Page 38

Thawing Ice

Callum

Cal and Rumi followed Jameson’s example and dismounted the solarith while they waited for their turn with the guard.

Rumi stepped several paces away, her fingers twisting at the ring Jameson had given her, while Cal gathered the beast’s bridle and strolled forward.

Cal knew immediately they wouldn’t have it as easy as Jameson clearly had.

The guard observed Rumi with a blatant stare that made the hackles on the back of Cal’s neck rise.

He was honestly surprised Rumi hadn’t become aggressive; the guard’s stare was almost offensive, yet she seemed oblivious.

Her focus was on the sandstrider that dwarfed her, petting his velvety neck.

When the guard’s eyes lingered at the neckline of her shirt where the buttons gaped on her slight frame, Cal gritted his teeth.

“Names?”

Cal stepped in front of him, effectively blocking the guard’s line of sight.

“Colonel Callum Reid, and we wish to speak to the magistrate.”

The guard wrote the information down on his manifest and then turned to Rumi expectantly.

When she didn’t answer, he cleared his throat.

“Name? I’ll need to see your immigration paperwork.”

“Rumi,”

she said, her accent curling the “r” sound.

“Your full name, please,”

he said, rolling his eyes.

Her eyes darted to Cal’s and she opened her lips to speak, but he interrupted.

“Reid.

Her last name is Reid.

She’s my w-wife.”

That earned an eyebrow raise from the guard.

“You two are married?”

His voice was thick with disbelief and his eyes shifted between the two of them, noting the large space between them and the awkward way Rumi stood.

Cal caught sight of Jameson just beyond the guard, gesturing wildly for Cal to step closer to Rumi.

They were failing this ruse miserably.

“Er, yes.

It’s still a bit new,”

Cal explained, closing the distance and wrapping his arm around her slender shoulders.

“Isn’t that right, dearest? Still adjusting to the new name?”

She peered up at him with those dark eyes, her body strung tight as a bow.

Her lips pursed, and she looked like she might object.

Jameson made another gesture just inside the gate, making a cupping motion and bringing it to his face.

Fuck’s sake.

It was clear the guard was doubtful, and to be fair, Callum’s acting was dreadful.

He saw no other way.

Without another moment of hesitation, he slid his hand along her jaw.

Her heart pattered against his fingertips as they brushed the soft skin of her neck.

The way her breath feathered his skin as he dipped his head and tipped her chin up made his own heart flip.

Cal mentally prepared for the slice of her blade as he pressed a soft kiss to those pouty lips, which parted with surprise.

She stiffened, rigid as a board.

Then, slow as ice thawing, she melted into it, softening in his arms.

“Awe, these two lovebirds, just can’t keep their hands off each other,”

Jameson said loudly, strolling up behind the guard like he hadn’t been there the whole time.

“Whatever.

Don’t cause any trouble,”

the guard said in momentary disgust before flopping into his chair and tipping his hat over his eyes.

Cal was still cupping Rumi’s face, his thumbs framing her dark eyes.

He stroked a thumb along one of the inked lines adorning her cheekbone, committing each freckle and tattoo to memory.

He’d never seen eyes like hers.

They seemed to bear witness to the entirety of his being, pulling his innermost desires right to the surface.

A safe, familiar place for him to rest.

He watched the moment she returned to the present.

Her lashes shuttered over her eyes and locked him out, and she slipped away from his fingers, refusing to meet his gaze.

She instead followed after Jameson, who was walking through the gate.

Cal watched after her, still lost in the kaleidoscope of that kiss and the feelings that had surfaced with it.

Watching her walk away evoked a frightening ache in his chest.

He tamped it down.

When she answered what must have been Jameson’s ribbing with a cute frown, one he was quite familiar with, Cal scowled.

Never before had he felt envious of his best friend.

It would be ridiculous to feel that way now.