Chapter 6

Maddy stepped into the sitting area and stopped when she saw Colin stretched out on her couch. Why had he slept there? Was there something wrong with the spare bed? She smirked when she realized his eyes were open, or barely so, and Whiskers’ nose was about three inches from his. “Oh, that’s one of her favorite spots. She likes to look out the window behind the couch.” She grinned and pushed her hair out of her face. “You should have seen the first few times she forgot about her new form and jumped up on the back and flipped the whole couch over.”

-I’m glad that entertained you.

Colin chanced looking away from the amber eyes to her keeper. “I’m not going to get nipped or bit if I move then?”

Maddy chuckled. “No, she’s just trying to get your attention so you don’t crash on her spot again.”

Colin moved his eyes back to the creature’s intense stare. “It won’t ever happen again, Whiskers.”

-Fine. You ruined all my fun, Maddy.

Maddy shook her head and walked into the kitchen. “Are you a coffee or tea drinker?”

Colin sat up slowly and caught the book that had been lying on his chest. “Coffee please, just hook up an IV, and I’m good to go.” He looked at the cat jumping up where he’d been as he followed her into the kitchen. “I hadn’t intended to fall asleep there. I just needed to stretch out for a minute.” He watched her move around the kitchen as he sat on the stool.

Looking down at the book still in his hands, he set it on the counter and turned back to her. She hadn’t bothered with combing her hair or changing, and he was glad. She looked amazing for just getting out of bed—then again, he was a sucker for the sexy, sleepy look. He looked down at his hands and gave himself a mental slap. Lusting after her would not help the situation, he told himself. Hopefully, all of him would listen too.

Turning from the counter, Maddy smirked at him, “Tell me you’re not a morning jogger or anything because, honestly, I don’t even feel like driving alongside you if that’s the case.”

Colin looked up. “No. I usually wake up and work out for a half hour before going to work, but I’m sure I can survive a few days without using the weights.”

Her eyes of course, flitted right to those biceps. “Well, as long as you’re not going to shrivel up missing a few days.”

He grinned and flexed his arm up. Looking from his bulging bicep to her, he asked. “I think I’m good, don’t you?” Her face flushed just enough for him to notice it.

Shaking her head, Maddy turned to the fridge. “Uh, no. I don’t think you have to worry.” She had no idea what she was looking for in the fridge, just knew she couldn’t turn around and face him just yet. Geez, she needed to get out more, flushing at a simple flex of a muscle. “Do you eat in the morning?” It seemed like a good question to ask when your face was in a fridge.

“Usually just fruit or cereal.”

She nodded and pulled out the milk, “I have a few kinds of cereal.” She opened the cupboard for him to look and went and sat down. “I generally grab a coffee and go check my email to see what I have to work on for the day.” She yawned, “Given the situation here, I think I’ll put off any work I can right now.”

Colin pulled out a box of cereal and turned. “I think we’re going to need a chart or something. Family histories are going to get messy.”

Maddy nodded, “I agree.” She watched him open a few cupboards. Focusing, she made the cupboard with the bowls open. He grinned at her and reached in to get a bowl out. “I’ll go check the study and see if any more piles of books or scrolls arrived in the night.”

Colin looked up after he poured the milk. “I’ll bring the coffee, how do you take it?”

“Black.” She quickly walked out, needing to get away from him for a few minutes.

Blowing out a deep breath, he watched the doorway. Was it better that they got along well enough for there to be that hint of sexual tension between them, or worse? He opened a few cupboards to locate the cups. Better, he decided. Being connected to someone the way they were forced to be would be worse if you couldn’t stand to be near the other person. He smirked as he poured two black coffees. Maybe when this was all solved and reversed, he’d ask her out.

~

Three hours later, Maddy flopped onto her back on the study room floor. “I can’t read another word right now.” She dropped the scroll she’d been studying onto the floor beside her and looked over to where Colin sat with his pile of books. “People had way too many kids back then.”

Colin looked up from the book to see her sprawled before him on the floor. Everything he’d just read left his brain completely. “Pardon?” Had she spoken to him, or was he dreaming things?

She smirked at him. “Never mind.” She sat up and flipped the hair back over her shoulder. “Do you want to go for a walk? I need to stretch and regroup my head.”

He gave her a lopsided grin. “Regroup your head?”

Maddy nodded. “Yeah, it just keeps filling up more and more with bits of this and that, and now it’s stuffed so full—I just need a break.”

