Surrounded by whoops and cheers, Claire held on to Raul’s hand, laughing as they ran into the entrance of the maze together.

From their right, flash after flash came as Malcolm seemed to make a point of snapping a picture of every combatant.

Then they were past Malcolm and inside the maze. Before them, walls of snow stretched. Paths led off into different directions.

Claire didn’t think, just allowed Raul to lead her. Without hesitation, he chose the second path from the right. Breathless and still laughing, Claire followed along—as did a few others.

How long would their minute last?

The referees scattered through the maze were supposed to blow their whistles to signal that the battle part of the snowball fight had started. How much time was left now? Half a minute? More?

Another crossroad appeared before them. Raul swerved to the left without hesitation.

When Claire dared to look back, she saw that now, only one pair had followed—it was Micah, she saw to her amusement, hand in hand with a man in his forties, with curly black hair and glasses, looking a bit like an older Harry Potter. That had to be Jeremy, his boyfriend.

“Good luck,” she shouted when Micah took a sudden turn to the right, Jeremy following.

She got a grin and a thumbs-up from Micah—and then they were gone from view.

For a moment, they were all alone on this narrow path between two high walls of snow.

“Wait,” she panted, tugging on Raul’s hand. “Ammunition!”

Raul stopped abruptly, looking back as well to make sure that they weren’t being followed.

“Hurry,” he said, grinning as he hastily gathered as much snow as he could. “I haven’t heard a whistle yet, but there can’t be much time left—”

“Do you know where we’re going?” Claire made another snowball and added it to their small pile.

Raul shook his head. “I haven’t been in here, except for that one time with you.”

“You seemed like you knew where you were going,” Claire said, laughing as she stuffed three snowballs into a pocket. The minute had to be almost up.

“I had a feeling... Something tugging on me, very gently. I think it’s my dragon honing in on the treasure.”

“The diamond snowflake?” Claire hastily made another snowball.

“Don’t worry. It’s a bit of an unfair advantage, but I’ll make sure we lose.”

Raul paused for a second, brushing the hair out of his eyes. He was flushed—a little out of breath, but utterly relaxed.

Claire stared at the way he looked, surrounded by nothing but the stark, white walls. In contrast to the snow all around them, he seemed like the embodiment of life and heat—he was passion, blazing among the ice.

She nearly leaned forward to kiss him when the shrill sound of whistles going off all over the maze interrupted them.

“Time’s up!” Raul said, eyes gleaming. “Now we’ll show them how a dragon fights!”

“Remember, no unfair dragon tricks.” Claire was already running after him. She held one snowball in her right hand, ready to throw, and two more in her left hand, in addition to those she’d shoved into her pocket.

“I’ll try.” Grinning widely, Raul swerved around a corner.

Claire was right behind him—which gave her just enough time to duck when from their right, Micah and Jeremy suddenly burst forward with a war cry, snowballs sailing through the air.

The first hit Raul right in the chest. He clutched his parka dramatically as he crumpled to his knees.

“First hit!” a referee cried, who’d appeared out of a passage to their left.

A heartbeat later, the snowball Claire had hastily hurled before ducking back into cover hit its target. It exploded in a burst of snow against Micah’s shoulder, who gasped in surprise.

“First hit for you too, sir!” the referee cried.

“Come on,” Claire said, holding her hand out for Raul.

He’d quickly rolled back into cover after her. Now he grabbed the snowballs that had fallen from his hands, nodding towards the passage they’d come from.

“There was another opening. Let’s try that way instead.”

“Still your dragon’s idea, hmm?” Claire asked, grinning.

A bit of cheating probably wouldn’t hurt, especially as Raul had already lost one of his three lives.

As they ran back the way they’d come, they heard shouts and laughter coming from another part of the maze. With the way the corridors of snow twisted and turned, it was difficult to make out where exactly sound was coming from.

