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sleeping-bagged form over her for extra warmth. She tucked her head under his chin and slid her
backside against his thighs, wishing they had more room. When she felt his lips in her hair, she turned
sleepily and gave him a full kiss.
She hadn't thought they'd be able to do anything sexual in the confined space, but Adrian got them out
of their bags and undressed quickly. He made love to her on the nest of sleeping bags, their combined
warmth filling the tent and making her sweat.
Out here in the middle of nowhere they had no need to be quiet, and he quickly had her screaming
louder than she'd let herself before. Adrian for the most part was silent, using his mouth to lick and suck
her flesh, his hands molding to her body. She gazed into his eyes and experienced the floating sensation
again, the two of them suspended in blackness as stars whirled by.
When he came, he groaned hard, setting his teeth in her neck as he liked to do.
They spiraled down from climax together, but before she could drift into sleep, he made love to her
again. This time he pinned her hands above her head and rode her with quick, rough thrusts. She lifted
her body, wanting as much contact with his as possible.
When they relaxed again, she drew languid fingers across his cheek. "The polar bears must be laughing
at the bouncing tent."
He kissed her throat. "I am keeping all the wild creatures away. You'll be safe here.
"Maybe, but they'll still laugh."
He raised his head, his eyes quiet. "You like to laugh, even though you hold so much sorrow. It's one of
the lovable things about you. In the happiness of afterglow, she let the word lovable flow over her. She
couldn't believe she'd just had wild sex in an Arctic-rated tent in the middle of nowhere on the
Alaska-Canada border.
A twinge of uneasiness cut through her comfort.
"If the demon used me and Susan to bring you to him, is what I'm feeling for you part of his power?"
she asked. "Making sure I stick with you?"
He traced the bow of her lips, his dark eyes unreadable. "What are you feeling for me?"
"I think you know."
His gaze took on the deep sadness she'd sensed inhim when she'd first met him. "Amber, you can't fall
in love with an Immortal."
"Can if I want to."
"When we are finished, I will make you forget me, as I've promised. You will go back to your life, and
I will cease to exist for you."
She glared at him, the cozy afterglow dissolving. "Why do you get to make all the decisions?"
He gave her a puzzled look. "Decisions?"
"First you decide I belong to you, and then, snap, you're finished? You must be king of the one-night
stands if you can make your lovers forget about you in the morning."
His brows lowered. "That is not what I mean."
She knew it wasn't, and she knew this was his way of keeping her from hurt, but it angered her all the
same. "First the demon manipulates me, now you want to keep me from remembering I was manipulated
in the first place. I'm tired of being screwed around by ancient beings."
She half pushed him away, stuffed herself into her sleeping bag, and zipped it up. He remained on his
side, facing her, looking like the gorgeous demigod he was, black hair flowing over tightly muscled
shoulders, his eyes gleaming in the light of the battery-powered lantern.
She could gaze at him forever, taking in the perfection of his body, marred only by the scars of battles
long past, his tight abdomen leading her eyes to the brush of hair below his pelvis and his thick erection
still hard for her.
What woman would not want him, even if her price was forgetting him in the morning?
Annoyed at her own inconsistency, Amber rolled over so she wouldn't have to look at him. "We have a
long day tomorrow, and this mortal woman needs her sleep. Good night."
He said nothing. For the longest time, she felt his gaze on her, his big body still, his breathing quiet. A
half hour passed as she lay rigidly, expecting him to snarl at her, or laugh at her, or even throw her down
and make love to her again.
At last, a little disappointingly, he clicked the light off, zipped himself into his own sleeping bag, and
quietly dropped off to sleep.
Morning came excruciatingly early, and the sun was fulland bright by the time she and Adrian moved
on. Adrian was grateful for the goggles because even with his powers, he would have been snow-blind in
ten seconds without them. This far up, where perpetual glaciers and sea ice were the norm, spring was
nowhere near.
They went east and then north again until they reached packed ice. At the end of the day, Adrian knew
they'd have to leave the bikes behind. Ice alone lay beyond this, and they'd proceed via cross-country
skis.
Toward the end of their second day on skis, Adrian turned his head just in time to see Amber silently
begin skiing perpendicular to their path, even though it led to thinner, greener ice. A spike of adrenaline
raced through his body, and he swung around to follow her, hoping to Isis she didn't charge out to a
freak thaw and fall through. She'd be dead within seconds of hitting water that cold.
Amber halted so suddenly her skis moved a bit forward before she dug the poles in and pulled herself
up-right. Adrian stopped himself before he ran into her.
"Is this it?" His voice was muffled behind his goggles and ski mask.
Amber nodded. She wore the same kind of goggles and ski mask, which completely hid her face, and
her parka hood covered her head. A mute stuffed into layers of nylon and padding.
She pointed with a mitten to what looked like snow-brushed ice-floe, not much different from the rest
of the ice around them. She looked up at him, and he could just make out her wide eyes behind the tinted
goggles. "What do we do now?"
Adrian threw down the pack he'd been carrying, unfolded the saw-edged shovel and the small pick axe
he'd brought with him. "We dig."
He saw her mouth form a grimace behind the skimask. She took up the pickaxe and made a few
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