Blue Violet - By Abigail Owen Page 0,35

car rebound off the tree and start skidding backwards…and toward a cliff. Her last irrational thought was, Griffin’s going to kill me, before she sank into blessed oblivion.

Chapter 18

“You little idiot,” Ellie heard Alex mutter, although his voice came from far away. She was snuggled up against something warm and solid, and yet she was floating.

“What were you thinking?” he continued, his voice more tender now and closer to her ear.

It suddenly occurred to Ellie that he was carrying her. Since being held in his arms so closely aligned with where she truly wished to be, Ellie decided not to open her eyes just yet. Some part of her recognized that he wasn’t touching her skin.

As her consciousness returned in slow waves, Ellie reveled in the feeling of being exactly where she was supposed to be. Being held by him just felt too wonderful to pass up. She didn’t want the moment to ever end.

Carefully, she reached up and wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders. Burying her face in the crook of his neck, she breathed him in. Alex smelled of clean soap, a subtle tangy aftershave, and something essentially him. She sighed as his arms tightened around her, pulling her in closer.

They made it back to the house too soon. Once inside, he laid her gently on the couch in the living room. Reluctantly, Ellie unwrapped her arms from around his neck, her eyes still closed. Alex gently smoothed the hair back from her face. Knowing she couldn’t avoid reality any longer, she opened her eyes with a resigned sigh, looking directly into Alex’s silver-blue gaze.

“You’ve got a pretty big bump on your head,” he observed.

With his words, pain finally broke through the fog in Ellie’s head. She winced as she reached up and felt the egg-sized lump on her forehead. “Ow,” she groaned.

“I’d point out that you brought this on yourself, but you’ve been banged up enough for your trouble, in addition to giving me a heart attack, so I’ll restrain myself. Just… please don’t ever do something like that again.” His gruff concern warmed her slowly from the inside out.

“How bad’s the car?” she asked with another groan.

“Probably totaled.” His face looked like a solemn mask. He sat back on his heels and ran his hand over his face.

Alex couldn’t share with Ellie his horror of watching her car hit the tree and then skid toward the treacherous cliff. If her car had gone over, she would never have survived the impact. He’d had to use his powers on her, and hadn’t even stopped to consider the potential consequences. If someone had seen him, they would’ve seen him lift his hands, and the next instant, the car frozen in place. Even the snow falling stopped in time. It’d been a stupid move. I couldn’t just sit there and watch her die, he thought.

“Griffin’s gonna kill me,” Ellie groaned.

Alex frowned. “Who exactly is Griffin?”

Ellie ignored the question. “He’ll be here any minute. And he’ll be furious with me.”

“He can get in line.” Alex looked sternly at her as she wiggled down on the couch to try to get more comfortable. “What on Earth were you thinking?”

She returned his look with a glare of her own. “I was thinking I had to get away from you.” She paused for a second, forcing herself to calm down. A repeat of the last few minutes was a really bad idea. “And you really should go,” she finally insisted.

Griffin was close. He was already telepathically communicating his wrath to her. He’d seen the crash in his mind, and now he was scolding her mentally before he could finish the job in person. Ellie put her hand to her head, which was now starting to ache for many reasons.

Alex noticed the gesture. Concerned, he reached out and gently touched the lump just above her eyes. Ellie flinched at the pain, although she was able to at least control the shocking sensation.

“Sorry,” he muttered. “You should go to the hospital.”

“That’s not necessary.”

“Well, I should at least get you some ice for that,” he insisted. But he didn’t move. He just sat and looked at her for what seemed like an eternity. And Ellie couldn’t break the contact. Didn’t want to.

Alex reached out again, this time to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. He trailed his fingertips along the smooth skin of her jaw.

Ellie’s breath caught in her throat at the look in his eyes. A confession trembled on the tip of