Frost by E. Latimer Read Free Book Online Page B

noblewomen regard me with unconcealed hostility. Jealousy is never attractive, regardless of station or class.
The queen looks up, her cold features alight with pleasure. “My daughter, you have returned to me."

 
Chapter Nine

I sat up with a shout of surprise, my legs tangled in the heavy comforter. Loki stood just inside the door, eyes wide. "Are you all right?"
"It was a dream." I looked up at him, embarrassed at my dramatic reaction. Apparently all his talk of ice queens had triggered some pretty strange nightmares.
Loki’s features were shadowed in the room's dim light, his dark curls messy and decorated with melting snowflakes. The tips of his ears were bright red, and he had a grocery bag in each hand. He must have just walked in the door.
"You look cold." I smiled, banishing the ridiculous dream.
"It's freezing out there." He shook his head, spraying wet droplets across the room. He reminded me of a puppy—an adorable, brown-eyed puppy.
"Hey!" I scrubbed at my face. “Quit splashing me.”
"Oh, sorry. Am I making you cold?"
I wanted to wipe that smug expression off his face, and my touch couldn't hurt him, right? "Not at all, but I can make you cold." Impulsively, I reached out and touched my fingertip to the side of his neck.
He laughed, dropping the grocery bags to grab my hand. "That doesn't work, remember? I'm too hot for you."
"Oh." Now, it was my turn to look smug. "You're hot for me?"
" Not what I meant!" Loki wrapped his fingers around my wrist, and my eyes grew wide as the heat in his palm suddenly increased.
"You can make yourself even warmer?"
"Yup, and you should be able to make yourself colder."
"How do I do that?"
He stood up and made his way to the door, stooping to pick up the bags. "Don't know. For me it's as natural as breathing. I'm not sure how you work. You frost giants are a different breed."
"That sounds flattering." Even though I tried to keep my tone light, my heart sank.
If he didn't know much about my power, he probably couldn't teach me. And I needed to learn how to control it before I hurt anyone else.
Loki deposited one of the bags beside me on the mattress. "I got you some clothes. I hope they fit."
I rummaged through and found a fuzzy, white sweater on top of neatly folded jeans and a pair of leather boots. The sweater was ridiculously soft in my hands. "I'll go try them on."
I left him sprawled across the bed, playing games on his phone. Then I shut the bathroom door before dropping the bag near the sink. After pulling my nightgown off, I shrugged into the sweater. It was a bit itchy, but it fit okay. The jeans were actually the right length, which was surprising, and when I slid my feet into the boots, I wondered how he’d known my shoe size.
He’d guessed just by looking at them? I wasn’t sure I liked that.
My reflection in the mirror above the sink revealed that my hair had nearly slid all the way out of its ponytail, so I tugged it out and looped the elastic around my wrist. Had my hair gotten lighter? I took a strand between my thumb and index finger, nearly going cross-eyed trying to examine it.
"Okay in there?" Loki's voice made me jump.
"Uh, yeah. Be right out." I stuffed the empty bag into the garbage and then slipped out of the bathroom, nearly hitting Loki with the door, since he was leaning against the wall beside it.
He stood up straight, grinning. "It fits. Do you like the sweater? I knew it would look good on you."
"Thanks." My cheeks went hot. "It fits nicely. It's really warm."
"Not that you need warmth. It does look good on you though."
I did a little spin and tried on my best model pout. "Is it high fashion enough for Grande Prairie?"
"They'll never know what hit ’em."
"But I won't need it once you take me to California." I fidgeted with the hem of the sweater, still thinking about leaving without telling Uncle Dave. I hadn't gotten a text message back from Charlotte, either.
I went back into the bathroom to retrieve my phone, which was still in the