Love Story for a Snow Princess (Siren Publishing Classic) (7 page)

She watched his back, mouth hanging open in surprise, all the way down the block until he turned the corner and disappeared from sight.

He walked in later that night, passing Toothless Jim on his way out the door. Thea sat in a corner surrounded by the dozen napkin holders she still had to refill. Their eyes met briefly before he looked away, took off his coat and gloves and sat down at his table.

Paden Winters. She had finally broken down and asked Miki his last name. The irony of their names hadn’t escaped her.

“Hey, Paden,” Miki called out, setting a cup of coffee down in front of him. “I knew you’d be in when you heard about the caribou steak. It should be ready in a few minutes!”

“Sounds good,” he said.

Miki looked from Thea to Paden. “So, let me go check on that!” She spun and hurried into the kitchen.

Thea tried really hard not to look at him, but of course that was the one place her gaze kept straying. Thea couldn’t stop herself from stealing glances at him, admiring the way his shirt seemed to strain over his muscles, and how his lips pouted as he blew to cool his coffee. She wondered what he did to keep fit, and her mind wandered for a moment as she visualized him lifting weights.

“How’s your arm?” she asked, unable to keep from talking to him.

“It’s good,” he answered, flexing his right arm.

“You’re left handed?”

“Ever since I could remember.”

“Do you know fifteen percent of people are left-handed, and males are twice as likely to be lefties than women?”

He blinked but didn’t say anything. And of course, she couldn’t stop babbling now that she’d started.

“And they, um, are supposed to be more creative. You mentioned that you write books. Anything I’ve read?”

He shook his head. “I doubt it, unless you read graphic novels.”

“Isn’t that like a comic book?”

“More or less. But the type I write have more dialogue than illustrations.”

“Did you read a lot of comics when you were young? Or now? I guess you could still read them, right? It’s not like you have to stop reading comics when you grow up.” She gave a small, high-pitched laugh that sounded forced. “I always thought comic-book readers wore Superman symbols all over their clothes.”

He didn’t say anything, and she flushed, turning back to the napkins. She had to bite her lower lip to prevent more mindless prattle spewing forth.

“Captain America,” he said softly.

“What?” she asked, looking back at him in surprise.

“My favorite superhero was Captain America, not Superman.”

“Oh,” she said. “I, um, liked the movie.”

He gave a ghost of a smile.

At that moment Miki walked back in, carrying a steaming plate of food. She sat it down in front of Paden.

“Medium rare, just how you like,” she murmured, casting another speculative glance between them. Thea refocused on the napkins in front of her. “Thea, when Paden’s done, why don’t you have him walk you home?”

“What about closing—”

“You closed for me last night,” Miki interrupted, waving away Thea’s protest.

Thea shot a quick peek at Paden. His met her eyes steadily. Every nerve in her body came alive.

“That is,” Miki continued, “if it’s okay with you, Paden? Do you mind walking Thea home?”

He chewed, swallowed, and then shook his head. He didn’t say anything more, just finished his meal while keeping his gaze trained on her. By the time he laid his silverware on the empty plate, Thea was strung tight, and she wasn’t quite sure if it was from anxiety or excitement.

Miki walked over to pick up the dishes.

“Oh, Miki, I brought these for you,” he said, picking up a small duffel bag from the floor and handing it to her.

“A present?” she asked. She unzipped the bag and looked in, her good-natured expression sliding off her face. “Wow, Paden, I’ve never received knives as a present. Has my secret identity as a psycho killer been revealed?”

She pulled out a butcher’s block and started to put the assortment of different-size knives in their places.

He chuckled. “No, I just had a little accident last night, so I thought better safe than sorry.”

“There’s one missing.”

“What?” he asked in a strangled tone.

Miki showed him the empty bag. Only one slot on the butcher’s block, the smallest one at the end, remained empty.

“Oh,” he said, a look of consternation crossing his face. “I’ll look for it at the house.”

She gave him a bright smile and balanced the butcher’s block in one hand and the empty dishes in the other, and headed into the kitchen.

“Bye, Thea!” Miki called out as the kitchen door closed behind her.

“Are you ready to go?” Paden asked, rising from the table.

The dryness in Thea’s throat prevented her from speaking. She sat down the napkins, rose, and rubbed her suddenly sweaty hands on the thighs of her jeans. In silence they bundled up.

The cold night air sliced through her. Thea tugged her scarf up higher on her cheekbones. The hum of the generators reverberated though the air, marring the quiet serenity of the town. Paden seemed to hesitate for a moment before reaching into his pocket. He brought out a pair of goggles and handed them out to her. She picked them up, looking questioningly at him.

