by L. P. Dover
Closing her eyes, she huffed and tightened her hands into fists beside her. “I don’t hate anyone as much as I hate your mother. I didn’t know that she fancied Alaric and that they had once been lovers. When he met me, their relationship had ended and she had moved on to another warrior. However, when she noticed him not panting along after her she got suspicious and decided to follow him to the mortal realm.”
“So she saw you two together,” I cut in, ashamed that my mother could be so cruel. I knew where this story was going and I didn’t like it one bit.
Queen Mab nodded. “Yes, she saw us together and turned us in. I never got to say good-bye to him.”
My heart broke for her because I couldn’t imagine falling in love with someone only to have them ripped away and not be able to say good-bye. Although, most of all, I felt anger. How could my mother do that? How could she be so damn selfish and vindictive?
My voice shook when I responded, “Where is he now? Did my mother have him killed?”
“She might as well have,” she remarked. “He was banished to the mortal realm and I was banished from the mortal realm. I don’t know if he’s alive or dead. All I know is that I’ve hated your mother ever since and I will hate her to the end of my time.”
“Angel, are you all right?” Brayden inquired through our bond. “I can feel your anger and despair.”
He rode up beside the carriage and I peered out the window at him. I nodded my head and answered, trying to smile, “I’m fine, Brayden. You’re mother and I were talking and she told me some things that—”
“What did she say to upset you?” he interrupted, a scowl on his face. When I glanced over at Queen Mab she lifted a brow in question, but then realized what we were doing. She then smirked and sat there, watching us in amusement.
I huffed and rolled my eyes at Brayden, except a part of me couldn’t help but notice how sexy he looked riding on his horse. His muscles bulged in his arms as he held onto the reins and his body also moved gracefully along with his horse’s as they galloped along beside us. Stop it, Ariella, I chided myself.
Through the bond, I groaned. “Calm down, caveman. She didn’t say anything ill toward me. She told me something about my mother, something that made me realize how happy I am to be away from her.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Would you like to talk to me about it later?”
“Are you going to actually talk to me or are we going to stare at each other and do this mind to mind mojo shit?” I asked, a hint of a smile tilting the corner of my lips.
“As soon as we get to our place I’m all yours. You can talk to me as long as you want, angel.”
“Our place? What do you mean our place?” I shrieked.
Brayden winked at me and rode off, leaving me hanging. “You’ll like it when you see it, Princess. Don’t worry … I’m not going to ravish you against your will. I’m going to wait until you beg for it.”
“Not going to happen,” I muttered quickly, watching his backside as he left.
“We’ll see,” he teased in his deep, seductive voice. “We will see …”
Queen Mab spoke up, taking my mind off of Brayden’s wayward thoughts. “So what is my son saying to you?”
I rolled my eyes and sighed, hoping to keep the blush from spreading to my cheeks. “Oh just the usual caveman stuff that he’s been known to spout out.”
Queen Mab doubled over, laughing. “I do believe you two are going to be a great match for each other. You are certainly going to keep him on his toes.”
“Yes, I am,” I agreed wholeheartedly, and then to myself I mumbled, “And he’s going to keep me on mine.”
WHEN WE ARRIVED in the Winter Court, I was expecting to feel the bite of the cold breeze against my skin, but it never came. I bent down to grab a handful of snow, and smiled when it didn’t freeze my fingers or turn them blue. No wonder the Winter Fae could walk around in just their bare skin. I gazed around in awe at the white covered terrain and the gray clouds above dropping thousands of giant-sized snowflakes. I caught one in my hand, expecting it to melt, but it sat there, whole and still together.
“This is fascinating,” I breathed, filling my lungs with everything Winter. “It feels like …”
“Home?” Brayden finished, sidling up beside me.
I looked over at him. “Yes, it does. It feels like I’ve always belonged to the Winter.”
His brown eyes softened as he moved closer. “It’s because you have, angel.” I searched around quickly and noticed that we were alone on the palace steps. How could that be? There were people out here just a few seconds ago.
