“It is.”
She looked up at him then with bright eyes that sparkled with excitement. For a heartbeat, the world narrowed to the two of them on the lake with the stars above and the ancient ice below, and something dangerous and beautiful tightened in his chest.
She tried again and pushed off with a little more confidence this time. Jakob let her move and stayed close but didn’t hold her quite so tightly. He matched her pace easily and guided her with subtle pressure, the way a mother bird might guide a fledgling through first flight.
She caught on faster than he expected.
“I’m doing it,” she whispered and he heard the wonder that crept into her voice.
“Yes,” he said. “You are.”
He wasn’t talking about skating.
Snow drifted down around them and flakes caught in her hair and melted against her cheeks. The frozen water reflected it all. A dragon king and a human woman, impossibly caught up in something bigger than the both of them.
Mallory laughed again, freer this time, and spun just slightly toward him. The movement brought her too close and her boots crossed uncertainly.
Her feet went right out from under her.
Jakob reached out and caught her upper arm before she could fall. Her eyes fluttered, and her breath brushed his throat, which sent a shudder straight through him.
“You keep doing that,” she whispered.
“Doing what?”
“Saving me.”
He held her a heartbeat too long. Then another.
“I always will,” he said, his voice gruff and gravely.
The truth rang and his dragon stirred in fierce agreement.
Her lips parted. Her eyes searched his, as if she felt the shift too, the invisible line they were standing on.
Jakob steadied her and stepped back abruptly. His hands curled into fists at his sides. He couldn’t lose control. Not here. Not with her so close, so warm, and so completely unguarded.
Mallory frowned and hurt flickered across her face. “Did I say something wrong?”
“No.” His voice came out hoarse. He cleared his throat. “You said exactly the right thing and that’s what’s wrong.”
She blinked. “That’s as clarifying as mud.”
A humourless chuckle escaped him that was half laugh and half frustration. “We should head back.”
Before he did something unforgivable. Before his dragon stopped listening. Before he tasted the lips that he couldn’t stop looking at.
Mallory nodded slowly, though confusion and unmistakable disappointment flickered in her eyes. She headed off the ice, careful this time, and he forced himself not to reach for her even though he stayed close.
As they turned back toward the resort, Jakob felt her emotions like they were carved into his bones.
And the ache inside him grew sharper with every step away from the lake.
CHAPTER 6
Mallory
Mallory was pleased, but not surprised, when a handwritten note appeared with the breakfast tray that she ordered through room service.
