Thorn chuckled, trailing a knuckle down my cheek. “I’ve been trying to get you to see it for years now. I had been trying to get you to see a lot of things.”
I wrapped my hand around his and held it, looking into his beautiful blue eyes. “I’m so sorry for not seeing it sooner, Thorn. You’re the only thing that kept me going in that village. If I had given in and made the contract to go away with you…”
He brushed his lips against my forehead. “Kit, I think everything happened the way the Fates intended. And more importantly...” He pulled back and moved my hand up before twirling me in the snow, making my head fall back as a burst of giggles leave my lips. “You’re here now.”
His wings outstretched behind him as he stopped twirling me, and I studied them. The blue butterfly wings were as big as before and glittered like diamonds. A sheen of ice covered them in this realm, making them even more gorgeous than they already were.
“You are the most stunning fae I’ve ever seen.”
His lips curled into a blinding smile. “And you are the most adorable, most beautiful woman I have ever seen. I’ve always thought that, and I’ve always been just as much in love with you as I am now. I can’t tell you how much you being in my world means to me.”
My heart squeezed, and I moved into his arms, bringing my lips to his. His hands rested on my hips as he took control, sweeping me into a Kalista-shattering kiss. Each kiss sent licks of ice down my spine, literally. I shivered, pulling myself against him tightly. “I’m so sorry, Thorn. I was blind to everything for so long. I haven’t been spending enough time with you,” I murmured between kisses.
He nipped my bottom lip and rested his forehead on mine. “Don’t apologize. I understand. I actually took a step back from you last term for a reason. You needed to grow into a stronger version of yourself. It was time for you to find yourself, and you did. You are amazing, Wren. You formed matebonds with suitable mates, and then you came back for me. You’ve made great friends. You’ve gotten stronger and learned how to interact with the outside world.I’m so proud of you.”
Tears leaked down my cheeks, and I grabbed the back of his neck to pull him in for another kiss. “I love you.” The emotion swelled inside of me.
He wove his fingers in my hair and pulled back my head enough to run his lips down my neck and to my shoulder. “I wasn’t planning on making love to you here.”
“What were you planning on?” I leaned back with a teasing smile.
“Believe it or not, but I was actually planning on doing something nice for the vampire since he got hurt.”
“Really?” Surprise rippled through me. Thorn was a very kind, loving person, but normally, if it wasn’t for me, he usually only did things that benefited him.
“He was really interested in that one crystal from my kingdom.”
“That’s right. He was interested in that. What’s it called? That energy sucking crystal?”
“No, Kit, I’m talking about the life sucking one that he was interested in.”
“Oh, that one.”
”The hailtz crystal. Yes, he was extremely interested in that one. Not that I would ever unleash it on either of our worlds. But it did make me think that we could give him a different kind of crystal.”
“Really, like what?”
He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me to his chest again. “There’s a crystal on top of the mountain that you can find. It actually grows on trees.”
“Crystals grow on trees in the fae realm?”
He laughed. “You have no idea the differences between our worlds.”
I looked up at him, and his skin glowed. He looked otherworldly, and his beauty was just that. That little voice in the back of my head screamed at me to figure out how our matebond would fare in the future when he ruled this kingdom, but I shoved it down.
There was too much going on in both of our worlds right now. I needed Thorn to help me to forget it right now. We didn’t need to talk about anymore complicated matters. Not unless it would make a difference.
“What does this crystal look like that grows on a tree?” I stared up at him, loving how safe I felt in his arms.
“It’s called helarhite, and it’s dark green and shaped like a leaf.” He pushed off the ground and flapped his wings to push us into the air.
I squealed and tightened my arms around him. The cold air breezed around us as he flew us up over the trees, over the frozen lake, and the castle. The castle was made of ice from what I could tell, and it was the most stunning work of architecture I’d ever seen.
“What does it do?”
“It has healing powers.”
“Really? Why do you need healing creams if you have a healing crystal?” I furrowed my brows, keeping a tight hold of his waist as he soared through the sky.
