The words hit me like ice water, but instead of fear, I feel a surge of pure, molten rage. “They what?”
“You see now why you need to leave?” He turns to face me, and I can see the desperation in his eyes. “They won’t hesitate to eliminate what they see as a threat to the realm. I can protect you to a point, but if they vote me out of power?—”
“Then we fight them,” I interrupt, my hands clenching into fists. “We don’t run. We don’t hide. We fight.”
He stares at me like I’ve lost my mind. “Fight them? Jessa, these are beings who’ve lived for millennia. They command powers you can’t even imagine. What could you possibly do against them?”
The dismissal in his voice ignites something fierce and proud in my chest. “What can I do? I can stand beside my mate and refuse to let a bunch of bigoted old fools tear us apart.”
“You’re human?—”
“I’m yours,” I snarl, stepping into his space until we’re chest to chest. “I’m marked by you, bonded to you, changing into something new because of you. I may have been born human, but I’m not defenseless.”
To prove my point, I let some of the power I’ve been feeling build inside me unfurl. The air around us shimmers, and I watch his eyes widen as frost spreads from my feet in delicate spirals that mirror his own patterns.
“How—?” he breathes.
“The bond works both ways,” I tell him, my voice steady despite the chaos of emotions swirling between us. “I’m not the same woman you met on that forest road. I’m stronger now. Faster. And I’ll be damned if I let them take you from me without a fight.”
Something shifts in his expression—surprise giving way to something that looks like hope. “Jessa…”
“No,” I say firmly, pressing my hand against his chest where I can feel his heart hammering. “No more protecting me from hard truths. No more deciding for me. We’re in this together, whether your council likes it or not.”
His hands come up to cover mine, and I can feel the tremor in his fingers. “They could destroy you. Make you disappear without a trace. I couldn’t bear?—”
“They could try,” I interrupt, rising on my toes until our faces are inches apart. “But I’m not some fragile flower they can crush underfoot. I’m the mate of the Winter King, and I have seventeen days to prove to them I’m exactly what this realm needs.”
“Seventeen days,” he repeats, and something dark flickers in his eyes. “How did you?—?”
“I felt that too. The countdown. The pressure.” I slide my hands up to frame his face, feeling the sharp line of his cheekbones,the way his breath catches at my touch. “We don’t have time for doubt or fear, Aelin. We only have time to fight for what we want.”
“And what do you want?” His voice is rough, desperate, and I can see the war playing out in his golden eyes.
“I want you,” I say simply. “All of you. The king and the beast, the power and the vulnerability. I want to stand beside you as your queen and dare anyone to tell us we don’t belong together.”
The words hang between us, a declaration and a challenge all at once. For a moment, I think he’s going to pull away, going to retreat behind those walls of duty and sacrifice that have protected him for so long.
Instead, he kisses me.
This kiss differs from all the others—not desperate or tender, but claiming. Possessive. His mouth moves against mine with a hunger that speaks of ownership, of a male finally accepting what belongs to him. When his tongue sweeps between my lips, I taste winter storms and ancient power and something that’s purely, uniquely him.
“Mine,” he growls against my mouth, his hands sliding down to grip my hips. “My mate. My queen.”
“Yes,” I breathe, my hands fisting in his shirt as I pull him closer. “Yours. Always yours.”
He lifts me easily, setting me on the edge of his massive desk and stepping between my spread thighs. The position brings us intimately close, and I can feel his hardness pressing against me through our clothes. The sensation sends heat spiraling through me, and I arch into him with a soft moan.
“They want to take you from me,” he says, his mouth trailing down my throat to find the mark on my shoulder. When he bites down gently on the spot, pleasure rockets through me so intensely I nearly come apart right there. “They think I’ll choose duty over desire.”
“Will you?” I gasp, my head falling back as he lavishes attention on the sensitive mark.
“Never.” The word is a vow, spoken against my skin with such conviction that I feel it in my bones. “I’ve spent three centuries being the perfect king, the dutiful ruler. I’m done sacrificing my happiness for their comfort.”
His hands slide under my sweater, finding the warm skin of my waist, and I shiver at the contact. Even through the haze of desire, I can feel his emotions through the bond—determination, possessiveness, and a love so fierce it takes my breath away.
“What will you do?” I ask, though part of me is afraid of the answer.
“Whatever it takes to keep you.” His hands span my ribcage, thumbs brushing the undersides of my breasts through my bra. “If they want a war, they’ll get one.”
