Beneath the gloves, Noel’s gloves, her magic stirred, threatening to come to life. Thousands of tiny pinpricks in her fingertips, having nowhere to go thanks to the gloves. Frost wanted to scream, wanted to let it loose so it would stop bothering her heart, but as she spun on her heel, ready to storm off and do just that away from camp, she found she wasn’t alone.
Hale stood a few feet away, watching her. He held his hands before his stomach, his dark eyes studious.
“What?” she said, feeling the need to pick a fight. When one emotion swelled out of control inside her, this time namely jealousy, it was hard to stop others from growing. Anger usually followed, and when Frost was angry, things tended to freeze and die.
“Are you alright?” Hale asked quietly. The wind tousled his white hair. With all the color around them, his hair seemed even whiter than it did in Wysteria. He was not as pale as she was, though. His skin was tanner. His slender form looked good with a tan.
“Of course I’m alright,” she hissed, starting to move past him, trying to get to the outskirts of the camp. She needed to be away from Noel and that woman. They could go off and do whatever it was they wanted to while she froze some grass.
Hale stopped her by saying, “You don’t look alright. You look upset.”
Her fingers clenched at her sides. She wanted to tear off the gloves and blast him, get him away from her for once and for all, but she couldn’t. Frost couldn’t hurt him like that. And could someone please tell her why she still felt so cold, even with the warm temperature around her? The sun could beat its unapologetic rays on her back constantly, and she’d still be cold.
Eternally cold, just like she would be eternally alone.
Through bared teeth, Frost managed to mutter, “I’m fine.”
Hale moved closer to her, and she found she was frozen in place. Beside her, Blue whined, sensing her intense emotions. Blue never liked it when she lost control. She couldn’t blame him; she hated it, too.
“You’re not,” Hale said. “Don’t lie to me.”
“You do not get to command me,” Frost stuttered, shocked he would say something like that to her. Who was he to demand anything from her?
Hale’s eyes dropped to her clavicle, which she was sure was furiously rising and falling with every breath she took. “Come on,” he said, turning on his heel and starting to walk away from her. His bow and quiver full of arrows hung on his back, and she watched him go, not wanting to follow him like a lost pup.
But…that aside, that’s precisely what she ended up doing.
Hale led her to the edge of the camp, away from the tents and the happy soldiers. Until the tents were far off and she could hear not a single laugh, they finally stopped. Blue dropped to the ground nearby, ever watchful over her.
“Here we are,” Hale said.
“I don’t understand,” Frost muttered, frowning. With her nose upturned, she glared at him. “Why would you bring me here?” Never mind that this was where she was headed anyway, to unleash a bit of her magic, to get her emotions better under control, but he didn’t need to know that.
Hale shrugged. “I figured you’d need to let some of it loose. You looked like you wanted to freeze the whole camp.”
“I didn’t—” She hadn’t thought explicitly of freezing the camp, but where her magic was concerned, one never could know. Still, admitting that she needed to let it out was not something Frost wanted to tell Hale.
“It’s okay if you need to do it,” Hale said. “You just can’t go zapping innocent people.” Even though his words were utterly ridiculous, Frost found herself amazed. Truly, he sounded at ease, as nonjudgmental as anyone could possibly be.
Frost looked away, unable to hold the stare of his dark brown eyes. “I don’t zap people. I freeze them. There’s a difference.” She sounded like a petulant child, and in a way, she was. She was nothing but a helpless child when it came to her magic and her emotions.
“Why?” Hale questioned, a single word whose answer would not be so simple.
Why did she freeze people? What an asinine question. Frost…well, it was complicated. “I don’t do it on purpose. Not usually.” She rubbed her arm. “It just happens sometimes. Sometimes I can’t control it. It’s like a living thing inside of me that has to get out, otherwise I can hardly breathe.”
Hale’s white head tilted, his dark gaze examining her. She never felt uncomfortable under his stare, even though his felt more probing than anyone else’s. “I can’t imagine what that’s like.”
