Page 72 of Kiss of Ice

“Kam, something… something’s happening.”

“You’re going to come. Open your eyes. I want you to watch yourself.”

With an effort, she focused on her reflection again. Her legs were wide apart now and she was working her fingers frantically, chasing a feeling she didn’t understand but desperately craved.

The sensation built to a crescendo, growing and spreading until its molten warmth made her pant. She writhed helplessly, caught up in a maelstrom of emotion she’d never experienced before. And then it peaked.

She stiffened, crying out as she climaxed. Her silken femaleness tightened around her fingers in a delicious spasm, the feeling so intense she almost couldn’t bear it. And yet she wanted it to last forever.

Waves of ecstasy crashed through her and she sagged against Kam. He held her steady until the last throb of pleasure had ebbed away.

“Seven hells,” she panted. “That was… that was amazing.”

He kissed the top of her head.

“Youare amazing. I want you to remember that the next time you feel unconfident.”

She twisted her head to look at him.

“You kept your promise. You didn’t try to seduce me. You could have. I wouldn’t have stopped you. Not when I was so turned on.”

“I keep my promises, Ren,” he said gently.Though how the fuck I kept my hands off you, I’ll never know.He turned her in his arms and scooped her up. She lay trustingly, not trying to hide her nakedness. She supposed she should have been embarrassed but something had changed.

The old Ren would have been shocked and ashamed that she’d done something so base, sointimatein front of Kam. But the new Ren revelled in her newfound knowledge. She was a desirable, sexual being. Her body was an instrument of pleasure. And he’d helped her discover that.

She made no demurral as he placed her on the bed and laid down next to her. The old Ren would have insisted on a barrier of pillows between them. The new Ren wanted to feel Kam’s warmth close to her.

“What about you?” she asked. It was hard not to notice the straining erection beneath his clothing. In a curious way it made her proud. He was hard because ofher.“Do you want me to… to do something?”

She reached out towards his hardness and he grasped her wrist.

“Don’t,” he said roughly. “Don’t touch me or I won’t be able to help myself. And I mean to keep my promise, Ren.”

“What if… what if I give you permission?”

He smiled faintly.

“Your first time shouldn’t be here. Not in some shitty inn with scratchy sheets and a snoring innkeeper down the hall. I want our wedding night to be special. Now turn over. Let’s get some sleep.”

She turned onto her other side and he snaked an arm round her waist, pulling her back into his chest. She snuggled against him drowsily. The after-effects of her orgasm were still coursing through her; she felt languid and content, her muscles soft and relaxed.

Kam dropped a kiss onto her shoulder.

“Goodnight, my ice queen.”

She didn’t answer. She was already asleep.

Twenty Nine

“I don’t love you. And I don’t think you love me.”

She turned away and once again he saw her scars. Scars as familiar to him as the back of his hand. Scars he’d touched and stroked, to show her they didn’t detract from her loveliness.

He started to call out, to beg her to come home with him. But he stopped. He watched her go and knew she was right.

She would always be his hero. But she wasn’t his true love.

He woke with a start, the dream still in his head. The same dream, and yet not the same. He lay, puzzled, trying to understand what was different. The shape next to him stirred.

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