Where Aura stood is now an ice sphere. He rushes forward, touches the crystal, and watches as it melts away. She cowers with her arms over her head but otherwise appears unharmed.
At his appearance, her fingers clutch her dress over her exposed chest. Amidst last month's chaos, he missed the nautilus shell tattoo over her heart and the series of knots encircling her upper left arm.
She is lovely and safe.
He glances at the carnage and stumbles away from her precious life. He had ensured no harm would befall her.
But at what cost?
Any connection to Aura rocks hisseidrto a dangerous intensity.
“Calder…” she whispers his name, shattering his cold, frozen heart. “Calder, please, look at me.” She continues in that same calm voice.
There is no worry or apprehension from his actions.
She accepts him not just as Jarl Calder Avardsson but as the Iss Drengr. Undoubtedly, she is privy to the stories of his brutality, yet she stands with her head held high and those beautiful eyes burning with a desire for him to embrace her.
No, he cannot, and not only because his touch is deadly, but also because he cannot betray the Lord Commander, who has done so much for him over the decades. Exposing his daughter to his icy depravity is despicable.
Even as he accepts his fate to stay away from her, he would still give anything to brush aside those soft curls and dominate those lips.
But protecting her against Jarl Guy’s men was the final straw. Every damn moment he spends in her presence pushes him closer to losing his precious control over his powers.
I know the darkness that awaits me in Skalor. If Lavinia were to discover the cherished young woman I am slowly embracing, it would mean the end for both of us.
Only one path is clear. One route to ensure her safety as his abilities threaten to overwhelm him.
“Leave, Princess.”
She blinks and takes an emboldened step forward, loosening her grip on her gown. “You cannot force me away.Youdo not frighten me.”
She is perfect.
“You cause me to lose all sense of control of myseidr!” He avoids her gaze and strokes his beard, feeling tension building inside him. “Leave, my Princess. Return to Blackwood, where you are safe.” His tone is cruel, unflinching.
She grips his forearm, tugging him until he relinquishes and sets his gaze upon her beautiful, pained expression and her heaving breasts. “Why are you doing this to me? What have I done to you?”
Calder motions to the frozen ground. “Can you not see the devastation I wrought inyourpresence? Every moment you are with me is agony as I cannot restrain myself.”
“Restrain yourself from what? Please,” she places her hands on his chest, “help me understand what is happening!”
He pins her tiny wrists in one grasp. He takes her jaw in an unrelenting grip. “I have spent too long restraining my powers to prevent further ruin!” He growls in her face, causing her to shudder. “When my emotions…” he looks away, hardly able to admit his weakness, “My heart remains frigid for a reason.”
Her eyes search his, desperate to understand him.
“What does this have to do with me?” Her question is so innocent, filled with an overwhelming yearning for passion that he can never provide.
“Ineedyou.” He snarls into her ear. “In vile ways. I would own you completely. You would be mine to corrupt, my Princess. And in my possession, I would lose myself, and you would fall into the Abyss at my side.”
She shakes her head in disbelief. “Calder, let me-”
“No!” He barks, and the ice crystals along the ground shoot upward, forming dangerous spikes as tall as his knees. “The Norn, in their sick wisdom, have only mocked us. You are heir to the throne of Treland. You are young enough to be my daughter.”
I would shatter all the realms to make you mine.
“I’ve never cared about any of that!” Her trembling hands fist at her sides.
“It is time we parted ways.”
