Page 205 of A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue
The one who’d made a name for herself from archery but hadn’t touched a bow until he threw one at her.
Ryker seemed to want me not because of who I was, but in spite of it.
He wanted me. Wanted to know me. That I liked, what I didn’t, what made me tremble and what made me think.
Nobody had cared that much about my inner world. Not like this.
Since I’d woken up in this frozen land, he’d tried to make my life easier. Perhaps too harsh at times, too direct, but that had been his goal.
We’d both been thrust into each other’s lives, sealed by the same massacre and Clan Council decree.
Yet he’d accepted fate while I’d fought it.
He’d tried to bridge the gap while I’d wanted to deepen it.
And now, I wonderedwhy. Why had I fought this so much?
Maybe because I was so upset at the reality I’d found myself in.
Maybe because the wounds Waden had left on me still stung enough that I feared to hope again.
Perhaps it was because he was the Commander and I’d been Protectorate royalty, designed to be foes until the unavoidable end.
Yet here we were, drinking each other in.
I was tired of worrying. For a moment, he’d helped me let go and justenjoy.
I’d writhed under him and the sky hadn’t fallen to punish us.
All we’d experience was pure pleasure.
I smiled up at him, as if my world hadn’t been turned inside out. As if I hadn’t been betrayed and lied to. As if I hadn’t lost my Clan and title of First Daughter.
I smiled like a woman who had been totally and completely satisfied.
“Did you like that?” he asked, voice husky and low. But there was a shift in his eyes. They’d turned more guarded. Hesitant. As if he was both hopeful and afraid of the answer.
“I loved it.” I sealed my admission with a kiss, hoping the sway of my lips could transmit the words they couldn’t form right now. It had been exquisite and I loved it–perhaps a bit too much. “And you?”
It was my turn to hesitate and wonder. I wanted him to have enjoyed this as much as I did.
Ineededit.
“It was amazing.” He kissed my shoulder tenderly. “Perfect. Better than I even imagined.”
A giggle escaped me, his nose tickling my neck. But just as my entire being relaxed into his embrace, old ghosts howled.
“You are amazing.” He kept kissing my skin, as if he wanted to remember every inch and every freckle. “Perfect. Glorious.”
Glorious.
The one word which could spread ice through my veins.
The word Waden always called me.
It cracked through me, opening old wounds I’d prayed to be stitched forever.
No matter how hard I tried to concentrate on Ryker’s kisses or how much I tried to convince myself that this was different–hewas different, he would never do what Waden did–the fear took hold of me.
