The Wild Heir(63)

But now, with the heat of Magnus’s large body behind me, it’s all I can think about. It demands I pay it attention.

The way he held me.

The way he looked at me.

The way he kissed me.

The things he’d said.

I both wanted and didn’t want him to kiss me. It’s all I’ve been wanting to think about ever since the night at the bar, when seeing him in his element with his quirky older friends made me realize there is so much more to this man than I’ve been giving him credit for. And when he held my hand, it made me realize how badly I’d been missing out on physical affection.

How much I’ve been subconsciously craving it from him.

But I also knew that if he kissed me, everything would change. It would make it harder for my decision to not get influenced by my hormones. It would make it harder to stay rational and logical. It would make it harder to not fall for this man.

And I was right.

He may have saved me from going over that edge, but his kiss sent me over it anyway.

Hopefully, there’s still time to save myself.

I turn around and Magnus’s face is right there, those full lips turned up into a sly smile, those dark, magnetic eyes that see right into my soul, right into every thought and intention I have. He knows what I’m about to do. That I’m going to push him away until I can think clearly again.

He’s almost daring me to do it.

God help me if he springs a “question time” on me right now.

“I better go change into something warmer,” I tell him, my gaze dropping from his as I quickly move past him to the bedroom. Behind me Viktor says he’ll get the fire up and running.

I close the door to the bedroom and try to think. We have another day up here in the cabin and I have no idea what’s planned and—

The door to the room opens.

I whirl around in surprise to see Magnus step in and close the door behind him. “Don’t you knock?” I cry out.

“I want to talk to you,” he says, not looking the slightest bit ashamed of barging in.

“What about?”

“Last night,” he says. He lowers his voice. “I kissed you. And, I’m sure against your better judgement, you kissed me back.”

I stare at him as he walks toward me. The way he moves, so smoothly, so confidently, he reminds me of a predator. He’s had way too much practice with this and that thought alone gets my hackles up.

“So?” I manage to say. There’s no place for me to go, the wall is at my back.

He stops right in front of me, close, his shoes almost touching my toes. He peers down at me and I instinctively suck in my breath.

“So?” he repeats, his eyes trained on my lips. “You say that as if it didn’t mean something to you.”

“What was it supposed to mean?”

“That you’re attracted to me.”

I look away, my eyes going to the window, to the snow-dusted trees outside. Suddenly the cabin feels so small. “I think that’s pretty obvious,” I admit quietly.

He lets out a soft laugh. “Obvious? Ella…I can’t get a read on you, no matter how hard I try.”

I bring my gaze back to his, knowing that it’ll be even harder now to look away. There’s something so earnest in his eyes, and it disarms me. Then again, he’s been steadily disarming me for days now.

“I don’t think that’s true,” I tell him. “You had a pretty good read on me last night.”

“That might have been dumb luck that you kissed me back. Or maybe I’m just that good of a kisser.”

I can’t help but smile at that. “You are a good kisser.”

Not that I’ve had a ton of experience but it was definitely the best kiss that I’ve ever had. Kissing him was as easy and natural as breathing.

He studies me closely. “Then why do I get the feeling that you’re going to go on pretending it never happened?”

Damn it.

“Ella?” he adds. “Don’t make me ask again.”

I look at him sharply. “Trying to boss me around? You might be the prince but this princess is her own ruler.”

He grins. “Fuck you’re hot when you tell me off.”

“That was hardly telling you off.”

“Then you’re hot when you do anything. Tell me then,” he says, his eyes skimming over my nose, my lips. “What are you so afraid of?”

I clear my throat, trying to stand taller. “I’m not afraid.”

“Are you afraid that in a day or two you’re going to say yes?”

“No.”

Of course, that’s exactly what I’m afraid of.

“Ella,” he says softly, putting his hand at my cheek. His palm is so warm, so strong, my eyes automatically close and I lean into it. “If you say no…”

The thought wrenches something inside me.

Because if I say no, he’ll have to find someone else.

Little by little, day by day, I’ve gone from wanting my freedom, my life that I left back in university, to having a hard time imagining a future without Magnus by my side in some way, shape, or form.

I mean, I don’t love him. Most days I don’t even like him. But no matter what mood we’re in or who we are to each other, there’s been one constant. He makes me feel something, like no one else ever has, even if it’s just the fact that my body is starting to ache for his.