Page 126 of Ice Princess

She is everything I have ever wanted. Everything I told myself I couldn’t, no that I didn’tdeserveto have.

But now that I’ve reached this point, there’s no going back.

I’ve crossed the line of no return.

She’s mine.

“Mm.” I whisper, savoring the taste of her as I tear myself away.

Rebel pants against my mouth. Her fingers are clamped around my biceps as if she’s holding onto me for dear life.

I lean back to meet her gaze. Her blue eyes are darker than normal, the electricity between us turning them a rich shade of ocean blue. Her bun comes undone, causing golden waves to spill around her shoulders.

My eyes remain steady on her. “Rebel.”

Her eyelashes flutter.

I canfeelher mind racing with a flood of panicked thoughts.

I call her name again and this time, I anchor her body to mine, forcing her to look at me. I want to make sure she hears what I say next.

“Rebel.”

Her eyes meet mine and her shoulders go taut, like every muscle just tightened at once.

I say nothing and just look at her.

Can she see it? My feelings for her? The decades of yearning?

“Rebel,” I call one more time.

“What?”

“That was real.”

CHAPTER

THIRTY-SEVEN

REBEL

Gunner Kinsey ismy mortal enemy and has been since I was six years old.

I still remember breaking my crayon in anger the day he walked past me on the swings, acting as if he hadn’t seen me.

I vowed to myself that I wouldn’t fall for him again. The moment I did, I’d be aneener, neener, pumpkin eater.

Which, apparently… I am.

That kiss set decades of effort up in flames. The ten foot walls I built, the careful life I curated that erased every hint of our past…poof.

Gone.

All because he said it was real.

That kiss.

The intense look in his eyes.

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