Page 27 of A Heart of Ice and Shadow

A shiver had proceeded the growl. A shiver that sent every inch of his skin thrumming with electricity. The words were playful and light, but bubbling beneath them was a challenge. She was teasing him, he’d realized a few beats late. Teasing the monster that lurked in the shadows to come out and play with her.

For fuck’s sake. Another growl ran through him.

He should have turned around, stalked back to the castle, and left her there in all her glorious beauty to enjoy herself in peace, but the thought didn’t even cross his mind. There was no other option. His feet only moved in one direction. Toward her. Toward the fire she threatened to consume him with. He wanted to burn a thousand times over. Sirus no longer cared about what was right or wrong or smart or foolish. Perhaps, before her, he could have lived the rest of eternity mucking through the gray of his existence without ever knowing any different. Only now he did know differently.

Gwendolyn was color itself. Sirus could feel her vibrant spectrum in the air he breathed, in his muscle, blood, and bones. Maybe Levian was right, he wondered somewhere at the edge of his mind. Maybe Fate had conspired to bring them together.

He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.

His soul was darkness. Hers was radiant. They were not the same, but Sirus felt like his was bound to hers, much like the shadow was bound by the light. She could exist without him, he not without her.

So he stepped forward, toward her radiance. One foot before the other. When he came into view, that sweet, determined smile fell slowly from her lips. Gwendolyn did not try to hide her exposed flesh. She stood, bold and brazen, at the edge of the pool like it was hers. Like she were the naiad who ruled over it and made it flow with magick.

Her eyes raked over him, her expression oddly blank, as he came to stand at the edge of the spring. When her gaze rose to meet his, her expression darkened, and she tilted her chin up, crossing her arms delicately over her chest.

“You’ve been watching me,” she accused, the words sharp but not cutting.

His muscles clenched. “I have,” he admitted.

Gwendolyn’s eyes widened only a fraction at the admission, then narrowed. It had been an accident, but it didn’t seem she would believe that. He wasn’t entirely sure it was true either. It seemed naive to not acknowledge that he always wanted her near. That when he’d set out from his study to come to the spring, it had been in hopes of finding her along the way.

She let out a deep breath through her nose, her torso rising and falling heavily under the effort. The snow began to come down in earnest then, heavy flurries big enough that they made it to the surface of the pool. The flurries were gathering on her body and in her hair, but she still didn’t dip below the water. She shivered under the chill, wrapping her arms tighter around herself.

His breath held in his chest as he waited. Suddenly, the tension in her body gave way, and she let out a huff of air. “Come in with me,” she said. “It’s freezing, and if you stand there much longer you’re going to turn into a snowman.”

It wasn’t what she’d wanted to say, but her warm playfulness set his skin burning. Her direct invitation to join her made his mouth run dry, and he froze. Sirus willed his pulse to calm before he moved, lest he throw himself into the waters while he was still clothed, boots and all.

He knew he shouldn’t feel disappointment when she lowered herself back down into the waters, but he did. She dipped all the way below the surface, sending the flurries in her hair melting into the hot spring. When she emerged, her heavy, damp lashes blinked in his direction, and the first flash of uncertainty flickered in her eyes. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

He hated her uncertainty. That he’d spurred it on. Of course he wanted to. He’d wanted to join her since he realized it was her splashing in the pool. He’d nearly jumped out of his own skin to join her when she’d beckoned him the first time.

The snow began to abate, but only slightly. Without a word, he went to her things and gathered them up. Her clothes would be soaked through if they lay out much longer.

“There’s a rock here,” he said carrying her clothes and towel to a place on the other side of the spring. She watched him closely as he went. There was a gathering of rocks built up to create a little alcove for occasions such as these. “It will keep everything out of the damp.”

He brushed away a few leaves and carefully laid all of her things in the center of the alcove. Then he shrugged out of his jacket. The moment he did, her breath hitched. His eyes darted to hers. Her cheeks were pink from the frost and heat, but there was no mistaking the look in her eyes. Another primal growl nearly escaped him, but he managed to tamp it down. Sirus slid the jacket off his shoulders and placed it in the alcove beneath her things so that it wouldn’t crush them. He met her eyes again when he reached for the collar of his shirt and pulled it up over his head.

Women had looked at him with hunger before, but it’d never sent hot satisfaction humming over him like it did when Gwendolyn gazed at him. Those emerald eyes scanned his exposed torso, leaving heat in their wake, and she mindlessly bit her bottom lip. He was jealous. Sirus could still remember the taste of her, but despite his best efforts the memory was growing faint as time passed. He wanted to taste that lip again. Her mouth. Her skin. He wanted to taste every inch of her. To memorize and savor her until there was no way he’d ever forget.

When he reached down to undo his pants, her eyes widened, and she turned her head away. He smirked—a rarity for him, though she couldn’t see. Apparently, she was not so emboldened as to watch him undress completely. He removed his boots and his pants, until all he wore was a pair of tight black boxer briefs. He would normally swim naked, but since she was not, he kept a layer on. Gwendolyn was still facing away from him when he stepped over the edge of the rocks and immersed himself up to his hips in the hot spring waters. She peeked then. It was beyond adorable.

His heart pounded in his chest, every muscle in his body relaxing as the waters did their work. His anxieties and inhibitions began to wane as well. Gwendolyn had teased the monster in the shadows to come out and play with her. And now he was here.

With a small smile and a satisfied swell in his chest, Sirus met her cautious gaze and dove beneath the surface.

Chapter Eight

She was in trouble.

Deep, deep trouble.

Gwen’s heart thrummed against her ribs like she’d guzzled a gallon of energy shots. He’d actually done it. She didn’t think he was going to, but he had…

And now she had no fucking clue where he was.

The spring was weirdly deep in the center and dark from the rocks. She could see a form moving beneath the ripples he’d caused, like a sea monster lurking beneath the tide. That little shiver of chill had skittered up her spine just before he dove below the surface, the one that made her feel like he was the predator and she the prey. Fear probably would have been the proper response. Or at least nervousness. Instead, her whole body felt electric with anticipation.

He popped up only a few feet away from her, and it was one of the most beautiful things she’d ever witnessed, the water running down his face and beard, the way his silver-blue eyes contrasted with his olive skin and the dark depths of the water and stone. He flicked his head to send his wet hair back out of his face, and she could do nothing but blink. What she wouldn’t give to run her hands through that hair. Her fingers tensed as she pressed them against the stone seat beneath the water at her sides.

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