“You know what I’d love to hear you call me?” His voice drops into a low confession. I don’t trust myself to speak. The way he says it, the way his scent of leather and icy pine surrounds me, it threatens to drown me. “Kai.” It comes out in a rough husk. Oh fuck. What is happening to my insides? Heat kicks up at the bottom of my gut, like a pile of burning coals. I thank god this castle is so cold, as I break out into a sweat. Even so, I refuse to let him see he’s gotten to me. “I think I’ll stick with Your Majesty,” I mock, just to get his goat. Because he’s got mine—by the throat.
