Betrothed To Jack Frost Box Set

by Alex Gedgaudas

  Jack appeared before her, gently shaking her arms once more. “I can’t die!”

  “But…”

  “No!” snarled Jack. “How do you not understand? How many times must it be shown to you that immortals are not like humans? We can be drowned, stabbed, decapitated, and it doesn’t matter! We wake up as though we were simply recovering from a hangover!” he bellowed. “You? You are not immortal! You will die! What in the Styx is the matter with you?”

  “I…I didn’t w-want you to get hurt,” Elle defended, biting her inner cheek.

  Jack’s expression softened only slightly before he next watched her with what seemed to be more disgust. “I’m not worth dying over, don’t you understand that?” he said under his breath. It was Elle’s silence that inspired him to cup the sides of her neck. He looked like he wanted to kiss her before he seemed to think better of it. Elle couldn’t help feeling disappointed. She struggled with missing him being near her along with knowing not being with him was what was right.

  Jack suddenly released her and began to pace. “And why did you participate in a fight with a goddess?”

  “I kind of started it,” Elle admitted sheepishly, causing Jack’s frosted head to whip up to look at her.

  “What??”

  “I…er…may have started the fight…” She trailed off, awkwardly clearing her throat. “If it counts, Voluptas started it verbally.”

  “And what?” demanded Jack. “You figured after all the knowledge that you don’t have regarding fighting, it was a good idea to challenge someone who has been fighting hundreds of years?”

  Elle’s mouth closed as she was about to reply. She had no valid argument. When he phrased it in such a way, she felt rather stupid. Jack glowered. “What could that foul creature have said that caused you to believe a physical fight was necessary?”

  Elle blushed a deep crimson. She didn’t want to tell him the horrible things the vile goddess had said. Mostly because she didn’t want to further think of the confident bragging where Voluptas felt certain she would be Jack’s wife…

  She closed her eyes in a bid not to relive the horrible words. “Nothing! You just came in and thought worse happened than what did…” Elle trailed off, already seeing Jack wasn’t buying her lie.

  “My gods, you are an atrocious liar. Look at yourself!” Jack snapped. “I think if I hadn’t come looking for you, something much worse would’ve happened! How could you be so stupid?”

  Elle did not look at him as embarrassment took over. He made excellent points; she couldn’t deny that.

  Jack appeared before her yet again, grasping her shoulders tightly. “You jumped in front of Apollo and me,” he accused, his eyes wide. Jack looked like he wanted to hug her close before he thought better of it. “You could not possibly comprehend the willpower it took not to kill Voluptas and that ridiculous excuse of a god that is Apollo.”

  Jack’s grey eyes were looking near silver as he watched her with an angry expression. Elle finally found her voice as he gently began to stroke her cheek with a single finger. “You can’t hurt people just because they make you angry.”

  “I don’t hurt people who solely make me angry,” Jack disagreed heartily, next grabbing a bottle of ambrosia from the first aid kit in the blink of an eye. He popped open the bottle while encouraging Elle to drink. It was only when she took a sip did he continue. “Quite a few people infuriate me, and yet I leave them intact,” he explained, glaring until Elle took another large swig of the sweet-tasting ambrosia. “Voluptas hurt you. I have half a mind to go back there and deliver her to Cerberus and watch him devour her piece by piece!” He shook his head, using a cloth to hold against Elle’s bloody forehead. After carefully removing the blood, Jack still looked annoyed.

  Elle shuddered gently, not feeling well in the slightest. Jack came closer, placing a cool hand on her forehead. “You’re warmer than usual,” he muttered, watching Elle worriedly.

  “Yeah. Apollo thinks my, er…abilities are acting up,” she said, leaning against the large granite countertop to keep herself balanced.

  “And you didn’t feel this was something I should be told?”

  “When would I have gotten the chance to tell you anything when you started yelling at me for fighting Voluptas?” Elle shuddered, causing Jack to come forward and place his cool hands on her arms. A sharp sizzling sounded, causing his deep grey eyes to soften.

  “How long have you been like this?”