Colin set the book down and leaned back on one hand. “A walk sounds good.” He was rewarded with a big smile.

Maddy jumped up and looked at him. “You love all this reading and researching, don’t you?”

He got up slowly and then shrugged. “I’m just more used to being stuck in a book for hours than you are.”

“You are a geek.” She walked to the back door.

He held it open for her. “I did try to warn you.” He paused as Whiskers ran by him and out the door.

Maddy smiled as Whiskers flew by her. The cat knew what path Maddy would take. “I know, but seriously, step back and take a look from my view. Geeks are usually smaller and wiry.” She waved a hand up and down his body as they walked. “You, on the other hand, look like you do hard physical labor, like constant lifting and stuff. I don’t get it.”

Colin tried to ignore how the sunlight highlighted her hair and answered her. “When I’m working through a problem, physical activity helps me process it all.” He motioned to his arm. “As you can see, I have a lot of complex problems and research to process.”

She laughed and reached down and picked a daisy as they followed the trail towards the trees. “Okay, that makes a bit more sense.” She smiled up at him. “I love walking through here, it’s so calming.”

He glanced from her appealing mouth to look around the scattered trees they’d walked into. “I could use this in my backyard.” Every few feet the treetops didn’t block out the sun, which shined down on her, distracting him all over again. What was wrong with him? Usually, when he sunk his teeth into a problem or research, he was like a spitball and never let it go.

“Feel free to come and walk through mine any time.” She wandered down a different path that led to the small creek. “I wouldn’t know what to do if I were surrounded by buildings. This is the only place I’ve ever known.”

Colin was perfectly content to follow a few steps behind her. To him, she moved as her pet did, with a smooth grace. Of course, watching her long legs wasn’t going to help his focus at all. “So, the old professor, she said Ramada when she spoke to you, is that what Maddy stands for?”

Maddy grimaced at him over her shoulder, “Yes. I definitely prefer Maddy. What kind of name is Ramada?” She stepped up on a tree that had fallen and slipped sideways a little. Strong hands gripped her waist lightly and helped her get her footing again. She looked down at Colin.

He smiled. “A uniquely beautiful name to match the woman it belongs to.” He stepped sideways over the tree and lifted her down to stand on the other side with him. Her cheeks had flushed again.

“Thank you.” She slid her hands slowly from his shoulders to rest on his biceps. His hands flexed lightly against her waist, and she felt the movement in his arms under her hands. Part of her brain told her to think of something to say and move away, but the other part was too caught up in watching his dark eyes looking at her.

Colin took a shallow breath, not wanting to move too much. Her eyes were searching his, he would have been content to stand here and look at her all day. He looked at her lips as she moistened them and decided a few more complications wouldn’t be so bad. “This isn’t going to help our situation any—” He lowered his mouth to hers and lightly brushed his lips over hers. Pulling back slightly, he had intended to stop there until he saw the look in her eyes and instead lowered his mouth back to hers.

Maddy’s hands slid back up to his shoulders without hesitation as his mouth moved lightly over hers again. She knew in her head that the timing was all wrong for the two of them, but she didn’t care. Opening her mouth to his, she felt heat rush through her as he deepened the kiss.

Colin cupped the back of her head and pulled her closer. When her fingers threaded into his hair, he reached and pulled her body tight against his. Just the feel of her body pressed into his caused a rush of need to surge through him. He’d never held a woman that fit so perfectly against him.

Maddy gasped when his mouth moved down to her neck. She opened her eyes and then froze. It wasn’t her forest they were in. She looked at Colin, and it wasn’t Colin she clung to—it resembled him but wasn’t.

“Maddy?” Colin looked down at the frightened look on her face.

Maddy straightened a little and then looked around. They were back in her forest. She breathed a sigh of relief, “I opened my eyes, and we weren’t here in these trees, and we weren’t us.”

He lowered his hands to rest on her hips lightly. “I—” He stopped and closed his mouth.

“You were someone else, Colin, he looked a great deal like you—but it wasn’t you.”

“How is that possible?”

Maddy bit her lip and dropped her hands away from him. “I’m not sure.”

Taking the hint, he stepped away from her. “So, it has to have something to do with my family, if he looked like me.” She nodded. He reached out and held her chin gently. “Before we go back and figure that out, let me just clear something up—” Her eyes watched him carefully. “I was kissing you, and that was you kissing me.” She nodded. “The whole time,” he said firmly as he released her chin.

