“Too cold?”
“No.” She pulls back just enough to meet my gaze, her amber eyes blazing with something that makes my breath catch. “It feels incredible.”
I kiss her again. Harder this time. My other hand finds the curve of her waist through the thin material, and I pull her flush against me. The heat of her body against my cold chest is almost overwhelming—sensation flooding systems that have been numb for so long, I forgot they existed.
She responds with equal intensity, her tongue sliding against mine, her nails scraping lightly down my back. The small pain sends a jolt of electricity through me. I growl against her mouth—actually growl, the dragon stirring beneath my skin—and she laughs. A breathless, delighted sound that I want to hear again.
“The Ice Dragon growls,” she teases, her lips brushing mine with each word.
“The Ice Dragon is trying very hard not to lose control.”
Her hand slides down my chest, over my stomach, stops at the waistband of my trousers. “What if I want you to lose control?”
The last thread of my restraint snaps.
I lift her effortlessly, her legs wrapping around my waist as I carry her toward the bed. Her shift rides up, baring her thighs, and I grip them hard enough to leave marks. She gasps against my mouth—not in pain, in pleasure—and rolls her hips against me.
We fall onto the bed in a tangle of limbs. I catch myself on my forearms, caging her beneath me, and for a moment, I just look at her. Dark hair spread across my pillows. Chest heaving. Lips swollen from my kisses. The shift has slipped off one shoulder, revealing the curve of her collarbone, the swell of her breast.
“Beautiful.” The word escapes before I can stop it.
Her hand cups my face, her thumb tracing my cheekbone. “So are you.”
I lower my head to kiss her throat, feeling her pulse race beneath my lips. She tilts her head back, giving me access, and I take full advantage. I trace a path down her neck with my mouth, stopping to suck gently at the hollow where her shoulder meets her neck. She moans, her back arching off the bed.
“Auren—”
I work the shift over her head slowly, baring her to my gaze, inch by inch. Athletic build, lean muscle earned through years of training. Skin flushed with desire, glowing faintly with the fire that lives beneath it. Her breasts are perfect—full, tipped with dusky peaks that harden under my gaze.
I lower my mouth to one, swirling my cold tongue around the sensitive flesh. She cries out, her hands flying to my hair, holding me in place as I worship her with my mouth. I give the other breast the same attention, alternating between them until she’s writhing beneath me, making sounds that drive me to the edge of sanity.
“Please.” The word comes out broken. “Auren, please?—”
“Please what?” I trail my mouth lower, over her ribs, across her stomach. Her muscles twitch beneath my lips. “Tell me what you want.”
“Everything.” Her voice is wrecked, barely recognizable. “I want everything.”
I hook my fingers in the waistband of her undergarments and pull them down her legs. She’s fully bare now, laid out on my bedlike an offering, and I have to take a moment just to breathe. To memorize every detail. The dip of her waist. The flare of her hips. The dark curls between her thighs glistening with arousal.
“Is something wrong?” There’s vulnerability in her voice, despite the teasing tone.
“I’m admiring.” I press a kiss to her hip bone. “You’re the most exquisite thing I’ve ever seen.”
I kiss lower. Her thighs fall open for me, and I settle between them, my shoulders spreading her wide. The scent of her arousal makes my head spin. I press an open-mouthed kiss to her inner thigh, then the other, teasing.
“Auren.” My name becomes a plea. “Stop teasing.”
I drag my tongue through her folds in one long, slow stroke.
The sound she makes is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard. I do it again, savoring her taste—salt and honey and fire—before finding the bundle of nerves at the apex and circling it with my tongue. Her hips buck off the bed. I pin them down with one arm and keep working, learning what makes her gasp, what makes her moan, what makes her scream.
She comes with my name on her lips, her thighs clamping around my head, her back arching off the bed. I work her through it, gentling my touch as she comes down, pressing soft kisses to her trembling thighs.
“That was—” She doesn’t finish. Can’t seem to find the words.
I crawl up her body, pressing kisses to her stomach, her breasts, her throat. When I reach her mouth, she kisses me deep, tasting herself on my lips.
“I need you inside me.” She reaches between us, her hand finding the hard length straining against my trousers. I hiss as she strokes me through the fabric. “Now, Auren.”
