Page 28 of The Frost Touched Queen

I go to the tips of my toes, and softly place my lips on his. I feel his body go rigid but then quickly soften, giving sway to my kiss. His lips are warm. So warm. Tender yet strong. Just like him. Just like my Levi.

But just as I try to deepen the kiss, Levi growls and pulls away, keeping his hands on my waist.

“Levi,” I stammer.

“You’re in shock, Kat. We need to get you home. Get you out of these clothes and into the safety of your father’s castle.” He then turns his attention to the slayed men, their blood polluting the white driven snow. “I was reckless. I should have kept them alive and let your father deal out their punishment. He’ll be upset that I took that right from him.”

“He won’t.” I sob, my smile splitting my face in two. “He’ll reward your bravery. I’ll make sure he does.”

“That wasn’t bravery, princess. It was vengeance.”

The way he says the word should frighten me, but it doesn’t. Like a warm winter coat, it envelops around my heart, making the blood coursing through my veins heat up with glee.

“How did you know to come find me?” I ask, not wanting us to go home just yet.

“Atlas.” He frowns. “When you refused to listen to his counsel and stubbornly came into this forest all by your lonesome, he found me. I told him to find our fathers and tell them that you were in danger, and rushed to follow you before the snow could cover your tracks. I was close to losing my mind when the snowfall began covering them all. But then I heard you scream out. It was your voice that led me to you,” he says affectionately, running his thumb over my lower lip. He then remembers himself and pulls it away, leaving me bereft of his touch. “I’m sure by now your father has a search party covering these woods. Best find them and save any wretched soul that they might find on the way.”

I offer him a nod, my palms still holding on to his lapels.

“I’ll never be able to repay you for saving me, Levi. Never.”

His cheeks turn pink as his gaze falls to my lips once more.

“Maybe one day you can. One day when another man’s blood isn’t covering your pretty face.”

There is this unexplained feeling that takes over my lower belly.

He thinks I’m pretty.

Why that matters, I’m not sure.

I’m not the type of girl who hasn’t heard her fair share of praise, but to have it come from Levi?

Means something to me.

I stare into his emerald eyes and lose myself in their safe meadows. The need to kiss him again is overwhelming, but just as I try to steal another from him, we both hear a snap of a twig nearby. Levi raises his sword, pushing me to stand behind him.

“Show your face! Who’s there?” Levi shouts out.

It’s only the fear that there are more villains ready to pop out the woodwork that has me hiding behind Levi’s back. But when my eyes lock on Teo walking toward us, my anger comes forth with the power of a thousand suns, making me step out of Levi’s shadow. I’m about to lunge myself at him, scream in his face, wanting to know where the hell he had been hiding when I was about to get raped and killed—and not necessarily in that order—when Levi prevents me from getting in a word edgewise, holding me back from unleashing my fury on our friend.

“See what your selfishness has done?” Levi belts in my stead. “See what the repercussions of your thoughtless actions are? She could have died, Teodoro. She could have fucking died. And for that?! I should kill you where you stand.”

Teo, looking grief-stricken, takes another step toward us, as if ready for Levi to do just that.

“Do it,” he orders without missing a beat. “Do it, Levi, now that I’ve given you reason to. You’ve been dying to use that sword against me since we were knee-high. Do it. Do it! Show Katrina just exactly who you are. Because believe me, I may be flawed and reckless, but you’re no better. You want what you will never have. Never, Levi! Might as well cut me down now because that is the only way you’ll ever best me.”

Even though his words should be a provocation, it’s his tone that troubles me.

He’s baiting Levi. He wants him to strike him down. And when his pained gaze falls to the men who would have harmed me, I understand why. He thinks he deserves to die for putting me in such perilous danger. It’s only with that realization that my angry animosity for him evaporates from my heart.

There has been enough death for one day.

I won’t let Levi kill Teo.

If I did, it would be like giving Levi permission to kill a piece of my heart too.

So, I do the only thing I can in this situation. I raise my hand and wrap it around Levi’s wrist, ordering him to put down his sword. On cue, he follows my silent command.

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