“Did he go all the way to the road?”
“He did. There was no one there, but there were footprints and sleigh marks.” Vale shrugged. “If a fiddler traveled the road, they’re long gone.”
The air turned white and misty with my breath. The explanation made as much sense as any. We hadn’t checked onthe roads often, but each time we had dared to do so, there was not much sign of life. According to Vale and Caelo, people didn’t move about as freely in this part of the kingdom. If they did, it was to go toward Guldtown or east, not closer to where the Red Mist Mountains and the Ice Tooth Range collided.
Few fae lived and lurked in these mountains, which made them both dangerous and the best place to hide the humans. We only hoped no monsters had taken over Dergia. Vale seemed to think it was unlikely. That we weren’t leading these people into more danger—that the one place where they might find peace in this world wasn’t closed off to them too.
“That tree looks cozy.” He pointed to an enormous pine, so large that at one point, an earth fae, or many, had to have helped it grow. The lowest branches were up high, so high that they cleared Vale’s head. Perhaps once upon a time someone had used this tree for shelter and shaped it in the process.
“Should we get a closer look?”
The heat in his eyes told me we were on the same page, and we trudged through the snow, closer to the tree. When we reached the outer branches, the snow began to thin and slope downward. I gripped Vale’s hand, our gloves a barrier between us, but hopefully not for long.
At the base, I leaned against the cold bark, felt snow flutter into my hair, which was a rat’s nest after days of travel. I preferred not to think of that, though, especially not when I had my handsome husband in front of me.
“Finally, alone.” I wove my hands around his neck.
Vale responded, coming closer so that his thickcloak covered me as well as him. No matter how much space we’d put between us and the group, Vale was a possessive fae male. He wouldn’t want anyone straying upon us and seeing the female he was with.
“Couldn’t have said it better myself.” He dipped his head so that our lips met.
The cold brushing over my lips thawed at Vale’s touch. One hand splayed at my back, he drew me closer, and my breasts ached for his touch. There was far too much material between us for my liking, so my hands slithered up the muscled plains of his torso, sliding his tunic up with them.
“Up,” Vale whispered, and before I could process, his hands dipped to my arse.
I laughed, breaking our kiss as he lifted me. My legs wrapped around his waist, seeking closeness.
Secure around him, he eased me back into the tree and his wings wrapped around me to make a sort of seat. My eyelids fluttered. Vale, besides being one of the best males I knew, was kind and strong and miraculously made. Possibly in the image of some dashing dead god. Feeling up his chest, I rolled my hips into him, wanting to be closer. Together, in every sense.
Vale groaned, the rod in his pants now pushing into me, making me wet. Loving the sound of his want, I ground against him again. The ache between my legs grew, and I peppered kisses along his strong jaw as I sought a rhythm with my hips.
“Stars Neve,” Vale murmured, his face nestling into my hair. “You’re going to be the death of me.”
“Death isn’t the plan, Vale. Though I may want it toseem like that.” My lips found his again, and I gave him a searing kiss. “Right up until the moment we both find ecstasy.”
He laughed, low and rumbling. “We should have found a cave.”
“Hmm?” I kissed his jaw again.
“Warmer. I want you spread out before me. Want to feast on you, and I’d like for you not to freeze as I delight.”
I shuddered at the image, and though what he wanted sounded delightful, there was no way we were stopping now. “Next time. Tonight, we can make our own heat.” I rubbed against him once more. The way his face softened, and his eyes glazed over when I did that made me feel so powerful. So sexy. “I?—”
A female scream cut through the night shrouded land, then two, then three. Different pitches. I froze, my legs still wrapped around Vale’s middle. He grew rigid, and his hands, which had wandered beneath my shirt, stilled.
“The camp,” I said upon breaking a kiss, that sumptuous ache between my thighs fizzling in an instant.
He set me down, and I whirled to run, but Vale gripped my shoulder.
“Fly. The snow will slow us.”
He was right, of course, and it took me less than a minute to tease my wings through the slits in my thick fur cloak. The frigid air brushed across the sensitive membranes, which was slightly painful, but I pushed past it and beat them to rise.
Walking deep into the woods had taken a fair bit of time, but with our wings spread and catching air, we soaredabove the trees, spotting the camp fires right away. Fires still burned and, thanks to Vale’s air shields, they hadn’t dimmed. The horses were fine then. I squinted. From what I could see, a few people poked their heads out of the ice tents, looking for the source of the screams too.
“The lake,” Vale yelled into the wind. “Screaming stars, it’s a nøkken!”
“A what?” My attention veered into the center of the lake and found a white horse standing on the ice. I hadn’t noticed it before, for most of the camp was dark and the horse blended in so well with the surrounding snow. “That horse, you mean?”