“No,” she said. “I suppose you can’t. No one knows but me.” It hurt, admitting it aloud. Basically, she’d just confessed that she was alone. Totally alone in the world, not another soul quite like hers. It was not an experience she would wish upon anyone, even her worst enemy.
“Simply because there’s no one like you out there doesn’t mean you’re alone.”
Her breath caught at the base of her throat. How could he have known what she was thinking? Was it so obvious on her face? Was she such an open book, or was he simply that good? “How did you…” Frost couldn’t find the words to say.
Hale moved nearer. Beneath the gloves, the icy pinpricks faded, replaced by something she couldn’t name. She wanted to touch him, to find out if he was as warm as Douglas. There was nothing she wanted more in this moment, nothing in the entire world, all the kingdoms combined.
“It’s obvious you think you’re alone,” Hale said, his voice kind and gentle even though he had no reason to be. “But you’re not. You have to know you’re not alone.” His hand lifted to her face, tenderly cupping her cheek, thumb running over her cheekbone and eliciting a strange warm feeling in her lower stomach. “I’m with you, Frost, and every time you need a reminder of that, I’ll tell you. No matter how many times it takes.”
She both wanted to pull herself away from his hand, and also wanted to remain still, fearing that if she moved an inch, he would never touch her again. His skin was just as warm as Douglas’s, and she could feel the rough calluses on the fingertips he relied on when using his bow.
But, alas, the truth was not as pretty.
“After we bring the Jewel to my sister, I will be alone,” Frost muttered, closing her eyes, willing the negative emotions to stay away. She did not want to lose control, not while Hale was so near, touching her, so unbelievably gentle. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him.
She heard him sigh. Still, his hand did not leave her face; if anything, it only moved back, tangling in her hair as much as it could in her braid. “Why don’t you let me worry about that?” Hale suggested, pulling her in close, resting her head against his shoulder.
It was tempting to let him worry about it, to give in and forget about what hovered over Frost’s mind. So very tempting. And his touch—that was tempting, too. When Hale wrapped his other arm around her back, holding her to him, refusing to let her go even if she would try to pull away…there truly was no other word for it but tempting.
“Everything will be alright,” Hale murmured against her hair, breathing in through his nose. “I’ll make sure of it.”
Frost had no idea why, but she believed him, trusted in his words. Hale did not seem like a liar; he seemed the most genuine of the three, as quiet as he was. She was slow in moving her hands, holding onto his sides, crinkling her gloved fingers in the fabric. She didn’t want him to let her go; she wanted to remain like this for eternity, calm, serene, without a care in the world.
“Thank you,” she whispered. Her wild emotions were quelled, and Noel and the soldier woman were the last things on her mind. Right now, there was only her and Hale, and the woodsy scent of his body. One of her hands moved from his side, resting against his chest. She wanted to take off her gloves and touch him.
The chest she leaned on rose and fell with a soft breath. “You don’t have to thank me.”
She lifted her head off him, meeting his dark, almost black stare. The hand tangled in her hair dropped to her neck, the same thumb th
at had made its way across her cheekbone now dancing across her jaw, near her lips. Her mouth had parted of its own accord, and in that moment, she wanted to do something she hadn’t thought of in years, something that all girls dreamt of, because they always held power in the old fairy tales.
A kiss. She wanted a kiss. But not just that. Frost wanted to kiss Hale.
“You,” Hale’s breath was warm on her face, and she relished in it, “you are a dangerous kind of beautiful.” The words sent a shiver down her spine, but not a shiver of coldness. A shiver of wanting.
Dangerous. No word could adequately describe her quite like that. Frost knew she was very dangerous; a kingdom lay in ruins because of her and her magic, so she wasn’t about to argue with him. Not at all. The beautiful part? It wasn’t the first time Hale had called her beautiful, and it probably wouldn’t be the last, not at the rate they were going.
