Page 48 of Slaying the Shifter Prince
Warm. That was a good start. I could move everything, as much as the leg draped over me allowed. That was also good. And aside from the what-the-fuckery of the prince’s form, my brain seemed to be able to follow a line of thought and shape it into something coherent.
I checked my fingers—all present and correct—and lifted my feet, managing to catch a glimpse of them past the prince’s leg. Toes all there.
You nearly died. There was something accusing in his tone.But I warmed you up, and the healers were able to save your limbs.
I’d been that close then. My heart gave a heavy, solid beat as if to confirm I was still alive. But I ran my hands over my arms and chest, just to be sure. That was when I realised I was naked. “Where are my clothes?”
The healers cut them off you. They wanted to see you properly, check for any more frostbite. You should’ve told me you were so cold. His leg squeezed around me, and his claws unsheathed, just grazing my belly.
I scoffed, which pressed my stomach into those claws. Not enough to break the skin, but it spiked warning through me. Controlling my breaths, I glared up at him. “So you nearly killing me ismyfault?”
How am I supposed to know humans die when it gets a bit chilly?
“There was snow on the ground and the whole lake was frozen. What part of that suggests it’s just ‘a bit chilly’?”
His shoulders moved in what might’ve been a shrug. Thankfully, he’d retracted his claws.I don’t really feel the cold.
“Clearly,” I huffed. “Can youchange? I can’t take you seriously enough to argue with you when you’re a cat.”
You mean you take me seriously when I’m a fae?He bared his teeth, eyes glinting with wicked glee.
Then the bone and muscle around me shifted. Fur retreated, leaving striped skin. Long sabre teeth retracted to elongated canines. And he shrank down from a huge sabrecat to a giant of a man.
Not human. No, you could never mistake him for human. But not quite so monstrous.
Yet still very much naked. And still curled around me, his hot flesh on my back, his arm around my waist, something bulging against my backside.
I cleared my throat and pulled away. “Well,moreseriously. You’re still ridiculous, but it’s all relative.”
He chuckled as he sat up, the sound bright, his expression open and relaxed instead of closed and cruel. “That might be the nicest thing you’ve said to me yet.” His smile was preening as he rose from the bed. His tail formed an arc behind him, not swishing with agitation for a change.
I tried not to follow its line up to his bare behind. I wasn’t entirely successful. “I told you that you were handsome, didn’t I?”
“Yes, but you didn’t mean that.” He threw a glance over his shoulder as he stopped at the side table. “Or at least, you didn’twantto mean it.” Another preening smile.
Pulling the blankets around myself, I declined to respond. Arrogant arse.
He returned to bed with a plate of fruit and pastries. “You need to eat.”
My limbsdidfeel heavy and my stomach ached with emptiness. The lack of energy gnawed at me, like the days when I practiced on the hoop and silks so intently, I forgot to eat.
I took an apple and a cinnamon pastry, and accepted a steaming cup of spiced tea when he offered it.
Something about this prickled at the back of my neck. Something…off. But I couldn’t place quite what it was, and exhaustion blurred the edges of my thoughts, like spilt water lapping at ink.
He caught my cup before it spilt, and I jerked up from my long blink. I must’ve dropped off.
“I think you’re done with that.” He disappeared the cup and plate with a flick of his tail, and the fae lights faded. “Lie down.”
I was too tired to argue.
A moment later, the blazing heat of his body—hisfaebody, not the sabrecat one—curved around me, chest to my back, legs hooking around mine.
“Now, sleep.” His voice rumbled into me and tickled the back of my neck, sending a shiver down my spine. He made a soft sound and wrapped his arm around my waist, squeezing me closer.
I wanted to sleep.
And yet, I lay there, too aware of his hot skin, thinking about how well his large form engulfed me. An altogether different kind of heat gathered between my legs.
