AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I pick up my pace. “How do you know where Glacier Pass is?”
“As the prince, the geography of all the continents was a part of my studies.”
“Do you have any idea why the Regent would risk passing through fae territory to go there?”
He just shakes his head.
We continue on in silence. I keep my attention on our surroundings, always alert for danger. Daimis on the other hand looks deceptively calm. Too much at ease for a human walking in fae territory if you ask me.
A couple of hours in, large white flakes float down from the gray clouds to dance their way onto every surface. I pull my hood up to protect my head from the moisture. The land stills and the forest is eerily quiet, like everything has stopped to watch the white blanket fall.
“We need to find shelter,” I say. “A cave would be ideal to hide our fire, which we’ll need to keep the cold at bay if we’re to survive the night.”
Daimis nods. “I know, we’re heading in the right direction. It’s not too far from here.”
I give him a sidelong look, which he pointedly ignores. What’s not too far from here, and how exactly does he know of a place in fae territory? Once again, I’m irritated by what I don’t know about him.
I follow Daimis in silence. It’s getting darker and colder by the minute. If we don’t find shelter soon, we’ll start to become hypothermic. My breath comes out in puffs, and I shiver uncontrollably. The landscape soon opens to rocky outcroppings. Daimis and I climb up the rocks, my fingers and toes feeling like they might break from the pressure. About a third of the way up, the rocks open to a cave. I sigh in relief.
Daimis wastes no time, heading right in. He strikes his flint until a fire blazes near the back of the cave, a beacon of warmth. I scramble to the flames, eager for its biting heat. My cloak is soaked through, so I shed it quickly, knowing wet clothes will only keep the dangerous cold on my skin. I strip out of my boots and leathers too, so that I’m only in my lightweight under garments. I creep as close to the fire as possible without burning myself. My limbs sting and tingle as they slowly thaw. I’m still shaking, shivering uncontrollably. Daimis sits beside me and wraps a dry, fur blanket over my shoulders.
By the gods above and below, he’s in nothing but his low-cut, leather pants. My gaze runs over his bare rounded shoulders and biceps, almost as big as my waist, his filled-out chest, with his pendant hanging from the chain in the center, and those perfect abs under his taught, bronzed skin. He takes a seat next to me and wraps a blanket over his own shoulders, covering his body once again.
He takes my hands in his, which are somehow several degrees warmer than my own, and rubs them before leaning down and breathing hot air on them. His lips brush my fingers. I can’t help but imagine his lips warming other parts of my body and my heart rate picks up. Once again, I wonder why I respond so easily to his touch.
“You’re still shivering,” he says and opens his blanket to me. “Come here, I’m already warm.”
Part of me knows this is a very bad idea, and yet the other, louder part of me argues that I can risk being half-naked in Daimis’s arms to avoid hypothermia. I hesitate only a moment before scooting over so that I’m tucked into his deliciously warm side. He wraps his arms and the blanket around me. His large hands move up and down my arms and I melt into his touch, finally thawing.
Birch, cypress, warm spices, and velvety pure male scent surrounds me like a tease, and despite myself, I breathe him in like an addict.
“Better,” he whispers into the top of my head.
“Mmmmhmmm,” I murmur.
Now that I’m not almost freezing to death, I finally take in our surroundings. Wood is stacked up against one wall of the cave and a makeshift bed is just behind us. Full waterskins are lined up next to the wood, and corked jars of dried meat next to them.
“You’ve been here before,” I say, awestruck.
“I have,” he says. “Only a couple people know of this place.”
“Like the fae woman you were talking to the other night?” I ask, trying to sound casual.
“Yes,” he says.
I glance at the bed again and quickly turn away. But it’s too late, the painful sting of jealousy has found its way back in as I imagine Daimis there with the fae beauty.
I scoot away from Daimis and his intoxicating embrace. “I suppose I should have figured it out before,” I say, not being able to keep the bite from my words.
“And what is it you’ve figured out?”
I watch the large flakes fall outside the cave’s entrance, hating them for forcing us in here. “Why you,” I wave my hand at him in an irritated way. “Are the way you are.”
He raises his brows. “The way I am?”
“The reason you have compassion toward the other races, the reason you want to help them, and stop the Regent.”
“And it’s not because I’m a good person, free of ignorance and prejudice?”
