Princess of Frost - Mila Young Page 0,21

tightly, glancing down to watch a small handful of servants strolling toward the gates. I scan the trees beyond the grounds for any sign of shadows, remembering the hobgoblins who made a show outside the gates. Their bodies were dragged into the woods and burned to avoid leaving any evidence that would scare more people.

Thunder cracks overhead, followed by silence, and I jerk my gaze to the heavens. Dark clouds smudge the moon.

The edge of desperation simmers through my veins the longer I linger in my office thinking about Licia. She fills my thoughts, and I can't work out what it is about her that draws me so much to her.

The power that surges through her veins?

Yet, I can't forget those blue eyes, her rosy lips, her scowl. My cock punches against my pants. It's ridiculous that she affects me so.

Her gaze had settled on mine, blazing with fiery anger when she looked at me. She hates me, and I love challenges, but her denial irks me.

Three stories down below, I spot a dark figure flitting across the grounds, making her way directly for the gates that sit at least 400 yards away.

Licia!

"Fuck!" I spin around and lunge into the hallway, then I thunder down the corridor and staircase.

Maids flutter as I dive past them. Nothing matters but stopping Licia as my steps pound the marble floor.

"Your Highness," someone calls out, but I don't have time as I rush out the front doors of the castle, bringing me out facing the gate. That little fireball is bouncing forward so fast now.

I leap forward, past the statues of wolves on either side of the entrance, and sprint through the dark, having no intention of letting her get away. The mistake is mine for thinking she wouldn't try to escape.

She may have fooled me once, but that won't happen again. I'll chain her up until she gives in to my demands, if that’s what it takes.

I spy several guards flanking the path out of the castle grounds, and flick my hand then point at Licia. They sprint toward her from either side of me so we have her pinned in. She's five-foot-six, carries a wicked tongue, and is about to be sorry she ever crossed me.

The guard at the gate lifts his head and sees us coming, his eyes wide.

I gesture for him to shut the gate.

Just as he does, another guard snatches Licia’s arm as she pushes between two servants.

She groans and fights him until she turns her head and spots us racing up to her.

Her face pales, and she's lost for words for a change. Wide eyes plead with the guard as she frantically tugs against his hold, looking over her shoulder at the shut gate.

“You disappoint me." I breathe heavily and grab her arm, taking her from the guard, then drag her aside from the other workers looking our way.

"Let me go!" she cries out. She's trying to make a scene, but it means nothing to me.

“Open the gates. Everyone go home now!” I call out as I heave Licia with me across the castle grounds.

"You keep on fighting me, don't you?" I growl, tightening my hold on her arm.

"You don't understand," she snaps back while pulling against me, not getting far as I hold her trapped next to me.

“You won’t win, so stop fighting me.”

She doesn't respond and only stares at me with narrowing eyes like she's imagining my death, like I am nothing more than a creature in her way.

I let out a snarl of sheer frustration. This cat-and-mouse game ends now. I need her to be afraid, to be shocked and prepared for the battle to come.

Anger simmering inside me sparks alight as she continues to waste time by struggling against me.

"Come with me," I snarl, gaining myself a startled expression, and I drag her alongside me. We storm past the castle and stables, her soft footsteps tapping the snow alongside me as she rushes to keep up with my long strides.

"Where are we going?" she asks, her voice meek, which I know is an act. She’s anything but meek.

"You can speak now? Good, then maybe you’ll start to obey."

She staggers to keep up with me. "I meant what I said before. I hate you." She wrenches her gaze from me and pulls against my hold.

"Good. I'm not asking you to love me."

"Whoa, no one said anything about love," she barks at me. "I don't even think you’re capable of love. It's why you send away