Page 61 of Ascendant King

Twenty

Swallowing, I tried to smile, but in this in-between place, in this place where the forest was empty, the pack and all its responsibilities gone, I could see his eyes searching mine. He didn’t look angry; he didn’t look like he was going to let it go either. When he looked at me, he wasn’t angry. He was just… Cade.

He was a friend asking what was going on.

“Miles?” Cade’s brow creased.

“Nothing,” I tried to say, but Cade didn’t shut down, didn’t let me off the hook. He stepped closer, and we weren’t pressed together, but there was a moment where I felt his skin like a physical touch, like there wasn’t a layer of his clothes between us. The heat of his skin was like a kiss.

“You’ve been distracted for days.” Cade’s words were a brush of air on my chest, and I was suddenly aware that I was naked, vulnerable.

How I wanted to be exposed for him, to reveal myself to him, to show him what I was. If he could look inside me and help me see past the moment I felt like my life stopped, the moment I saw my siblings dead, if he could help me see that the house that took up my whole mind wasjusta house,justa place, then maybe hecould see the rest of me too. Maybe he could see the parts of me that still yearned for him, that still wanted him to be mine the way I would always, always be his.

“You’ve been distracted, and I don’t think anyone else saw, but in the forest, you were paying attention to something else.” Cade raised his other hand, his fingers trembling. “I know that we’ve had our problems, but I can’t do this myself.”

The words were a shock, a surprise that left me almost breathless. “What?”

“We’re going to battle my uncle, and I can’t do it by myself.” Cade looked away, but I caught a brief glimpse of his eyes, of the sheen he wiped away. “The last time I faced him, he won. He was the one they all chose, and now I just can’t…”

Cade broke off. He swallowed, and I used my hand to draw his chin up. When he looked at me fiercely, I almost took a step back at the intensity, but the heat of it drew me in. This was the man I had fallen for; this was the man who needed me so badly that he’d grind me under his heel, that he’d pull me into him even as he pushed me away.

“You’re going to win.” I knew it in my bones; I knew it like I knew how to breathe. It was deeply reflexive. Cade was going to win because hewas.

“The last time, I didn’t.” Cade opened his hand on my chest, his fingers spreading wide, and I felt a soft tickle of magic where it pressed into my skin. “I only survived because of you.”

“You survived because you were strong. You could have died then, but you didn’t.” I leaned down and caught his eyes. “You didn’t.”

Cade shook his head, but I leaned in even closer, my lips aching for his. It was a physical pain, a desire that curled in my stomach, unable to be fed, unable to ever be satisfied.

I could stomach his hate, I could deal with his anger, but I could never, ever survive his indifference. Cade’s breath hitched, and he leaned in, as though he felt it too.

“Miles.” He whispered my name, a breath of yearning that moved over my skin. “Miles.”

Every inch of my skin was aware of him; every part of me needed his touch. The single point of contact where his hands touched my chest wasn’t enough—it was never going to be enough.

With a growl, I leaned in and took his mouth with mine.

He opened his lips with a moan, a soft breath of deep satisfaction that left me space to sweep my tongue in between his lips, press into him. Cade revealed himself all at once, his whole body giving in to me, every part of him turning itself over to me.

Cade might hold on to his hate for me, he might never forgive me for the lies I’d told, even the ones of omission, but he couldn’t lie when he was pressed against me, when I could feel the thrum of his blood pulsing for me the way my own heart beat for him.

He wanted me. He needed me. No matter what else, we were connected because we both had the same aching desire for each other. I shivered, my skin aware of every touch as his hand skimmed up to my neck, pulling me down harder, sharpening the kiss.

“Cade.” I mouthed the word, pressing it into his cheek, then lowering my mouth to his neck. He moaned.

This wasn’t the time. This wasn’t the place, but I had to have him, had to know that no matter how much he hated me, he wasmine.

Finally, I drew back, my skin shockingly cold after the heat of his body pressed to mine. Cade’s hands dropped away from my skin. I put just enough distance between us to let my head clear. When I touched him, I couldn’t think beyond my desire.

“The forest”—I cleared my throat—“something is going on with me and the forest. I can’t think when I’m in it. I’m hearing everything. I’m aware of things I shouldn’t be able to sense.”

Cade tilted his head, his gaze considering. “What do you mean?”

Looking up, I could see the forest around us like it was through glass. I didn’t have the same overwhelming awareness that hit me all at once. “I could feel ants in the trees. I knew animals that were hunting far away. It’s how I knew where Ghost Pack was, even when no one else could sense them.”

Cade’s fingers twitched, but he didn’t reach for me again. “Isn’t that how it usually is with your senses in the forest? You once told me the forest was cleaner than the city for a wolf.”

“Not like this. I know things I shouldn’t know. I felt things I shouldn’t have been aware of. Something about this forest, or about me, has changed.” I thought back to our trek through the woods. “And I don’t think anyone else is affected.”