Page 64 of Ice Queen

“But when I’m not alone, I like a bit more pressure. Still slow though. But I don’t like to see it, it’s as much of a trust exercise as it is an intimate one.”

I’m convinced I’m still asleep. There’s no way this is happening right now. I’m equal parts turned on and pissed to hell that anyone else has ever had the opportunity to see her like this. To explore this side of her, the one who wants to trust, who wants to feel good, who knows just what she wants and takes it.

It must be written all over my face because her voice floats through the phone, so smooth it’s almost a purr. “What’s wrong, Markus? Can’t handle it?” A devilish smile crosses her lips. “I told you that you couldn’t.”

A growl builds low in my chest, “I can handle it. I just didn’t expect this from you.”

“Why? Cause I’m, what is it they call it, a wallflower?”

“You are very much not a wallflower. You’re the centerpiece, the very thing my eyes are drawn to the second we’re in the same room.” Her lips fall open, and the torture-looking device tumbles from her hand.

“Careful, Casanova, or I might think you actually like me.” Her face gets closer to the screen, and my eyes lazily roam her face. The light dusting of green right around the pupil of her amber eyes is almost like it’s been painted there. The curve of her lips, the angle of her cheekbones. She’s stunning, even more when she’s like this.

Swallowing roughly, I nod. “I do, and it scares the hell out of me.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know how to be okay with the possibility of losing you, too.”

She sighs, her eyes fluttering closed for a brief second before they open and focus on me once again. “Why are you awake right now?” she asks.

“Had a weird dream.”

“And your first thought was to ask me what my favorite food is?”

I hold her gaze, hoping she feels everything I’ve been too scared to admit. “I missed you.”

“You come back when?”

“Tomorrow night.”

She bites down on her lip, the corners of her mouth tick up as she nods. “Okay, I’ll see you then, Casanova.”

“You’re not even going to tell me you miss me back?” I pout.

Her laugh floats through the phone, light and airy. “You haven’t given me anything to miss yet.”

I gasp, my hand flying to my chest. “You wound me, Princesa.”

She snorts out a laugh, falling back into the pillows on her bed. “Goodnight, Markus.”

“Night, Kait.”

I sit in the bathroom for a bit longer, splashing some water on my face before I head back to bed, not missing the fact that she didn’t tell me her favorite movie. I wonder if she doesn’t have one. It’d be hard for me to pick just one. I could give you the top five, though.

For the first time in a long time, I don’t stay up for hours on end replaying the nightmare over and over. Tonight, I drift off to sleep with the vision of her heavy-lidded eyes and a promise to find out what else she likes.

* Shit, Samuels. Calm down

* I know

* Markus, I need to talk to you

* What’s wrong, Millie?

* Please, Mills. Don’t leave me again.

* Follow the stars, Markus