An excerpt from Chapter 5 of What Else Matters. Credit for the setup of this scene goes to @vgtravlr !

No TFW spoilers in this excerpt, but there are spoilers in the full chapter. Beware! 😘

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Suntress strolled over to their bedrolls and promptly started shedding her weapons and clothing.

A searing wave of lust washed over Nil, heating him more thoroughly than the Scorcher’s radiator. Hungrily he watched as Suntress kicked her boots aside, then shrugged off her Banuk jacket and peeled her Oseram undershirt over her head.

She started tugging at the laces of her Banuk pants and glanced over her shoulder at him. “Are you going to stand there and stare, or are you going to warm me up?” she asked boldly.

Nil couldn’t respond. He was distracted by the expanse of her naked back, marked with a handful of scars and tinted a ghostly white by the aqua light of the Banuk torches. It seemed like forever since he’d seen even a scrap of her skin that wasn’t her face or hands. Finally he tore his gaze from her back and looked at her amused profile. “Your skin is the most exquisite canvas of snow,” he said seriously. “So I’m going to stand here and stare. But I want you to think of my hands melting the ice of your flesh, scorching into the raw heat underneath.”

The amusement faded from her face to be replaced by a burning lust. “Okay,” she whispered, then finally she unlaced her pants and pushed them down.

Nil swallowed hard; a sudden rush of saliva had flooded his mouth at the sight of her naked body. She turned to face him and he gazed greedily at her nipples, puckered into hard peaks by the still-cool air in the cave.

“Are you cold?” he asked; her arms were wrapped loosely around her middle as though to keep her heat close.

She nodded. “It’s warmer in here now, but not quite warm yet. Which you would know if you were naked too.” She raised her chin in challenge.

Nil smirked and pushed back his hood. “Soon,” he purred. “Remember, good things come to those who lie in wait.”