“Wait! Where did everyone go?” I asked. “They were just out here not too long ago.”
Brayden chuckled and shook his head. “Yes, they were, but that was about an hour ago.”
“Oh, wow,” I laughed. “I guess I got carried away with being here.”
I gazed up at him, our eyes locking with mutual desire. I wanted him to kiss me—hell, I wanted him to do more than kiss me—but I knew it would be selfish to do so. He looked down at my lips and started to lower his head. My heart thumped wildly in my chest and all I wanted was to take what was mine. Even though we hadn’t known each other long, he was mine … if only for a short while.
Giving in to my selfish desires, I let Brayden close the distance. His lips hovered over mine for an instant before they claimed me. He pulled me closer against his body as he deepened the kiss, and opened up the connection to his soul.
“I will prove to you that I’m worthy,” he whispered in my head. His fingers ran circles over my back, making my skin tremble and shake under his touch.
My hands went straight to his short brown hair, which had grown a little longer over the past few days, and then down along the roughness of the stubble along his chin. I could just picture myself running my hands through his dark tresses while we made love, and feel the hair across his face rubbing along the tender flesh of my breasts. I shuddered just thinking about it before I remembered where we were. We were in front of the palace where anyone could see. If the dark sorcerer saw then everything could be in jeopardy. If he keeps thinking I hate Brayden then that should definitely buy me some time.
Pulling away abruptly, I took a couple of steps back and said, “We have to be careful, Brayden. We can’t do this out in the open.”
He lifted his eyebrows slyly and smirked. “Yeah, I don’t think we should either, considering what you had going through your mind. I see you aren’t going to make things easy for me, are you? If you didn’t want to be with me then why were you thinking about—”
I slapped a hand to his mouth to keep him from saying it out loud. “First, I don’t do anything easy,” I challenged. “Second, you can’t just expect me to fall into your arms anytime you want like I’m sure you’re used to with other women.” His smile disappeared but I continued, “Third, if Alasdair can get to me easily like he claims then that could mean he’s watching us. If he thinks we are getting close to finishing the bond then he’s going to come for me. He could tell we weren’t fully bonded when he sniffed me out. We have to watch ourselves and not get carried away.”
Taking my hand, he pulled me up the steps to the palace entrance and I followed. We walked through the foyer and out the back to where I could see the separate dwellings that Brayden, Ryder, and Kalen all lived in when they were here. “I don’t like this, Ariella. We are supposed to be a united front here and you’re asking me to stay away from you. How can I do that when I’m your guardian? Each second I’m near you it takes every single ounce of control I have to keep my distance.”
“I’m sorry, Brayden, but that’s the way it has to be. Right now, Alasdair thinks we hate each other. He’s trying to turn me against you by telling me all the women you’ve been with, and to be honest he’s not the only one who’s told me.” Brayden’s eyes went wide, but before he could speak I held up my hand to stop him and continued, “We can talk about that later, and believe me I’m not happ
y with what I heard. Anyway, like I said, if he thinks we are getting too close then he’s going to come for me. Is that what you want?”
Brayden abruptly let go of my hand, throwing his hands in the air and through his hair, while trudging up the front steps to his cabin, our home. His strides were angry and hard; I flinched with each step he took away from me. When he opened the door to his cabin, he paused and huffed loudly. Without turning to look at me, I could tell he was close to losing control by the anger in his voice when he spoke, “Do you want to know what I want, Ariella? Do you even care?”
I couldn’t form the words to speak because insisting that I didn’t care infuriated me, and of course with my hot temper I couldn’t let it slide. I screamed my next words in his mind, “Yes, I care! Look at me and tell me what you want!”