  “Since you asked me to marry you,” said Elle, remembering Jack asked her to marry him to become king. It seemed remembering this was what caused the sizzling sound to grow louder. Jack slowly allowed his icy persona to take over, his body becoming a stiff block of pure ice. It didn’t matter that he pressed his cold lips against her forehead or pulled her close to his chest; her temperature didn’t go down. Steam started issuing between, thick enough to start fogging up the bathroom mirrors.

  Elle dared to blink. In the small amount of time it took her to commit this action, Jack transferred their positions to the shower. Sitting himself down on the expensive-looking shower floor, he brought Elle down with him, holding her close as he kept her tight against his cold body in a cradling position. She probably would have objected to this closeness if her aching pain hadn’t returned. Resting her head against his shoulder, Elle found the very strange sizzling noise was still sounding heavily as Jack kept her close. He and Apollo weren’t wrong—she was definitely burning up.

  “Elle…calm down,” said Jack quietly, rocking her slowly. “You need to relax, kitten. The more upset you are, the harder it becomes to control.”

  “How do you know?” Elle asked, shivering as a strange combination of being too hot one moment and then too cold took over. She could’ve laughed at the irony that her twenty-one-year-old body was experiencing hot flashes.

  Jack shuffled her in closer, pressing his ice cold lips against her temple.

  “Back when I was mortal, my abilities would shuffle on and off depending on my mood,” he explained quietly. “They would enhance whenever I was most upset. You should have seen my mother trying to control a seven year old creating a snowstorm during a temper tantrum.” He chuckled dryly. Elle slowly tilted her head to look at him, causing Jack to spare her yet another kiss to the temple. “You want the pain to end? You need to calm down.”

  Elle bit her bottom lip as Jack slowly let go of his icy look to return to normal. She shuddered, realizing she was curled up on his lap, her hands held her arms as her head gently laid against his shoulder.

  “Honestly,” said Jack, his voice calm. “I have no idea why you’re the one having the meltdown. You didn’t propose to someone you love only for the girl to hit you,” he said, attempting to joke. He smiled at her surprised look.

  It was the first time Jack officially said those words, if her memory served. She shook her head. “You only want to marry me for the throne.”

  Jack’s body stiffened as his grey eyes looked more silver than usual. “That’s why you hit me? You think I only asked so I could steal the throne from Oritya?”

  “Why else would I have hit you?”

  “I figured you were displeased with the ring,” admitted Jack, grinning at Elle’s bewilderment.

  He closed his eyes as his arms tightened around Elle’s shoulders and under her legs. “If that were the case, did you really think I would beat around the bush and profess my feelings for you before proposing? Why wouldn’t I just say let’s do it to solve the throne controversy?”

  “I…er…” Elle trailed off, finding she didn’t really have an answer. Perhaps he had a point; Jack was a blunt individual. He would’ve expressed his intentions if he were just wanting to marry her to become king.

  Jack’s annoyed expression morphed to a slightly offended one. “You are such a silly girl.” Elle sadly watched him. “Although that does sound despicably like something I would do,” he muttered, nodding his frosted head. He looked at her, an eyebrow raising as he shook his h
ead. “I’ve only ever been honest with you, Elle. If I wanted to marry you for the throne, I’d have simply recommended we marry so I could steal it from my heartless witch of a stepmother.” Elle gently trembled, the painful feeling in her body slowly subsiding. “Your turn for honesty,” Jack said stiffly. “Why did you fight Voluptas?”

  “Bad day?” Elle tried absentmindedly, causing him to glare. They watched each other quietly, Elle diverting her eyes.

  “You’re not being honest.”

  “Well, you should stop listening to someone’s heart rate. It’s kinda creepy.”

  Jack’s cold hand captured Elle’s jaw to gently force her to look at him. “It’s not your heart rate that’s showing you’re not being honest. You can’t look me in the eye when you lie to me.”

  “It’s not important.”

  “All right, have it your way. Until you start being honest, I’m not allowing you to move.”

  Elle gently glared. She then attempted to stand, only to find he was indeed very serious with not allowing her to move. Further attempts to escape did nothing to remove her from his grasp. “Seriously?”

