Free Reign of Ice (Forever Fae series) by L.P. Dover Page A

shoulder. I tried my best to keep my eyes focused on his face, but my traitorous gaze kept lowering until it found the one thing my body desired to feel between my legs. Oh my.
    I tried to open my mouth to speak, but all I could do was stutter, “I’ll … I’ll go wait out in the bedroom until you get done in here.” When I turned to walk out, Brayden gently grabbed my arm and pulled me back into the bathroom.
    Grinning, he turned on the shower water and put the towel around his waist. “Take your shower and meet me downstairs. I’ll get everyone together so we can tell them you’re coming home with me this evening. That is what you still want, right?”
    Biting my lip, I nodded quickly. “Yes,” I replied, my heart sputtering in my chest. “I don’t belong here anymore. I’ll be down there as soon as I can.”
    He released my arm, slowly sliding his fingers down my skin before turning his back and closing the door as he left. I showered hastily because I wanted to be down there when he told my family what had happened. As I laced up my brown warrior leathers, I realized how out of place it looked on my pale skin. I would soon have to trade out my brown and gold armor of the Summer Court and replace them with the black and silver of the Winter.
    I pulled my hair back in a tight braid, just like Meliantha always did, and started for the door. However, a feeling in my gut made me freeze where I stood. A loud knock echoed through my room, and before I could open the door, Kamden took the liberty of opening it himself and strolled in like it was his right. What the hell?
    “Just come on in, Kam,” I muttered sarcastically. “I know we’re friends, but you can’t just walk in like that. If Brayden was in here you’d probably have your ass kicked.”
    His stance was rigid, his eyes dark and menacing, and so unlike the sweet Kamden I grew to care for. Chuckling, he prowled toward me and said, “I’d like to see him try. You know, I heard that your precious prince is your guardian now. I honestly didn’t think you would complete the bond with him after he left you standing in the middle of the dance floor looking all pathetic and alone in the Spring Court. I must say that it was a shame I wasn’t there to see it.”
    Something was wrong and I knew it from the dread building up in the pit of my stomach. All I could sense around me was darkness. My insides screamed at me to run, to fight, but I had nowhere else to go. Kamden had me cornered against the wall, trapped. Unfortunately, my instincts told me it wasn’t Kamden gazing back at me through those evil, malicious eyes. It was someone else, someone I was going to have to face and destroy all on my own.
    “Alasdair,” I growled. His lip quirked into a smile, but then disappeared with my next words. “The only pathetic one here is you. You have to hide behind a disguise to get to me. I would say that makes you a spineless coward and definitely not what I expected from an all mighty sorcerer.”
    Taking my chin in his strong grasp, he slammed my head against the wall and held me firm so I couldn’t turn away. He looked straight into my eyes and hissed, “Is this better?”
    I could feel his dark magic spreading its evil tentacles across my skin as the form of one of my best friends slowly disappeared and was replaced with someone else. Instead of the short, black hair and hazel eyes of my friend it was interchanged with shoulder-length brown hair and the evil looking gray eyes of the sorcerer.
    I could feel the power in his strength and in his body as he pressed it against mine, leaning close to breathe me in. I knew there was no way I could fight him off without a weapon. It angered me to know that I was caught off guard by his intrusion and that I was defenseless.
    Groaning in my ear and still holding my face in his firm grasp, he used his other hand to glide his fingers down my body. First, he trailed a finger down my neck to my breasts, and then down my