Of course. The attack felt like a lifetime ago, and Dax had stolen all of my attention.
“Did you secure the entrance?” I asked.
“Calyx’s contraptions are as inventive and brutal as ever.” He squeezed my hand tighter, as if afraid I’d vanish. “We shouldn’t have any more trespassers.”
At least through that tunnel. But if the crater was turning against us–“We need to find out what’s going on. You said that lake has been frozen for generations.”
“It has.”
“Then why would the ice break now?” My mind began to whirl as it always did. “The secret troll gathering we witnessed, the entrance, the lake. When I escaped, I heard Mrs. Mallowmere talking about how the forest sounded different. Something’s wrong.”
The furrow of his brows turned formidable. “It is.”
“And Dax just falling out of the sky.” My breathing turned shallow. “The rim shouldn’t have let him in–”
I yelped as Ryker suddenly pulled me to the side. In a whirlwind, I found myself cradled in an alcove I had barely noticed before, my back against the wall, Ryker’s strong body protecting the entrance.
I stared up at him, a question in my eyes.
He exhaled, long and hard, as if it was a great feat of control to simply keep standing. Then he leaned his forehead against mine and closed his eyes, his words ghosting across my lips. His breath hitched–barely, but I felt it. “Allie, it’s too late for that brilliant mind of yours to keep fretting. I’m exhausted, too.”
I nodded. The closeness between us had stolen my words and replaced them with wild ideas–like pulling his head down and devouring his lips.
“Many things are not as they should be and they deserve our rested and clear-headed attention,” he said.
I nodded once more. After all, I’d asked him to wait until tomorrow, I had to give him the same grace.
“For now, we have half an hour to wash this awful day off of us before I need to go down for tea with Nadya and Geryll. I can hear them pacing below. So the only question we need to answer right now is…” His tone dropped, turning sweet and sinful. “My room or yours?”
Chapter 11
Allie
Weeks ago, perhaps I would have insisted on us retreating to my room.
My territory–even a borrowed one.
My upper hand.
But tonight, all I wanted to do was lounge in Ryker’s dark sheets and have his scent envelop me.
Logical? No.
But that’s what my body craved and, for once, I let it take the reins.
The flutters in my stomach began the moment he guided me inside. One look at his massive bed was all it took for sweaty, whispered memories to take control of my thoughts. From the way his fingers had tightened around mine, I wasn’t the only one whose fantasies had sprung back to life.
The man had managed to tame my wildness and make me scream all in one night. Remembering just how he’d molded himself to me wasn’t surprising.
What I hadn’t expected was his washroom.
While Ryker’s bedroom was sparse, furnished for efficiency, this room was the pinnacle of luxury. The walls had been crafted out of dark granite slabs, with golden mortar veins spidering between them. I felt like I was stepping into a dragon’s lair.
“You love your dark colors,” I muttered.
“I see enough snow when I walk outside,” he said, as the flutter of clothes hitting the ground echoed around us, drying my throat. “This is my refuge.”
And what a refuge it was.
