His lips curved faintly. “Still doing king stuff.” The reminder of her past words almost made her melt.
They stood there, awkward and charged, neither of them moving to leave. Mallory was acutely aware of everything from how close he stood and how the air seemed warmer near him to how her heart hadn’t slowed since the moment she’d heard his voice.
She had told herself she could handle seeing him again. She had been wrong.
Every feeling she’d buried for months surged back to life. The hope, the fear and longing, and the unbearable pull that made her want to step closer even to him as she forced herself to stay rooted.
She could survive rejection again, she told herself. She had survived it before and it hadn’t killed her.
But standing this close to him, with coffee cooling in her hands and Jakob watching her like she mattered, she wasn’t sure she could survive wanting him this much all over again.
Jakob shifted, clearly torn. “Mallory… I didn’t expect to see you.”
“I know,” she said softly.
Their eyes held.
The moment stretched, fragile and dangerous, as if one wrong move would shatter it.
She’d prayed not to see him. Now she couldn’t think of anything she had wanted more, especially since fate had a cruel sense of timing.
And as Jakob’s gaze lingered on her, restrained and achingly familiar, Mallory knew one thing with terrifying clarity. Running into him had never been the real danger.
Staying away from him would be.
CHAPTER 15
Jakob
Six months of iron restraint and sleepless nights shattered over a cup of coffee at a hotel cafe.
Jakob had forgotten how to breathe the moment he sensed her. When he turned and looked at her, the bond had snapped tighter than ever.
Mate.
Heat had slammed into Jakob’s chest so violently it made his vision blur. His dragon had surged forward with a feral roar, triumphant and possessive.
He had locked down every instinct with brutal precision and stood perfectly still while his pulse thundered in his ears.
She hadn’t expected to see him and had been as shocked as he was.
Good. She hadn’t come back for him. He ignored the part of him that regretted that detail.
If he kept his distance, maybe this could remain controlled and survivable.
Of all nights, he had chosen that particular café. After his interrogation with the Ruecrag prisoner, he had needed to do something. The kid had finally convinced him that he had no idea why Mallory had been their target. Jakob had no choice but to accept that Lars was low on the totem pole and had no part of plans.
This wasn’t his first trip back to the hotel. The café was usually quiet at this hour, and he would sit alone with a cooling cup of coffee and think of Mallory without being interrupted. It was the one weakness in himself he allowed, and most times, only when he was there where his memory could still sense her.
If he was ever asked, the fact it was where Mallory had stayed meant nothing. He just liked the coffee.
And now that she was back, he needed to get her out of there.
The Ruecrags were tightening their net. Lars had been useless beyond confirming the ransom would be massive enough to secure them for years. He had simply heard Mallory’s name in passing but had no idea who she was.
Jakob had planned to finish his coffee and decide how to go to her with the news while using distance and guards and carefully chosen words.
He had planned restraint.
