Page 166 of Wicked Prince of Frost

I smile and tilt my head, trying to figure out if he is teasing me again or not. “My heart is already yours, as my hand will be in two weeks.”

Joon’s tone turns somber. “By your human customs, yes. I want you as my wife, as humanandfae.”

The moment he gives his wants voice, I know it is just as important for me to know we are bound in all ways that matter. It is the thing that was missing during the past month of preparations, but couldn’t name.

“Is there even time to arrange things?” I ask.

He reaches up and tucks a wayward strand of hair behind my ear. “There is nothing to arrange. For the fae, such things are private. Humans have ceremonies and witnesses because they do not possess magic. We need only to speak our new bargain as we did before.”

“Then I see no need to wait.” My voice has gone breathy and soft with anticipation.

The look of pure happiness on his face only reaffirms what is in my heart.

Bird song fills the woods now that spring is in full bloom. The air is warm and fragrant. It’s a time and place I never imagined having with him. It feels like a dream, just as every day since he found me in the forest has. I intend to revel in the passing years I never thought I’d have, and a love I never dared to want before I met Joon.

Joon steps back and takes my hand, holding my wrist in his gentle grasp. The familiar hum of energy dancing over my skin tingles against his cool touch. A shimmering thread appears above our clasped hands, lengthening. The ends elongate, undulating gently as they wait for the bargain.

“For your heart and your hand, I give you mine. I bindmyself to you willingly in this life and beyond,” he says. An echo of the promise we made so long ago.

As he speaks his vow, one end of the glittering thread knots around his middle finger. It is the same as it was the first time, only now it’s brighter. Brilliant and warm.

“For your heart and your hand, I give you mine.” As I repeat after him, the other end ties in a knot around mine. The thread catches the light, shimmering a mix of silver, black, red, and cobalt with its movements. “I bind myself to you willingly in this life and beyond.”

The words have barely passed my lips before his mouth is on mine. My hands snake their way up his arms and around his neck. He lifts me by the waist, my legs wrapping around his.

The desire I feel for him is intensified by all we have overcome together. When I try to say as much, his tongue slips past my lips, stroking mine, and all thoughts leave my mind. All that is left is our need to claim each other.

Joon pins me against the rough bark of a tree with his body. One of his hands finds my breast and caresses, squeezing gently before trailing down and over my thigh. He finds the hem of my skirt and slides his palm underneath, then back toward my hip and curving around to my ass. He does the same with his other hand, continuing until he reaches my core. He strokes me. Once. Twice. I moan as two of his long fingers plunge inside me with no more warning than that.

My body has missed his touch—hungered for his, the feel of him on me and in me. It’s as if I wandered a desert in search of the one thing I needed to feel whole again. Never finding it until now, and I am ravenous.

“Perhaps I should make you summon the entire town with your cries?” he murmurs darkly.

My fingers dig into his shoulder as he nips and licks at my neck, while he continues to work me.

Then, his hand is gone in a too sudden movement, pulling a whimper from me, leaving me empty with a need to fill that space with him.

With those brief touches, he already has my body aching with desire. I don’t have to wait long. He frees himself from his trousers and guides the tip of his cock into position. My breath catches in anticipation as he grips my waist and holds me in place as he pushes his hips forward, stretching me in a single, achingly slow thrust until every inch of him is in me.

“Yes, just like that,” Joon murmurs, peppering my jaw with kisses between words. The sensual way he speaks sparks something within me that demands he make his claim.

Joon leans back to gaze at me. “Violet, I?—”

“If you wish to claim me, then claim me.” I rasp. I need him to move, though I am on the verge of coming undone just like this.

A low rumble emanates from his throat. He pulls back, then thrusts forward, hard and fast. A sound between a cry and a moan escapes me as I gasp at the unexpected strength. He does it again and again and again. Each movement is deliberate and forceful as he obliges.

“Otherworld, take me, I have missed the way you feel.”

I try to smother my sounds as he threatens to follow through on his earlier words.

“Moan all you want, Wife. I will take them all for myself.”

With that, his mouth is on mine. He swallows my cries of passion with his kiss that claims me just as fiercely as he fucks me against the tree. Raw and primal. Each thrust is a possessive claim that marks our hearts and souls, solidifying the vow we made to each other among the trees.

We move together, proving that we are made to fittogether, to move in tandem, and ensuring every inch of me will crave him for eternity. Every touch, every breath, is an expression of our emotions. The sorrow, the longing and regret, the worry, and the relief. But most importantly, the joy that our hearts are finally whole now that we’re together again.

It’s as if we were born already knowing each other’s souls—as if the saints created me for the sole purpose of having him command my heart, and his for me. Our hands grasp and grip, fingers tangling in hair. We hold tight as we explore the maps of each other’s bodies.