He was kissing her.

And Arien could barely breathe, barely keep inside her skin as Thorin's mouth settled over hers.

His lips were warm and soft, his body wondrously solid as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close against him.

It was like waking up or being born or falling out of the sky. It was the answer to a question she had been asking for eternity, a fierce, blazing song in her blood. Her hands wrapped around him, fingers curling into fistfuls of fabric, tugging him closer. She had to force herself to remember to breathe as he eased her lips apart with his own, as she opened her mouth to him, as she felt the brush of his tongue against hers, one hand cupping the back of her head. She was burning, glowing...

She arched, silently begging him to take more, to take all of her.

Arien dragged her hands around his shoulders, fingers slipping into his inky black hair. More, more, more.

But his kiss was thorough. As if he wanted to learn every taste, every angle of her.

She brushed her tongue against his, and his deep, lust-filled groan had her toes curling in her boots...

Thorin's lips left her mouth to travel along her neck. They grazed a spot beneath her ear and her breath hitched.

She gripped his shoulder, fingers digging into the hard muscle beneath, her breathing turning jagged as his other hand began to explore up her torso.

He tasted like the wind, like a mountain spring...

Beyond them, the sun sank below the hilltop, turning the world into crimson light and shadows.

And as Thorin breathed her name over and over onto her skin, the word sounding like a prayer on his lips, she realised that here, between the earth and the sky... Here, in the heart of a deserted wilderness... Here, with him, she was not alone.