Maddy blew out a breath. “I know, in reality, it was, but the illusion or whatever freaks me out.” She turned to see Whiskers bounding towards them. “Let’s head back and see if we can get this figured out.”

“Fine.”

She turned and studied him. He was scowling. Smiling, she stretched to kiss his cheek softly and looked around quickly. He gave her a puzzled look, and she shrugged. “I just wanted to see if it happened from close contact or—” His grin stopped her.

“I have no problems kissing you to find out, anytime you want.”

Maddy felt her cheeks heat again. “I didn’t think you did, but I’m not sure if it’s a good thing to do, considering the mess we’re already in.”

Colin stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “Probably not, but kissing you is the only damn thing that’s happened in the last twenty-four hours that makes a bit of sense.”

“You’re right.” She turned and started walking. “Now I just have to decide if I tell my parents everything we were doing when it happened or if I leave parts out.”

Colin ducked down under a branch to walk beside her. “I think some details might be better left out.” He put his arm lightly around her shoulders and spoke close to her ear. “Your father didn’t seem happy with a man having anything to do with his daughter.”

“I agree.” She squinted at him and then down at the ground. “I’ve left out many, many details about men when talking to Da and today is not the day to come clean.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Many, many?”

Maddy laughed. “Colin, I’m twenty-seven. You are not the first man I’ve kissed.” She scowled at him. “You don’t get to be all territorial after a few kisses.”

Colin sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry. I have no idea where that came from.” He let out a shaky breath. “I’d better not be turning into some ancient ancestor of mine.”

Maddy shook her head. “Don’t even say things like that. Seriously, this can’t get any worse than it is.”

He ran a hand through his hair and then waved a hand toward the house. “Let’s just get this figured out.”

Maddy scrambled to catch up to him as they walked full speed towards the house.

~

She’d been wrong. It could get worse. They stood looking down at the scroll spread out on her desk. A small note was attached to the top of it. ‘Maddy, I think this is relevant. It was found at the same site as the Quaich. The books it came out of are on the way shortly. Mama’

“Books?” Colin asked softly.

“This scroll would be copied out of the books and stored wherever the high council puts stuff like this.” She let out a slow breath and reached to peak under the note from her mother. “It’s a verse or—”

“Spell,” he finished as he reached out and picked up the scroll carefully. Looking around, he went to a space on the wall and looked back at her. “Let’s tack it up so we can decipher it.”

Maddy dug in a drawer for some tacks and took to him. “At least it’s not Latin,” she mumbled more to herself than him.

They both stepped back and looked at it. Silently reading. When they finished, Colin stepped back and looked at the floor for several moments. “You were saying about it getting worse?”

Maddy groaned, “I know. Okay, as a whole, it sounds bad—or at least the parts I could grasp.” She looked back at it. “Let’s go grab a sandwich, and then we can break it down and deal with one line at a time.”

He nodded and turned to leave. “We’re going to need an old dictionary or some sort of translator.” He rubbed his jaw and didn’t even bother to turn to see if she followed him. “It may have been easier to decipher it from Latin. It’s very broken English or a variation of English.” He went into the kitchen and opened the fridge, “we’ll have to check and make sure it was copied exactly as it reads on the scroll.” He pulled out the juice and turned to the cupboard. “If a line was ended in the wrong place while copying it, it could give it a totally different meaning—” He poured the juice and turned as he took a drink. Maddy stood leaning against the door, looking very amused. “What?”

She chuckled. “I just wondered how long you’d ramble on if I stayed out of your way.

Colin grinned and leaned back against the counter. “You don’t want to know. Everyone at work just gets out of my way when I start.”

Maddy went to the fridge to find something to make into a sandwich. “If your rambling will help figure any of this out, feel free to do it twenty-four hours a day.”

Colin studied the glass in his hand. “If I understood that verse, then we don’t have a choice. We have to figure it out or get used to each other’s company.”

Maddy scowled at him and shut the door a little too hard. “I am not living the rest of my life being controlled by two curses. I mean, seriously, are they just attracted to me or what?” She glared at him. “We’re going to figure it out. Period.”

Colin toasted her with his glass of juice; knowing when not to speak was a skill of his, and that redhead obviously had a bit of temper to go with her hair. Of course, realizing he had a weak spot for women with fire was a whole new realization for him.