Perhaps a part of the snowball battle was raging just on the other side of the white wall to their right—or perhaps it was a long way off, completely out of their way.

Still, Claire pressed her finger to her mouth, giving Raul a pointed look as they found the opening they’d passed earlier.

This time, she made sure she was the first. Instead of barging in with her snowballs at the ready, she moved as silently as possible, trying to catch a look of what was ahead in the passage beyond.

The way was empty. Relieved, she signaled for Raul to follow. The sounds they’d head earlier sounded a bit more distant now. Had they moved away from the battling participants, or had the other players moved forward in the labyrinth?

It was impossible to tell.

Her heart was beating with excitement as she ran through the white corridor side by side with Raul.

With her long, exhausting workdays, she didn’t have much time to just relax and play. Right now, even though she knew they'd have to lose the game in the end, she had more fun than she’d had in ages.

“As a child, I would have killed for a vacation like this,” she whispered to Raul.

“We should return once we’ve got kids old enough to take part.” He was as breathless and excited as she was—but there was something dead serious about the way he said the words.

Something inside her contracted again with helpless love. He really meant it. He wasn't just joking—he was as serious about wanting a family as she was.

It made her reach out, regardless of the fact that she had to drop a snowball for it. But the warm weight of his hand in hers made up for it—as did the fact that he immediately pulled her close.

“I want that a lot,” she breathed.

He wrapped one strong arm around her, and then, breathless and flushed with excitement, he kissed her, his tousled hair brushing against her face.

For a moment, the snow and ice around them seemed to recede. It was like sitting by the side of a bonfire on a snowy night. He smelled like resin and wood smoke, something sexy and masculine and filled with heat.

It made her flush with need, even here, sighing into the kiss.

She was almost tempted to suggest that they should just give up on the snowball fight, because no diamond snowflake would ever come close to kissing him—but then, out of nowhere, they were hit by a barrage of snowballs.

“First hit for our Claire,” a referee shouted. “Second hit for you, sir.”

“Doesn’t look good for the castle,” one of the guests shouted in excitement.

When Claire turned, she recognized him. He was the dad of Dylan’s crush, broad-shouldered and laughing. The woman next to him, with her hair braided just like her daughter’s, high-fived him—and then they were back off into the labyrinth.

“Ouch.” Raul laughed. “This time you’re the one who’s a terrible distraction.”

He looked like he didn’t regret that fact one bit, and leaned back down to kiss the tip of her nose.

“Only one life left for me now,” he pointed out. “I guess we don’t have to worry about losing now.”

“Let’s just concentrate on having fun.” Claire listened again, trying to figure out where the battle had moved to now. After a moment, she shook her head.

“I can’t hear anything. Should we go after them?” She nodded at the opening through which their two rivals had left.

Raul hesitated a moment, then shook his head.

“I think that opening leads towards the heart of the maze,” he said slowly, “but if you wouldn’t mind... I’d really love to explore in that direction.”

He nodded towards a different opening, which seemed to lead roughly back into the direction from which they’d come.

“It’s a maze,” Claire said after a moment. “They might be rushing off into a dead end. And your passage might just twist back to the maze’s center, who knows. Let’s do this!”

Raul grinned. “Maybe my dragon just wants me to be alone with you again,” he murmured. “Maybe you’re the treasure that has him all excited.”

Claire felt a shiver run through her at his delicious, sexy rumble.

“Behave,” she teased. “We owe it to the castle to at least do our best. But after...”

“Yes?” Raul leaned in a little closer—so close that she could feel his hot breath against her lips.

All she’d have to do would be to lean in just a little bit further...

“After,” she said, swallowing against the need to forget all about the snowball battle in his arms. “After, your dragon can claim his treasure in any way he wants.”

Raul’s eyes lit up at her declaration, and she felt another wave of heat roll through her, her body throbbing with need for him.

Soon, she told herself, taking a deep breath.

But first, the snowball battle was waiting for them.