He finally turned around to pierce me with his anger-filled eyes. “I am sick and tired of having to worry about if my people will be safe when we leave the palace walls. I’ve lost too many good men to the sorcerer’s evil and I’ve had enough. This is our land, not his. He’s dictating what we do and how we live our lives, and I’m done with it. You told me yourself that you want me to prove how sorry I am. How can I do that if you want me to stay away from you? Have you forgotten that without you and me together our courts won’t stand a chance against Alasdair if he takes your power? We’re trailing on thin ice right now until our court is formed.”
“I haven’t forgotten,” I whispered, turning away from his gaze. If we completed the bond now there was no way Alasdair could defeat us. We would be stronger than him, but bonding with Brayden through marriage and making love to him was a huge decision … and one I knew I wanted to make. However, I knew we couldn’t take that step.
“Why are you closing yourself off from me?” Brayden hissed. “I know you have to be feeling something in that body of yours, but all I get is nothing. If distance is what you want, then distance is what you’ll get, Princess. From now on, my thoughts are mine. When you’re ready you can come to me, and I’ll let you back in. However, until you open yourself up to me I’m done.”
I gasped as the inner connection with him completely shut off, leaving me feeling hollow and bleak on the inside. I didn’t realize what a comfort it was having his presence inside my soul until he took it away. It saddened me, but above all else it pissed me off. He completely let his pride get in the way and let reasoning fly out the window, or in this case get carried off into the snowy wind.
Instead of going into his dwelling, he stalked down the stairs straight past me without even a sideways glance. “Where are you going?” I hollered from my frozen spot on the porch steps.
I wanted to run after him and demand he stop being an ass, except my pride kept me from doing that. Maybe we were alike in that instance. We both had extreme amounts of pride and neither one of us wanted to waver.
He kept walking and didn’t even turn around to acknowledge me when he responded silently, “It’s midday and it is time for me to train with my warriors. Pick any room in my house that you want. I don’t know when I’ll be back.”
“Oh, that’s comforting, guardian. I guess it’s a good thing I can take care of myself then,” I snapped.
“I guess so,” he replied, and after that, the connection went silent.
I WATCHED BRAYDEN walk away. With each passing moment it killed me not to chase after him and argue some sense into him, but I knew it wouldn’t work. He wasn’t like any other man I knew, and no amount of yelling or reasoning with him would work. However, there was a way I was going to get him to listen.
When I entered Brayden’s dwelling, it wasn’t what I expected. There were bookshelves along the side wall with hundreds of books stacked neatly on the shelves. Skimming a finger over the novels, they ranged from the everyday classics to history and philosophy. Has he read all of these? I wondered.
Several of my bags were tucked into a corner of the living room, so I grabbed the one I needed and headed up the stairs. I went into the first room I came to and threw my bag on the enormous bed sitting majestically in the middle of the room. The colors were almost the exact shades of blue and silver as my room in the Summer Court. It was almost uncanny how alike they were. Changing quickly into my armor—my Summer armor—I secured my breastplate and the laces of my vambraces on my arms. All I needed now was my sword and I’d be ready to go.
Once I had my sword, I set out on my way to find Brayden and his warriors. The snow stuck to my braid, making my bright blonde hair appear even whiter than what it already was. It didn’t melt, but clung to it like a blanket of protection. I could feel the land calling me to complete the bond with Brayden. It was like a song I heard in my head over and over the moment I stepped inside the Winter Court boundary. I had overheard my sisters talk about the feeling they got when the land called to them. It was like a magnet pulling you in a direction that you knew you couldn’t go to yet, and it took all I had to ignore it calling me.
Searching around the palace grounds, it didn’t take me long to hear the clanging of swords, or the battle cries and grunts of the warriors as they fought against each other. I flattened myself against the side wall of the palace and slowly tilted my head around the corner so I could see them. Their training field was just as large as ours in Summer, except this one was covered in snow and adorned with hundreds of warriors in black and silver instead of brown and gold. I was going to be the odd one out. I watched quietly as Brayden gave his orders and directed them in a series of thrusts and dodges. I could tell he was a good leader just by the way he paid attention to his men and the determination in his eyes to make them better fighters.
