Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

Josie

I was back in my body. I had begun to think that I would never see this body again. I made a silent promise to never complain about my body again. She had been through enough in the last few days to make up for a lifetime.

I felt happy that I was back where I needed to be. How I got there was another story. I was finally tasting Kellan, his heavy body pressed against mine, and then poof. I was back in my body.

I woke with a start, all the feelings I had for Kellan and the swarm of bees in my stomach carried over.

It was a real-life fairy tale. True love's kiss. Not that he would admit it. I could tell by the pissed look on his face that he didn't agree.

It didn't change the fact that I was standing in front of him with Fern jumping up and down beside me in excitement.

Ernest chuckled lightly under his breath. "Well, I didn't have to dig up some concoction to save you. You saved yourself."

My gaze shifted to Kellan. He hadn't moved from the entrance, his gaze examining me from head to toe, and then back up. Unable to stop myself, I watched his broad shoulders move up and down as he breathed in heavily.

Was I doing that to him? He had his thoughts so scattered that I couldn't make them out. "Aren't you going to say something?" I asked after several minutes.

Those dark eyes lifted to mine. The electricity between us had my stomach in knots. Kellan was a man of few words, but I didn't appreciate his lack of excitement for me waking up.

It was one thing to be ashamed to admit what just happened in the bedroom. I understood and respected his need for privacy, but Kellan needed to pull the sword out of his butthole.

"What is there to say?" he asked.

I lifted a brow, showing him that spirit that kissed him was the same person standing in front of him. "Maybe show some happiness? Some compassion. Something other than that stupid, broody stare?"

Kellan slid his tongue over his teeth in annoyance. "Hooray," he said sarcastically.

The bitterness in his voice sliced through me like a knife wound. What had I done to him? Why was he so bitter after kissing me in that room? He'd wanted to kiss me. I hadn't forced myself on him in anyway.

Fern cleared her throat. "Now we don't have to waste time figuring out how to bring you back to your body," she whispered. "We can work on getting you back to Earth—"

Ernest glanced over at Fern and then Kellan. "That's your plan? Take her back to Earth and have Deidamia come back to destroy it? Her power is endless, son. We have to defeat her."

Kellan shifted his weight. "You want to kill Deidamia? The demon that feeds off ... people? The witch with endless power? My plan was to bring Josephine back, find out who stole her stuff and give it back."

Ernest pulled out a seat from the dining table and sat down with a groan. "Deidamia is not going to forgive you for stealing her away. You two have history, you stole Josephine from her, and now you're running. Even if you get her stolen things back to her, she is going to kill you, no matter what, and whoever stole her belongings."

Kellan sighed and swiped his large palm down his face. I watched his jaw work under a blanket of dirty blond fuzz. "How do you propose we do that?" he asked.

Ernest grabbed what looked like beef jerky from his pocket and took a chewy bite. "Deidamia is a demon in the form of a dragon," he said.

I expected her to be something like that, but to hear it out loud made a chill work its way down my spine.

"It won't be easy to kill her, but there are ways to kill her."

I remembered the ash raining down on me while I was in my sleep state. The underbelly of a dragon above the Dark Woods. It was her.

"Like?" Kellan asked.

Ernest pursed his lips. "I don't know yet, but I can find out. I think you all should stay the night. We'll do research, eat, be jolly and figure out a game plan."

Kellan didn't look like he wanted to stay. Maybe because of whatever reason he had for suddenly hating me. He no longer found me attractive and regretted our kiss.

I wouldn't lie and say I hated it, even if it hurt my pride. I loved it. I'd never had a kiss like that in my entire life. The size of his palms and the roughness of his skin against mine.

It fueled an invisible fire in my lower belly. It fed a deep, dark desire that I hid inside of me. One that my ex-boyfriend never fulfilled. Maybe true love's kiss wasn't too far off. However, I didn't remember Sleeping Beauty having to beg for her hero's affections.

Maybe it was a fluke. We got so far away that her spell wore off. Because, judging by Kellan's intense look, I didn't think he liked me.

Fern mentioned he was hurt. Maybe his hurt was blinding him—

"Stop it. Enough," he hissed, glaring daggers at me. "Can you shut your thoughts off for one second, so I can think?"

I bit my bottom lip and felt embarrassment crawl up to flame my cheeks. "Why don't you take a walk outside, find a stream and drown yourself in it?" I asked. "So, my thoughts won't bother you anymore."

Kellan laughed, and it flamed my skin. "I can't die, Josephine. I would have offed myself decades before if I could. Trust me." He walked out of the cabin and slammed the door, rattling the windows and Ernest's belongings.

