She licked her lips and busied herself straightening boxes on a display shelf. “If it’s all the same to you, I’m not quite ready to get that deep with you yet.”
Yet. She saidyet.
“Fair enough.” I stopped trying to get nearer to her for fear I might somehow spook her on this very thin ice we treaded. “We hardly know each other.”
“Wedon’tknow each other, Jack,” Sylvie replied haughtily, her hand falling to her side.
“Right,” I breathed out, my mind muddied by the desperation of finally finding my mate, only for it to become so complicated. I glanced at the clock on the wall as if it represented my dwindling time here.
“If you were so unsure about this yourself before, what changed suddenly that you believe it to be true?” Sylvie’s eyes stayed fixed on the display case, unable to meet my gaze.
“The moment I saw you with him, an uncontrollable possessiveness consumed me. For a moment, I wasn’t in control of my own actions. That’s never happened to me.” Staring at the warbles in the wooden floor, I combed my beard with my fingers.
Sylvie shifted from one foot to the other, and for a second, I thought I had her, but she threw her hands in the air, shrieking in frustration. “What am I supposed to think about all of this? Hm?”
There wasn’t a way for me to answer that. All I could do was keep convincing her that what I was saying was true.
“When you touched me, I could tell from your expression you felt something too. What was it?” I pushed from the counter, cautiously moving closer to her.
That delicious heat I’d felt from her. I wanted to experience it again. It was mere meters from me. One simple touch.
Sylvie had been chewing on her thumbnail, a hand propped on her hip, and she snapped her attention my way, her eyes glistening. “A blissful chill. Like I could stand naked in a blizzard in below freezing temperature and it’d be the most comfortable I’ve ever been.”
The mere thought of her doing just that had my dick going ice hard, and I shifted my stance.
“That’s somethingIcan do.” I pressed a hand to my chest, edging closer to her. Reaching out my hand, I caught Sylvie’s shimmering violet gaze. “Let me show you my powers.”
Sylvie first looked at my hand, then back to my eyes, curling her fists to her chest like I’d really nip at her or something. “I’m pretty sure I’ve already witnessed them.” Smirking, she turned away from me.
Staying put, I re-emphasized my awaiting palm. “No. You haven’t.”
Her enchanting gaze returned to me, intrigue and amusement dancing there.
“And maybe, you’ll feel inclined to show me yours as well,” I added.
Sylvie’s bottom lip quivered and her wings quickly fanned—whether it was from excitement or trepidation, I couldn’t tell. “What makes you think I have powers?”
She was afraid. Why?
“Because you’re my mate, Sylvie.” When her face still looked uncertain, I called on my winter magic, coiling a small amount of snowfall to land in my palm. “You don’t have to show me if you don’t wish to, but I’d love to see what you can do.”
Sylvie concentrated on my hand for so long I thought for sure she was mulling over a way to turn me down, but as she continued to do, she surprised me with, “Fine.”
A relieved, chilly breath pushed from my lungs, and I stood there with my palm in the air, still, waiting. “Fine.”
“On one condition.” She held up a single finger, her wings flapping erratically.
My own intrigue bubbled excitedly in my stomach, and I quirked a small smile. “I’m listening.”
“You need to catch me first,” she challenged, whisking open the bakery door and taking flight, already heading for the woods.
Blinking in disbelief, I allowed her to get a head start, using my spiraling snow magic to make an icy trail leading out of the bakery and into the forest. Time was of the essence now that I had found my fate, and the future of my kingdom fell not only on this winter faerie’s shoulders but on my ability to notfuckit up.
That crisp,icy, velvety sensation that tantalized my skin when he’d touched me did traitorous things to my mind, but mostly to my body. It was apparent how incredibly addictive it could become—Jack Frost’s wintry embrace. I wanted to think I would keep my wits about me, not to let the idea of him beingminecloud my judgment, but as I flew freely through the woods for the first time in years, I wasn’t sure Iwantedto be sensible. He chastised me for hiding what I was, and he was right. Arcane Cove allowed me to be myself in my own skin, to beproudthat I was a winged, winter fae. Damn them all, my ownkind, who’d convinced me to sulk in the shadows.
The chilly air wisped through my hair as I pushed my wings to their limit. The last time I exhausted them like this, I was playing tag with the other kids who ran on foot because I was the only one in our village with wings. Faint sounds of shifting ice soon emanated behind me, and I had to bite back the smile begging at my lips before peering over my shoulder.
Jack, with his hands folded behind his back, calmly skated on a pathway made of ice, the magic pulsing from his feet. He whistledThe Christmas Songand turned backward, gliding in figure eights now while keeping with my speed.
