Reign of Ice (Forever Fae #4)(51)
I laughed and squeezed her harder. “I get it from my oldest sister.”
After we all said our good-byes, Brayden draped his arm protectively around my waist and held me close as we made our way back to his dwelling. I was curious as to why he needed my sister’s help so I decided to ask. “Are you going to tell me what you and my sister were doing this whole time?”
With a gleam in his eye, he winked and grinned down at me. “No, but I am going to show you as soon as you get ready … that is, if you still want to do this after everything that just happened. I don’t want us finishing this because we need to. I want to do this because we want to.”
Sighing, I stopped him at the door before we could enter and whispered his name, “Brayden … nothing in this realm is going to stop us from being together tonight. I want you and need you more than the air I breathe, or even the heart that beats in my chest.” My lips quivered when I kissed him on the lips. “I love you.”
He smiled and cupped my cheek in his hand. “And I love you, angel. Now go and get ready so I can show you how much. You’re probably going to be tired of me after the night is over.” He opened the door and ushered me inside.
Grabbing the dress that I left draped over the chair, I rushed past him and up the steps to our room. “There is no way that is ever going to happen,” I said through our bond.
“You say that now, angel, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to keep my hands off of you tonight.”
That was definitely not a bad thing. The thought of his hands all over me all night made my insides clench and tighten with need. He wasn’t the only one who was going to have a problem keeping their hands to themselves. I wanted desperately to feel him inside me and making love to me. Through the bond, I could feel his desire. It heightened when I opened up my own desire in his mind so he could feel how much I wanted him.
“If you plan on seducing me through our bond then you need to hurry up, my love. You have no idea what it’s doing to me down here,” Brayden teased. “I am two seconds away from coming up there and taking you now.”
I washed up quickly and slid into the silky, white dress that Queen Mab gave me and strapped the all powerful dagger to the belt around my waist. The low, plunging v-neck was stunning and it sparkled like diamonds as I moved in the light. It was beautiful. Mab said I was going to look like a real ice queen in this dress, and after tonight it was certainly going to be true. My Winter Court was going to be formed with the man I loved, and together, even if only for one day, I was going to rule by his side in our court … our Court of Ice.
WHEN I WALKED down the stairs, Brayden was nowhere in sight, but there was a beautiful midnight blue cloak draped over one of the chairs with a note attached to it.
Meet me outside, angel. I’ll be waiting.
Brayden
Wrapping the cloak around my shoulders, I pulled the hood over my head and took a deep breath. Here we go. I opened the front door to find Brayden with his back to me, tightening the straps of my saddle to Lennox’s back. Lennox whinnied when he saw me and Brayden immediately turned around, his gaze widening as he took me in.
“Ariella,” he murmured, “you are so beautiful.”
He never took his heated eyes off of me as I walked down the steps toward him. He helped me up onto my white stallion and then mounted his own horse, which happened to be an exquisite black mare. “Are we going far?” I asked.
Brayden smiled. “Not too far, but you will know where we are going very soon.”
He winked at me before setting off down the snowy path toward the woods. I breathed in the cold, winter breeze as we raced through the trees, snow billowing out like white mist around us. The farther we got, the more the feeling in my gut grew stronger, pulling me faster to my destination. Yes, I knew exactly where we were going.
Brayden slowed his mare down with a tug of the reins; Lennox obediently complied to his command and slowed down as well. The moment Lennox stepped into the snowy meadow, the magic of the land grew stronger. I gasped as soon as we crossed over to the unclaimed land that would soon be mine and Brayden’s. The power of the land was unreal.
Once the trees cleared, my breath was taken away at the vision before my eyes. The trees gave way to a small opening, and in the middle of that open meadow was a dwelling of sorts. It wasn’t something I had ever seen before, but what made it special was that it was made of ice. It was but a taste of what my court would be like once it was formed.
“Brayden, it’s amazing,” I breathed. “Is this why you needed Calista?”
He dismounted from his mare and clutched my waist to help me slide off of Lennox. He nodded sheepishly and replied, “Yes, I had the vision in my head but I needed her to help make it come alive.”
“It’s beautiful.”
Taking my hand, he led me to the door and followed me inside. The walls glowed and shimmered like diamonds from the fire, which cast its sensual light throughout the room. That was all the house of ice was, too. It was one huge room with windows peering out to the white abyss beyond and a crackling fireplace in the far wall with a mound of soft blankets in front of it. It reminded me so much of the vision we shared.
Brayden came up behind me and unclasped the cloak from around my shoulders and lowered the hood from my head, letting it fall to the floor. He moaned low in his throat and turned me around to face him.