She slumped against the stone and let out a very long, tired exhale. “I am not sure. I think I might be cold, but it’s hard to say since I normally don’t experience that sensation. Ice doesn’t bother me, but…Wingallock is so far away. His presence always strengthens me.” She shivered.
His face furrowed in concern. “You are cold then. Your owl has been protecting you from feeling the ice. With these harsh winds and the slashing rain, the chill has sunk into your skin.”
“Are you cold?”
“I am,” he replied. “Though not like you. We need a fire, but we can’t risk the wood fae spotting it. There’s only one solution. You’re going to need to undress.”
Clarity rushed back into Reyna’s mind as she bolted upright. “Am I truly that delirious that I just heard you telling me to undress?”
“You’re not delirious, Reyna.” He unclasped his sword and let the scabbard drop onto the ground behind him. Reyna followed his every move, breath catching. He was all hard lines and sharp angles except for the long dark hair that curled around his pointed ears. “The water has soaked through our clothes, and the winds will keep battering us until this storm lets up. We will fall ill unless we keep ourselves warm, and we do not know how far we are from the castle and the alchemists who can heal us.”
“Surely you don’t truly expect me to undress before you,” she said, her voice coming out far strangled than she intended.
His dark eyes sparkled in the darkness. “You better believe I do. Or I could do it for you instead.”
Her face flushed. Suddenly, she did not feel quite so cold anymore. With shaking fingers, she pulled on the strings that kept her tunic tied together at her throat. Lorcan watched her, silent and still. She untucked the shirt from her trousers and pulled it over her head. Beneath, she wore simple undergarments. When wearing gowns, the garments beneath were much more complicated, but tunics and trousers required very little. And, unfortunately, they were very much see-through.
Before she could lose her nerve, she kicked off her boots and pushed down her trousers. But instead of finding warmth from the freedom of her damp clothes, Reyna shivered, and her teeth began to chatter.
As she had undressed, Lorcan had quickly followed, tossing his leather armor into the corner of the make-shift cave. He now knelt before her, completely naked save for a small strip of brown quilted cloth belted around his waist. His well-muscled chest glistened from the rain that had soaked through his garments. His arms rippled with strength. And, she could not help but notice, a significant bulge hid behind that belted cloth.
She felt warm all over.
Lorcan reached out and traced a finger along the undergarments that were plastered to her damp skin. “You should remove those. They are soaked through as well.”
She glanced down, noting the peaked nipples poking through the thin, white material. Heart racing, she held still as Lorcan’s hands drifted south, pulling at the bottom hem of her garments. She held her arms over her head and let him pull the cloth off her body. A cold wind from outside of the cave pushed into the rocks and whipped across Reyna’s bare breasts.
Lorcan stared into her eyes, and she stared right back. She could barely breathe. What was he thinking? And what was she doing? In the back of her mind, she knew she was breaking so many rules just by being alone with this male, let alone naked with him. He wasn’t touching her, but he didn’t need to. The desire coiling through her was treason enough. If the High Queen found out about this…
Her teeth chattered even more.
“Your lips are blue,” Lorcan said in a low voice that sent a different kind of shivers across her body.
“Is this what it’s like to be cold?”
“I’m afraid it is.” He frowned. “We need to share our body heat.”
Reyna’s heart thumped hard. She did not know why she was finding this entire situation thrilling and terrifying all at once. During her Shieldmaiden training, she had learned what to do in emergency situations such as this. Stranded in the elements with little warmth, the sharing of body heat was essential to staying warm. Reyna had always dismissed these lessons. She was an ice fae. The cool air and the ice beneath her feet had never bothered her.
But without her owl familiar nearby, everything had changed.
And now, here she was, with a muscular, naked warrior fae kneeling before her, offering to warm her body with his. She could barely think straight.
So, with a nod, she turned her back toward him and lay down on the cold dirt. She heard him shift against the ground, lowering his body behind hers. Strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her close. The scent of him was almost overwhelming: leather and steel and smoke. Warmth pulsed from his body, soothing her trembling skin. Her heart still raced as fast as a dragon through the skies, but the feel of him burned away her fear.
She finally let go of all her pent-up tension, giving in to the cocoon of warmth, sighing, letting her mind drift away.
* * *
She awoke to darkness. A pocket of warmth surrounded her as the wind whistled through the rocks like a high-pitched bird’s cry, and suddenly, she remembered where she was. Lorcan’s arms still enveloped her, and his face was pressed against the back of her neck. She could feel his hot breath on her skin, and traitorous desire stirred in her core.
“You’re awake,” he murmured, lips moving against her skin. She trembled, though this time, it was not from the chill. “Are you feeling any better?”
“I am,” she admitted. “I suppose you were right about the body heat.”
“Of course I was.” She could feel the smile on his lips. “Maybe now you will stop fighting with me every time I make a suggestion. Though, I doubt it.”
With a slight hitch in her breath, she twisted on the ground to face him. He remained where he was, face close, arms draped across her body. Their noses were scarcely an inch apart.
