Page 59 of Kingdom of Spirits

“We have to hope.”

“Telling myself to feel things doesn’t make it happen.”

“Doesn’t it?” she asked. “Try telling yourself over and over and over. Hold to that like you hold my heart.”

He finally looked up and met her gaze. The desperation in his stormy eyes sent a bolt of lightning down her body, hitting her heart and restarting it, then shooting heat to her core. She swallowed.

His focus snagged on her mouth. “Stop biting your lip. I can’t handle it.”

Surprise brought a quiet laugh out of her. “Really? Doing this—” she said, biting it again, “—does it for you?”

“Thoroughly.”

She couldn’t help but snicker.

“You find my pain humorous, do you?” A teasing tone lightened his words.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t.”

“You can’t help yourself. Vexing me is your new favorite pastime.”

“Guilty as charged.”

His scowl broke into a grin like the sun rising after a long, cold night. The urge to leap over the fire and dive into his arms was so powerful that it actually hurt.

She grabbed the flask of lavender mountain horror and handed it to him. “Once we break this curse,” she said as he took a swig, “I’ll show you exactly how much fun vexing can be.” She ran her hand down her chest very, very slowly.

The splash of the drink on the ground had Marius jolting out of a stupor. He straightened the flask and swore. “It’s your fault I gave half of that to the earth,” he said to her, his eyes smoking.

An idea popped into her head. “Why don’t you follow me to that little copse of trees?”

Frowning, he did as requested.

This was going to be interesting.

They left Ragewing and Lija to their sleep, then Marius and Tahlia walked to the small cluster of maples, oaks, and pines.

The slender shadows of the wood welcomed them, the wind scented with something that was fairly pleasant. Moonflower maybe? Clover? Definitely pine.

Tahlia’s stomach fluttered at what she was about to suggest. What would he say?

Chapter 25

Tahlia

She stopped and leaned back on a tall, wide maple—one of the only large trees in the area. He halted a few paces back, keeping his distance for her safety. She hated that space between them with a super searing type of hate.

The light through the trees made his Fae-white hair shimmer like magic from the ancient worlds, like Unseelie magic. Marius was every bit as dangerous as an Unseelie. He could snap her neck in a breath.

“Why are you grinning like that? It’s…not a comforting expression, let me tell you.”

She snickered. “I like how deadly you are.”

He tilted his head and lifted one moonlight-hued eyebrow. “You do, hmm?”

That deep voice sent wonderful shivers down her back. She licked her lips and noticed that his gaze focused on the movement of her tongue.

“Just why did you drag me into the haunted forest, little salty?”