Page 30 of The Fire Beneath the Frost

“To surviving another week of blankets,” I said, trying for humor, but my voice cracked halfway through.

He blinked.Then nodded, and we both tipped back our vodka.It hit like fire and smoke.

Dimitri lowered his glass and stared at it for a long moment.

Then, in the quietest voice I’d ever heard from him, he asked, “Why did you bring me here?”

His voice trembled.Not with fear, at least not only that, but with something heavier.Hope, maybe.Or a longing that hadn’t yet found a place to land.

I took the glass from Dimitri’s hand and set it down beside mine on the low ledge.Then I stepped forward, into the small pocket of space between us.

He didn’t move.

I reached up, rested my fingers on his jaw, and saw his throat jump as he swallowed.

“Because I couldn’t keep pretending,” I said, my voice low.“I couldn’t stop thinking about what you might taste like.”

And then I kissed him.

There was no music.No crescendo of violins or clamor of trumpets—just the wet click of our lips and the pounding of my heart, too loud in my own ears.

He gasped into my mouth, like he’d forgotten how to breathe until now.

It wasn’t a perfect kiss.Our noses bumped, and my hand shook a little, and I felt him trembling beneath his coat like a storm just starting.But when he kissed me back, God, when he kissed me back, it was like the world cracked open.

I broke away first, only because I had to.Because if I didn’t, I was going to fall apart right there.

We were both breathing hard.Not like men who had climbed stairs, but like men who’d been holding their breath their whole lives and had finally exhaled.

“This,” I said softly, brushing my thumb against his cheek.“This is why I brought you here.”

Dimitri blinked, dazed.“Because of the kiss?”

I nodded.“Because of everything leading up to it.”

And Dimitri kissed me again.

This time, there was nothing gentle about it.It was hunger and terror, and his hands clutched at my coat like he was afraid I might disappear.I pressed him back against the cold tile wall and gave him everything I had.

We broke apart, panting, eyes locked.Every part of me felt like it was sparking.

There was a pause.Long.Heavy.Beautiful.

Then Dimitri whispered, “What happens next?”

ChapterNine

Dimitri

Icouldn’t breathe.

Or maybe I just forgot how.My lips were still tingling, my heart galloping like it was trying to outrun a war horse.My whole body buzzed, like I’d stepped too close to a live wire, and now the charge had nowhere to go but inward.

Petyr had kissed me.Twice.

No, not just kissed.Devoured.Undone me.Pulled me into some invisible orbit I didn’t know I’d been circling my whole life.

I could still feel the pressure of his mouth on mine, could still taste him—bittersweet vodka, salt, and something warm I didn’t have words for.My hands were still clenched in his coat, not because I meant to hold him, but because I hadn’t realized I’d let go of control entirely.

---