Page 31 of His Winter Wonderland

“It’s not safe for her to leave her compound.”

“That’s why she never should’ve mated with that dragon. Now, she’s on the run from The Deciders.” Winter shook her head. “Mates aren’t worth the trouble they cause.”

Ouch. “You say that as if you got a mate,” he teased.

“Die.”

Rhen chuckled. She said the sweetest things when she was mad.

“What’s so funny?” She shouted.

“You’re cute when you’re angry. But you’re even cuter when you smile. Smile for me.”

“Would you like a stake to the heart or would you like it in your back?”

“Oh, I get to choose this time?”

She nodded. “I’m feeling generous.”

“If you’re feeling generous, how about a smile?”

She bared her teeth at him. Rhen laughed. Fuck, he missed her. He sealed his lips shut. He wouldn’t tell her that. Nope. Every time he told her that, she reacted violently or either she didn’t react at all. Both reactions bothered him. Fuck. He couldn’t resist saying it out loud.

“I miss you, Winter.”

Her eyes rolled. “What did I tell you about saying that?”

“I can’t help it. It’s true.”

“Careful. Or one of your many whores may hear you.”

“As if you care about any of my women.” Say you care.

She shook her head. “As long as they keep you busy, I don’t have to worry about you bothering me. But, it seems they’re not doing a good job. Maybe you’re not satisfying them the way you used to.”

Hearing her talk like that angered him. “There’s only one witch I’m concerned with satisfying.”

She laughed. “Then please, go satisfy a witch and leave me alone.”

“You’re the witch I want to satisfy.”

Her smile widened. “If you say so, vamp. Run along. I don’t have time to chat with you today.”

“Do you ever?”

“No.”

She’d never know how much it hurt him when he said things like that. He laughed it off.

“One day, some female is going to snatch me up and you’re going to regret losing me.”

Her smile faded. “How many times have you been snatched up now? I haven’t regretted it once.”

Rhen swallowed. He knew she’d heard the rumors. Hell, he’d made sure she heard them. Like everyone else, she thought he was a playboy. He didn’t care about what everyone else thought. He didn’t care about what everyone else saw when they looked at him. He only cared about what she saw.

She was his mate. She should be able to see through the bullshit. And if she couldn’t see through it, she should at least want him to stop acting like a play boy. His mate did neither. If she was pretending to not care, she was doing a damn good job. He wished he could pretend not to care also.

Each time he did, each time he told himself, fuck her, he could live without her, he ended right back here. He ended up standing outside her fence, watching her cabin. Like a fucking puppy waiting on his owner to let him in. He didn’t correct her. He didn’t tell her that he hadn’t touched a woman since coming to the Frostlands.