Page 40 of The Crown of the Last Fae Queen (The Heartless and the Wicked #4)

TWENTY – KOLFINNA

They both sat there for a moment longer.

Blár stared into the fire while Kolfinna chewed on her lower lip and thought about a way to talk to Freyja without seeming suspicious.

While she was lost in her own strategies, Blár slid his hand behind her head and slowly pulled out one of the pins holding her hair in place.

She turned her head just in time for a long curl to come undone.

There was a heated look in his normally cool gaze as he stared at the curve of her neck.

“Blár?” she whispered, noting the shift in the air between them. Her body reacted immediately to his darkened gaze. Her skin became flushed and she had a hard time looking at him. She intertwined her fingers together, anticipation flooding her cheeks.

He snaked his finger around the loose lock of hair. His cold knuckles grazed her cheek, and a ripple ran down to her core. She could have melted on the spot, but his skin was wintry, like his powers, and it clashed against her body heat and sent jolts of thrill down her spine.

“You look so beautiful.” Blár tucked the lock of hair behind her ear, and then he traced the sharp tips of her ear slowly.

Her ears were still sensitive, but now it was a different kind of sensitivity that made her gasp.

She shuddered beneath his touch, and he watched her, slightly bemused, slightly intrigued.

“You like that?” His voice came out low as he slowly dragged his finger over her ear, and then down her neck.

Her breathing hitched, her fingers digging into the edge of the velvet seat and her wide eyes trained on him.

He drew circles along the nape of her neck, watching her reaction the entire time.

“Y-yes,” Kolfinna said.

A slow grin curved his lips and he trailed his hand down her spine.

Another shuddered breath wrenched from her.

“I like seeing you unravel for me.”

She didn’t know what he meant by that, but she didn’t really care.

Not when he leaned closer, his face inches away from her.

She licked her lips nervously, a knot of nerves bundling in her chest, but an overwhelming sense of wanting to be near him, to be touched by him, overpowered her inexperienced apprehension.

In fact, she waited with bated breath, wondering where he would kiss her. Her mouth? Her neck? Her breasts?

The thought made her tremble.

He looked from her eyes down to her lips.

“I … I need you,” Kolfinna whispered when he didn’t move. She slid her hands into his hair and ran her fingers through his midnight locks. A wicked grin spread on his face. She could tell he liked to hear that.

“You need me?”

She exhaled, her voice small. “I do.”

“Did you miss me at all while you were here?” Blár kneeled in front of her and grabbed her hips, pulling her close to the edge of the couch.

It happened so fast that she yelped, her hands flying to his shoulder as he encircled his arms around her waist. He was grinning wolfishly.

She turned to the door sharply, her heart racing at thought of someone hearing, but seconds passed and nobody barged inside.

“Blár—” There was a warning in her tone.

But he seemed unfazed; he even peered up at her with a smirk. “Did you miss me, Kolfinna?”

His touch was electric, cool, and warm at the same time, eliciting a shiver from her. She jabbed her nails into the lean muscles of his broad shoulders, all thoughts of being found out fleeing from her mind.

She almost pouted, her lips quivering. “O-of course I missed you. I thought of you every day.”

“Is that so? Every day?”

She blushed. “What about you? Did you worry about me?”

“You have occupied my thoughts since the day we left the ruins,” he murmured. “I have burned for you, Kolfinna.”

She couldn’t respond to him because he pressed his mouth against her throat and she gasped again. He planted a kiss along her flesh, dragging his teeth against her sensitive skin. Her legs instinctively wrapped around his waist.

“Blár—” She grasped the front of his uniform, the leather smooth against her fingers. His touch was cool, his breath even chillier, and yet it ignited flames within her body, waves of heat coursing through her veins and curling her toes.

His kiss tracked down to her collarbones and he pulled back just enough for his gaze to dart from her flushed throat to her cleavage. She shivered as his cool breath tickled her breasts.

“You are beautiful,” he whispered.

