"I asked you a question, Rio. Answer me."

"Yes," she whispered. "I... understand."

"Good." There was a smile in Ice's voice, but I knew that it was a smile I would never wish to see. "Now, it seems we have a little problem, don't we. You broke Rule Number Three, and it's the most important one of all."

"Please..." Rio and I spoke at the same time, but Ice continued to ignore us both.

"It occurs to me that instead of threatening Angel, you should be on your knees thanking her, Rio. Because if it weren't for her 'softening' me, your brains would be splattered all over this stable. And I think we both know that, don't we?"

Another silence. Another vicious shake.

"Don't we?"

"Y...yes."

"Good. So. I'm gonna be nice just this once and let you use your 'get out of Hell free' card. Just make sure you never, ever even think of doing it again. Because I promise you this, Rio. You will die."

As if shot from the mouth of a large cannon, Rio literally flew the length of the stables, landing against the far wall and slumping bonelessly to the ground.

The stables went silent once again, and for a very long moment, I feared Ice had slipped away once again. Somehow, though, I could still feel her presence. That strange sensation I always felt when she was there persisted, giving me hope and the strength I needed to cross those last few feet and step into the shadows.

Before I could, though, she stepped out into the light, birthed from the darkness as if demon-spawned. Her pale eyes glittered coldly and a cloud of energy dark as the shadows from which she'd materialized wrapped itself tight around her like a shroud.

She was dressed completely in black, her hair pulled back into a tight braid which brought the beautiful, chiseled planes of her face into sharp relief.

"Ice?"

Almost as if pulled from the depths of a nightmare, her gaze sharpened and focused on me for the first time. And then, before my own eyes, it seemed to soften as she took me in. The tight, coiling energy surrounding her seemed somehow to dim, and the slightest of smiles graced her lips. "Hey," she said, her voice little more than a whisper.

Satan himself couldn't have stopped me from running into her welcoming arms.

Crushing our bodies together, I wrapped myself around her like a strange, four-limbed octopus, breathing in the scent of her and listening to the slow beating of her powerful heart beneath my ear. "Don't go," I whispered, knowing I was begging, but not caring. "Please stay."

Her long arms came around me, strengthening our bodies' embrace, and I could feel the gentle brush of her lips against my hair. Her ribs expanded as she took in a deep breath, then expelled it as a gentle sigh which ruffled through my hair, warming my scalp.

A moment later, I felt her muscles loosen as she gently separated our bodies along their lengths. Her chin lowered slightly as she looked down at me. "Please," I whispered again, laying my hand atop the one which cupped my cheek, "stay. At least for tonight."

The intensity of her gaze stripped bare my soul, leaving me a trembling supplicant to her dark majesty.

When those eyes zeroed in on my lips, I felt a flash-fire of arousal sweep through me with an almost painful intensity, calling up from deep within visions of dangerous, wild things which lashed out from their penumbral lairs to feast upon the blood of innocents.

A gloved hand moved to my chin and suddenly that dark, roiling energy was transferred to me through the searing touch of hot, wet, hungry lips moving against mine, consuming me to ashes where I stood.

"Stay here." Her voice was husky and raw and wanting as she pulled away from me, from us.

I couldn't have moved if I had wanted to. My feet had grown roots which fastened me to the dirt-packed floor. I watched, helplessly, my fingers brushing lips which felt nothing save the power of Ice's kiss, as she crossed from light to shadows and back to light again, walking with firm purpose toward the back of the stables.

Bending down, she pulled Rio easily up by the front of her shirt, then ducked close to whisper something in my erstwhile tormentor's ear. Though I couldn't hear what was being said, the look of dumb, pathetic gratitude in Rio's eyes as she nearly bowed deep in my lover's presence gave me all the information I needed to know about that particular conversation.

She was sent stumbling from the stables, an arm clutched hard against her belly. Ice turned, her eyes quickly scanning the building's interior. A brief smile crossed her face, and before I could think to move, a blanket-roll came sailing forth from the darkness, only missing my head because my hands happened to get in the way.