This…this was wrong. He was going to leave her after it was all said and done, whether he admitted it or not, but Frost didn’t want to think about that right now. The only thing on her mind was his lips, which neared precariously close to her own, and the notion that a kiss would solve all of her problems.
Alas, her life was not a fairy tale. This kiss would remain just that: a kiss. Nothing more.
Still, knowing all that, Frost didn’t pull away from Hale, didn’t flinch as his lips brushed hers. His hand tilted her neck back, bringing her mouth onto his with a firmer touch. If she could melt, she would have, right then and there. Melted right into him. Her mouth molded to his, and she felt her legs grow weak when his tongue grazed her bottom lip.
This…this was what all those fairy tales went on about. This was a kiss, and it was a damned good one.
Her hands moved to hug his neck, and she hoped, prayed with everything she was that she was doing it right. She’d had suitors, before Wysteria’s eternal winter, but they were always chaperoned, and her parents never let her stand more than two feet from any hopeful boy.
Boy. That’s what they were, back then. Now? This? Hale was anything but a boy. His body was lean and strong, and his arm held her against him with a subtle confidence most teenage boys lacked.
Just when she started to really kiss him back, to show him that she was more than a willing participant in this, Hale’s mouth pulled back. His dark eyes were heavy-lidded slits as he whispered, “Oh, Frost…I should not have done that.”
He shouldn’t have done it, like she hadn’t had a say in the matter.
Hale was slow to untangle himself from her, pulling away, an expression of guilt crossing his face, and all Frost could think was: why? All she could feel was the absence of his warmth, the loss of his lips. She felt it deep within her soul.
“You have a woman, back home,” Frost whispered, feeling her heart starting to crack. Why else would he have pulled away from her, told her that he should not have kissed her? His guilt made sense.
He looked at her strangely. “No, I—nothing like that. I just…you’re a princess.”
Frost stared at him, not quite getting it.
“You’re a princess, and I’m…a mercenary. A bow for hire. I shouldn’t have…” Hale began to shake his head, as if he could will the kiss out of his memory.
“Everyone keeps calling me a princess,” Frost said, “but I’m not. I’m not a princess, not anymore. I’ve been living in the woods with Blue for years.” At the mention of his name, Blue’s ears perked up. “If you didn’t want to kiss me, then you shouldn’t have done it.” Her rage was steadily building, exponentially growing, just as it had earlier, when she’d spotted Noel with that woman.
Hale spoke quietly, “It’s not a matter of not wanting to do it. It’s what should be done. You might not think you’re a princess, but you are. Do you think your sister will let you go back into the woods by yourself? Do you think she’d let you go after missing you for so long? No. You’re back in royal politics whether you want to be or not. I have no business embracing you.”
Her fingers curled into fists, the only thing restraining her magic the gloves. Frost was alone after all. She should’ve known not to trust his honeyed words or the hungry look in his eyes. She should’ve known to turn and walk away from him from the very beginning; she was foolish to ever hope that more could happen.
Frost bit her lower lip, spinning to leave Hale. She had no idea where she was going, but she had to go. Had to get away from him, clear her mind, let loose some of her magic. Something to cool down her temper and sate the burning sadness she felt deep inside.
She walked for a while, circling the camp. If she unleashed her magic, there was no telling if this kingdom would be able to avoid what fate Wysteria had. No, she had to keep it bottled up inside, which only made fighting her emotions that much harder. Her emotions went hand-in-hand with her magic; Frost wished with a desperate heart she could sever the link. What good was magic when it was controlled by emotions? And conversely, what good were emotions when they spiraled out of control so easily? She was alone in this. Alone in all of it.
Blue eventually took the lead, trotting before her, his white fur shimmering under the setting sun. Every so often, Blue would turn his head to glance at her, to make sure she was still following him, as if the creature wouldn’t hear her wander off. No, Frost had nowhere else to go. She had no friends, and no family. Amara was…a relic of her past, someone who was better off without her.
