Page 24 of A Kiss of Frost

“You are correct. I promised myself I would not rush you. It seems that my desires overrule my restraint.”

“My restraint’s a little shaky too,” she agreed, reaching out to caress his face.

Her fingers brushed against the base of his horns and he groaned again, his erection pulsing against her stomach.

“Are they sensitive?” she asked curiously, running her finger along the ridge where his horns emerged from his skin.

“Very,” he said firmly, putting his hand over hers and pulling it away. “Unless you wish me to forget my restraint completely it would be best not to touch me there.”

“I’m almost tempted,” she whispered, but she stood up and adjusted her blouse. “You will notice that I am not running away. I am walking.”

“But you are still leaving me.”

His voice sounded oddly desolate and she was almost tempted to throw caution to the winds and climb back into bed with him. Instead she held up the piece of flexible glass. “But I’m taking your present with me. It’s like you’ll be with me all night long.”

“I do not believe that is the same,” he said dryly, but the despairing note had vanished.

“Then we’ll just have to meet in our dreams.”

Giving into temptation, she bent down for one last kiss before whisking herself out of the room.

CHAPTER12

Jackasarian was dreaming. He was in an ice castle – surrounded by walls of gleaming blue ice. Something called to him and he followed it deeper and deeper into the castle until he came to a room with a bed of white furs. Katerina waited for him on the furs, her slender, graceful body gleaming in the light. Her eyes opened, the same silvery blue as the walls, and she reached for him. He went willingly, but as he cupped one of her small, perfect breasts, her skin felt wrong, rubbery and cold beneath his hand. And when she tugged him down for a kiss, her mouth too was cold, her taste wrong. His cock throbbed incessantly, but when she wrapped her cold fingers around it, he jerked away.

“No. Who are you?”

The face beneath him flickered, but before he could recognize it, he jerked awake, his heart racing as if he’d been running for miles. His body was drenched in sweat and he felt as limp and exhausted as if he had truly been running. What the hell had he been dreaming?

It was still night, the rest of the cabin dark and still with only a faint glow from the stove breaking the darkness. A chill shivered across the skin and he looked over to see the shutters of his room caked with ice. He hoped that the material he had provided for his female would serve to ward off that chill.

Despite his exhaustion, he was reluctant to return to sleep and he slowly sat up. His limbs felt shaky, but the movement no longer sent pain shooting through his head. He forced himself upright, suddenly feeling compelled to check on his female and the children.

His knees shook, but his legs held as he made his way to the entrance of his room. Everyone was safely asleep, but before he could return to his bed, Johnny emerged from the shadows.

“What do you want?” the boy asked, his young voice challenging despite his low tone.

“Nothing.” A Tandroki warrior would never admit to being perturbed by a dream, and he cast around for another explanation. “I am not used to extended periods of inactivity.”

That was certainly true. Even hiding away on the ship, he had emerged late at night to train silently while Nicholsarian slept.

“Oh yeah? What do you usually do?”

A number of what he now realized were meaningless activities, but he shrugged. “Many things. I worked for a very demanding male. But I also trained each day.”

“What kind of training?”

He hesitated, but the boy was already suspicious and he had no desire to lie to him.

“Warrior training.”

Surprisingly, Johnny’s face relaxed, and he gave Jackasarian a tentative smile.

“That sounds kind of cool.”

“If you would like, I could show you some basic moves.”

“Yeah. I’d like that.” The boy’s face hardened again. “But don’t think that means I’m not watching you.”

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