Fern placed her palm on my shoulder. "Don't worry about him," she whispered. "He'll come around. Looks like he already has, but something is holding him back."

I smiled at her, even though I wanted to track him down and deliver a throat punch to his jugular. "Thanks, Fern. I'm fine."

I turned to look at Ernest, who stared blankly at me. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked.

I slid my palms down my body. "Yes, I feel great. I'm happy to be back in my body."

He smiled and slapped the table. "Good. Would either of you like a shower? It's not like what you have back home, but it'll work to get that grime off you."

"I would love that," I said.

Ernest showed me around to the back of his house to a small exterior shower. He used some type of magic for the water to rain down on top of me, but I didn't question it.

Ernest handed me a very small towel. "I'll bring you a long t-shirt to change into."

I grabbed the handle to the swinging door when he placed his hand on my shoulder. "Don't give up on him," he whispered into my ear. "Kellan is lost, but you're his way home."

A shiver raced down my spine.

Ernest left me at the door of the shower with confusion written over my face. Home and Kellan weren't words that belonged in the same sentence to me. Kellan wanted to deliver me and be finished.

I felt it.

I know they saw it.

It wasn't what I wanted. I felt something so deep between the two of us that I knew I wouldn't be able to move on once he left me.

Staying in this realm for a while longer sounded better than going back and never seeing him again.

I know, pathetic.

I slid out of my grimy clothes and tossed them over the side of the makeshift shower. The humid air clung to my skin as I turned the knob, and cool water splashed over me.

A bar of soap was tucked into a man-made alcove in the wood. Sliding it over my skin I felt myself returning. The feeling of being clean warmed me. I closed my eyes and smiled up at the sky.

Sliding my fingers into my ratty hair I attempted to work the knots out of my thick locks when I heard something move close by. I wrapped my arms around my bare breasts and waited.

Silence greeted me.

Continuing my shower, I heard a slight chuckle and then turned around to the empty shower stall. "Anybody out there?"

Movement under the bottom of the stall startled me. A small elfish looking man stared up at me from underneath the wood. His features were small and dwarfish like out of a storybook. When he smiled, a scream ripped from my body, and I kicked him square in the face.

He squealed and disappeared from underneath the wood. Adrenaline coursed through me as the wooden door swung open, and Kellan stood on the other side.

My entire body froze. I was naked as the day I was born in front of him. All my lustful emotions pooled in my stomach. Kellan's throat worked as he swallowed, and his jaw clenched.

I'd never felt so undone, not even when he kissed me. This was freeing. He was seeing me undressed, and seeing his reaction pulled on that invisible string between us.

His clear admiration and frustration of not touching me was evident on his face. I felt his emotions so clearly that it stunned me.

"What on Earth," Fern's voice grew closer.

Kellan cleared his throat, looked down and lifted a brow. Bending down, he grabbed what looked to be an elf attempting to hide his bloody nose.

"Oh, my goodness," Fern said. "An elf. Can we keep him?"

"I'm a grown man," he yelled, swinging wildly at Kellan, who almost looked amused. Kellan realized the door was open and shut it closed quickly. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding and covered my face.

Ernest chuckled. "Those little bastards steal from my garden all the time. Take him inside, Kellan."

Ernest tossed a T-shirt over the side of the stall.

I turned the water off, dried off with the handmade towel and slid the T-shirt over my body. It hit a little lower than mid-thigh, so I was okay with no underwear for now.

The back door was cracked for me as I slid inside and found everyone standing in the dining room with the elf.

He beamed when he saw me.

"You got an eyeful you jerk," I mumbled.

"So did the big guy," he said, in a squeaky voice. "You aren't complaining about him."

My cheeks flamed red as everyone glanced over at me. Kellan's stare felt like a hot lamp against my skin. I wish I could hear his thoughts. What was he thinking?

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

He shifted the small hat on top of his head and straightened his small black pointed-toed shoes. "I was walking to the garden to get some veggies," he said, glancing at Ernest with a grin, "when I heard that stupid crow."

My back stiffened.

"What crow?" Kellan asked, his voice gravely and deep.

He looked up at him. "You know, that witch Deidamia's crow. I decided to hide, and a shower with a beautiful woman seemed like the best spot."

Kellan stood up straight. His intense stare told me everything I needed to know. Deidamia knew where we were.

"Are you single?" the elf asked.

Kellan slapped the back of his head before he stalked toward the front door of the cabin.

"Ouch," the elf whispered. "Stupid caveman."