All Chapters of FORBIDDEN ICE: CLAIMING THE CAPTAIN'S SISTER: Chapter 121 - Chapter 130

CHAPTER 121WHAT SURVIVES THE FALLISLAPainkillers lie. Big fat fucking liars. They don’t erase pain, instead, they negotiate with it. They blur the edges, lessen the groans, but leave the truth intact. I learned that sometime past midnight, when the lodge had gone quiet and my ankle throbbed like it had a heart of its own.I stared at the ceiling, counting the cracks I hadn’t noticed before. Today was the day set for Jade's disciplinary hearing and somewhere not far from here, people were deciding how much my pain was worth.I hope they see just how much it's worth.Morning arrived without ceremony. A knock came just after seven. Two short taps that drew my attention away from the window. Ellis stepped in first when Sonia opened the door. Behind him were two members of the retreat’s disciplinary panel. It wasn't hard to place their faces when you’ve come across them before. Their faces were neutral, their eyes sharp with folders tucked to their chests like weapons.“Isla,” one of t

CHAPTER 123CROSSED LINESELLISLocking the door might’ve been a mistake. Or the smartest thing I’d done all week.When the click sounded, it was like a reminder of what was about to go down. Isla couldn't stop staring at me and the look behind her eyes just screamed fear and uncertainty. Something like awareness. It was like she was bracing for something she didn’t yet understand.That was not what I intended.I stood at the door stating at her, not moving closer right away. She was standing barefoot on the wooden floor. Her weight was uneven, clearly favoring her healing ankle. Her hair was loose, falling around her face in soft waves, and there was something calmer about her now.That thing that made me fall for her the first day I noticed her.“You okay?” I asked instead of whatever speech I’d rehearsed and discarded a dozen times.She blinked, her eyebrows raised in confusion. “That’s…not what I expected you to say.”I huffed out a breath and swept my hair back. “Yeah. Same.”She

CHAPTER 125IN BETWEEN PLEASURE ISLAI've said this before and I'll say it again. It takes just a millisecond to crash down from cloud nine. I experienced it again. One second we were standing too close, breathing each other in like the air might run out. The next, Ellis’s hands were on me again. They were careful at first, like he was still asking permission even after I’d already given it.“Ellis,” I whispered his name, giving him a hint to be cautious of what he was doing and how he was doing it.“I know,” he murmured back, his palm resting on my ass. “I know.”We moved together slowly and clumsily, like people learning a language they’d only ever thought in. If you want the gentler and more precise version of Rowan, then Ellis was your guy. He was fucking talented. A loud moan slipped out of my mouth, one that had barely had the chance to settle in before my heel shifted.Pain exploded up my leg, force pulling me out of cloud nine and hitting me brutally against the gravel floo

CHAPTER 127WHAT IT FEELS LIKE. TO BE HOMEISLAI has almost forgotten Talia was somewhere outside waiting for me when the door suddenly flew open. Talia didn’t knock, she never did when she was worked up. Or maybe at all, since she has turned this house into hers. The door flew open and she came in like a storm wrapped in denim and anger, two takeout bags swinging from her hands.“I swear to God, if you tell me one more ‘retreat was enlightening’ story—” she started, then stopped short when her gaze finally settled properly on me.Her eyes narrowed like a nurse assessing a lying patient.“…Why do you look like someone almost killed you?”I blinked, holding back the urge to sacarstically roll my eyes. “Hi to you too.”Asher appeared behind me with his mug, sipping from it. “She almost did.”Talia dropped the bags on the table. “What.”I sighed and leaned back against the couch. “A truck almost ran into us. It was in the wrong lane and it was a near-death experience. You know….. casu

CHAPTER 129MAD SUGGESTIONS ISLASometimes I look at Asher and wonder the kind of things he thinks about to let out some words. I wanted him to laugh and say he was just joking and trying to lighten the mood. But he stared back at me with the most serious look.“No,” I said firmly, shaking my head like it would fall off my neck any second.Asher’s stupid words were still hanging in the air between us. I ran my hands through my hair, tucking the strands behind my ear.Talia froze for a few seconds until she found her voice. “Asher.”But I was already on my feet again, ignoring the little pains from my ankle.“You don’t get to say that like it’s an option,” I told him. “Turn yourself into a murderer? Our parents would growl in their graves.”My words seemed to have hit a nerve, but not enough to swerve him from his decision to turn into a murderer.His jaw tightened. “It is an option. And our parents would understand me ending their killers.”“No,” I repeated. “It’s not.”The look on A