He held his hand up, to cut the glare of the foreign sun he had all but forgotten.
He'd never been to the beach before. He'd only seen pictures in magazines and on TV.
And it had been centuries since he'd seen daylight. Real daylight.
The sun shone down on his skin, hot. Tingly.
He let the heat soak into his frozen body. Let the sun caress his skin and melt away the centuries of misery and loneliness.
Dressed only in black leather pants, Zarek walked over the sandy beach, looking at everything and focusing on nothing in particular.
This was even better than his stay in New Orleans. The surf roared around them as it pounded against the beach, the wind whipped at his hair. The sand was warm and clung to his feet.
Astrid ran past him, to the edge of the water.
He watched as she peeled her clothes from her body down to a small blue bikini.
She gave him an impish, hot once-over that made him shiver in spite of the heat. "Would you like to join me?"
"I think I'd look strange in a bikini."
She laughed at him. "Was that a joke? Can it be you made a real joke?"
"Yeah, I must be possessed or something."
Beguiled actually. By a sea nymph.
She came toward him with a determined walk.
Zarek waited, unable to breathe. To move. It was as if he lived or died by the sassy sway of her hips.
She stopped before him and unbuttoned his pants. The sensation of her fingers brushing against the thin patch of hair that ran from his navel to his groin rocked him. He hardened instantly, wanting to taste her again.
She slowly unzipped his pants as she stared up at him from underneath her lashes.
One small millimeter before she freed his erection, she seemed to lose her nerve. Biting her lip, she trailed her hands in the reverse direction, up toward his chest.
Zarek still couldn't breathe as she splayed her hands on his bare chest.
"Why do you touch me when no one else does?" he asked.
"Because you let me. I like touching you."
He closed his eyes as her tender caress seared him. How could something so simple feel so incredible?
She stepped into his arms and he instinctively embraced her. Her breasts brushed against his abs, making him even harder, making him ache.
"Have you ever made love on the beach?"
His breath caught at her words. "I've only made love to you, princess."
She rose up on her tiptoes so that she could capture his lips for a sweet, tormenting kiss.
Pulling back, she smiled up at him as she unzipped the last little bit of his fly and took him into her hand. "Well then, Frosty the Snow-Zarek, you're about to."
Ash sat alone in Artemis's temple, just outside her throne room on the terrace where he could look out onto the beautiful, multicolored waterfall. His golden-blond hair pulled back into a ponytail, he sat on top of a marble banister with his bare back against a ridged column.
Wildlife, safe from hunters and all other danger because of Artemis's protection, grazed in a yard where the ground was made of clouds. The only sound came from the rushing water and the occasional cry of a wild bird.