Page 89 of The Death King

My body shook as he jerked me. “I…” I felt my body shiver again, the same shaking I’d experienced all night long.

His voice was less forceful now. “Calista.” His hand went to my neck—and his touch felt like fire. A piece of firewood that had been pulled from the flames and branded into my skin. But it didn’t hurt. It felt incredible.

Pretty?

Yes?

Then I heard Talon’s voice, but it wasn’t spoken out loud, but spoken into my mind. I need you to get up, Calista.

I—I can’t.

Her pulse is weak.

She must be hypothermic.

His hands started to touch me in whatever places he could access. She’s ice. He unzipped the bedroll and started to pull off the pieces of armor and the clothes underneath.

Seemed counterintuitive to my needs but I was too weak to protest.

I’ll warm her up. You search for Inferno.

I won’t leave Pretty when she’s like this.

There’s nothing you can do. It’ll take hours. Now go.

There was no further argument.

I lay there, feeling the cold from being in nothing but my underwear. Moments later, his body joined mine in the bedroll. His skin was white-hot to the touch, and I could feel it everywhere…because he was naked.

He sealed the bedroll closed, our bodies enveloped in the fleece and the warmth generated from his body.

I was out of it, aware enough to know my surroundings but too weak to shake it. But I could feel the warmth, the first touch of it since we’d left the castle. It was like sitting right in front of the fire in a cozy room. I could even see the light through my eyelids, see something golden.

His arms circled my body and guided me close, letting me absorb his heat through touch.

It felt so good I could cry.

I could actually feel again.

“Calista?”

I lay there.

“Say something, please.”

It took all my energy to break through the fog, to find the ability to speak. “I…” It was the most I could muster.

He breathed a sigh of relief. “You’ll feel better soon.”

“I—I’m sorry I—I’m so weak…”

There was a long pause, a stretch of silence. “You aren’t weak, Calista. Far from it.”

When I woke up, I was sweaty.

My eyes opened, and I was aware of how hot I was, the sweat that clung to my skin. I could see Talon’s hard chest right against my face, his hard stomach below. His head was above the covers, so I pulled back the bedroll so I could breathe air that wasn’t so heavy and humid.

His eyes immediately went to me, alert and focused, like he hadn’t napped while he’d lain with me for who knew how long.