Page 134 of Revealing Fate

“Felíne?”

Her name in Kal’s deep voice fractured her reverie. What was the question? Enlightening. Right. “Yes,” she replied thickly.

The dark sea in Kal’s bottomless eyes churned as he studied her. She felt stripped bare, as though he could see past every carefully erected barrier and into the well of who she was. She’d never felt so exposed. And yet, for the first time in her life, Felíne wasn’t afraid of that exposure. She’d met the monster that lived beneath the black waters in Kal’s gaze. Her truths had been revealed and, despite her prior duplicity, had been accepted. Kal still wanted her. It was written into every gesture, each lingering look.

“What’s going on in that head of yours?” Kal asked, stepping closer.

So she wasn’t entirely exposed. “I’d rather not say.”

He reached out and fingered a lock of hair framing her face. She must look a mess.

“Still with the secrets, Kitty girl?”

She swallowed. “Ask me something else, and I’ll tell you.”

A small smile tugged up the corners of Kal’s lips. He tilted his head, considering. His finger found her chin. Lifted it gently. “Tell me about your dream.”

Her dream? Her dream, her dream, her dr—Oh, no. Her dream. Last night’s dream. Gods, Kal’s teasing of her in the glen earlier that morning felt like it happened years ago rather than hours.

Felíne’s face was instantly aflame. Not a flush. Not an innocent blush of color. On. Fire.

“I can’t.”

Several gold bands blazed through Kal’s obsidian irises. She had the attention of both man and monster now. “Oh, Kitty. You’re not playing fair.”

He was right. She was a liar and a cheat. And also a coward.

“Shall I guess?”

“No. Definitely not.”

“How about this?” he purred, his grin positively wicked. “I will venture a guess, and you tell me if I’m hot or cold.”

Felíne suddenly wanted to ditch the blanket she clutched too tightly about her. Her feverish skin needed a kiss of cool air.

Or a kiss of something else.

“Three guesses,” she managed. “That’s all you get. Hot or cold.”

Kal’s eyes lit with the challenge. “But if I’m hot, I get to keep guessing.”

A thrill of anticipation zinged through Felíne. She was in so much trouble. A wiser woman would have put a stop to this insanity and bid the incorrigible man goodnight. Clearly, she was an idiot.

“Very well,” she said.

Kal stepped away from her. When he returned, a small knife rested in his easy grip. “Don’t move,” he commanded. Felíne’s eyes widened, but not in fear. She was the doe that had wandered willingly into a hungry wolf’s den. Kal raised the blade and ever so gently traced the tip along the curve of her neck and over the ridge of her shoulder. She could feel the soft scraping of the dulled blade as it dragged along the outside of the blanket. Felíne shuddered, and Kal instantly withdrew the length of steel. He clicked his tongue. “I said, don’t move. This little game only works if you play by the rules, Kitty.”

The fiend.

He raised an imperious brow. “Shall we try again?”

Felíne met his gaze, a challenge in her own. She stood frozen, and Kal’s eyes gleamed.

“First question. Did your dream involve a weapon?”

Could a body part be considered a weapon?

Arguably. But she had to maintain some semblance of control over the direction of this game. “Cold.”