It was like ice and fire all at once, for his lips were as cold as death, but they trailed heat along her own, a burning unlike anything she had ever felt in all her years. A man had never kissed her like that before — nor had she ever let one trail his hands up her abdomen so quickly, so fervently. Still, his heartbeat never stuttered. It beat as slow as ever, the conductor to the symphony of her senses —