Olivia broke into sweat. She was not unfamiliar with that anatomy of men, but so close. Gods. Now she was shivering because of a different reason. 

She was feeling so warm wrapped in his scent and arms, but now— now every breath that she took was agonizing, pressing her more into his chest. And even though she wanted to think of a thousand different things, all she felt was how close she was to Kaizan. His hand curled around her and below her body. Her head was resting in the crook of his arm. 

In order to shove the thoughts out of her mind, she said, "Why haven't you married so far? I mean you aren't a royal family who is forced into a union." But he was close enough.

Kaizan lifted his head up and then narrowed his eyes at her. She stiffened slightly feeling that she had asked the wrong question. He rested his head back on the pillow and said, "You would be surprised that none of the royal family I know could be forced into a union. However, most marriages are a business arrangement for various reasons from acquiring more power to having peace across borders." Her voice was decadent. 

Olivia couldn't understand him any better. Marriage was politics and business. Love and everything else were for mistresses. "Do you have lovers or mistresses?" she asked, hating the conflicting emotions that now marred her chest at the idea that he had mistresses. "I mean you must have at least ten." She knew that people in his position had a bevy of mistresses. Every muscle of her body coiled and then remained in that position feeling so tense. 

Kaizan didn't answer her instantly. After a moment he asked, "Did you ever love anyone before?" 

If Olivia wasn't tense enough, she cringed. Three years back a boy from her pack, liked her and had shown interest in her. He used to say that her voice was so good that one could listen to it. And that one could fuck at night without seeing her face while listening to her. He was one of the most popular wolves in her pack and made her blush every time. 

Olivia chose to remain silent on that question. But the question whether he had mistresses or not bore like a dagger in her mind, so she asked him instead, "Do you have mistresses?" 

He took a deep breath and sighed. "Olivia," he said and the way her name rolled off her tongue—it was sexy as hell. "Loneliness is like an empty hole. And a good company fills that hole." 

Her heart plummeted. So, he had mistresses. She clenched her jaw and clenched it hard enough to pain. Emotions smothered her like a thick blanket in summer. 

"I don't have mistresses," he added. 

"Not even one?" Olivia thought she had heard him incorrectly. 

"I don't have time to maintain a mistress, let alone have one." He chuckled. 

And suddenly his embrace felt… tender. The tension that had coiled in her muscles slowly traveled down to a place where it tinged her and made her clench her thighs. 

"Go to sleep, Olivia," he said, urging her to stop asking more questions. 

Feeling better, she thought she could go to sleep, but Olivia was now excited and she didn't even know why. She just remained like that in his embrace. The only sound that she heard was that of her pounding heart, the crackle of the bonfire around which the guards for the night sat and soft neighing of the horses. His arm was so tightly wrapped around her that she wondered if he was already sleeping or not, but the heat between her belly and his was a lot to bear. She knew that he was hard. Feeling a little awkward, she pushed her hands on his chest to have some distance between them. The fur behind her got lifted and icy air gushed brushing her skin like needles. 

"You will freeze like that," he said with a sigh, but didn't make an attempt to pull her closer to him. 

Heat rushed in her cheeks. In order to avoid any more awkwardness, she turned to the other side and then shifted a little towards him. Now her rear nestled into his hips. A deep rumbling sound emanated from his chest. 

"Sleep Olivia," he whispered. "There's nothing you and I can do about it." Kaizan had stayed without a woman for so long that he was sure that his erection was mostly because of missing a woman's curves. "I haven't been with—" he pursed his lips. Gods, in his thirty-three years, he had been with woman but no one was like her. "Just sleep!" 

Her scent inundated his senses. Why was it that he was hardening at the thought of stripping her and taking her in his bed, and smother his face in those curvy breasts. Still fighting the arousal that she was endangered, he thought of putting distance between them because of how awkward she was feeling, but if he did that, she would be rendered cold. "You are very tired right now and weak. You will only hamper tomorrow's travel. I expect you to be ready in the morning for we will be reaching Silver Vales tomorrow." He should leave her as lust roared through him and escalated every moment she was with him. If he didn't leave her now, he wondered if he would be able to leave her at all. He pressed his face against her hair and thought about who Skadi had sent him to be with. 

After a few minutes of thinking about the whole situation she drifted off in a deep slumber. He was so warm and cozy. When she woke up in the morning, she was surprised that had slept so soundly. It was as if the cold never touched her. She wouldn't have woken up had it not been the sound of pots being jostled or exciting conversation around her tent. 

"Despite the weather, we have made it this far pretty soon, m'lord," said Finn in a low voice. "If it continues to snow, we will have to stop in an inn." 

Olivia blinked her eyes open and saw silhouettes of men standing in front of her tent. 

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