Another flash of red, creeping closer to her. She rolled up another snowball and threw it, but it hit a tree. Jaya moved to another tree and silently picked up another snowball. Her heart was racing, her cheeks flushed with gleeful competition. Stepping backward, Jaya scanned the trees in front of her for the slightest movement, the sly snap of a twig or—

Grey grabbed her suddenly around the waist and bent down to speak in her ear. “Gotcha.”

Grinning, she spun around in his arms and ground the snowball into his beanie, her hands coming to rest on his shoulders, her fingers brushing the back of his neck. “I’m counting that as a hit,” she said. “Which means we’re now tied.”

“I guess so,” Grey conceded as Jaya leaned back against the tree behind her, her heart racing with exertion and… something else. He stepped forward, his arms still around her waist.

Jaya tipped her head back, both of them breathing hard. He tucked a lock of hair that had escaped her hat behind her ear, his fingers lingering on the spot just below her ear. A brisk wind whistled through the trees, making her shiver. Grey stepped closer still, blocking the wind, his body heat enveloping her.

Jaya’s smile faded as she saw the embers glowing in his eyes.

When their lips met, embers turned to flame. Jaya wrapped her arms around Grey’s neck and he pulled her taut against his broad chest. He hadn’t shaved yet that morning, and she felt his stubble scraping her lips, her jaw, her cheeks. Where before he’d been reticent and withdrawn, now he nipped at her lips with his teeth, pushing hard against her mouth, claiming her as his own in that wild, feral way. It was like every feeling, every hidden craving he’d kept behind his immovable mask was now out in the open, flooding every synapse. He’d finally lost control, and that knowledge drove Jaya mad. Their tongues clashed together, vying for control, two sworn enemies from feuding clans in each other’s arms, overcome with desire. Jaya’s blood sang, her body a symphony of longing. She was liquid fire, a drop of molten heat in his arms. In the darkness, with the snow swirling around them, she was sure she was on a tropical island, the sun blazing on her skin.

Grey

They both pulled back at the same time, their eyes wide. Jaya’s hand flew to her mouth as she stepped out of his arms, beside the tree. “I’m sorry,” she said. She took a step back closer to him, and he wasn’t even sure if she knew she was doing it. “I’m really sorry.”