Winter's Kiss (31 page)

He pulled her up and she threw her arms around his neck, her lips covering his. A delicious feeling of lightness spread through her when he kissed her, his mouth caressing hers so softly that her lips tingled and she couldn’t stop herself from smiling.

She melted into him, her mind racing as she tried to force herself to comprehend that this was really happening. It was Winter’s strong hands holding her waist. It was Winter’s body against hers. It was Winter’s lips claiming hers in a kiss so full of love that she wanted to cry.

It had been too long. It had felt as though she had waited for eternity, starved of his touch and his love.

A deep laugh filled the room and another joined it.

“If I had known that things had been left so direly, I would have brought Winter back to you earlier,” Hyperion said.

Nika released Winter and blushed ten shades of crimson when she realised that everyone was watching them. Looking at Winter, she was stunned to see that he didn’t look at all bothered by this or what his
lord
had said.

Winter smiled at her again, his soft bowed lips reddened by their kiss. Her gaze fell to the point where her body was still resting against his, their hips close together, and she noticed that he wasn’t wearing his armour. In

place of it and his shirt was a tall-collared black jacket and neat trousers tucked into highly polished black knee-high boots. The uniform was impeccable and such a contrast to her clothing that she had to smile. He was morbid black against her sunshine yellow.

She grinned.

She hoped that he would never change. She only ever wanted to see him in black, in a colour that suited what he really was—a creature of darkness and of the night. Her vampire.

Well, there was another colour that she liked on him. Nude pink.

“Good relations between the Validus and the werewolves would require a visit at least once a month,” Hyperion said.

She frowned at him at the same time as Winter.

Hyperion raised his eyebrows and his hands. “Perhaps once a fortnight then, and a stay of two or three days. If Dmitri would agree?”

The hulking mass of werewolf grinned. “Da. Such frequent visits would be good for our relations. Though, the little woman bears his mark. Relations are good already, no?”

Nika cringed, her cheeks scalding at Dmitri’s remark. Winter averted his gaze.

Dmitri and Hyperion laughed.

“I believe you can show the envoy to your quarters now and perhaps start improving relations between your species.” Hyperion waved towards the door.

273

Nika stared at the floor, dying inside at the filthy comments directed at her and the obvious amusement her relationship with Winter caused.

She left the room in silence, not daring to raise her head to see if Winter would follow. She didn’t want to see the grins on the two men’s faces. Her cheeks were already blazing.

The door closed
and
she smiled inside when she sensed Winter behind her. Close. Walking down the corridor, the sense of warmth glowing through her increased when Winter fell into step beside her and then his hand slipped into hers. He held it gently and she savoured the touch as though it was their first.

She looked up at him, conscious that her cheeks were still tinted pink. She was probably clashing with her dress by now. Her whole body felt hot and prickly. It was either embarrassment or Winter’s
touch
making her burn.

“Will they always be so crass?” she said with a furrowed brow and expression that was somewhere between desperate hope and utter defeat.

Winter shrugged, his wide shoulders shifting with it. His grip on her hand increased.

“Lord Hyperion finds other people’s affairs of the heart amusing. He has always been this way and I doubt that he will change now for our sake.” His words weren’t a
comfort
at all.

When silence fell between them again, it felt strange and stifling, and made her feel as though she should try to say something to break it and bring them back to a level of comfort and ease.

They turned the corner and walked up the stairs that she had almost fallen down on her way to the kitchen. Her thoughts drifted to the tray and she wished that she had taken a glass of wine now. She was sure it would have settled her stomach and made this less awkward. She hadn’t expected it to be like this. There was so much that she wanted to tell him. She wanted to tell him everything that had happened since he had left and she wanted to hear everything. The sound of his voice would soothe her and make the reality sink in—he had come back. Not only that, but he had been given permission to return for a few days each fortnight. She couldn’t have dreamed a more beautiful reunion.

Well, she might have left out their lords ridiculing and this awkward silence.

“Thanks for coming back,” she said and immediately cringed at how stupid that sounded.

Peeking up at Winter, she hoped that he wouldn’t think she was being cold and indifferent. All she wanted to do was throw her arms around him and kiss him into oblivion again, but the middle of a corridor was hardly the place for that sort of behaviour and she didn’t want to jeopardise her new position as Mia’s aide.

She didn’t want them to take Winter away from her again.

Winter laughed and her brows rose.

“Do not thank me,” he said and turned down another hall with her. They were almost at her
bedroom
now. Anticipation and excitement was a Molotov cocktail inside her waiting to go off at any moment. “I came back out of selfish need and desire.”

She frowned when he stopped. They were so close. She could see her door. She looked around them at the hall and then relaxed when she saw it was clear and something dawned on her. Winter would be using his senses to check that they were alone. He wouldn’t let anyone spoil this moment.

His other hand rose and he brushed the backs of his fingers across her cheek. The smile in his deep blue eyes made her pulse quicken and her mouth turn dry. She licked her lips and swallowed to clear the sticky lump from her throat.

“I came back more for my sake than yours,” he whispered on a sigh. “I could not live without you.”

Tears blurred her vision and she blinked them away, not wanting to look like the ridiculous simpering girl that he had left two months ago. She was stronger now. She wanted him to see that. With a smile, she caught hold of his hand and held it against her cheek, leaning into his palm.

“They are not joking about the position. I can come and visit you once a fortnight. There is no law against working with werewolves. The Law Keepers will not interfere unless they hear of our relationship and your lord and mine have seen to it that all will remain silent about it.”

