Court of Winter (Fae of Snow & Ice, #1)(25)

My eyes widened, and I shoved another wall of water in his face. The wave splashed him, and since he once again didn’t try to prevent it, I guessed that meant he didn’t have a water affinity too.

Aghast, I managed to say, “Are you really asking me about my sex life?”

He wiped the water from his face for a second time, his sly grin lifting even more. “That’s twice now you’ve assaulted me in this pool.”

I snorted. “Well, arrest me then.” I tapped my chin. “Oh no, wait, sorry. I forgot that you already have.”

His smile spread. “Have you always been this insolent to authority?”

I ground my teeth. “Well, until you and Vorl, I never had the need to be.”

His smile disappeared. “You’re comparing me to him?”

I shrugged. “In all honesty, my prince, I’m not sure how much you two differ. You both take what you want when you want it, except you . . .”

“Except I what?” His jaw clenched, the muscle bulging in the corner.

I’d almost told him that Vorl hadn’t murdered anyone, at least as far as I knew, and that he certainly had never killed anyone in my family, but with one glance at the prince’s lethally cold expression, I stopped. “Nothing.”

The prince studied me a moment longer, the tension flowing from him sending another ripple through the water.

My heart beat harder, and I didn’t move.

He abruptly stood, and water cascaded down his chest. I shoved back against the rock as he prowled past me, and despite willing myself not to look at him, my traitorous eyes drifted from his square jaw to the rounded balls of his shoulders, past the heavy slab of his chest, and then to the defined abs beneath it. The water hid what was below his waist, but a clearly defined “V” headed south.

The second my eyes drifted toward his cock, I firmly forced them back up.

When I did, I found the prince watching me at the waterfall’s edge. “And you’re calling me the creep?”

With that, he ducked through the waterfall, and his giant wings disappeared with him. Embarrassment flamed through me until the prince’s next words snapped me upright.

“Follow me, Ilara Seary. You’re not to be left alone out here.”





CHAPTER 8





It struck me on the walk back to my room that the only reason Haxil had left me at the bathing pools was because he’d known the prince was there, so I wouldn’t be unprotected. If only I’d been astute enough to realize that.

It also explained why none of the lodge’s other patrons had been enjoying the hot springs. When the Bringer of Darkness lounged within its depths, one could hardly blame a fairy for being skittish and unable to relax.

Back inside the lodge, I followed the Death Master down the hall as a perpetual scowl painted his features. Apparently, he didn’t like being called a creep and was so bothered by it that he also didn’t care that he was strutting around half-naked.

He hadn’t used one of the lodge’s robes. Instead, a simple towel was looped around his waist, which only amplified his toned abdomen. Wings tucked in tight to his back were like a narrow slit down his spine. Muscles bunched and moved in his shoulders, and ridges that I had no business seeing seemed to beckon my attention as he dipped around corners.

The prince was masculinity incarnate, a beautiful sculpture of death that would delight any female in the throes of her demise. It took everything in me not to throw a dagger at him—if I had a dagger, that was.

Cool air brushed over my skin as we made the final turn to my room. Since I didn’t have wings, the slits in the back of the robe allowed a breeze to flow freely across my backside. I just hoped that my bottom wasn’t on display. Normally, I had to buy my clothing from the youth vendor booths in Firlim’s market. Since pre-pubescent fae didn’t have wing buds, their clothing was still complete in the back, which meant that it kept my bare back covered, unlike adult fae clothes.

“Do you have your key?” the prince asked when he reached my door. He faced me, which put his firm chest in my line of sight.

I craned my head up. “Yes, my prince.” I held it up, then tucked my dirty clothes under my arm and went to insert it into the lock.

“Allow me.” He took the key in a large, calloused palm.

“Such a gentlefae, my prince.”

He gave me a side-eye, and in turn I provided a saccharine smile.

With my door open, I expected him to step aside and return to wherever he was residing, but instead he crossed the threshold, and the hum of the protection wards surrounding the room vibrated against my skin.

Bristling, I followed him, then crossed my arms as he surveyed the room. “My prince, aren’t you returning to your chambers?”

He fixed his piercing blue eyes on me, and I was once again confronted with the planes and angles of his sculpted features. “This is my chambers.”

My eyebrows knit together as a thrum of confusion pulsed through me. I ran a fluttering hand through my hair. “There must have been a mix-up. I thought they told me this was my room. Which bedroom chambers do I reside in?” An image of a frozen barn came to mind. Blessed Mother, hopefully it won’t be that bad.

“There hasn’t been a mistake. You’re staying with me.”

My hand fell. “What?”