Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 84072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“It’s not a dream,” he said like he could read my mind. “It’s a flash of what was, what could be again. It’s frozen—just like you.”
“I’m not frozen.”
“You were very much frozen, my dear.” His smile was sad. “But let’s not talk about the past. It hardly matters now that you’ve touched the fire, now that you have the ice around your wrists.”
I stared down at the interconnected silver snowflakes, like a tattoo on my skin. “What are they?”
“Grant me one thing, and I’ll tell you.”
I sighed. “What’s your one thing?”
The corners of his mouth tilted up. “Nervous?”
“No,” I lied.
He leaned over until he was about an inch from my face. “I want one kiss.”
“A kiss?”
“Just one, harmless.”
“Is it, though?”
“Kisses are always harmless unless they turn into something more. That’s what makes them so exciting, that’s why humans get such a rush— will this turn into another and another, will I end up in his bed screaming his name, or will it just be one…” He leaned in closer. “Chaste…” He licked his lips. “Kiss.”
Was it my imagination, or did he use the term humans? “Tell me what the tattoos are first?”
He jerked back and tugged at the grass near my legs, tossing it into the air, it fell and then twirled around itself, he gave it a tug and then spread the grass wide, creating an almost iPad-looking screen, like we were watching a movie.
“Every court has them, silver, black, green, gold.” He pointed as two people holding hands laughed. She had silver bands he had black, they looked familiar in the picture as they shared a kiss that made the world around them stand still, including the butterfly near the woman’s ear, the rain started, but it fell in slow succession as the butterflies’ wings flapped slowly.
“It’s like their kiss stopped time,” I whispered, wanting to reach out and touch them. Part of me felt like I was going insane, but the other part, deep down inside, recognized this as truth.
As the truth my mom often talked about.
About a darkness and a light.
About a world that co-existed with ours.
Then again, she’d been crazy.
Right?
All the doctors had said so in the end. And then she’d just disappeared like the mist surrounding us.
If I was going for logic at this moment—then I would say I was losing it, but what if a kiss could stop time? What if love was stronger than anything else?
What a wonderful way to describe something so intimate.
He dropped the grass to the ground and faced me, his amber eyes locking on mine. “Silver means Winter; the bands only appear when you’re ready to be with your mate when the Matchmaker’s finally able to match you to your destiny. That’s all I can say.”
“What a weird dream,” I muttered, clearing my throat and starting to get up from the grass.
He cleared his throat. “You’re forgetting my payment.”
Shit.
“I’m with someone.”
He stood and leaned in, his eyes flashing. “Don’t lie.”
“Just one kiss?”
The corners of his mouth twisted into an amused smile. “You’re not afraid of me, are you?”
Yes. “No.”
“Good.” He took a step forward, and then his hand was on my back as he pulled me against him and lowered his head. “One perfect kiss… just one taste…”
His mouth met mine softly. He tasted like flowers and sunshine. I clung to the front of his shirt as his tongue slid past my parted lips. I opened up to him like a flower in the spring, and he took full advantage as he lifted me into his arms and pressed me against the nearest tree, branches wrapped around my wrists, holding me there as he stood between my legs and deepened the kiss, careful never to pull his mouth away from mine.
It was still, after all, just one kiss.
He moaned and abruptly drew back. His eyes didn’t leave mine. “I will fight for you.”
“What?” I shook my head. “No need to fight.”
“And yet—” He suddenly looked dangerous as he stood to his full height. “I will. I don’t care that he wants to break your curse; there are more ways to do that, more ways to show you who you are—more ways to mate and love. And if the Matchmaker chooses me over him, it’s over.”
“Him? Who is him?”
He gently touched my cheek with the back of his fingertips. “The only other man who makes you heated with just one look, the only other man capable of dream walking—the only other man whose name has fallen from your lips—the one who killed you—the one who will do it again—be careful in that library, Luna. Not all secrets are safe to tell.”
And just like that he disappeared, leaving me tied to the tree.
The branches slowly released me, and I fell to my knees, my eyes suddenly heavy as I lay down against the mossy ground and went to sleep.