I tried to contain the swell of desire rising from the pit of my stomach as I stood there. It was an insatiable craving, a rush of adrenaline just being near her. I had to keep myself together.
“I suppose we’ll just sit around and watch more of your reality TV,” I said with a shrug.
“You say that as though you wouldn’t enjoy it,” and the way she laughed then made my stomach knot.
“I have another suggestion,” I said.
“What’s that?”
I gravitated forward, brushing my nose against her cheek. Her mouth opened as her palms settled on my bare chest, eyes darting from my lips to my eyes, and just as our lips grazed, I said in a breathy tone, “Tell me about this snow cream.”
An unexpected snort left her, causing her to clap her hand over her mouth, and she laughed heartily. “And here I thought you were being broody,” she jested.
“I can be broody,” I said, committing the sound of that laugh to memory. “But you have me very interested in why we’re collecting filthy snow in a bowl.”
“It’s something my family always did,” she said. “We used to sit the bowls on our cars when the snows came because we only ever got snow every few years. But you can’t collect it from the ground. You have to let it get in the bowl like this. I learned that the hard way. You take the snow and mix it with sugar and condensed milk. It has to be the right amount, however. Otherwise it turns to mush, and ice cream makers help out a lot, but… we would just mix it in a bowl.”
There was a glisten in her eyes that I didn’t quite understand, and I wondered why the mention of it had made her sad when she’d been so excited only moments before.
“My dad used to bring home a can of that milk any time the forecast even mentioned snow… No matter how late he had to stay out on call, even in the middle of a storm… He always brought it home for us.” She sighed heavily and looked up, letting the soft flakes hit her cheeks for a long moment, and I reached a hand beneath her shirt to squeeze her waist.
“Shit,” she muttered, blinking fast. “Anyway,” she continued, seeming to compose herself. A smile flashed on her lips, her hands slapping softly on my chest, and her lashes lifted. “It’s a good thing I grabbed a can at the store yesterday,” she added, and I knew she was deflecting from whatever it was that had just bothered her.
“Now, I get to show you what you’ve been missing out on all your life,” she finished.
“I think I’ve been missing out on a lot,” I said, deciding not to push the subject. “I mean, polluted snow sounds extremely appetizing—“
She smacked my chest, and I laughed aloud, swinging back slightly as I held onto the railing.
“—Especially the snow that you clearly scooped off the ground,” I continued. “We should try that now—“
Her mouth agape, she picked up some of the collected snow from the rail and threw it at my face. But as she bent out of my grasp, I pulled her back in, my lips crashing down on hers.
It was smiling and laughter that lingered between us and that kiss. We swayed beneath the falling flakes, holding on in a moment that seemed to lull. I could taste the cold on her skin, the water on her chilled throat when I kissed down her neck. The laughter faded, leaving behind kisses and soft sucks of breath from her in my ear, making chills rise on my skin—and not from the cold, but rather from the allure of her noises. Her nails scratched the back of my head as she held me in her neck, and she leaned back over the railing.
I grabbed her ass and lifted her to sit on the banister. Her thighs went stiff, a squeal left her, and she hugged her arms around my neck.
“Gavin!”
“I got you, baby,” I promised.
Snowflakes melted on her face as my hand landed on her cheek. I took another few seconds to admire her as a soft wind blew through her damp hair and brushed over our bodies. Her cheeks were rosy from the chill, brown eyes and pale skin bright against the illuminated night surrounding us. We were the only ones awake, the only ones with lights radiating through that darkness.
The city was asleep, but we were aflame.
With that soft smile on her lips, she leaned forward to kiss me again. Slower this time, the cold around us barely apparent with the heat rushing through our veins. I slid my hands beneath the sweater to grasp her tighter, deepening our kiss. The lust between us heightened with every sweep of our tongues, to the point that I couldn’t get her close enough. All space vanished between our bodies, and yet, I needed her more. I craved her. No games…
Thiswoman.
And when I finally moved my hand and pushed a finger between her thighs to her warmth, I decided how I would survive this chill.
“Hold the rail and raise your ass,” I said, pulling back.
“What—“
I kissed her hard and moved her hands myself, pressing them onto the cold banister. She sucked that pouting lip behind her teeth again when our mouths parted, holding my gaze as I moved my hands to the top of her underwear.
“Squeeze your thighs around me and lift,” I said.
