Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 132625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
When we climb atop it, I can see a panorama of the sun setting over the distant mountains. Misha steps up behind me and loops an arm beneath my chest. “See that mountain ridge down there that looks almost blue?”
I close my eyes for a beat, loving the warmth of his back pressed against me. Misha’s close. And not just close to whatever form I happen to be in. He’s close to me. “Yes,” I murmur, forcing myself to focus.
“In the morning, fog rises off them, and it looks like smoke. They’re called the Blue Smoke Mountains. Judging by how distant they look from here, I’d say we’re in the far west of my territory.” He drops his arm from around my waist and I immediately miss it.
When he steps away, I turn to him. “Sol will be wondering where you are, but at least the sun hasn’t set yet. How long will it take us to get back to the castle if you called a wild horse in?”
He shakes his head. “Too long, even if it weren’t this close to dusk. We’re better off staying here for the night.” He scans my face, as if trying to gauge my reaction to this. “My greater magic may be lessening, but I promise I’m still strong enough to keep you safe in my own mountains.”
I’m still stuck on spending the night with Misha after the things he said to me on our ride to the Midnight Palace, but I say, “I never doubted it.”
His gaze softens, and his eyes flit over me again and again.
“What?” I ask.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything as beautiful as you in this moment.” His tongue touches his lip. “You’re stunning in the light of the setting sun.”
I’m still searching for a way to reply to this when he turns, jumps down from the boulder, and starts collecting what I can only assume are supplies for a fire. I watch him work for a minute, then gather with him, earning a wink and a smile. He waves me over toward a soaring pine and I make piles of kindling, sticks, and small logs while he trims low branches on the pine tree, carving out a little shelter.
“It’ll keep the wind off us,” he says before turning to build the fire.
“Come here,” Misha says, patting the ground between his legs. The sun has fully set and we’re settled around the fire he skillfully assembled in the cave-like space he created for us beneath the soaring pine. “You’ll be warmer if we stay close.”
I scoot closer until we’re shoulder to shoulder. “I didn’t realize how cold it gets in the mountains at night,” I say, shivering.
He chuckles. “That’s not going to do much.” He shifts and the next thing I know, he’s sitting behind me, my backside snug between the V of his thighs. It’s like we’re on the horse again, only this time we have the crackling fire before us and the stars peeking through the branches above.
My pulse kicks up. There is absolutely no way I can play this cool, but I’m going to try. “I swear if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were trying to seduce me, King Misha.”
I feel his warm breath in my hair and his chest shake against my back. “I promise you that when I’m trying to seduce you, you’ll know.” He wraps one arm around me, big hand splaying across my ribs. With his free hand, he tucks loose hair behind my ear. “Though if I don’t plan to seduce you, sitting with you this close might be a special kind of torture.”
My stomach swoops. “Might? You’re not sure?”
He’s quiet so long I wish I could take the question back. How embarrassing that I’m pushing him to tell me where he is with all this. “It’s been a big day for you—with your brother and Shae and . . .” His arm tightens around me. “If your mind’s a little fuzzy because of all that, no one could blame you. So, no. I’m not sure. As much as I’m dying to touch you, really touch you, I don’t want to take advantage of how vulnerable you are right now.”
I turn, rolling to my knees so I’m kneeling between his spread thighs before pointedly arching my brow. “I think you’re projecting.”
His lips twitch. “You do? Please, indulge me.”
I lift one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug, as if this isn’t exactly what I’ve been wishing for since . . . well, since the first time I laid eyes on him, if I’m honest. “I had a lot happen today. It’s true. But I’d argue that of the two of us, you’re the one who’s vulnerable right now.”
He props his hands behind him and leans back. “Me? Vulnerable? This I have to hear.”