Kiyo’s hands slipped to my waist and loosened the ties. He then reached up and tugged at the robe so that it fell off, leaving me naked to the elements. I started to turn away, shy, but he held me where I was.

“No one’s out,” he murmured, running his hands over my body, grazing my breasts as he moved farther down. “And even if they were, you have nothing to be ashamed of. You’re beautiful, Eugenie. You are so amazingly beautiful.”

He buried his face against my neck, and I leaned into him as he kissed me. His hand slid down between my legs and stroked me as the wind caressed my skin. When I whimpered out of desire, he released me for a moment, and I heard a slight rustling. He’d brought a condom outside with him. Presumptuous bastard.

He had it on in seconds and then returned his hands to me, positioning me so that I bent over, my hands holding on to the railing. He pressed up behind me, and then that hard thickness was inside me again, once more claiming possession. I was almost rubbed raw from our last round, but as he kept moving into me, I eventually grew wet again, allowing the line between pleasure and pain to blur once more.

It seemed crazy, having sex out here in public like this, but it was the kind of crazy that felt pretty damned good. Apparently he had an exhibitionist streak. But no one was out here. It was just us and the desert and the storm.

I hadn’t thought I could come any more tonight, but he proved me wrong just as the first warm drops of rain began to fall. Thunder and lightning occurred together around us now; the storm had reached us, screaming its own ecstasy to the earth. Still Kiyo moved into me, oblivious of the weather, intent only on me and him. At last, when we were in a full downpour, I felt him shudder and give a few last hard strokes before pulling out.

Then he turned me around and drew me to him again. I could hear his heart beating in his chest almost as loudly as the thunder around us. The desert flickered and flared to life in the lightning, and the pounding rain threatened to drown us.

But neither of us noticed.

I fell asleep pretty quickly after that, lying under the covers in his arms once we’d both toweled off. No insomnia tonight.

Yet, I woke up a couple hours later, not entirely certain why. Then I knew. Kiyo’s hand was pressed against my mouth, making it hard to breathe. The storm had stopped; all was silent in the dark room.

I started to struggle, and then his mouth was by my ear, his voice barely audible.

“Shh. Something’s in here.”

I nodded my understanding, and a moment later, he released his hold. We both lay perfectly still, and I thought about his choice of words. Something, not someone.

Literal and figurative chills suddenly crept over me. Following Kiyo’s gaze, I looked up at the wrought-iron headboard and saw ice crystals spreading along it like fine white lace. Our breath came out in small clouds, and my bare skin shivered with the cold.

A shape moved into my field of vision, shining in the returned moonlight. I had known what it was before seeing it. An ice elemental. A creature vaguely anthropomorphic and composed of sharp, glittering ice crystals.

Technically, however, it was just one of the gentry. Some of them could not pass physically into our world, just as some shamans could not cross physically into theirs. Gentry not wanting to come in spirit but lacking the strength to come over with bodies intact would sometimes cross in an altered, flawed form. An elemental form.

Of course, the thing was, any gentry not strong enough to come physically was not even close to being as strong as me. I could kick any elemental’s ass easily. Well, if I had the right tools, of course.

At the moment, all I had-aside from my own physical strength-was my jewelry, which was more defensive than offensive. All of my weapons had been left at home, save my wand, which was in my purse. Unfortunately, my purse still sat over by the door where it had been dropped immediately upon entering the room, lest it hinder Kiyo and me ripping each other’s clothes off.

A dilemma, truly. But the ice elemental could see we were awake now, and a cold smile-seriously-crossed its face.

Screw this. I was going to have to make a move for the door and hope I was faster than it. I started to tell Kiyo just to stay still, but suddenly he leapt from his lounging position and nailed the elemental squarely with a kick straight to the solar plexus.

The elemental flew backward, hitting the wall, and for a moment, I could only stare. I’d barely seen Kiyo move. One minute he was with me, the next he was on the elemental. And was he on it! I mean, I was stronger than a lot of people, but I could not have landed that blow. I knew of few who could. It was my will or weapons that fought a creature like this in the end, not my body. How had Kiyo done that? I stared at him incredulously, then realized I was missing my window here.

I sprang from the bed, slipping out of Kiyo’s reach. “No, Eugenie! Stay away!”

I made it to the door, but the elemental was getting up. Its eyes focused on me, and my stomach lurched, knowing I had attracted this creature here and possibly put Kiyo at risk. The elemental gave a tinny laugh as it watched me empty out the purse onto the floor.

“Yes, Eugenie Markham, stay away. Stay away, little swan.” It took a step toward me.

Frantically, I searched for the wand. Where had all this shit in my purse come from?

“How do you know my name?” I asked, hoping to distract it. Gentry, no matter their form, loved to hear themselves talk.

“Everyone knows your name. And everyone wants you.” I’d never thought a walking chunk of ice could look lascivious, but this one pulled it off. I shuddered and not from the cold. “But I see someone has already tasted you tonight. No matter. I don’t mind following in another’s wake, nor will I be the last to spread those soft legs-”

The creature was so fixated on me and what it wanted to do to me that it’d forgotten about Kiyo. Kiyo had surveyed the room during the exchange, and I’d seen his eyes rest on a tall, wrought-iron lamp. His eyes glittered with a dark heat, almost frightening in its ferocity. With the elemental distracted, Kiyo dashed for the lamp, again moving with incredible speed, and then in one motion, swung it at the elemental, hitting it with the force of a tank.

A large chunk of ice broke from the elemental’s body, and it roared in agony. Iron or steel will always hurt the gentry, regardless of which world they walk. I wondered if Kiyo had known that. The elemental lunged at him, and the two of them wrestled on the floor, rolling over and over as they struggled to land a hit. Kiyo fought savagely, and each time he dug his fingers into the monster, it would hiss in pain.

I had my wand now and advanced toward the two of them. I thrust it out, making it an extension of my arm. With alcohol still metabolizing in my body, as well as me being physically exhausted, I knew I couldn’t destroy the elemental, but I could sure as hell send it back to the Otherworld.

The air tingled around me, and again I smelled ozone. The elemental realized what I was doing and released Kiyo, trying to stop me. Kiyo did not let his prey go so easily, however, and moved forward, his foot again connecting with the creature-this time on the back. The weakened elemental stumbled to its knees.

I could usually do expulsions on my own, but tonight I needed a little divine help. “By Hecate’s grace, I cast you from this world. In Hecate’s name, I return you to your own realm.” The elemental screamed its fury, but it was already dissolving. “Leave here, and return no more, you fucking bastard. Go.”

The elemental shattered in an explosion of ice. Some of the crystals grazed my skin, cutting it. An onlooker might have thought it had been destroyed, but I had only damaged its elemental manifestation. It had gone to the Otherworld in its own body.