Part 3 (1/2)

”I dreamed of you, too,” Maggie whispered as she snipped the black leather collar from his neck. Was it her imagination or did those strange, pale blue eyes turn briefly red? ”For the past few weeks. I...I don't know why.”

”Neither...do I.” He coughed weakly. ”Water...please.”

”Oh, of course!” Remembering how thirsty he had always been in her dreams, Maggie cupped one hand and scooped up some cold, refres.h.i.+ng water from the little brook. Then she tilted it carefully into his mouth...or tried to anyway. Because try as she might, the water wouldn't go past his lips. It slid past his mouth and over his cheeks but something always seemed to keep it from going in. Maggie tried again and again until he shook his head.

”No use. Must...break the barrier.”

”There's a barrier around your mouth?” Then she remembered what the evil Lady Pope'nose had said. ”Of course, it's this d.a.m.n dust, isn't it?”

She stopped trying to tilt the water into his mouth. Instead, she scooped up a handful of water and tried to wash the verium dust off his face.

It didn't work. Though she tried first with her hand and then with one of her dress's ridiculously trailing sleeves soaked in water, the silver-gray dust wouldn't come off.

”What the h.e.l.l is going on?” she muttered at last in frustration. ”Why won't this d.a.m.n stuff come off?”

”Told you...must break the barrier.”

To her alarm, his voice sounded weaker again and his eyes were fluttering closed.

”Break the barrier? But how?” she begged, patting his cheek. ”Hey, come back to me. Tell me how to help you!”

His eyes opened again, their strange, oval pupils so much like a cat's looking into hers. ”Kiss...of life.”

”I don't understand. You want me to kiss you? Why?”

”Must give water...mouth to mouth. Only skin unpolluted...by the varium... can disrupt its field.”

”Mouth to mouth? You mean you want me to take a mouthful of water and then...” Maggie couldn't finish.

He nodded weakly. ”It's...only way. Please...so thirsty.”

It seemed like an incredibly strange and intimate act to be performing with a stranger but Maggie didn't know what else to do. Kneeling down, she got a big mouthful of the cold, clear water. Then she pillowed the prisoner's head in her lap-which wasn't easy because all of him was heavy-and pressed her lips to his.

The moment she let the water rush from her mouth to his, she could tell it was working. He drank from her thirstily and not a single drop was spilled from the side of his mouth.

When she finally pulled away from the strange kiss, he looked up at her, his eyes blazing and whispered, ”More.”

”Of course,” Maggie whispered.

She did it again, taking another mouthful and sealing her lips to his. And then again and again. It occurred to her after the fourth or fifth time that if the seal was broken, she should probably give him water from her cupped hands instead. But by that time she was kind of enjoying herself. It had been a long time since she'd kissed anyone-Donald considered the activity unsanitary and unnecessary-and she'd never kissed anyone even remotely like the prisoner.

Her heart beat harder and her lips tingled when she pressed them to his. His mouth tasted faintly of cinnamon or maybe some other exotic spice. Plus he was so huge and yet so helpless with his head still pillowed in her lap. If he'd been standing up or even kneeling, she would have felt intimidated by his size and muscular physique. As it was, she felt perfectly confident and also protective of him. I have to do this-I have to save him, she told herself. There's no choice if I want him to live.

Maggie wasn't sure when her life-giving gesture-what the prisoner had called the kiss of life-turned into an actual kiss. She only knew that one minute she was sealing her lips to his to give him water...and the next his tongue was stroking lightly over hers.

Her eyes drifted closed and she cradled his head closer, forgetting to go back for more water. Instead, she concentrated on the warm, cinnamon taste of his mouth and the feel of his tongue exploring her.

The prisoner seemed to be enjoying the kiss too. He made a low, approving growl at the back of his throat that seemed to vibrate through her entire body.

The sound shook Maggie out of the strange trance she'd somehow fallen into. With a little gasp, she pulled back from him, breaking the kiss. Her heart was pounding and for a moment, she felt frozen to the spot.

