Sylvie turned away, her hand dropping from my shoulder. “Twodays?”
I wanted to tighten my grip on her face, to keep her in place so we could talk this through, but knew she needed to process it.
“Yes. I need to be with my matefullybefore I return and am allowed no additional time.” The icy barbs edged over my knuckles, knowing this clause hadn’t always been the case. Deidre was to blame for that.
It didn’t take long for the heat to start boiling my insides, but I ignored it the best I could, letting the sweat beads pool on my skin. Where Sylvie was, I was, and that meant staying in the hot spring no matter how unbearable it became.
“And if you don’t? Do you get the next solstice to find another mate?” Sylvie kept her back to me, her arms wrapping around herself and covering her breasts.
Sweat dripped from my upper lip, melting the beast’s icy beard from my chin. “I have no other mate, Sylvaria. If I return without our bond in place, then every winter becomes simply a break from my duties as king.”
“There has to be more to it,” she said, almost haughtily. Sylvie turned, sending erratic ripples in the milky waters. “Tell me everything. Because what I’m hearing is that you held this from me until the last minute so that I’d feel guilty if I didn’t agree to it.”
Questioning my motives. Even suspecting it couldn’t prepare me for the harsh reality.
A sharp pain stung at the base of my neck. “That wasn’t my intention. I didn’t tell you in the beginning because I didn’t want you to pity me. To potentially choose it only because of the timeline.” My vision sporadically blurred, the sweat pooling through my hair now, melting the ice there too.
“You should have given me the choice, Jack.” Sylvie’s lips tightened, her wings and ears drooping. Sloshing through the water, she lifted a shaking hand and rested it lightly on my arm, allowing me instant, cool relief.
Letting out a rolling sigh, I resisted hugging her against me to bask in more of her winter’s chill. “If I don’t return with the bond settled, then I’m destined to live the rest of my life alone. But I’d happily do it, Sylvie, if thisisn’tsomething you want.”
Tears welled in Sylvie’s eyes, and she slammed her forehead against my chest. She sniffled several times, lightly punched my stomach, and let her shoulders slump. “Damn you. I like you, Jack. I do want you. Everything in me screams for you.”
Gently stroking her hair, I held her because I really wasn’t sure what else to do. “Then what’s holding you back?”
“So little and yet so much,” she whispered, scooting closer until our bodies pressed against each other.
“I have two days. Take tomorrow and think about it. But please don’t let my outcome sway you into a future you can’t see yourself in. I’ve spent centuries alone. What’s a few more, hm?” I’d meant every word of it, but the thought of enduring even thetime until the next solstice without her by my side had nausea curdling my stomach.
“I appreciate you thinking of me like that, and I’m going to take you up on it if only to clear my head. Not surprisingly—” Sylvie leaned back, a weakened smile poised on her lips. “—but you’re a hell of a distraction.” Her eyes roamed my face. “What happened to the ice?”
“If you think I’m not a fan of the heat, my creature is far worse.” Pinching her chin between thumb and forefinger, I pressed a light kiss to her mouth.
Sylvie licked my taste from her lips, her gaze still hooded from our escapades. “Before I painstakingly take my leave of you to think on all of this, I have one question.”
“What is it?”
“Those creatures that attacked us?—”
And here I hoped she’d forgotten all about them.
“Frost goblins,” I offered.
“Sure, yes, the frost goblins. Is that sort of thing normal for you? Should I expect to be fending them off once a week? Every fortnight?”
Despite the disturbing possibility that Sylvie could say no to our bond, I still managed to chuckle. I never found anything adorable, but the way Sylvie squinted one eye and the little tilts of her eyebrows made when she became nervous were the most adorable things I’d ever seen.
“They’re not normal, no. The only place they reside is on the outskirts of my kingdom, where all citizens are prohibited from going due to its dangers. They’ve never made it past the walls, let alone into the castle.”
Sylvie nodded, her wings perking up. “And yet they made ithere?”
Deidre. I still hadn’t told her about the fucking Snow Queen, but she’d never even have to meet her, would never have to knowshe existed, if I simply held onto my crown with Sylvie as my queen.
“I’m not the only magical entity in the realm, but I am the most powerful. The goblins were clearly sent as a distraction.”
“From what?” Sylvie’s violet eyes widened.
Igniting an icy hot vibrance in my gaze, I replied, “From you.”