I looked down dumbly at it for a moment, and when I looked up again, Ice had disappeared.

The fear that she'd left broke my legs' paralysis, but before I could take more than a few stumbling steps forward, she returned again, astride the blood bay stallion I'd spent so many hours admiring.

She rode him barebacked, her powerful legs gently resting against his muscled sides, her long fingers twined in his dusky black mane. He held her easily, not even twitching with the weight on his back, as if he had been born and bred for that very purpose.

His neck proudly arched, he looked down at me, his dark eyes alight with some sort of half-amused knowledge. Or perhaps it was mischief. As I've said previously, my knowledge of horses is quite minimal.

He stepped strongly forward at Ice's gentle command, and the next thing I knew, a gloved hand had clasped me securely and I was lifted onto his back with an ease which never fails, to this very day, to both awe and thrill me.

"Hang on," came the low-voiced command as my hands were wrapped around Ice's lean waist, the bedroll crushed comfortably between us.

"Forever," I whispered, resting my cheek against her back as she urged the stallion onward and out of the stable.

The corral gate was open, and since I knew it hadn't been that way when I entered the stables, I surmised that it was one of the little tasks Ice had sent Rio on when she pushed her on her way. With a soft "Yah!", Ice sent us on our way, and my gentle hug became a hanging-on-for-dear-life white knuckled death-clutch as the earth flew quickly beneath the horse's galloping hooves.

"Oooo I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die. I don't wanna die. Ohhh nooo, I don't wanna die."

I could hear the chuckle rumble through her as she clasped my hands more tightly in her own and let the stallion have his head. Soft tendrils of hair blew loose from her braid and brushed against my nose and cheeks, reminding me of happier times, and calming me right down to my soul.

Closing my eyes, I burrowed my face into her hair and allowed the scent of her to lead me onward into the unknown.

Some time later-frankly, I was too terrified to bother knowing exactly how much-the stallion's frantic gait changed to a steady rocking walk, and then to a gentle halt.

Before I knew it, I felt my arms unwrapped from around the waist of my anchor. Then strong hands lifted me and lowered me gently down to the ground once again. Prying my eyes open as I attempted to gather what remained of my wits, I looked around, taking in the beauty of the secluded spot Ice had chosen for us.

And secluded it most definitely was. A three hundred sixty degree panoramic view brought with it no signs of civilization whatsoever. We could have been on the moon for all the life I saw.

Sentient life, that is. Tall, soft grasses with feathery tops grew in abundance atop the broad, flat mesa upon which I found myself. Overhead, the sky was an immense, jeweled tapestry. Without lights to dim its splendor, nor buildings or tall trees to shrink its vastness, it seemed to fill up the entire world in a way I'd never seen before, making me feel very tiny and very insignificant in comparison.

A long, warm body wrapped itself around me from behind, halting my reflexive shiver unborn.

I was hugged briefly, then had the blanket roll taken gently from my hands. As I looked on in silence, Ice unbuckled the straps from the roll, then set the blankets out on the ground, going down to one knee to smooth them out and tack them down with a few judiciously applied rocks to the corners.

Then she looked up at me, the barest ghost of a smile caressing the corners of her lips, and held a hand out. Moon-bathed, her face was a curious combination of gentle light and murky shadow, but her eyes, clear and bright, were the only home I ever needed.

I went to her, feeling strangely innocent; a bride on her wedding night accepting the gentle invitation of her betrothed.

A large, gloved hand clasped itself warmly around mine and a gentle kiss was placed atop my knuckles. Her smile broadened then as she looked up at me, that crooked grin that even now never fails to still my heart for the briefest of moments and always brings an instant answering smile to my own face.

"C'mere," she whispered, her voice barely heard over the gentle hiss of the wind against the tall grasses.

I lowered myself slowly to my knees, feeling the soft leather of her hand trail warmly up my arm and down my side to clasp securely at my waist, steadying me.

I looked up at her, my goddess of the night, as the moonlight anointed her from behind and created a brilliant, shimmering halo around her body. The expression of absolute adoration in her eyes as she looked down at me stole the breath from my lungs and the strength from my muscles.

