Chasing Secrets - Jessica Sorensen Page 0,15
need to do to get the information we need.”
“Ash …” I start to say with a warning in my tone, but he talks over me.
“I know you don’t like it when creatures get hurt. I’m not a huge fan of it, either.” He slows to a stop as I struggle to keep walking; the snow so deep it reaches the tops of my legs now. “But sometimes, in situations like this, to protect more creatures from getting hurt, you have to sacrifice a few.”
I smash my frozen lips together. “You mean, getting hurt from me?”
He promptly shakes his head. “No. That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what did you mean?” I challenge, because I’m pretty sure he’s lying to me.
He holds my gaze. “I meant protect creatures from getting hurt by my father.” He brushes a few snowflakes from my cheeks with his fingertips. “He’s the one who wants to hurt creatures, not you.”
I know he’s right. Deep down, I know that. But I still can’t release all the guilt of carrying around this tremendously dangerous power inside me.
“I know you mean that. I do. I just …” I release a quiet sigh, fog lacing from my lips. “It’s just hard to separate the two—that I’m not my power.”
His expression fills with empathy. “I know. And it’ll take time, but you’re strong enough that you’ll get there.” He offers me a small smile, his lips extra blue at the moment, probably because of the cold. “Now, do you want me to carry you through the snow? Or do you want to keep waddling around like a newborn unicorn?”
“Hey, I’m not waddling around.” Then, to prove my point, I march forward very diligently. Of course, the weight of the snow on my feet is too much, and I end up just kind of toppling forward.
Right before I faceplant it, Asher wraps his arms around me. He stands me back upright, biting back a laugh while dusting some snow off the top of my hood. “So fucking stubborn,” he mumbles.
I blast him with a dirty look. “In my defense, I’m not used to walking in snow. And for something that’s so light to touch, it sure does make my feet feel heavy.”
He rubs his hand across his mouth, I think to conceal a smile. “You are by far the most adorable creature I’ve ever met.”
I arch a brow. “You know, the way you guys keep saying I’m adorable every time I say something stupid is making me start to wonder if adorable means something else in paranormal language.”
A laugh slips through. “Adorable is a universal word, little thief. And we don’t use it when you say something stupid. We use it when you say something innocently cute.”
I give him the dirtiest look ever. “Hey, I’m not innocent.”
“Mmm …” His eyes cloud over like the sky. “Maybe not as much as when we first met you, but you definitely still are.” He traces the pad of his thumb along my bottom lip. “There’s still a lot of places these lips haven’t touched yet. And there’s still a lot of places on you that my lips haven’t touched.”
Thank gods it’s as cold as a gods damn ice queen out here, or else I would be blushing. I guess that’s one good thing about freezing weather—it makes me too cold to grow warm. Not that I like the cold. I don’t. At all. But, apparently, my expression gives me away since Ash gives me that look, the one he gives me whenever I blush and he’s totally getting off on it. Instead of teasing me, however, he seals his lips to mine.
“Now that we’ve got that out of the way,” he murmurs, slanting back, “how about you let me carry you so it doesn’t take us a week to get to town?”
I scowl at him, but then I sigh when I realize he’s probably right. I am moving ridiculously slow.
“Oh, fine. But I’m only doing this because it’s cold, and I hate being cold. I’m not doing it because I’m some needy girl who can’t walk through the damn snow.”
“Got it,” he says, but I can tell he’s on the verge of smiling.
“Don’t smile,” I warn. “I’m totally being serious.”
“Oh, I know you are,” he assures. “But it doesn’t make it any less … innocently cute.” He gives me an innocent look as he says it.
Shaking my head, I mutter, “Whatever. You’re innocently cute.”
His brows shoot upward, and then he busts up laughing.
I don’t think I’ve