Page 97 of Born of Ice

“You almost died,” I whisper, and Exton tucks my face into the crook of his neck. The warmth slowly returning to his body, and I greedily suck in his scent, filling my hollow lungs with it.

“I’m alive, and you walked, Electra. You walked!”

I must’ve been still riding the high of an adrenaline rush and fear because I lift my head and stare into his misty eyes trying to catch up to what I logically understand but my mind is only now catching up to.

“You. Got. Up,” Exton mouths, his eyes misty. This strong, arrogant, cocky lunatic of mine breaking down underneath me not because he nearly lost his life but because I took a step.

But I did. “Oh my God!” I exclaim, my eyes growing wide and I look down, terrified to try but still do.

I wiggle my toes inside my boots. And they move, the feeling strange and foreign but they moved. “OH MY GOD!” My scream echoes through the ice and woods around us.

“You walked.” He watches me with amazement.

I smile through tears. “No, baby. I ran.”

27

Claim me

Electra

“You walked. You gotup. You ran,” Exton repeats over and over as he peppers me with kisses, not letting got for one second and I melt into him. Into this feeling of newfound freedom. “We need to go to the hospital,” he says.

“For you?”

“No, for you. We need to make sure your spine is okay!”

I shake my head before he’s finished.

Sure, I need to see one. But I already know it’s okay. I already know that physically, I’m okay. It was my head. All in my head and seeing Exton drowning…imagining life without this man is what pulled me out. It broke the chain. Broke through the darkness.

“That’s not what I need.”

His ice-covered body shivers with a different kind of chill.

“I need you, Electra, and I need you to tell me you need me too. Spell it out for me. Please,” he begs, and all I can manage is a nod and a soft, “More than my next breath. I need you. All of you. With me. In me.”

Exton sucks in a sharp, long sip of air. His body seemingly grows with life and strength at my admission because suddenly he sits up, holding me like his precious possession. “Fuck, yes.”

I giggle at his outburst, and he kisses it away with urgency, pressing me into his body hard enough that I feel it all through our clothes.

“Exton,” I gasp. “How can you be so hard right now? You nearly died and you are still partially frozen.”

“Little star, it’s fucking impossible not to get hard when the woman you are crazy about tells you she loves you and wants you to fuck her. I’ve never felt like this. I’ve never loved before. Never wanted to belong to someone other than myself but here you are. So tiny and fragile and have me by my balls. You’re my star,” he breathes into my parted mouth, his voice a soft caress on my parched lips. “No, you’re my whole fucking cosmos and I’m lost in between your galaxies. Sucked into your black hole and broken into tiny pieces by your meteors.

“You saved me from that ice. You fought for me. For us. And if I wasn’t already yours, I’d be now. But you’ve had my battered heart from the start, Electra. And I hope you understand how hard it was for me to be all disgustingly cute right now when I need to fuck you like an animal. Please appreciate that in the future, okay?” I smile through tears at this hard man trying to be sweet for my sake while still dishing it with his usual assholeness.

His words ignite me, making my heartbeat so fast and hard it ricochets into his. I close my eyes, laying my face nose to nose to his and whisper, teasingly. “Technically, I said I need you.” I give him a cheeky smile, knowing very well that I’m playing with fire right now.

Exton’s nostrils flare, his grip on my ass tightens and I almost weep at the sensation. I can feel it, feel his strength and need through his touch.

“Oh, that smart mouth is about to get fucked so good,” he growls, and I feel my pussy tingle. “You like that, don’t you, little star?” He sinks his teeth into my bottom lip as I nod vigorously and in one sharp move, he gets up from the ice, taking me with him and I yelp.

“Exton!”

“Wrap those pretty legs around me, baby.”

“You know I could technically walk there on my own.”

---