Cold Queen - K Webster Page 0,25
as though I am cured,” she breathes, unconvinced.
All I can do is smile at her.
As long as I’m here, she’s healed.
And when she makes a full recovery, the Norta Icelands will be splattered crimson by their queen.
I’ve finally freed her from her cage.
Elzira
I lie on my side, staring at the fire before me as it flickers and crackles. Ryke is behind me, gently combing through my wet tangles. I’d refused to look at my blue-streaked hair. It’s a reminder of my illness.
Earlier today, I’d thought I was on death’s bed. So weak. So tired. I felt life slipping from me. But when I awoke, I was changed. Power thrummed through my veins. With each passing second, I am stronger.
What have you done to me, you wickedly handsome Volc?
Whatever it was, I can’t be angry with him. I haven’t felt so alive and able to grasp my gift so easily ever. He’s awakened something inside of me.
“Make me a blade, Cold Queen.”
I roll my eyes at his order. “Of course, your royal pain in the ass.”
He chuckles, his hot breath warm against my head. I hold my fingers out in front of me, surprised at how they’re no longer blue, but pale pink. A true sign blood flows through my veins. I fling out my pointer finger, shooting out a diamondblade with the movement. He reaches over and breaks it off my finger. I go back to staring at the fire until I realize he’s cutting my hair.
“What are you doing?” I shriek.
He lays a blue strand out in front of me. “Killing two birds with one stone, snowflake.”
Cryptic bastard.
“Elaborate, Volc.”
Another laugh behind me rumbles the bed. I’d be lying if I said I hated his laugh. I love it. It unnerves me just how much I do love it. He saws through another strand before laying it in front of me beside the other one.
“I’m ridding you of the most noticeable blue streaks since you hate them,” he explains as he cuts off a third length. “One bird.”
“And the other bird?”
“I’m making a rope to bind my naked queen to her bed.”
My heart stutters in my chest. “You’re going to tie me up with my own hair?”
His fingertips—hot to the touch—run along the length of my bare arm. “I can’t have you impaling me with your cold spikes.” He nips at my shoulder. “Besides, I prefer to have all the control.”
“Perhaps I want the control,” I argue, but quickly melt at his touch.
His lips press kisses into the side of my neck. “In the bedroom, when it’s just the two of us, I have the control. You wouldn’t know what to do with it anyway. Allow me to ravish you, Cold Queen. It’s what I’m good at.”
He slides a warm hand to cup my naked breast. I suck in a sharp breath.
“Beg for me to capture you and tie you up,” he rumbles. “Beg for me to fuck you until you cry.”
His words have me growing wet between my thighs. “You have a filthy mouth, Volc.”
“I’m a filthy king, my love.”
He ties the three ends into a tight knot that makes his forearms flex in a glorious way. Then, he urges me to hold on to the knotted end. I watch with rapt fascination as he braids it neatly.
“Where did you learn to braid?”
He smirks. “I’d rather not say.”
“It’s just us, Ryke,” I say quietly. “Tell me your secrets.”
His amber eyes flash. “I used to love my mother’s hair. Since the day I was born, I’d play with her hair. When I got older, she taught me to braid it.”
My heart aches. It makes me miss my own mother. “That’s sweet.”
But the wicked look in his eyes is anything but. He makes quick work at tying my wrists together. Once he’s bound my wrists, he sits up on his knees and leans forward, tugging my arms above my head.
“Hold on to that railing,” he commands, his voice husky and deep.
He ties my hands to the bed and then runs his warm fingertips down my arms. A thrill of excitement ripples up my spine. His breath comes out in a white cloud.
“Someone enjoys this,” he taunts.
A flurry of snowflakes flutter around him as if to agree with him. Undeterred by the chill in the room, he continues his teasing, but this time with a single fingertip. He heats it so it’s hot to the touch. I let out a sharp breath, my skin turning bluer than normal, protecting against his burn.