The world around me ceased to exist. Time was only measured by the beating of my heart. "I love you," I said simply, in a tone I knew was very close to awe.

Truer words were never spoken; dearer words were never meant.

"I know," she returned in kind.

We came together as one being then, emerging from the darkness of our separate selves to meld once again in a language neither of us needed to speak. A language of love and building passion. A language of giving and taking and intimate knowledge. A language which eased hurts and filled to overflowing the empty spaces left behind.

Lips met lips in sensual urgency as hands fumbled at buttons and buckles. I almost screamed in relief as my shirt was torn open in a great rending of seams which echoed through the still desert night, borne up by the currents of the softly blowing wind.

Chill air was replaced by the inhuman heat of my lover's hands as she teased and taunted, running long, strong, and vastly knowing fingers over my breasts and circling my nipples with merciless abandon until I all but cried out my surrender.

A low chuckle filled the night air, and I was eased gently onto my back as her lips left my mouth and blazed a hot and needy trail down the length of my jaw before finally settling at the sensitized flesh of my neck. My hands fisted the coarse blankets beneath me as strong teeth made their presence felt and a darting tongue danced along my pulsepoint, causing stars the heavens had never seen to begin dancing behind my tightly clenched eyes.

"Dear god," I gasped, and writhed helplessly as her hands left my breasts and moved lower to remove the impediment of my jeans while her teeth and tongue continued to work their magic on my trembling flesh.

A moment of panic froze my movements as I felt her body leave mine, but when I opened my eyes, a hard, sharp wave of intense arousal swept through me, stronger by far than any tidal wave that had ever been birthed from the depths of a churning, frothy sea.

A silver-gilded goddess knelt above me, her nimble fingers removing the last of her clothing and allowing the moonlight to trail along her magnificent body in a lover's possessive touch.

I couldn't stop the moan which came forth from between dry lips as I watched her hands run freely down her breasts and belly, following the moonlight's anointed path and making me wish with all of my being to be given the power to shine down on her so intimately, if only for just a moment.

With a growl I didn't even know I had in me, I bolted upright and wrapped my hands around her waist, stealing her from the moon's embrace and bringing the wild, primal beauty of her into my arms, where it belonged.

I heard her quiet moan as I nipped and licked the satin skin of her muscled belly; felt her hands twine in my hair as my tongue found a home in the well of her navel; smiled against her skin as her hips thrust gently forward in unmistakable response to my attentions.

Unable to wait even the length of one more beat of my heart, I lowered my chin to trail ardent kisses down her lower belly, and to seek out the scent and taste of her, something so missed and so needed and so very much cherished that tears formed in the corners of my eyes for the sheer joy of finding it once again within my reach.

And then, finally, after so long waiting and wanting, the taste of her was finally on my tongue. I moaned in utter bliss, hearing the soft, answering moan from above as Ice's fingers tightened in my hair while her hips began a slow, gentle rocking which brought more of her into my mouth and filled me with indescribable, heart-clenching joy.

My hands wandered down from her waist, over her hips, and down to clench the tightly bunched muscles at the backs of her thighs. I could feel those muscles quiver beneath my palms as she tried to fight the combined hold that gravity and my mouth had over her.

Smiling slightly, I redoubled my efforts, pursing my lips and taking her deep within as my tongue danced against her, long and slow.

The trembling in her legs soon became violent tremors. Her hands clenched reflexively, the incredible strength of her pulling me tightly against her and driving my tongue deeper and then deeper still.

Until finally the edge was reached and, with a long, low moan, she released against my tongue in a great, shuddering wave which brought tears of happiness to eyes long used to sadder emotions.

Her legs gave out, finally, and I helped her down as best I could until she was sitting back on her heels and looking at me with an expression of half-dazed wonder, hands laying limply on her thighs.

A giddy sort of joy rose from my up from my belly and curved my lips in a wide grin. "Gotcha, didn't I," I said, mock-buffing my nails against my chest.