Taking a deep breath, I left the cover of the wall and slowly sauntered out through the crowd with my head held high. The warriors halted in mid-motion, bowing as I walked past them heading toward Brayden. He hadn’t turn to acknowledge me, but with the rigid stance and the tenseness in his muscles I knew he could feel I was there.
“What are you doing here?” Brayden asked, his voice bland and disinterested as he kept his back to me.
“I’m not going to answer that question until you turn to face me,” I snapped. The warriors around us gasped and halted with their mouths wide open, staring back and forth at us.
Brayden crossed his arms over his chest and finally turned to face me. Yep, he was back to being the emotionless bastard that he was before. However, I was going to fix that problem … fast. Now that I had his attention I said, “Whether you like it or not I’m here to train. Either you can fight with me or I’ll find one of these other handsome warriors to teach me a thing or two.”
When all he did was clench his teeth, I backed away from him and pulled out my sword, turning around so I could address the warriors. “All right, since Prince Brayden won’t answer me, who here wants to fight me and help me train?”
Several of the warriors smiled while others looked to Brayden for guidance. I heard one of them whispering to another, “I don’t feel right about fighting his queen.”
Brayden heard the fighter say it too because his gaze instantly found mine. “I’m not his queen,” I announced, narrowing my eyes at him.
“She’s right,” he agreed. “She’s not my queen. If she wants to fight then let’s show her how we do it in the Winter Court.”
The guys all hollered and resumed back to their fighting, except I caught several of them sneak glances my way to watch me battle. Brayden picked a couple of his warriors to stand back and join me, all circling me like I was their prey. With my sword gripped firmly in my right hand, I was ready. However, I couldn’t stop myself from taunting Brayden just a little bit more. He was standing outside of the circle, watching on with a smirk on his face.
“What’s wrong, Prince Brayden, afraid you might get your ass kicked?” I teased.
Brayden’s smirk grew wider and he retorted back, “Not at all, Princess. I just have to see if you are worthy enough to fight me.”
“Asshole,” I hissed in his mind, n
arrowing my eyes at him angrily. If he wanted worthy, I’d show him how worthy of a fighter I was.
Not waiting on the others to attack, I shifted on my feet and kicked the warrior’s legs—who was standing in front of me—out from under him. He went down quickly, but then got right back up, snarling at me, “You are a sneaky one, aren’t you?”
“That’s what I’ve been known for,” I chided.
He attacked this time along with two other warriors. I fought three of them at once while Brayden watched on curiously, keeping his gaze neutral. I took a few hits knowing my body was going to be sore afterwards, but it was worth it to make Brayden sweat. He finally began showing some emotion when one of the warriors started getting a little too close to me. His gaze grew hard and annoyed, and I could tell he’d had enough.
“Stop!” he yelled. He pulled out his sword and approached the four of us, keeping his eyes steadily on me. When he reached us, he quickly glanced at the three warriors and growled, “Back up, all of you. She’s mine now.”
The air around us turned electric, and it charged me with a newfound force. I was ready to fight him even though I’d been battling it out and using all my strength. The fire in his eyes let me know he wasn’t going to take it easy on me, and I welcomed it.
“Let’s see what you got,” I said.
His wolfish smile was answer enough, but he silently added, “Gladly.”
Brayden delivered the first blow by swinging his body around in a circle and swiping his sword against the armor on my stomach, except he didn’t even touch me because I backed up just in time. Our swords clanged against each other, echoing across the field, as we fought. The other warriors had ceased their training and came to stand around us, watching intently as their prince fought the woman who was supposed to one day be his queen.
It wasn’t just the warriors who crowded around; other Winter Fae had joined in the entertainment as well. I waited on him to use the moves that I knew he would use toward the end of the fight. Kamden had taught me the Winter warrior ways when I trained with him in the Spring Court. I was ready, but I knew Brayden didn’t know I would use his moves against him.