  “You’re burning up,” Jack replied dryly. “Until you tell me what’s troubling you, you’ll never feel better,” he warned, causing Elle to look away guiltily. “Your emotions are what’s causing your abilities to fire up…no pun intended.”

  “You’re just mad that I slapped you.”

  To her surprise, Jack started to laugh. He shook his frosted white head in amusement. “I had quite a few strange emotions after your hit, but anger was not one of them.” He then attempted to use a hand to coax her head back onto his shoulder, only to be surprised Elle wouldn’t let him. “Are you going to drop the act yet?” he asked, almost thoughtfully.

  This comment took her by surprise. “What act?”

  “You’re acting as though you don’t want to be near me,” said Jack quietly, watching her with his deep grey eyes. “I don’t believe you.”

  “So you disregarded everything I said last night, huh?”

  “No,” Jack said, his left hand gently rubbing small circles underneath her legs. She could feel how cold his hands were even through the fabric of her dress. “You never said you did not have feelings for me. You simply stated you wish for me to find someone who makes me happy,” he recalled, scowling for a moment as he watched her. “You need to stop biting your bottom lip, my dear. It’s very distracting.”

  Elle shuddered as his grey eyes watched her mouth with a hungry expression. Her teeth released her lip, a small shiver taking over as he carefully watched her. Jack frowned before continuing. “I found someone who, in spite of absolutely infuriating me at times, also gives me a strange amount of happiness when I’m around her,” he said, leaning his head down toward hers. His deep grey eyes bored into her own, indicating she was the girl he was referring to. “Now, before I say anything more, I want to know what Voluptas said that caused you to fight her.”

  “Nothing.”

  Jack next buried his head into the crook of Elle’s neck, inhaling deeply before placing a kiss on it. “I’m very disappointed in your inability to be honest over something so simple. Say why you started the fight, or I’ll bite you.”

  Elle would’ve jumped off his lap if not for his cold arms still holding her in place. He couldn’t be serious. To her dismay, Jack deeply kissed the spot on her neck with his chilled lips right before his set of white teeth started gently taking her flesh between his teeth.

  “You wouldn’t!”

  He grinned against her skin. “Oh contraire, my beloved,” Jack disagreed quietly, kissing the same spot before gently blowing on it. A small hint of his saliva left on her neck felt oh so cold as he gently blew on the spot next.

  “Okay, okay! She started bragging,” Elle said, mortified at how attractive and frightening Jack could sound. She started attempting to squirm away only for him to shift their positions. He next moved Elle to rest between his legs, her back suddenly against his cold torso. One cold hand locked around her waist while another started playing with the end of her long braid that had started to come undone since the fight with Voluptas.

  “Bragging about what?” he inquired curiously.

  “Just…the…usual.”

  “That’s a bit vague,” he noted, one hand gently rubbing at her ribs where Apollo’s fireball burned through her dress. He gently placed a cool kiss on another part of her neck, his lips moving toward her ear.

  Elle shivered. “You asked why I started the fight, and I told you.”

  “You told me something that frankly does not make sense. You held the ability to ignore me for days, and yet for the twenty minutes that we weren’t with each other, you couldn’t ignore Voluptas?”

  “She’s more annoying than you are?” tried Elle, causing Jack to sigh deeply.

  “I wish you would start being honest. I would really hate to mar your beautiful skin…”

  “You’re not funny.”

  “Who said I’m trying to be?” replied Jack playfully. “Now, are you going to share the real reason you attacked her?” He pressed a soft kiss once more against her neck. Elle was suddenly fighting the strange desire to withhold answering him to keep his mouth where it was. Maybe biting wouldn’t be so bad. It would keep his mouth on her…

  Elle tried to rearrange her thoughts. “Um…”

  Jack gently tightened his grip as he held her. Not uncomfortable by his touch in the slightest, Elle used her own arms to cradle the arm he used to hold her still. “I thought you desired to get away from me?” he challenged coolly.

  “I don’t desire that,” said Elle, embarrassed to look at him upon this reveal.