The prisoner opened his strange blue eyes and looked up at her. His tongue traced his lips, as though he enjoyed the lingering taste of her mouth on his.

”Why did you stop?” he murmured in a soft, deep voice.

”I...Because I...” Maggie shook her head. ”We can't...we have to get you out of here. There's no time for this...this kind of thing.”

He arched an eyebrow at her. ”Afraid you'll have to make time. If you're serious about getting me out.”

”What...what do you mean?” Her heart was still pounding so loudly she was sure he could hear it. ”I unchained you and took off your collars and broke the verium barrier. You should be good to go-right?”

”I would be...if it wasn't for all this d.a.m.n dust.” He nodded down at his skin which was still coated with the silver-gray verium. ”Need you to wash it off me. Should be able to...now that the verium seal is gone.”

Maggie was half appalled, half embarra.s.sed...and maybe just a tiny bit l.u.s.tful? Was he actually saying that she had to wash the dust off his entire, mostly naked body?

”Can't you?” she asked awkwardly. ”I mean, now that you're feeling better...”

”Still...weak...” He closed his eyes and groaned expressively. ”Please...need your help.”

Maggie hesitated-she was engaged. There was no way she ought to be putting her hands all over a mostly naked man. Especially an extremely hot and mustcular mostly naked man. But in this case, she decided, she would have to make an exception. There was nothing else she could do if she wanted to save the prisoner. And there was no point in coming in here and freeing him from all his restraints only to leave him lying on the floor, unable to move because she felt too guilty to do what had to be done.

”All right,” she said. ”Here goes.”

She started with his face, pouring cool handfuls of water over his cheeks and forehead and hair. Now that the seal or barrier was broken, the dust came off easily although it seemed to help when she stroked the water through his hair and rubbed his skin with her fingers. She tried using the sleeve of her green dress again but that only seemed to smear the dust. After trial and error she found it came off best when she used skin-to-skin contact.

”Feels so good,” the prisoner groaned softly as she finished his face and started on his broad, muscular chest. ”Your hands...so soft and gentle.”

”Thank you.” Maggie could feel her cheeks getting hot but she continued on, scooping up water from the stream and brus.h.i.+ng it over the broad, flat planes of his chest. ”I'm...uh, glad you're feeling better.”

”Felt better the first...minute I saw you.” He looked up at her again, his eyes holding some emotion she couldn't read. ”You wept for me...shared my pain. Why?”

”I don't know, exactly.” Maggie shrugged awkwardly. ”I just...can't stand to see anyone being hurt like that. It's awful.”

He frowned. ”Just felt sorry for me, huh? Can't stand to see an animal tortured.”

”No, not like that,” she protested. ”I just-”

”I thought...maybe because of the dreams.” He coughed. ”Didn't know...if you would come back.”

”I couldn't just leave you here-especially now that she has that terrible Hurkon collar. If I would have known what she wanted to use it for, I never would have agreed to bring it!”

Maggie finished with his chest and back and started on his legs. They weren't as saturated with the silver-gray dust as the upper part of his body was so it wasn't too hard to get them clean-although she did blush when she rubbed water over his knees and lower thighs. Thank goodness for his loincloth-she really didn't need to be seeing every single part of him while she was giving him an impromptu sponge bath.

”If you hadn't brought it, you never would have seen me,” he pointed out. Then he looked pointedly down at her hands. ”Hate to ask you but...there's a lot more dust to wash off.”

”What? Where?” His skin looked mostly clean to her. It was a deep, dusky tan which made his pale eyes and his white teeth stand out even more. His hair and stubble, as she had expected, were a rich, glossy black like a raven's wing and his hair seemed to have a slight curl to it when she ran her fingers through the springy strands.

”Under.” He nodded down at the loincloth. ”Sorry...she made sure to coat me everywhere.”