Page 58 of Princess Avenged

Crusher steps up beside me. “Nice.”

I stifle a laugh at his understatement. My utterance wasn’t exactly eloquent either. The cabin is shockingly beautiful. Its natural stone foundation seems to emerge from the granite of the island, and from there, the building rises three stories. The exterior is formed from thick wooden planks, but a huge portion of the cabin’s facade is glass. Through the massive floor to ceiling windows, we can see the others lounging on sofas in front of a roaring fireplace that casts such a warm glow, I feel its warmth penetrating me out here.

“All this glass is treated?” Crusher whistles low through his teeth.

“That’s what Ember said, although she and her mates can walk in the sun.”

“So you say.” He shakes his head as if he’ll have to see it to believe it.

Chapter

Twenty-Seven

Ana

“Blade,” Zuben calls over. “There is something here I would very much like you to read.”

Blade, sitting next to me on the sofa, kisses the top of my head and then goes over to join Zuben, who’s looking at a book opened on the large pine-plank table. How, or why, Zuben brought so many big texts up to this remote cabin is beyond me. If they still need to do research, we should have stayed closer to the sources, but I must admit I’m enjoying the cozy quiet up here at the cabin.

Flame drops onto the sofa, filling the space Blade just vacated. “Can I talk to you?”

“Of course.”

Taking my hand, Flame pulls me up with him as he stands. “Alone?”

He was sitting for such a short time it’s almost like he bounced on the sofa, and his body is literally vibrating. I can’t tell whether Flame’s nervous or excited. But regardless of what he’s got on his mind, I’d love a chance to talk to him. We haven’t had a moment alone since Blade and I expressed our love to each other.

I don’t know if Flame knows about that yet, or if he does, how he feels about it. I want to be sure he’s okay. He loves Blade, and this could change the dynamics between the three of us.

“What’s on your mind?” I ask.

“Let’s go for a walk.” He nods toward the cabin doors.

Ember is cuddled between Axe and Ryker on a leather sofa near the fireplace, and Blade and Zuben’s noses are buried in a book. Off to the side, Crusher’s leaning against a thick wooden beam, arms crossed over his chest. He straightens when Flame and I pass by.

“We’re going for a walk,” I tell him.

“I’ll come.” His jaw twitches. “Phil?—”

“No,” Flame says quickly. “I need to talk to Ana, alone.”

“But I promised Phil?—”

“We’ll be fine.” I nod toward Crusher. “Phil plans to swim all night. And even though I know Phil would never hurt me, if he tries, I’ll be safe with Flame.”

“Damn right.” Flame wraps his arm around my shoulders, pulling me more tightly against his body.

Crusher leans back again, crossing his ankles as his upper back presses against the beam. A pang of desire rushes through me. I might not be able to forgive Crusher for killing Timur and lying about it, but seeing him standing there, so stoic, so protective, even though I’ve hurt him…

The flickering light from the fireplace glints off the solid planes of his face, creating highlights in his dark brown hair, and setting his eyes alight. Crusher takes my breath away—always—and the way he’s standing now, so strong and alone, leaning against a hard surface when there are plenty of comfortable places to sit, makes me want to forgive him, to invite him to come with us. But it also reminds me how rigid and stubborn he is.

Flame’s fingers slide over my ribs as he gently urges me forward, and I refocus my attention onto my equally powerful, equally sexy Swede.

For now, everything between me and Crusher is settled. As settled as it’s likely to be for some time. And Flame and I need to talk. He holds open the front door for me, and then takes my hand as we cross the porch and descend the steps into the forest that closely encloses this cabin, hiding it completely from the lake.

The woods on this island remind me a lot of the ones I knew as a child, and I inhale the fresh, pine-tinged scent as we make our way over the cushioned ground, punctuated here and there by smooth granite that peeks through, like smoothed out tops of massive ice burgs. I’m certain this entire island—this entire geographical area—is composed of massive lumps of rock, scraped clean and smoothed by receding glaciers after the last ice age.

But over time, life found a way through the stone. Birds dropped seeds that took root, then small trees and shrubs from one season created soil that collected in dips and crevices to provide nourishment for the seeds of the next season, and on and on, until a forest emerged. Nature really is a miracle. I peer through the tall boughs at the sparkling stars.

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