  From the corner of her eye, Jack looked the teeniest bit smug. He sighed. “I wish to stop fighting what this is between us and simply enjoy being with you. You feel the same, but are resisting your feelings. Why?”

  Elle turned her head to watch him sadly. “You’ll be sad dating me.”

  “Dating?” Jack snorted. “Elle, I don’t date. I’m making my intentions quite clear; you’re mine. If you give me a chance, we shall solely be courting.”

  “Courting?” Elle frowned, thinking of the terminology. “Seriously?”

  “What?” defended Jack. “My mother raised me to believe courting meant you’re leading the person you want to marriage.”

  “Huh. So since you don’t do dating, how many people have you courted?”

  Jack growled an inhuman sound as his hand started roughly tickling Elle’s stomach. It had apparently been the wrong question to ask him. She squirmed with giggles as she struggled to move away from him. She couldn’t believe he was actually doing something so relatively normal on the floor of the shower. Elle was thankful he resorted to tickling instead of biting. She laughed in his arms, causing Jack to release one of those breathtaking genuine smiles of his as he watched her.

  “I didn’t think you would enjoy that so much,” he said. He moved her closer against his body to the point Elle’s head was now lying against his collarbone. She shivered as he affectionately used a finger to lightly caress her throat. “I’ve never courted a woman because I’ve never wanted to marry before. How are you still not seeing that?”

  Elle sighed, trying not to squirm as Jack’s cold arms now moved to wrap around her stomach. “Look at me,” he said, nudging his head against hers. “Stop being sad. If I am willing to overlook two hundred years of self-pity and anger, why can’t you be happy?”

  Elle saw he made a good point. He had hundreds of years of reasoning to believe being with her was a bad idea. She had a few months to feel indecisive over the matter. Why was she so against simply being with him even after he’d slowly been trying to accept it? Elle snapped her fingers in a silly bid to think of a valid response, only for a flame to flicker alive as if she just struck a match. “Ah!”

  Jack chuckled as he used a pale hand to grasp Elle’s. Immediately, the flames went out, leaving steam in their wake. His fingers tightene
d around hers as he sat his chin atop of her head. “Come on, Firecracker. Tell me what’s wrong.”

  “Nothing is wrong.”

  “You’re burning up again. You’re upset, and you’re going to tell me why. Otherwise, I’m leaving you here to go rip off Voluptas’s jaw in a bid to find out why for myself…”

  “She said I’ll die,” Elle finally muttered, leaning her head back against his chest to avoid looking at him. She didn’t want to admit what had her rattled enough to stupidly attack the goddess. She shuddered as Jack gently nudge her to continue. “She said I’ll die and she’ll be your queen, and she’ll…and she’ll be our baby’s new mom.” Elle didn't realize she had started gently crying until Jack leaned down to look at her. The word felt strange leaving her mouth. Baby. It was such a small and gentle word, and yet it caused Elle’s eyes to water upon saying it. She didn’t reference the kid as an heir or a hypothetical child as she had previously done. Those words provided distance. Now when she thought of Jack and the idea of him having a child, she imagined a little baby who owned a pair of too-grey eyes and snow-white hair. She imagined that any baby Jack had would be just as inhumanly beautiful as he was.

  “What?” Jack questioned in a hiss of a whisper, his entire posture stiffening behind her.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Elle said quickly, shaking her head. She didn’t want him to leave her here to go kill Voluptas. “She’s not worth attacking.”

  “I beg to differ on that, but that’s not what I’m angry about,” Jack replied hotly, surprising her.

  “You believe her, don’t you?” Elle closed her eyes, not wanting to answer. Another low growl of a noise sounded from his throat, causing her to open them to find he was glaring down at her.

  “After everything I’ve told you, you actually believe Voluptas when she says those things will happen?”

  “No,” Elle disagreed in a small voice. She didn’t really believe she was destined to die simply because a prophecy or two said so. She was upset by Voluptas’s words for a different reason.

  Judging by the cold stare Jack provided, it was obvious to Elle he did not like this one-word explanation. “Well, obviously you think so little of me to feel I would make her my queen even after everything I’ve shared with you.”