Page 11 of Blood & Ice

“Shh,” I soothed. “It’s okay.”

“Not okay,” he said through clenched teeth. “She hurt you. Hurt your kids. I will kill her.”

It wasn’t exactly what I’d been hoping for, but simplistic verbal communication was better than nothing.

“You can’t kill her, Mav. I can’t let you.”

“She hurt you,” he insisted. “Can’t let her...”

“Iwon’t let her hurt me, and you know that. Anyone who comes after my kids gets what they deserve. But I can’t let you do this to yourself, Mav. Do you have any idea what that much blood magic will do to you if you try to use it against her? Let it go, please.”

I certainly couldn’t guess what would happen if he did use his magic against Aurea. I knew the more someone used his blood power, the more tempting it was to do it again. Wanda had implied it could result in violence bordering on madness ifyou were angry enough. She’d nearly hexed her foul feline into oblivion after one spectacularly messy fight, and only Hellcat’s catlike reflexes had saved his whiskers.

“Can’t,” Maverick said, real strain showing on his face now. His hands had tightened around my waist, holding me close as though I was the last buoy in a storm-tossed sea.

“Can’t what? Stop?”

“Yes,” he gritted out. “It’s too much.”

The magic was too much. It had to ground out harmlessly somewhere or we’d be standing on top of a crater. There were only a few people in the Hollow capable of taking that kind of damage, and I was one of them. Snow fell on bloody battlefields and hollowed-out craters alike. I could bury it in winter and it wouldn’t hurt... much.

“Take it out on me,” I said. “Give me the energy. I can take it.”

“I’ll hurt you,” he said, quietly this time while shaking his head.

“Then give me pleasure to go with it,” I answered, voice coming out on a shaky exhale.

I reached down to fumble with my duty belt next, letting it fall to the floor with a heavy thump when I was through. On any other day, I would have rather eaten my badge than leave a loaded gun lying around. Every gun safety course and familial lecture I’d ever sat through was chanting in the back of my mind. I had to remind myself that having Maverick’s freaky blood warlock powers go out of control was a hell of a lot more likely than someone coming in and using my gun against us. More than likely, one of my deputies would come in, see it lying there, and hang it up. I compromised by toeing it under my desk until it disappeared from sight.

That accomplished, I reached for my power, opening a small gateway into winter. I’d learned the theory by eavesdroppingon Astrid’s lessons with Fox. The only problem with remaining Taliyah instead of Olwen was that I had power with no practice and information without context. Fox had made it very clear that I’d owe him if I wanted any professional instruction, so I’d created my own workaround. I was married to Maverick, so I didn’t need an excuse to visit while Fox and Astrid practiced. The lectures I couldn’t attend had been meticulously detailed by Maverick, who essentially copied his sister’s homework for me. I couldn’t keep the gateway open for long without risking the Hollow’s safety, but this I could do.

Maverick didn’t miss a beat as the wind coming through the doorway whipped our hair into tangles. A joy so fierce it was nearly pain suffused my entire body as I stepped into winter. I smelled the arctic howling off the mountains, carrying the smell of cold and the bite of frost. Little crystals were forming anywhere I touched Maverick as my power seeped out, but he didn’t seem to mind. I was almost disappointed when the doorway snapped shut behind us and we found ourselves standing in a totally different room. I wanted him to take me on the ice of a frozen lake, the stars reflecting like gemstones on the glittering surface. I wanted this powerful force of nature to bowl me over and bury me alive. I wanted him to fill me with his magic until I couldn’t breathe.

But staying in Winter was a recipe for disaster. If I fought Janara, I wanted to go in with forethought instead of literally getting caught with my pants down. So, I’d used the portal to guide us to Maverick’s room instead. I’d briefly contemplated taking this to my place, but the evidence of Aurea’s recent visit might set him off again. Besides, my boys were there along with Darla and Cain. So, no, that wouldn’t work.

I’d only been in Maverick’s room two times. Once to tuck him in after he got plastered and needed a ride home. The other time was to help pack his bags for the trip to Blood Rose. Hewasn’t a scrupulously neat person, and his potions station was particularly messy, but it wasn’t a dump. Maverick cared enough about his coven’s opinions that he tidied up regularly. It was a lot more than I could say for some of the grown men I knew. His bed was unmade. That was the only detail I really absorbed before I was on it, bouncing a little from the force of my landing.

Maverick’s mouth came down hard on mine, swallowing my yelp of surprise. His magic ran like static electricity over my skin, biting at every nerve. Even my clothes seemed to buzz with the force of his anger and need. No... scratch that. Theywerebuzzing. As I watched, I saw every stitch that held my shirt, undershirt, pants, and underwear unravel, starting a cascade of destruction. I had no idea where he was getting the finesse to do it, but I could only watch in wonder as my clothes simplyfell off, reduced to a pile of thread to either side of me. I was grateful that I hadn’t worn anything I particularly liked today, because that little trick would have reduced a favorite top or pair of pants to ribbons.

Only then did it sink in that I was naked. Well and truly bare in front of myhusband. That word hadn’t seemed quite as serious before when there’d been no strings attached. No matter what either of us said to the contrary, sex would change things between us. I’d been planning to wait until we could talk things through, but now realized that had just been a stall tactic. You didn’t climb into bed with someone like Maverick after a calm and reasoned discussion. Most people looked at him and saw a naughty boy, a bad decision that would feel good at the moment but sting later. They didn’t seehim. None of them really knew him. He buried it deep down, but he was a good man, even if I was one of the only people he regularly showed up for.

I waited for the remarks that would send me running for the treadmill and the diet soda. Jonathan had been the king of subtle, snide comments that undermined my confidence. He hada talent for tearing people down. He’d still find something to complain about, even if I was in this new, immortal fae form.

But when Maverick pulled back enough to take me in, there was only wonder on his face. He pressed a gentle finger to the pounding pulse in my neck and dragged it south, tracing my clavicle, then down to the swell of my breasts. They’d gotten a little larger than they’d been pre-change, but my rack wasn’t nearly as formidable as most of the witches he knew. I shivered when his finger dipped lower, circling a nipple with his fingernail until it hardened into a taut peak.

“Beautiful,” he breathed.

Blood boiled beneath my skin, flushing my body a light pink. I wasn’t prone to blotchy red blushing anymore, and for once I was grateful for that. My face turning red as a tomato from even the smallest compliment utterly undercut the dignity of the heir apparent to the winter throne. And it definitely undercut the Chief of Police.

Maverick responded with enthusiasm, descending on me with an almost feral sound of need. The edge of teeth when he latched onto my nipple shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did. My hips jerked in surprise, rubbing my very naked body against the roughness of his jeans. The friction was almost enough to put me over the edge, and he’d barely even touched me.

He groaned when I hooked a leg around his waist and tried to pull myself closer. Oh, dear God. I was going to explode before he even got to the main event. I wasn’t exactly a kinky person, but the thought of being at Maverick’s mercy in the bedroom made my skin heat and my belly clench with want. Maverick smiled gently then, running his thumb along my bottom lip.

“Tell me you’re mine.”

It wasn’t a demand. He wasn’t asking to own me or trying to talk over me in a work setting. He was asking for a simpleassurance. That we were in this together. That I wanted him enough to risk the heartbreak that came with a relationship. Because wewerein a relationship, whether we liked it or not.

“I’m yours,” I whispered.

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