Page 44 of The Alien's Cruel Starfrost Domain

But, I thought,her blood protected her, too, even if she doesn’t realize it yet.

“Please,” I’d silently begged whatever gods might listen. “Let her power manifest. Show me I haven’t made a terrible mistake.”

But she’d remained stubbornly, impossibly human.

At least on the surface.

Though as I’d watched her break free from another corpse’s grasp—using strength no human should possess—I’d wondered if perhaps her heritage was closer to awakening than I thought.

As I’d moved into the cemetery, I’d drawn Starflash, the sword my father had left to me, from its sheath, the blade humming in recognition. The sword had always known what I was, just as it would recognize what Lara truly was—if her powers would only awaken.

Perhaps the crown she’d unwittingly tracked there could serve as a catalyst for both sisters’ powers.

If only I could retrieve it without Lara seeing.

Starflash glowed with an internal power—the kind technology could never replicate. I began using it to drop the undead.

Once Lara untangled herself from the grip of the King and ran several steps, I stepped up and spun around so I stood between them, then maneuvered it so my back was to her.

Lara wasn’t watching when I snatched the Starfire Crown from his head and shoved it inside my coat, then leaped back into the fray.

Now, in my bedchamber, the crown’s blue gem pulsed once against my chest, just as it had in the graveyard, as if acknowledging I would soon feed its power. I withdrew it from inside my coat, turning it around and around in my hands, examining the gold and silver metal twisted to form a circlet, the gemstones set in its points, the blue stone throbbing in the center, its light an eerie match to Starflash.

In the cemetery, I had forced myself to turn away from what the crown’s presence meant—both for my plans and for Lara’s fate—and attempted to focus on the immediate danger threatening her.

But instead, the moonlight had reflected off the snow in that moment, catching the curve of Lara’s cheek and highlighting it in a shade of pale with a light dusting of ginger freckles across it. Desire had tightened my throat, and I’d tried to swallow it down.

As I’d swept her into my arms to carry her to my horse, every cell of my body responded to her, sending a throbbing ache of need down into my bones, suffusing every part of my being. For an instant, I froze.

She’d curled herself into me, her forehead resting against my chest. My cock pulsated in response, aching and hard, and I shifted to keep her from feeling it.

Do not give her anything she can use against you, I reminded myself.

Her hair came loose from the strip of fabric she used to tie it back, and the strands brushed across my face, bringing the scent of her with them. My mouth dried, and I couldn’t speak. Not that I knew what I would have said anyway. I had set her up for this, practically dared her to try to run, even though she had no idea where she was or how to get home.

My cock jerked, the tip brushing against her through my breeches. She went still in my arms, like an animal freezing to hide from a predator it didn’t realize already had it in its grasp. And that predator inside me wanted to devour her, to take her and make her mine, hold her down, impale her, sheathe myself in her.

For a heartbeat, we both stood unmoving, trembling as the power of possibilities swirled around us, enveloping us, moving between us and into us until it heated the air around us, until our breath moved back and forth between our lungs, hot with the knowledge of what could be.

Was this it? Was this what her power felt like? How it would manifest?

I had expected it to explode into the air, snapping like a silk flag unfurling, like wings shaking out, like an object hurled into the air and then boomeranging back.

We stood there in perfect anticipation, waiting.

Butnothing happened.

And after a moment, Lara shook her head, as if bringing herself out of some kind of spell.

Pulling my glove off of one hand and tucking it into my breeches pocket, I brushed my thumb across her lip, wiping away a single speck of dirt that had flown up into her face during the fight.

Her skin was soft, supple, pliant. I merely touched it and pulled my hand away.

Her tongue, small and pink, darted out to swipe over where I had just touched. And then she caught the lip between her teeth.

I bit back a groan and shifted to keep her from seeing my reaction. I didn’t want her to know how much she affected me.

And then I kissed her. Every part of me ached and strained toward her, quivering with the need to bring any one of those possibilities to life.

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