Page 62 of Cold Hearted
“You don’t need it?” I asked, willing to pass the fabric back, but he stayed my hand before I could undo the tie.
“I’m built for this climate. And even if I weren’t, I wouldn’t let you go cold. Your comfort is more important than my own.”
I smiled at him gratefully, feeling my insides go a little gooey. “Thank you.” Going up on my tiptoes, I planted a quick kiss on his lips.
The heat in his gaze kicked up a notch, but he didn’t try to pull me in for more than the chaste kiss I’d offered.“If I had known I’d be rewarded with a kiss, I would have given you my cloak the first night we met,” he said with a smirk.
I let out a very unprincesslike snort. “Would that have been before or after you tricked me into bathing in front of you.”
Zander leaned in, his voice lowering. “I have a confession. The moment I realized the curtain wasn’t completely opaque, I turned around. I only let you believe I’d watched you because I so enjoyed seeing you riled up.”
The memory of that night made blood flood to my cheeks. Even if Zander hadn’t looked, I’d gotten an eyeful before I turned away. The images in my mind’s eye were clear as day. Zander’s mouth quirked in amusement. I’m sure my thoughts were written across my face clearly as well.
Shaking my head and taking a big step away from Zander, I refocused on the task at hand.
“Now what?” I asked, eyeing the frozen mountain in front of us. It looked as if it went straight into the air. I couldn’t even see all the way up because a thick cloud ringed the top. Good thing I was an expert climber. And not afraid of heights.
“Now we climb,” Zander said, and I nodded.
Zander and I shed whatever we didn’t need for the climb, which left us in only the clothes on our backs. I ridded myself of all my hidden weapons and Zander did the same, telling me they were not allowed. Right before we started our ascent, Omen came over and nudged me with his head. I rubbed his nose and told him we’d be back soon, even though I was sure the horse didn’t understand me.
“Should we be worried about Omen wandering off?” I asked.
Zander shook his head. “You haven’t figured it out by now?”
“Figured what out?”
“Omen is a faehorse. He’s bonded to me, and also to you through me. He actually helped me find your trail after you fled Noreum. I owe him for that. He’ll stay put unless he senses danger.”
A bonding between a fae and a horse. How interesting. I didn’t question it. Ihadfelt a level of kinship and connection with Omen.
After giving the horse a gentle kiss, Zander and I started to scale the mountain. Despite his size, Zander moved with ease up the rock wall behind me. More than once, the wind whipped strongly enough that I had to stop and cling to the rocks to keep from being blown off the mountain, but as soon as the gusts dissipated we continued on.
When we reached the area where the clouds swallowed the mountain, I lost sight of Zander beneath me more than once and had to control my panic that he’d fallen to his death. Every time, he would eventually catch up to me, offering me up a smile of encouragement and reassurance that he was all right.
By the time we reached a plateau, my nerves were shot, and my fingers were numb. I pulled myself over the ledge and collapsed on the ground. It wasn’t even a full minute before Zander followed me, offering me a hand up.
“Well done, little bird,” he said with a soft smile.
“I think I lost a few years of my life on that climb,” I admitted.
He looked over his shoulder, but the cloud made it impossible to see the entirety of the rock face we’d just scaled. “That little climb?” he teased. “But you scaled the rock face with the agility of a monkey. Perhaps I should be calling youlittle monkeyinstead.”
“Don’t even think about it,” I warned, but there was a gleam in his eye that said he was definitely considering it. “Besides, my anxiety wasn’t over myself. I was worried you and your giant body would plummet to your death.”
“Oh, little monkey, you were worried about me?”
“Yes, big gorilla, I was.”
Zander laughed at my jibe, and I lifted a brow to say that two could play this game.
Point to Dawn.
Another wind gust whipped up frigid ice and small rocks, and Zander and I stepped away from the ledge.
“Are we close?” I asked, looking around. The cloud made it hard to see, but the two options were to continue climbing or follow the narrow path along the mountain’s edge.
Zander nodded and indicated I should go in front of him along the path. Although it looked treacherous, I was grateful to be done with climbing for the moment.