"That you did," she growled, her crooked smile broadening my own. "That you most certainly did."

I laughed, a gleeful chuckle. "I'll have to remember to write this down, then. It's not often that I..."

Any further words were swallowed as a six foot ball of naked, sexual heat seared my lips with her own and powered me once again onto my back. "Turnabout is always fair play, sweet Angel," a low voice rumbled into my ear. "And I intend to... play... a great deal."

I would have gulped, had I the saliva for it. Instead, I gasped, then moaned as a tongue traced a path around my ear, followed quickly by the gentle bite of teeth which suckled and worried at my lobe. Her hand wandered, once again teasing my breasts, finding each nipple with unerring intimacy until it was all I could do just to remember my own name for the fire she was fanning deep within. "Do you like this game, my Angel?"

"Yes, I... god!... there!... I . oh!. .do. Very... oh yes, please... much.... "

Her laughter rolled through me. "Good."

My body was the sun, burning hot and bright as her hands remapped its peaks and valleys, never stilling, never lingering too long before moving on in their quest.

Her body was the moon, bathing me in its magnificent radiance.

And when she finally entered me, thrusting with a strength and a tenderness which were hers and hers alone, I gave up a sobbing prayer of thanks to the heavens which birthed us and brought her back to me, fully whole, fully strong, and fully alive.

My release came quickly beneath the tender mercies of her skilled and knowing touches. The second was building before the first even died out.

I needed more, needed the power of her love, and she gave it willingly, not stopping even after a second climax left me breathless and shaking.

I felt her strength against me as she moved to straddle one of my thighs, her breath warm and moist on my sweat-drenched cheeks. "I love you, Angel," she whispered, as she began a gentle rocking against me, building a rhythm between our bodies. "So very, very much."

Turning my head, I captured her lips with mine, sinking my hands into the thickness of her hair as our love and passion built strongly once again. Our bodies, wet with sweat, slid against one another with a delicious friction. The coarse fabric of the blanket created a friction of its own as it slid against my back and hips in time to Ice's ever increasing thrusts.

Radiant energy passed from one to the other of us, binding us closer still, until finally our mouths separated when the need for air became too much. Her eyes glittered as she thrust herself against me, soft grunts speaking their own passionate language to the depths of my soul and beyond. Her fingers danced within me as she moved, inviting me to share this journey to the stars with her.

"Together?" I whispered, gasping deep as my muscles clenched and tightened, promising the release my very soul hungered for.

"Always," she answered, feeding me her own climax through the deep indigo of her eyes.

We stayed frozen for a long moment, two statues locked together by an unbreakable bond, until finally Ice's eyelids fluttered and closed and she slumped down full upon me, chest heaving as she regained her breath.

As I attempted to bring my own breathing back under control, I turned my head and nuzzled the sweet flesh at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. I smiled slightly as I felt a shudder run the length of her body, then kissed the spot in question, eliciting a smaller, but nonetheless easily felt, tremor.

Growling slightly, she pulled away and turned, using her arms to gather me close against her, breast to breast and belly to belly. "You alright?" A tender kiss was placed, like a benediction, on my forehead.

"I'm... wonderful." As if she couldn't tell it by the dopey, blissed-out grin I was sure was on my face.

"That you are," she said, chuckling.

"You're not so bad yourself, sweetheart," I replied in my most saucy tone, only wanting to hear that laugh tickle my ears again.

I was well rewarded as her low laughter filled the cool night air, warming my insides right down to my toes. Unfortunately, the same could not be said about my outsides. As the cool wind wafted across my sweat-soaked skin, I shivered from the chill.

"Cold?" She pulled me more tightly against her body, enveloping me in the heat of her.

"A little."

A long arm detached itself from my waist, and a bare second later, I was wrapped in one of the blankets, snug as a babe in her mother's warm arms.

"Better?"

"Mmm. Much."

"Good."

As I listened to the slowing beat of my lover's heart, my eyelids grew heavy as I found myself in a place filled with wondrous beauty and infinite peace, a place only found within the safety of Ice's embrace.