Page 59 of Blood Curse

“Can you feel your hands and feet?”

“Every freezing part of them.”

“Any dizziness?”

“Only relief.”

“Does the voice feel hidden or absent?”

I listened again. “Absent. There’s empty space where it used to be.”

Stellan’s gaze stayed on my face. “Can you feel what I want?”

“No.”

“Can you feel what the court wants?”

“No.”

“Good.”

The word almost broke me.

I laughed instead. It came out thin and wet.

“I’m freezing,” I said.

“An inspiring description of supernatural freedom.”

“My toes are numb.”

“Less inspiring.”

He smiled, and the sight reached me without the Crown magnifying it into hunger or using it to make me obey. I simply loved him. The feeling was strong enough on its own.

Stellan held one hand over the water. “May I touch you?”

“Please.”

His palm settled against my cheek.

Warm skin. A careful thumb. The rough edge of a healing cut near his knuckle.

Nothing else entered the touch. The Crown didn’t turn affection into heat or pleasure into pressure. Stellan didn’t use it to guide my face or make me look at him.

I leaned into his hand because I wanted to.

His eyes closed for one second.

“Still quiet?” he asked.

“Completely.”

“Is that enough for tonight?”

The question surprised me.

“You’d let me stop now?”