Blue led her to a stream, and Frost knelt at the stream’s banks, feeling the need to slide off a glove and submerge her hand in the water, feel it run around her. She held back the urge, focusing on her breathing, on the strange emptiness in her chest. Funny, before the kiss with Hale, she’d never felt so empty before.
Blue let out a sharp bark before taking off, trailing the stream. Frost watched him go, calling, “Where do you think you’re going?” She straightened herself out, resolving herself to follow him. Clearly, the creature wanted her to chase after him. She wasn’t in the mood for games, though. Not at all. She’d had enough games with Hale and that blasted kiss.
She walked alongside the stream for a while, eventually finding that Blue had led her to someone. Someone who was currently shirtless, washing himself off with the stream’s running water. Black hair, a scarred back; based on his size alone, Frost knew it was Douglas. Blue let out a playful yip as Douglas turned his head, practically tackling the man.
“Whoa, there,” Douglas said, trying to stop Blue’s onslaught and failing miserably. The man slipped, his backside falling into the water. He smiled, water droplets running off his beard as he pushed the wolf off. “Hello to you, too.”
Blue barked, white tail wagging.
Douglas’s gaze shifted to Frost, and he suddenly remembered he was sitting in water. He practically leaped out of the stream, his backside soaked, but his backside was not what drew Frost’s attention.
He was…he was a man.
Well, of course Frost had known that before. She’d known his immense size and musculature, but being aware of it and seeing it were two vastly different things. Douglas was like a giant, if giants were real. Every muscle possible was bulging and defined. A rectangle of smaller squares sat on his abdomen, surrounded by two lines traveling from his sides, curving along him, leading to his…to a place Frost should not preoccupy herself with, but a place she found her eyes glancing to, nonetheless.
This was the body she’d cuddled with? No wonder he radiated heat. He was so big, in every sense of the word—and he was dripping wet. Even the numerous scars lining his torso could not sway her attention, or her attraction. Yes, her body clearly responded to his, if her sudden urge to go to him and touch him meant anything.
Hard as it was, and it was harder than anything she’d ever done, Frost held herself back, her mind asking Hale who? as she gazed at Douglas. Her mouth might’ve been agape; she couldn’t be sure. She was barely aware of how to breathe and blink while in his shirtless, wet presence.
“It would seem,” Douglas spoke sl
owly, his blue gaze falling to her feet, slowly making their way up her body, as if he was examining her just as intensely as she was him—which was ridiculous, because she wasn’t the half-naked and wet one, “your wolf is inclined to bring us together.”
Oh, she would have to scold—and also thank—Blue later.
Douglas ran a hand through his hair, slicking its black lengths back. His eyes were heavy on her as he asked, “You ready to head back out tomorrow?” Making small talk, because she couldn’t stop ogling his body. How embarrassing. Like she was a hormonal teenager seeing her first shirtless man.
This was her first encounter with a shirtless man, and what a man it was, but she was years past being a teenager. Frost felt, oddly, so behind. Other women her age wouldn’t stop and stare at a body like his—or maybe they would, but only for a moment, because they’d know what to do in a situation like this. This was unlike any encounter she’d had before, and the fact that she’d slept in his arms one night made it all so much worse.
“Yes,” Frost finally said, breaking her silence. “One could get spoiled on the food here.” Wow. There needed to be a new definition for the word tongue-tied, because she was it.
He smiled a lopsided smile, the scar on the left side of his face crinkling as the smile grew. “There’s a lot one could get spoiled on around here.”
She was uncertain as to what he meant, and it took every ounce of willpower inside her to keep her gaze level with his and not stare at his wet, naked chest. “Are you ready to go?” she asked, feeling her voice catch in her throat. Why was talking to him while he was shirtless so difficult?
“I’d say no, but time waits for no one,” Douglas remarked.
“Aren’t you cold?” By the kingdoms, Frost wanted to smack herself for asking such a stupid question.
Douglas slowly tilted his head, taking a step toward her. She was rooted to her spot, feeling intensely small as he approached her. “Are you?” he asked.
Ice Queen Page 9
