The Frozen Prince (The Beast Charmer #2) - Maxym M. Martineau Page 0,34

what they’d feel like. He’d smoothed over them entirely. Etched a tale of love and devotion with his gentle touch, completely indifferent toward scarred ridges or velvet skin. Because in his eyes, I was beautiful. Every gods-damned inch of me.

Leaning back, he tilted my face up, and worry lined the creases around his eyes. So soft. So concerned. “Leena?” A thumb brushed along my cheeks.

A weak sob broke through my chest. “I love you. You make me feel…” The word caught in my throat, and I shook my head. Whole.

His own eyes glimmered with return emotion. “I’ve loved you for a long time. Long before I was willing to admit it to myself.” He pulled me closer, heat radiating from his body. “I just wasn’t willing to risk your safety. But gods, Leena. You’re such a warrior. You hooked me, and I was gone.”

I kissed him so hard our teeth clashed, but I didn’t care. Noc had given me so much. A home. Family. Love. Being with him was the very thing I never knew I needed. And everything I’d die to protect. A wondrous exhale rushed through my lungs, and I dragged my nails along his back.

“Noc.” The breathy exclamation elicited a purely animalistic growl from his throat, and delicious heat surged through me. This slow-building eruption would be my undoing, and gods did I want to come undone. Completely. Entirely. For him. We fell apart together, lips locked and bodies wracked.

For a moment after, we didn’t move. We simply stayed connected, breathing together. I didn’t know what this oath would do to him, but I knew I’d continue to be here for him. Show him how much I loved him. If I could provide that, if he never forgot about our connection, then we’d make it through this somehow.

With heartbreaking tenderness, Noc placed a kiss on my forehead. “I love you, Leena Edenfrell.”

“I love you, Noc…” I let it trail off into a question. How was it possible that I still didn’t know the last name of the man I loved?

A familiar uneasy flicker smothered the brightness of his eyes, but instead of dissembling again, he said, “Noc Feyreigner. But please don’t go parading that knowledge around. I like the life I have now. Not the one I had before.” For effect, he gave my butt a squeeze. “I especially like the company I have now.”

I rolled my eyes. “You don’t have to keep your past under lock and key. Not with me. Remember? You promised.” I couldn’t even fathom why he was so concerned about sharing his secrets with me. My knowledge of Wilheim was beyond slim, thanks to my upbringing in Hireath. And my years on the run as an outlaw weren’t exactly filled with days of leisurely reading or courtly activities. He could’ve been a baker’s son or a traitor to the king, and I wouldn’t have known the difference.

“I remember. When we’re not naked with the possibility of someone busting in,” he nodded toward the door leading out to the main halls of Cruor, “we can chat all you want.”

“Let’s get dressed, then. We can talk in our room.”

He sighed, pulling away a fraction. “Leena…”

“You don’t have to be afraid, Noc.” How long had he spent guarding himself from emotions? Connections? I knew it wouldn’t be easy for him to fully let go. Not so soon after the curse had been lifted. It would take time. Reassurance. “I just want to know more about you. You don’t have to worry about what I might think or say.”

He pressed his eyes shut. “I’m not afraid of that.”

“Then what?”

Slowly, as if it pained him, he met my stare. “My past is…dangerous. If anyone here found out…”

I frowned. “You’re worried about your brothers? I thought you trusted them.”

“It’s not a matter of trust.” His voice strained. “One thing I’ve learned about working as an assassin is that information is everything. It’s the most powerful resource, and if my brethren learned of my past, that would be problematic. They’d become a target. I doubt they’d willingly betray me, but,” he paused, and with deadly calm pressed a light finger to my temple, “apply the right type of pressure to anyone, and they’ll crack. If information about me gets out, then all of Cruor will be jeopardized.”

Cold swept through the room and chilled my bones. I couldn’t suppress a shiver. Noc pulled me close in a tight embrace, running his hands down my back to spark warmth again. Could