The Misadventures of Anna Cabbot

Lay It All Out

Anna carried her stress in her back. There was knot after knot all along her shoulder blades and down in the dip of her spine where it connected to her hips. Jamie was amazed she could move with any sort of fluidity given how tight her lumbar was.

He shifted carefully, propped up on one elbow while his other hand worked at her back through her t-shirt. It would be better skin to skin, but she wasn't awake to consent to that. She'd given him blanket permission to rub hher back, and that would have to do until she was coherent. Given she had some good-size bags under her eyes and the clock on the dresser said it was only seven, he wasn't in a rush to wake her.

Jamie smoothed his palm across her shoulders. Anna sighed into her pillow.

Here, in the quiet of her bedroom, he could admit he'd missed her. Jamie had missed Carson, too, but in a different way, since what he felt for Anna and Carson wasn't identical. As it was, Jamie had struggled to find enough things to keep him busy — he hadn't been able to focus enough to read, he'd conked out halfway through his favorite movies, and music had only mde the loft seem bigger and emptier.

Adele deserved at least half a dozen bouquets of her favorite flower for all the text messages she'd endured at odd hours because of him. His sister was a saint.

Jamie moved his leg and whacked his anklet off his other calf. He was more than ready to be rid of that goddamn thing. Not only could he not reach his magic, but the effect of iron on other bodily functions? He was well aware of that, too, though there were ways around that if she were up for it.

He resettled on the mattress and rested his hand on her side. She didn't so much as twitch, and considering he'd shared a bed with her often enough to know she woke in a tangled mess of sheets and blankets on a regular morning, meant she was exhausted. The more tired she was the more she didn't move, and she'd barely wiggled since she'd curled on her side after one last goodnight kiss.

About half an hour later he slid carefully from the bed to use the bathroom and then turn on the Keurig. He'd rejoined her, dozing lightly, when she finally stirred, arms and legs bumping into his as she stretched. She blinked awake. The hair that had escaped her bun during the night was fanned out around her, and with her sleepy-soft eyes, she was radiant in the low morning light.

"What?" she murmured.

"Nothing." Jamie scooted closer.

Anna made a noise in the back of her throat like she didn't quite believe him, and reached out to snag a handful of his t-shirt.

"What?" he whispered when she paused longer than a few seconds.

"Really?"

He shrugged, and let her reel him in for a kiss using the hold she had. Their combined morning breath wasn't too terrible, and he followed when she pulled, rolling her partially under him. She rested her hands on his belly.

"Can I?" she asked.

"Yes." He shifted his weight back toward his knees, one of her legs between his, and stayed as still as he could while her fingertips slid beneath his shirt to map the muscles of his abdomen. She had her bottom lip between her teeth, one palm exploring his side and the other pushing up toward his collarbone.

Jamie sat up fully and stripped his t-shirt off, dropping it over the edge of the bed.


Anna blinked. Color flooded her cheeks, and she inhaled sharply. "Get back down here? Please?"

"As you wish," he murmured, easing forward. The quote seemed to register only briefly with her, and when his warm skin met hers where her shirt had ridden up, she jolted.