"You'd have been pulled onto the ice instead."
"And I would have survived it. I'm practically immortal, you fool. You're breakable. Soft. Human." Each word came out bitten off, frustrated. "Yet you throw yourself at threats meant for me."
The warmth in her chest pulsed weakly, still recovering from the cold. But it responded to his proximity, to his voice, reaching for him even as she tried to process their situation.
"You're angry," she said quietly.
"I'm considering banning you from existing near anything dangerous."
"That's ridiculous, everything here is dangerous."
"Then I suppose you’ll just have to stay in my bed, forever." His thumb traced a line across her stomach.
“That is the most dangerous place of all,” she murmured, trying hard not to lose herself in his touch. Even though her body ached from exhaustion, Briar couldn’t ignore the way it responded to each movement.
"You have no self-preservation instinct. None. You see danger and run toward it."
“I ran from you,” she argued.
“Unfortunately for you, I always catch my prey.”
As Eliam pulled her closer, she became acutely aware of their position again. Of how every inch of her back pressed against his chest, his stomach, his—
"Why are we naked?" The question came out more strangled than she intended.
"Your clothes were killing you. Holding the cold against your skin." His thumb continued its path, seemingly of its own accord. "And skin contact is the most efficient way to share body heat. Don’t they teach basic survival in your human world?"
"And your clothes?"
"Were also soaked from diving in after you." He paused. "Would you prefer I stayed dressed and let you freeze?"
No. That was the horrible thing. She was finally warm, finally feeling human again instead of like animated ice, and his skin against hers felt...
Safe.
Which was insane. Nothing about being naked with the Forest King should feel safe.
"How long was I unconscious?"
"Hours. Long enough for me to question why I keep saving something so determined to die." But his tone belied the harsh words. There was something else there. Something that sounded almost like...
"You were worried," she said, surprised.
"I was annoyed. There's a difference." But his hand on her stomach pressed slightly, as if assuring himself she was really there. "Do you have any idea how frustrating it would be if you died? The mark is incomplete. I haven't figured out what that warmth in your chest means. You can't die leaving me with unanswered questions."
"How terribly inconvenient for you."
"Exactly." He shifted slightly, and she bit back a gasp at the feeling. "Though I admit, your method of near-death was... unexpected."
"What?"
"You saw danger aimed at me and your first instinct was protection." His voice held genuine puzzlement. "Why?"
She didn't have an answer. In that moment, seeing ice-Malachar rise behind him, she hadn't thought. Just moved. Just...
"I don't know."
"Unacceptable. There's always a reason." His breath ghosted across her neck. "What made you think I needed protecting? What made yourisk—"
