Page 49 of To Scale the Emerald Mountain

“Do you think we will be able to go through the ports unnoticed? Is there not any kind of documentation required to travel on one of those ships?” Choking fear claws at my throat.

He sighs before taking my hand, continuing to walk through the garden. The gesture is tender and intimate—taking me by surprise. I’m about to pull my hand away when he stops and turns to face me, his hand still laced in mine.

Locane holds a gentle expression as he takes in the anxiousness that I’m giving off. “I understand your fears, but we cannot stay here forever. Yes, it’s a risk, but I know people. We will be able to get on a ship unnoticed.” He cups my cheek with his free hand and adds, “I won’t let them take you.”

My breathing has become uneven with his affectionate actions. He drops little lines of compliments occasionally, continuing with his pattern of being endlessly confusing. They catch me off guard every time.

He strokes his thumb over the back of my hand, and it pushes me over the edge. The months of back and forth have finally become too much with that simple pass of his thumb over my skin. My cheeks blush pink and my heart patters in my chest.

“I don’t get you,” I admit in a breathy whisper before I can stop the words from coming out.

Locane drops my hand and brushes his fingers across my cheek, pushing a lock of hair behind my ear. His face drops a fraction closer to mine, and my breath catches. “What do you mean?”

I laugh. “I mean, you’re confusing. You are so hot and cold. Last night you were angry and screamingat me about how I ask too many questions, and today you ask me to walk with you through a rose garden? Touch me and speak to me with affection? Please, Locane. I’m already waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

He grins at me in a way I’ve not seen from him yet, with genuine amusement. “Hot and cold?”

“Yes! You are cruel and mean, yet you often speak about my beauty and magic with such reverence. And then you call me a child and tell me what a disappointment I am.”

Cocking my head to the side, I step back, effectively pulling away from his tender hands. I put more space between us as his grin widens, and he lets loose a chuckle.

Swallowing down my sudden, fervent need to lean into him is difficult. But I turn on my heel to walk towards the entrance of the garden. Despite my illogical desires that momentarily threatened to take over, I’m not in the mood for whatever games he’s trying to play today.

Walking with long strides back towards the house, I make it to the front door. My hand is on the knob, prepared to turn it, when a whisper of warm air rushes behind me and two tan arms appear on either side of my head, caging me in between him and the door. I don’t know how he creeps up so silently.

I’m about to open the door anyway when the thought occurs to me that if I do, Locane may fall on top of me when it opens. Instead, I say, “Move.”

He does move, but not in the way that I meant.

Locane leans his head in towards me, his breath tickling the shell of my ear through my long, thick hair. He whispers with a smooth voice, “I’m only honest, Ellya. You are incredibly beautiful and powerful. You are also endlessly infuriating.”

I don’t know what effect he sought with those words, but as usual with him, he brings forth anger. Turning quickly, I push his chest with both hands.

“What are you playing at?” I ask him accusingly.

His response is to grab the back of my neck with one hand, twining his fingers through my hair while snaking his other arm around my lower back, pulling me into him.

“What are you doing?” I ask, a slight ring of panic to my voice.

“This,” Locane replies smoothly and confidently before bringing his mouth down to mine, placing a delicate kiss on my lips as both of his arms tighten around me.

A small squeak of surprise escapes me, my eyes going wide. Locane pulls away, looking at me imploringly, as if waiting for me to say something. When I don’t, he leans down again, stealing another kiss. This one is firmer, and my eyes flutter closed giving in to this growing desire to snap the painful tension I’ve felt with him since the day he rescued me in the woods.

Locane’s lips part, and mine follow suit. My tongue darts out, meeting his as it searches my mouth. With that first bout of contact my knees weaken with the heady taste of him. I moan in appreciation at his intoxicating taste. He takes that as the invitation he needs to drop his guard and pushes me roughly against the door.

My hips rock forward, instinctively seeking his. Locane meets my gesture with a deep groan as he pushes the hard, thick length of his cock against me. Our height difference causes him to push it into my belly.

He breaks our kiss, both of us panting. The furious heat in his eyes only fuels the inferno building within me. I wrap my arms around the back of his neck, pulling him back down to me, desperate to taste him again.

The moment Locane’s lips meet mine, I jump up, wrapping my legs around his waist. He catches me with a handful of my thighs and grips them tight, pulling me closer to him. He breaks our kiss again.

“You drive me fucking crazy,” his voice comes out gravelly—angry.

Shooting him a glare, I seek his mouth again. Locane opens the door with his free hand and walks over the threshold of the vestibule. He walks quickly to the formal living room to the right of the staircase, clearly too eager to make it any further.

He turns around and sits on the chaise lounge and pulls me down with him so I’m straddling his lap. My breaths are heavy and desperate as I look down at him to see an expression that surely matches my own.

He grabs both of my hips roughly and pulls me into him to grind into his cock. Locane’s large hands move up my hips, reaching under the hem of my shirt to touch my bare skin. The contact brings an electric shock that has nothing to do with my power and makes me roll my hips against him harder.