Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 140780 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140780 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Ice flowed out of me in ways I couldn’t understand, freezing the ground.
Lucien just watched me as if I was the most fascinating creature he’d ever seen. Coming to a stop, he tortured both of us by not reaching for me.
In the reflection of his eyes, I saw how he saw me. Saw how I glittered with frost and snowdust. His pupils blew wide as his gaze dragged over me—slow and hungry and hot.
Smoke curled from his back, spreading outward like sooty wings.
A surge of molten-ice darted out of my heart, locking around his like a cosmic noose.
My breath hitched as something slammed into place inside me, threading through every nerve and strand of my soul, tying me permanently to him.
I needed him.
I reached for him.
With a guttural groan, he backed up and shook his head. “I can barely move with how much I want you, but...we need to get out of here. In case someone’s seen the fire.”
He talked sense.
He was wise.
But I wanted—
“Fuck, stop looking at me like that.” Marching into me, he clamped his scalding hands on my frigid cheeks. “I want to fuck you so much I can hardly breathe. I’m seconds away from breaking but—” He kissed me hard and fast, breaking.
I cried out as he plunged his tongue into my mouth. My hand found his hardness as he stepped into me.
Tearing himself away, he growled, “You want me? Fine. Then put out the fire. Keep us hidden, and I’ll drop to my knees right here and make you come.”
“W-What?”
His fingers went to his fly, ready to unzip. “Snuff out the flames like you always do, and I’ll show you exactly how badly I need you...and probably never stop.”
Chapter Forty-Five
HE EXPECTED ME TO STOP THIS?
He thought I could just wave a magic wand and stop what he’d caused?
The burning trees had spread, becoming a burning valley instead. Embers danced across the river, igniting the other side, while poor creatures scrambled for their lives.
Even though the fire didn’t hurt either of us...it hurt others. Killed others.
Staggering backward, I shook my head. “I can’t just put out the fire, Lucien. Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Try anyway.” His hands fell from his fly, denying me what I needed. “Go on.”
“I don’t have a fire truck or a hose handy.” My temper unfurled at his crazy suggestion. “What do you expect me to do? Glare at it until it snuffs out?”
“Do what you just did.” He waved at me as if that explained everything. “Summon more snow.”
“Oh, suuuure.” I rolled my eyes, slipping down the slippery slope of sarcasm straight toward a meltdown.
I couldn’t help it.
One had been brewing ever since he’d revealed my beloved necklace was nothing more than a prison. I’d tried to ignore it. Tried to pretend I could accept it. But...my panic was growing worse.
I wanted to use sex to avoid thinking about it.
I needed to leave.
I needed time on my own to mourn everything I’d just lost.
Unlike Lucien who despised the people trapping him, I loved mine. The loss of my parents irrevocably changed me, and without Frank and Dillon...I doubt I would’ve survived this long.
To be told they were just my handlers...
No.
They weren’t.
They couldn’t be.
I couldn’t believe they’d hurt me—that everything about our relationship was a lie.
“What are you waiting for?” Lucien scowled a little. “The sooner you put out the blaze, the sooner I can be inside you.”
His words landed all wrong.
My temper flared with self-preservation, switching from lust to horror.
Animals were dying.
He’d killed countless creatures tonight just because he couldn’t control whatever lurked in his veins. And now he expected me to reverse such a tragedy? To be put in charge of fixing it? Me? The girl who fainted at nothing, swooned at everything, and endured a life of absolute misery all because of a damn necklace?!
Breathing hard, my chest tightened as the mess inside me notched tighter. Tighter.
More trees ignited, sending a funnel of embers into the sky.
“Rook?” He frowned. “Why are you silent all of a sudden?”
“I don’t think you’re listening to me,” I said calmly, carefully, my voice overly brittle. “I don’t know how to do this. I don’t even know what this is.” I gestured helplessly at the fire, the smoke, the sky bruised with orange. And then I pointed at my normal skin—melted and no longer glittering as if the coldness inside me had retreated—tucking its tail and slinking away because it was smart and knew how close I was to breaking. “I just...I can’t—” I balled my hands, wanting to strike something.
Lucien stepped closer in his tattered trousers. “I’m not asking you to suddenly become an expert in ruling winter, Rook. I’m just asking you to try.”
That did it.
A sharp, panicked laugh burst out of me. “Try? How? I appreciate that you’ve probably been suspecting a lot of what you just said for a while. You’ve had time to go over it. To come to terms with everything, but me?” Ice cut through my panic, flashing over my skin. “I didn’t even know I was in a cage. I had no idea I was even like this!”