lips, and soon spread across his face.
“So we’re okay, and you’re safe?” he asked, placing the book on his bed so he could pull me into his arms again. This time, I didn’t fight the embrace.
“I think this is one battle we can put behind us,” I said, adding, “As long as you always remember to put me first.”
“Little witch,” Brendan said affectionately, planting a quick, noisy kiss on my cheek.
“I don’t have a problem with putting you first,” he admitted. “It’s a small price to pay, to keep you safe and with me, always.”
“Always. I like the sound of that.” I sighed, staring deeply into those green eyes that I loved so much. My heartbeats—now that they were no longer numbered—accelerated.
Brendan gently stroked my cheek, cradling my face with his hand while his other arm wrapped around my hip, holding me against him. Then my soul mate pressed his lips to mine. His hands searched my face, as mine did his. I savored the slow, sweet caress, the way his soft kiss felt against my lips, the safe, secure feeling of his strong hands as they moved up my back. Brendan clutched me to his chest, and I held on to him happily, hearing his heart beat against my cheek.
“So, Brendan, does this mean we live happily ever after?”
He smiled at me and kissed my forehead.
“Happily ever after,” he agreed. “Or at least, as happily as we can in high school.”
Then he touched his lips back to mine.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to my ever-supportive husband, Dave Ciancio, for his love and understanding when I disappear into my laptop for hours on end, getting lost in my own little world.
Thanks to my wonderful agent, Lynn Seligman, for her patience and guidance, and to Dr. Elizabeth Stone, for all her invaluable advice through the years.
Thanks to my editor, Tara Gavin, for her enthusiasm and support—and everyone at Harlequin TEEN for helping me realize my dream.
A big thank you to my first readers, Cyndi Lynott, Catharine McNelly, Dawn Yanek, Maggie Mae Mell, Jennifer Urbealis, Angela Nigro and Sandra Tedt for reading the (sometimes horrifyingly awful) early drafts and giving me invaluable feedback.
Thanks to Jonathan Bernstein, Trent Vanegas, Jason Pettigrew, Rachel Hawkins, Lynn Messina and Nancy Holder for the much-appreciated early support!
A gigantic thanks to Mom for all of her encouragement and faith in me through the years. I love you, Mom. And finally, thanks to the rest of my amazing family—Evelyn, George, Auntie, Connie, Ann Marie, Aunt Babe, Jessica, Jodi, Karen and the Ciancios—for everything. The only way my family could be more awesome is if they had jet packs.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-0777-6
SPELLBOUND
Copyright © 2011 by Cara Lynn Shultz
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other