Free MakeMeWet by Nara Malone

or fainted or something. When he
woke me, I was staring right into those eyes.”
    His fingers tightened around her hands, he sat cross-legged
and pulled her onto his lap.
    “You said fire and snow. What does snow have to do with it?”
    She nodded. “I was lost in the fog that rolled in after
lunch. Then wind blew up a snow storm to take its place. The temperature
plummeted.”
    She was shivering. He hugged her tighter. “I wasn’t dressed
for it. It was so cold.”
    “I’ve got you. Keep going. What happened next?”
    “I fell, cracked my knee against a rock. I did try to keep
going, but I must have lost consciousness. Then there was the wolf. I must have
been out of my mind, but I followed him.”
    “Where?”
    “To a shabby mansion. It looked like something right out of
one of those old Goth movies.”
    “Did it?” What the hell was a Goth movie? “Maybe if you
describe it, it’ll help you remember more.”
    “Tall, dark and spooky.”
    “Ah, that’d be Shadowling Manor.”
    “I still don’t know how I got from there to here.”
    If she’d gotten here from Shadowling, it was probably best
not to delve deeply into the how. She cuddled against his chest as he watched a
small tongue of fire catch in larger branches, going to flame and then flame
going to blaze. He maneuvered her back to the pile of blankets and pillows he’d
arranged between dune and fire, sheltered from the wind. Her skin still
unnaturally cold.
    Her feet were like ice. He massaged them, gentle circles of
his thumbs along the arches, fingers cupping and warming her toes. He made no
move to take the intimacy to a new level, letting her have the control.
    Maille nestled her head under his chin, her finger absently
traced the pattern of a heart on his chest while she considered what he’d said.
    “I grew up here. I must have hiked those cliffs a thousand
times. I have never seen Shadowling.”
    “It’s remote. Hard to find even if you’ve been there
before.” Truth was you couldn’t find it at all except on special nights when
sex magick called it up from the ether.
    Her skin was warming and her breath quickening, all signs
she was growing more ready, but her thoughtful sigh was weighted with sadness.
    “What, love?”
    She shrugged. “This sounds crazy. I had this idea at first
that I must be in a coma or something. That’s why I couldn’t figure out how I
got to the beach. That maybe a coma is like a lucid dream. I know I’m dreaming
and I can’t get out.”
    “You feel like a real flesh and blood woman to me.” He
couldn’t quite bring himself to say he was a real flesh and blood man. He
wasn’t sure what he was anymore. Well, he was sure of one thing. He was not a
liar.
    She pressed one palm over his heart. As if by magnetic pull,
a responsive tug stirred in his chest.
    “I thought you were like a grim reaper or something,” she
said, “here to escort me to the other side.”
    He covered her hand with his. Could feel the beat of both
their pulses cupped in his hand. As if he held their fates safe. He didn’t.
Should he grasp what pleasure they could share now, or toss it away—as if
casting dice—and see what fate would deliver?
    “Ah, Maille mine, I don’t know much about the afterlife. I
would suppose grim reapers don’t need anyone to rescue their sorry asses from
rip currents.”
    She giggled. “Good point.”
    He pressed his nose into her hair, inhaling her softly
herbal scent. Mistake, that. He was drunk with hunger for her.
    “Maille, love, could I ask you something more personal?”
    “You can ask. I may not answer.”
    “Have you ever… How can I put this delicately? Have you let
go with a man? In bed I mean?” His hand wandered over embroidered silk coming
to rest on her thigh.
    Her legs parted. Slightly. An ever-so-subtle invitation.
    “Ronin? I know I haven’t really been that great a lover
tonight—”
    “No… No. It’s just I get the feeling… I’m twisting this all
up, I know. I just