Page 118 of A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue
He inhaled my words, nostrils flaring. “Because you are under my protection. If I have to drag you from the depths of despair, I will. As long as you let me.”
As long asIlethim…but what if I trusted and hoped and got crushedagain?
The want to agree was strong–but the fear was stronger.
It might have been the soft way he spoke, soothing the fear caging me from the inside.
Or the way he saw too much of me, even the fragile, broken pieces I tried so hard to shield, and didn’t rush away.
Maybe, just maybe, I wanted to lean on someone so powerful and composed that nothing seemed to shake him–not even that sharp tongue of mine that had made others quake or the ugliest,weakestsides of me. Have another person in this world keep meupright while I finally took a breath and curled against them, to be held while I rebuilt myself.
Maybe he truly didn’t care about the crown and throne I no longer had to offer.
Whatever the reason, I made the biggest mistake of my life.
I kissed my enemy.
Chapter
Twenty-Two
ALLIE
Istood on my tiptoes, using what little energy I still had, to reach out and press my lips to the Commander’s.
I gotnothingin return.
Gods, no.
Those same lips which had enticed me were now still as a statue.
An unfeeling, unmoving, unbothered statue. His finger still touched the underside of my chin, but it hadn’t been the gentle promise I’d thought it was.
Shame flooded me.
I didn’t know if I wanted to be touched or chosen after weeks of being let down and forsaken, but I got neither.
It has only been the briefest of touches, lasting no longer than a breath, but it had exposed so much of me. Fragility, want,desire.
He’d seen the vulnerabilities in me, but I’d never exposed my softest spots to him willingly.
Until now.
My cheeks burned with embarrassment as my ankles shook, my whole body vibrating. I began to drop my ankles, my traitorous mouth freeing his.
How could I ever look this man in the eyes after this?
I thought he’d considered me fragile before, but now–
My heels hadn’t hit the floor when the Commander’s hand caught me–like he couldn’t let me fall, even now. It snaked to the back of my head, fingers tangling in my hair with an unflinching grip, halting my movement.
My eyes popped open. I hadn’t even realized I’d closed them, caught up in a moment I’d never anticipated.
The way he was staring at me made the trembles in my body worse in the best ways. With the same intense desire that was ravaging me right now. Like he couldn’t see anyone or anything else other than me and didn’t want to look away.
As if I mesmerized him as much as he’d mesmerized me.
His gaze sparked as his eyes trailed over my entire face, as if asking his own question.
