Read Online The First Midnight Spell by Claudia Gray - Free Book Online Page B

relieved to know what to do. “Yes, I will. But—tomorrow? Do you promise?”
    â€œWith all my heart.”
    Finally Nat walked away, walking backward so that he didn’t have to take his eyes off Elizabeth. She watched him go for a while, then quickly wiped her mouth and fixed her apron so that she looked right when she went back inside.
    Aunt Ruth had managed to get the children tucked in. Her face was creased with worry. “Did he trouble you?”
    â€œNot really,” Elizabeth said, trying to strike the right balance. She should sound concerned, but not actually afraid. “But I was thinking—I ought to keep out of his way as much as possible, during the day.”
    â€œYou should indeed.”
    That sounded like Aunt Ruth had her own plan for keeping Elizabeth hidden; Elizabeth knew she needed to speak up right away. “We’re running low on some of our medicinal plants. Why don’t I go gathering tomorrow? Out past the field on the far west of town. Nothing should take Nat over that way.”
    After a moment, Aunt Ruth nodded. “That should do. I’ll tell Widow Porter about it in the morning. She can steer him in some other direction. I’m worried about that boy.”
    I’m not, Elizabeth thought. For the first time in years—since she’d been old enough to know how she felt about Nat Porter—she wasn’t afraid of losing him. For the first time she felt sure her dreams would come true.
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    Nat came to her in the far field so early in the day that the grass was still cool and damp with dew. Nobody else would come out this way, so Elizabeth didn’t have to hide or wait. She simply stood there amid the tall waving grass, untying her cap so that her hair would flow free as she watched Nat walking toward her. His steps quickened until he was practically running to her, and she held out her arms for him.
    Together they tumbled onto the soft ground, and Nat’s mouth found hers, and Elizabeth surrendered to the tidal wave of feeling sweeping her away.
    They lay like that for hours, kissing until her lips were swollen and sore, tangling their bodies together until their clothes seemed to be only an inconvenience. Elizabeth let Nat touch her everywhere he wanted, thrilling to the warmth of his hands, and knowing each moment only made him wilder to finally have her for his own.
    If that happens, then he’ll marry me, she thought in a blissful daze, her head lolling back against Nat’s forearm on the ground. He’ll know that if our families found out, they’d force us to marry. Even the First Laws couldn’t prevent that! Surely some laws of man were even greater than the rules of witchcraft.
    Yet every moment Elizabeth thought Nat would finally abandon all restraint, he would suddenly pull back. “We can’t,” he would pant against her shoulder. “I can’t do that to you.”
    Elizabeth would have liked to plead with him to do exactly that. Yet she knew to do so would mark her as a completely improper young woman—a slattern rather than a virtuous girl he would want to marry. Although Nat would always love her, of course, he would not always be so thoroughly in the grip of her spell. When he remembered these days in years to come, she wanted him to remember only how fiercely his desire for her had burned, instead of her behaving in a way he would never want for his wife.
    So instead she meekly whispered, “We won’t, Nat. I know you’re a good man. You’ll take care of me.”
    Besides, this was wonder enough for today, maybe for a lifetime. Elizabeth had imagined how good it would feel to lie beneath Nat, to feel him move against her as he kissed her again and again. Yet her imagination had fallen so short of reality.
    By midafternoon both their bellies were growling with hunger, sharp enough for Nat to release her for a while. She’d thought to pack some cheese and bread in a