The kiss was something beyond them both, like a deity from another universe controlling their fate. Open mouths, tongues tangling, freezing air melting under their desire. His hand snaked around the nape of her neck. Her fingersclawed at the fabric of his shirt, clutching him as close as possible.
Angling their heads, he took the kiss deeper, sinking his tongue into her mouth and drinking her sweetness like it was the fountain of eternal life.
She pulled back a fraction, catching his gaze for one long beat, then with a brilliant smile, she jumped, and he caught her under the ass as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Before he could say a word, her mouth found his again, and he held onto her, not letting her fall, not letting go.
The tightening of her arms around his neck left no room for air, only her. Long fingers caressed his head, and he moaned from the exquisite torture of her hips pressing against his groin.
Finally, she reared back an inch, her million-dollar smile beaming. “The very best thing, right?” Her eyes twinkled, relief sparkling in the gold flecks of her irises, and his heart bottomed out.
Yes, he wanted her. And yes, she was the best damn, unexpected thing that had ever entered his sorry life, but the truth remained. He didn’t deserve her. Anything romantic between them was already doomed. He knew that. Even if he took everything she was willing to give him tonight, he knew there was no happy ending for them.
“Vanessa.” He hated how some of the light drained from her when he said her name.
Her smile faltered. “Uh-oh.”
“I’m not a good man.”
She rolled her eyes at that. An exaggerated roll that had him biting the inside of his cheek despite himself.
“Don’t start with that, Zeus. We’ve all made mistakes. They don’t define us.”
“Don’t they?”
She shook her head before sliding off his body. Her feet touched the sand, but she didn’t let go of his shoulders.
“The things I’ve done—” He gritted his teeth through the shame. “Before I was your age, I’d already killed half a dozen men.”
The sound of her sharp inhale was torn away with the wind. In the darkness, her eyes widened like twin winter moons. Her face paled, and her lips turned blood-dark and vivid against the shadowy swirl of her hair. She must have been freezing, but she didn’t shiver.
“I’m not a hero. I’m no one’s guardian angel. I killed people and was celebrated for it in my crew for a very long time. I spent time in jail for drug possession and theft. Probably deserved a lifetime there for all the other crimes I committed. There’s no erasing the sins of my past. They’re a scarlet stain on my soul.”
In the face of her silence, he added, “You deserve better, Vanessa.”
She stepped back and stared past him, out to the sea. Small white flakes started to fall around them, sticking to her hair and clothing. It took a minute to recognize what they were. Snow.
After a beat, she lifted her face toward the sky. Then she mumbled something before laughing. A silent shaking of shoulders, tears glistening on her lashes.
“What?” He was genuinely confused. He’d told her how many lives he’d ended, and she was laughing up at the sky and mumbling like she had some private joke going with a higher power.
And maybe she did, because when she turned to him with wet, laughing eyes, she threw her arms up high and shouted, “They shall be white as snow.”
While his mind reeled, she caught a snowflake on her fingertip. It melted on contact. Her laughter intensified, and before he could register what she was doing, she tugged her shirt over her head and stripped her pants off her long legs. Standing on the dark winter beach in her black bra and panties, laughing joyfully, she looked like a goddess. Or an angel.
“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” She quoted the scripture verse she had no idea he had partially tattooed across his heart, and then, while he stood stunned and speechless, she sprinted toward the ocean.
Jordan didn’t move until she hit the water. Her screams filled the air, loud and piercing, making him sprint after her, heart hammering.
“Fuck me.” This woman. His princess, his angel.
Stripping quickly to his briefs, he took off after her. Plunging into the water, the frigid temperature pierced his skin like a thousand stabbing knives. He took a second to self-regulate.
“It’s freezing,” she shouted over the crashing waves.
The snow falling on the water only made her appear more ethereal. She was an arm’s reach away, but even that was too far, so he waded over to her, the water rolling over his hips.
The icy swells reached a bit higher for her, covering her navel. She held her arms above the water. Her chest heaved with sharp, shallow pants.
They weren’t in deep water, but the ocean was unpredictable, and with their body temperatures dropping, their reflexes slowed. One strong wave could knock her under and disorient her quickly.