She grasped the back of his head and moved without thinking to mash her lips against his.

A desperate need fueled her and she dragged him closer with her legs, her thighs tightening around him.

He matched her fervor, his mouth moving at pace with hers.

She spread her hands over his back, searching, exploring, suddenly wondering why there was so much clothing.

Time seemed to hasten as their kiss became rougher, more frantic. She wanted to lose herself in his arms. She wanted to feel his skin against hers. To know that he was hers forever. And a part of her feared that she wouldn’t be able to touch him like this ever again.

When she thought he would finally tear her dress off, he broke the kiss to breathe, a wild glaze over his usually arctic eyes.

They both stared at each other, their breathing labored, and he finally cupped the side of her face with one hand.

She placed her hand atop of his, and opened her mouth to tell him to keep going, but he pressed a finger to her lips and glanced sharply at the door.

Confusion shattered her desire-filled thoughts.

He lurched to his feet and backed away; the sudden departure left her needing more and she reached out for him, the air a different kind of cold without his touch.

A sudden knock on the door jostled her from her position and she staggered to her feet.

Blár had already yanked his mask back in place, and he jerked a thumb to her bedroom door, mouthing “ go inside .”

She remained where she was, caught between sprinting to her bedchambers, and answering the person knocking on her door—she didn’t want whoever it was to become suspicious of her silence.

“Kolfinna?” Astrid’s voice carried into the room and the doorknob twisted. It was met with resistance, and Kolfinna silently thanked the fact that Blár had the foresight to lock it earlier.

She opened her mouth to answer, but Blár shot her a warning look and pressed a finger to his own lips, signaling her to be quiet. His gaze raked over her body, eyebrows raised with a smirk, and then motioned to the door leading to her bedchambers.

With a frown, she silently padded her way to it. She ran her fingers over her dress and hair; she probably looked as frazzled as she felt.

“She retired to her bedchambers,” Blár announced, stepping toward the main door just as Kolfinna slipped into her bedroom.

She quietly shut the door behind her and leaned against it, her heart racing to a wild tune.

It was actually better to have Blár talk to Astrid, since if the fae saw Kolfinna as she was, she would have figured out what they had been up to.

She brought a shaky hand to her swollen lips.

She could feel the warmth spreading up her cheeks and to her ears.

How could a kiss be so … passionate?

Astrid’s concerned voice pierced through her thoughts. “I forgot to ask her if she needed help undressing, or if she wished for a bath.”

Kolfinna heard the door creak open, and Blár say, “She hasn’t come out of her bedchambers, so I think she might be asleep.”

“Oh, really? I suppose I was worried for nothing.” Astrid laughed airily. A moment of silence followed, and then, “Well, I’ll be retiring myself, then. Good night.”

“Good night.”

The door shut with a click.

For a moment, she just stood there breathing heavily. Finally, when she thought she couldn’t handle it anymore, Blár gently rapped his knuckles against her door.

“She left,” he murmured. The door had never felt so thick, so much of a barrier, than it did in that moment.

Kolfinna cracked it open and peered up at him, suddenly embarrassed to be so close.

She felt like her face must be a patchwork of blushing skin as she looked at him.

He was as dashing as always—his slicked hair was tousled from her hands and the mask bringing focus to his cold eyes— but their shared, fervent moment made him appear all the more appealing. All the more … like he was hers.

She wondered, for a moment, if they would continue where they left off. She would have liked that.

But Blár coughed and rubbed the back of his neck. “You should try to sleep, Kolfinna. We have a busy day tomorrow.”

She could only nod, not trusting her voice.

They both stared at each other for a moment longer, and Kolfinna remembered the way his mouth had trailed down her neck, how he had kissed her so fiercely, and she couldn’t help but blush more.

“Good night, Blár.”

He opened his mouth like he wanted to say more, but then clamped it shut. He studied her for a moment longer, and leaned closer, his breath cooling her cheek as he planted a gentle kiss there. “Good night, Kolfinna.”