His lips were sweet and cool against mine, gently parting them with his tongue and sucking on my lower lip with a light and playful bite that made me sigh into his mouth. He pulled away from me then, and I saw the raw hunger gleam in his eyes as he drank in my expression with his heated gaze. And then he dove down to kiss me again, deeper, almost desperately, and I could feel my body responding to his need as I pressed myself tighter against his bare chest. He sat up with me still pinned to his body, my arms wrapped around his shoulders and one hand clenched in the silky hair at the back of his head. He reached behind me, never lifting his mouth from mine, and unzipped my armor suit. I took the same opportunity to reach down and unbutton his dark gray slacks. When he stood, he let my feet touch the floor and slid his palms over the shoulders of my armor, sliding it off my arms and letting it drop to the floor to claim its rightful place beside his pants. God, he was beautiful, his body lean and chiseled from decades of battle, his pale skin an affront to his jet black hair. And those gorgeous silver eyes could see right through to my soul. He touched my lips softly with his, running his tongue over my top lip and then across the bottom one, his naked body whispering against mine. Abandoning my lips all too soon, he trailed kisses down my cheek and jawline; his fingertips tickling down my back like raindrops, then caressing my hips, the skin of my lower back and bottom. How I ached for him, my Winter knight, my fey love. I let my fingers glide across the cool skin of his back and shoulders as he continued to trail gentle kisses down my stomach and my hips, dropping to one knee before me. He slid his hands down the backs of my legs as his lips continued to graze lightly over my skin. I reached down and grasped his hair in both my fists, squeezing my approval, and I gave a little shiver as my body broke out in gooseflesh and my nipples hardened into tiny pebbles. He began to rise again, trailing his hands along my thighs and up my sides, then arching me back as his lips coursed up my waist to meet my breasts, so eager to greet his touch. Sensing my desire, he suckled, gently but firmly, first one nipple and then the other. A fiery moan escaped my lips as liquid heat began to spill over and into the tiny nub of flesh tucked away in my secret cleft. My legs started to shake under the exertion of my weight and my knees began to buckle, but Ash was already sweeping me into his arms, my back arching further as he lifted me onto his hips while running his tongue around one of my nipples, driving me mad with desire and anticipation. He straddled the almost-forgotten cot and pulled me toward him, our bodies pressed tightly together but still not close enough. I wrapped my legs around his back and drank in his devastatingly handsome features. He looked me in the eyes, our gazes locked in a passionate embrace, and murmured the words that made me melt every time I heard them pass his lips: "I am truly, madly, deeply in love with you, Meghan Chase. I am yours, completely."

Before I had a chance to reply, he swiveled his pelvis underneath me and pushed forward, entering me more swiftly than I had anticipated. I gasped, feeling his cool fullness easily spreading apart my virgin flesh. He put his forehead to mine and continued to forge ahead, slowly pushing himself deeper and deeper inside me, until I felt a sharp, melting pain intermingled with raw, deep pleasure heating my insides and I cried out softly, unable to hold back. Ash settled his mouth over mine, stopping his advance for a few moments to let me catch my breath. His tongue slid across mine, slowly, achingly sensual, taking his time and fully enjoying our lovers' kiss. I'd never been kissed so deeply, not even by him, and it made me feel as though I was melting into him, as though we were becoming one. I felt the red-hot aura of his passion for me cascade over our bodies, pulsing in time with his heartbeat. He slowly pulled his pelvis away from mine and I was immediately tormented with the loss of his fullness from deep within me, but then he purposefully pushed himself deep inside again. A long, guttural moan escaped my lips, which seemed to spur him on even more. His thrusts became sharper, harder, more intense. I twined my fingers through his hair and rocked with him, adrift in a sea of sexual ecstasy, the soft nub of my sex rubbing up against him at each thrust, until he grabbed my bottom and squeezed me into him and I came to climax. Kissing him deeply, I cried out into his mouth so we would not be overheard. My entire body, from head to toe, tingled with orgasmic pleasure. I hugged Ash to me tightly, letting myself drown in my own afterglow. He returned my embrace, gently kissing my ear, my cheek, my lips. I had just lost my virginity to the man I was in love with, the man I planned to spend the rest of my life with. I was serenely and blissfully satisfied.

It would seem, however, that the Winter prince was not quite finished with me yet.

He lay me down beside him on the cot and held me close. He was no longer inside me but I could feel his hardness against my stomach, his readiness waiting for mine, which immediately relit my well-kindled passion for him. "Don't ever leave me," I whispered. "I would die."

"Never," he returned, caressing my cheek with his thumb. When he bent his head to kiss me, I responded with the rush of heat and desire that had taken over my body once again. I arched my back to press my breasts against his bare chest and threw my arm and leg around his strong, muscular hip, pulling his hardness closer to my body.

It was apparently more than he could take.

He gently picked me up and returned me to the cot laying flat on my back, pinning my wrists above my head with one hand and shoving the other hand under my waist to arch my back toward him. Then he dove down to roughly suck and pull at my nipples, biting down on each until my toes curled and I gasped sharply. He let his tongue trail up my chest and gently bit my neck and my earlobe in turn, making me sigh his name. Smiling down at me, he kissed me deeply while I combed my fingers through his soft locks.

He retreated from me and pulled my legs back over his as he straddled the cot between my legs and found his way into me again. I was swollen and tight from our first round of lovemaking, and it made his cool hardness inside me seem intensely large and unyielding. It felt savagely wonderful. He had his way with me, filling every inch of me inside as I moaned and writhed on the cot. He had a desperately tight hold on my hips, leaving me helpless to do anything but be completely taken by him. He watched my face with rapt attention, my moaning and grimacing and squirming clearly exciting him further. He ravaged me this way until he knew I had neared complete exhaustion. He reached down and grabbed me by the wrists again, growling thickly, "You're too far away from me." He hoisted me back up onto his lap and grabbed my waist between both his hands. He continued to slam his cock impossibly deep inside my wetness, a moan escaping each of us with every powerful thrust. I held onto his neck tightly, hoping to prolong this pure and blinding ecstasy. When I finally relented and allowed myself to reach climax, I felt as though my head would explode from the pent-up passion behind my release. I tilted my head back, squeezing back an open-mouthed moan that would have brought the whole camp running. At the same time, Ash buried his face in the hollow of my neck and cried out. I felt him shudder beneath me as he spent inside me. His thrusts, although still deep, slowed and gradually became gentle as he emptied within me. I looked back down to him and covered his damp face with sweet kisses. He chuckled as he leaned us back down to the cot. I wrapped my arm around his waist as he did the same, pulling me close to him as I nuzzled my head into his neck. I fell asleep almost immediately, feeling his softness still resting inside me as I slipped into blissful oblivion.