Page 31 of Clash of Storms
"I'm c-cold," Malin whispered. "How long do you intend to ride?"
She wouldn't wrap her arms around him, and she'd spurned the offer of his cloak.
"We have a few more hours before the light fades. Here," he said, offering her his arm.
She stared at it.
"I'm not going to bite," he snapped. "Take my bloody arm. Put your foot in the stirrup, and swing up in front of me. I can wrap my cloak around both of us."
Malin's fingers rested hesitantly on his forearm.
"Or you can continue to freeze," he said in an acid tone.
She actually thought about it.
Thedrekibared its teeth within him, frustrated at the proximity of his mate and her constant refusal. It wanted to claim her, perplexed by her distaste, but Sirius knew even a single movement toward her might cause her to shy away forever.
And he wanted forever.
A fool's quest, for there was no future for them together. She hated him. The queen would kill her. The only thing he could hope to do was get her to safety and leave her there. No matter how much the thought burned within him.
"If you touch me," Malin began, slipping her foot into the stirrup he'd abandoned, "I swear I shall scream."
"I'm not going to touch you."
Though he wanted to.
Desperately.
Glaring up at him, she leaned her weight forward, her floral scent filling his nostrils. A sigh escaped her. "I suppose the rumors are true then. Thank goodness."
"Rumors?"
"That you're cold as ice, both inandout of bed."
"Where the hell did you hear something stupid like that?" Cold inbed? The very idea affronted him.
"It's whispered all around court," she said, trying to reach for the pommel of the saddle. "Sirius Blackfrost's bed is as cold as his heart, and no woman can melt him. Many—apparently—have tried."
"And that makes you feel safe?"
Malin's dark lashes flickered up, and she apparently realized how close their faces lingered, and how precariously she was perched. The horse beneath him shifted, thrown off-balance by her weight. She hesitated. "You wouldn't dare. I'd scream."
True.
Sirius slid his arm around her waist and hauled her up in front of him. Malin squealed, then clutched at his arm, but he did nothing more than haul her back against his chest. Her skirts pooled around her thighs, and he kept his forearm around her belly, the soft press of her breasts resting against it. With the other hand, he drew his cloak around the pair of them, trapping their residual body heat within.
Damn, but she had cold hands. He wanted to rub the chill from her skin, but could only imagine how she'd take it.
"My bed has been cold for many a moon"—ever sincesheshowed up at court and hisdrekicaught scent of her—"but I assure you once I have a woman in my sheets, she won't be complaining of frostbite. You were right about one thing though. Any woman in my bedwillbe screaming, but the word on her lips will be my name."
"You sound awfully certain of that," Malin shot back, but he could feel her tremble a little.
And it wasn't from the cold.
"I am certain." He turned his face into the side of her neck and breathed in her scent. Thedrekiwithin him subsided to a dull burn, content she was in his arms, but Sirius couldn't stop himself from pushing her, just a little. "Perhaps, if you're so curious about my bed, you should invite me into yours. Put this little theory to the test."
Malin gasped, snowflakes tangling in her lashes as she glanced behind at him. "I'd rather swallow nails."
