His mouth sears cold kisses down my throat. I fight shivers as they course over my skin in sharp contrast to the warmth of the fire. Kai’s skin is dotted with sweat. I kiss his shoulder andtaste salt. My core clenches around emptiness. I want to devour him, yet he is the one devouring me with stinging cold nips and sucks that only spike me higher.
He’s heavier than I imagined he would be, having fantasized about this moment for years. His weight pressing me into the bedclothes feels delicious, despite the chill rolling off his body. I shift my hips wider so he can settle firmly between them. The light from the flames licks his skin. Whether it’s an illusion or truth, his pallor seems less pronounced.
Bracing himself on one arm, Kai smooths back my hair. His hand cradles my face like I’m made of glass. He strokes the curve of my cheekbone.
“You are a treasure, Gwen. Brave, resilient, beautiful.”
I shake my head against the pillow. “Haven’t been beautiful in a long time, Kai.” My throat tightens. “I’ve hardly even been a woman. I traveled as a boy to get here.”
I gave up everything to save him. My home. My reputation. I abandoned my only family. We will either prevail together or rest eternally in this frozen palace.
“No one with eyes would believe you are anything other than female.” He bends to nip my earlobe. His cold chest presses against my breast. “Was it worth it?”
“Not yet.” I squirm, clutching his forearm. “But it could be, if you keep going.”
Kai’s mouth quirks up in a smile. Heat blossoms in my core, unfurling like the petals of a spring flower. He brings his hand down to the curve of my hip. Then lower, studying my reaction as he finds my core.
At first his fingers are like icicles gliding through my wet folds. A startled gasp bursts out of me.
“Too cold?”
I shake my head with a low whimper. The sensation is intense, but not unpleasant. I want him to keep going more than I want him to stop.
Then he finds the nub at the apex of my sex and inserts two digits into me in a single wet glide. I stiffen at the intrusion. He withdraws. An agonized moan tears out of me. He pushes into me again, setting a rhythm that stretches untouched parts of me until I accommodate his touch. Pressure coils within me. I cling to his shoulder. Heat rushes to my cheeks as I cry out, my back stiffening, thighs clamping around his wrist. Kai’s cock twitches against my hip.
Panting, I collapse into the bedclothes, listless. Spent.
“Now is it worth it?” he asks with a satisfied smile. He eases his fingers out of me and examines them. Embarrassment flashes over me at the way they glisten with my desire.
Kai pops two fingers into his mouth and closes his eyes with a low moan.
“I’ve wondered how you would taste,” he says when he’s licked them clean. “That night you ate dessert like a wanton…you have no idea what you do to me, Gwen. I wanted to crawl under the table and feast upon you.”
“I’d have let you do it.” I dare to squeeze his hard length through his trousers. “You still haven’t made this worth my while. Are you going to?”
He unfastens his belt. Metal clicks. Cloth rustles. He emerges from the dark fabric like a winter god. His cock weeps faintly from a slit in the center of its round, ruddy head. This part of him isn’t frozen. At his core, he remains my old friend.
Boldly, I clasp him there. He grunts and shifts onto his side, wrapping his hand around mine and showing me how to stroke him. His skin isn’t as cold. I explore the texture and weight of him, wondering how the heft will feel inside me.
“I’ll go slow,” he pleads into my hair, as though he can read my mind.
“Please.”
He covers me, again settling between my thighs, letting me take his delicious weight. He reaches down to position himself at my entrance, but instead of thrusting forward, he slides his cock up and down my center until I’m writhing.
“Kai,please,” I beg. His hips shift and with a single thrust he pushes into me, filling the aching emptiness that’s plagued me for so long. The stretch isn’t quite comfortable. I wiggle, trying to adjust.
“Gwen.”
“Hm?”
“If you want this to end immediately, keep doing that.” His words are tight and his breath ragged.
“Oh. Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.”
“So—right. Okay. Now what?”