The strange dream that she had been living these past few minutes became a reality on hearing him say those words. Happiness crashed over her in a wave so strong that she feared it would carry her away.

Her little smile broadened until she was grinning.

Winter’s gaze shifted to the marks on her throat and she touched them. The fire in his eyes was as bright as ever, burning her skin with its heat. He brushed her fingers aside to caress the scars and his eyes narrowed on them. There was a hint of something in his dark blue irises—love, affection and tenderness, but something more at the same time. Happiness. She realised that as his fingers moved to her hairline behind her ear. He was glad that she was showing off his marks to the world.

“Not many look at them now. A few still do, but most intentionally avoid seeing them.” Her fingers caressed the prominent bumps of his mark on her throat again and she smiled at him when he looked concerned. “I could hide them if people’s attitudes upset me, but they don’t. I don’t care what anyone thinks… at least anyone but you. I am yours, Winter, and I want everyone to know that.”

His lips bowed into a slight smile and it felt good to sense such calm emotions in him. The conflict she had grown used to seeing in his eyes was gone. Whatever he had been up to in their time
apart,
it had freed him of his fears and had eased his worries.

She looked down when his fingers skimmed along her collarbone and came to rest in the hollow between them. He frowned, pensive, his gaze fixed on that spot.

“I have something of yours,” he whispered, the frown still in place, and she wondered what it could be. “Although I am reluctant to surrender it.”

Her frown mirrored his.

What could he possibly have of hers and why had he taken it? Had he wanted a memento of her and their time together? She had often played with the dagger he had left with her. Most days she wore it on the belt of her trousers. Tonight it lay on her dressing table, beside her diary and the book in which she had written down her memories of Winter. She no longer needed to read that book when she wanted to remember him. Now she would see him so often that she would never forget a thing they had done together.

He reached into his pocket and her eyebrows rose in curiosity when he pulled his hand out and held it, fist clenched, in front of her face. She gasped when his fingers opened slightly and something dropped in a flash of gold. Swinging from the chain held in his hand was the little cross that her parents had given her.

Winter had
taken
it.

“I thought it was lost,” she said
and
went to touch it but stopped before her fingertips reached it. She frowned at Winter. He stared at the cross, his expression showing no sign of fear. The cross didn’t bother him. “I thought you didn’t like crosses. Why take it?”

“Because it is a part of you.” His voice was low and he undid the clasp.

She stood still and patient as he placed the two ends of the chain around her neck and fastened it. He ran his fingers down the chain and stroked the cross.

“It is a part of you and has kept me company during the long nights that we have been apart.”

Her heart skipped a beat and thudded against her chest. He had missed her. He really had missed her.

“You can touch it?” Curiosity got the better of her and she touched the cross. It felt good around her neck.

“I can now,” he said and when she frowned, he opened his hand to reveal a cross-shaped scar on his palm. “I once could not.”

It was her cross that had branded his flesh. The mark was angry and red, as though it refused to fade. How long had he had that scar? When had he taken the cross? As usual, she had a million questions that she wanted to ask him and she hoped that he had the patience to answer them all.

“How come you can touch it now, if it did that to you before?” Her fingers ran over the mark on his palm. She wished that she could make it go away. She felt terrible that something of hers had hurt him, marked him so deeply.

“I found a man who could remove the blessing. It is the blessing that makes it dangerous to me. Now it is merely a cross.” He paused and gave her a wary look. She realised that she was staring at him, frowning. “I hope I did not do wrong. The cross is still the cross. I only rendered it safe for me to carry.”

“You carry it?” she said, any sense of anger forgotten as she searched his eyes. If he’d had to remove the blessing so he could safely carry the cross with him, then she could never be angry with him about it.

He nodded and touched the cross again. “It is with me always, Nika.”

Tears filled her eyes. The sentiment behind his words and the affection in his eyes warmed her heart. She stepped into his embrace and pressed her cheek against his chest, her arms wrapping around his waist. He sighed and pressed a kiss to her hair as he held her close, his arms strong against her, giving her the impression that from now on he would never let her go.

“You can take it with you when you go, so that we’re never apart,” she whispered and closed her eyes. A tear traced down her cheek. “I have your dagger and your marks to remind me of you.”

“You are very kind, Nika,” he said and she drew back, frowning up at him.

“Not kind. Selfish. I am very selfish.”

“I do not see how.” His fingers brushed her cheek, soft and slow, an affectionate caress that left her in no doubt of his love.

“I am selfish because I want you to carry my cross and see it and think of me so you’ll miss me and you’ll always come back to me.”

He laughed, light and short, his eyes lighting up with it. “You have no need to fear. I will always come back to you, Nika. I cannot live without you. I have spent these two months lost in my thoughts, so much so that my lord was forced to intervene before I became a total recluse and shunned all my duties by watching the horizon for the night that would bring me back to you. He believes that by reuniting us and disguising our relationship from the Law Keepers that he will be reuniting himself with his commander. It seems he relies on me more than I had thought.”

She cursed him for being able to put things so eloquently and in a way that melted her to her core. When he had left, she had been sure that he would go back to his own life. To hear that she had been on his mind to the extent that he had even shunned his duties made her smile inside. She had affected him just as she had hoped that she would and it had worked. Her show of love for him and her persistence in being close to him during their time together had brought him back to her. She was about to tiptoe to kiss him as a reward for such sweet words when a door along the corridor opened and three guards walked out. Their presence was a reminder that her and Winter weren’t in the best place for their conversation let alone kissing each other. She stepped to one side with Winter, conscious that the men were watching them. When they had passed, she realised that Winter had his hand on his sword.