“I thought…I’d show you Alaska.”

“You mean besides the blanket of white?”

He gave a hint of a smile. “I live at the base of the National Park. If you take it north and swing around the curve, there’s a huge lake in the bend. It’s partially iced over right now, but in the moonlight it’s rather breathtaking.”

“O–okay,” she stammered. She hadn’t thought her heart could pound any harder, but every word he said to her just thrilled her more. She realized, in that moment, excitement coursed through her. She’d never been so fascinated by such an enigma of a man. Handsome, moody, and funny in a non-funny way, though she didn’t even know if she liked him, he was slowly bringing all her feelings back to life.

As he walked to the back of Suinnak’s, she followed. A white, snow-encrusted snowmobile waited, and he gestured for her to put on the goggles.

“I guess you never rode a snowmobile?”

She shook her head.

“Motorcycle?”

Again, she shook her head.

“Well, just hang on to me and move with my body.”

That statement stirred up all kinds of visions. As she slid behind him, she was consciously aware of his hot body pressed so close to hers, even through the layers of clothes. She leaned forward, encircling his waist with her arms, and the position allowed her to lay her cheek against his broad back. Her breath caught in her throat, and she closed her eyes for a brief moment, long enough to allow herself the feel of him hot and hard against her.

The snowmobile took off through the night, racing along the top of the snow, parting it like waves. Once they were away from the generated lights of the town, the night became peaceful, motionless. Only the rev of the engine broke the stillness. She held onto Paden, her heart thumping heavily against the magic of the situation. They headed off into the wild, the unknown, at least for her. She watched the town light fall away as they headed toward the shadow of the forest where tall spruce trees stood guard for the mountain. As the land inclined, the trees thinned to allow reindeer lichens and shrub thicket to grow, food for the caribou and other creatures. Further up the mountains, the vegetation leveled away into a vast tundra, with white snowcaps peaking through the clouds. The moon’s full light shown down on them, casting a fairy glow upon the rolling hills. As they rounded the bend, the land gave way to a huge lake whose far shores were obscured by the distance. A thin layer of ice covered the lake’s surface, but breaks peaked around the center.

Paden cut the motor to the snowmobile and took off his goggles. The quiet was so complete all she heard was her own breathing, and the thumping of her heart. She slid off the machine and took off the goggles, then walked a few steps away to take in the beauty of the moonlight upon the iced-over lake.

“Look up there,” Paden said softly. She followed where he pointed to see ribbons of blue and green over the northern cut of the mountain line. Her breath caught.

“Is that the aurora borealis?”

“Yes,” he replied. “Old Inuit legend says its flaming torches carried by departing souls.”

“It’s amazing,” she whispered.

“It’ll become more pronounced as winter sets in,” he went on. “There’s a major storm headed our way, probably will strike tomorrow night, so I wanted to show you this before it becomes impossible.”

She looked at his profile. “How do you know about the storm?”

“I have a satellite connection,” he explained as if this was normal for everyone.

“Is that, like, an Internet connection?”

“Yeah. Like that.”

“Thank you,” she told him, gazing up at him. “I’m freezing to death, but this is absolutely beautiful.”

Thea couldn’t look away. The deep shadows of night collected in dark pools around his eyes, but she didn’t need light to know he studied her hungrily. She felt his yearning because it coursed through her as well. As her body turned to face him, the next thing she knew he lowered his mouth to hers.

His lips were cold but his breath blew hotly against her skin. His tongue touched the seam of her mouth, and she opened, allowing him entrance. He swept in, plundering swiftly, seeking her tongue to dip and twirl with. He went deep then pulled back, only to plunge back in, teasing her, drawing forth a moan of desire. She wanted more, so much more, and yet to have these feelings, to have any feelings, made her deliriously happy. She wanted to pull him in deep, to melt into him. His answering groan let her know he felt the same as she.

Her heart almost burst with happiness.

He pulled back and stared down at her in the moonlight. They were so close together she could see the dazed shock blazing across his features, and it tempered her giddiness.

“I shouldn’t have kissed you,” he whispered.

She blinked. That hadn’t been at all what she’d been thinking or feeling.

He backed completely away from her. Without his body heat or his kiss to warm her blood, the cold settled on her quickly. Her breath came out in little puffs of smoke. She reached out to grab him and he flinched so she lowered her arm back down to her side.

“What’s the matter?” she asked.

He shook his head. “I shouldn’t have kissed you.”

“Why do you keep saying that?”

He ran a gloved hand over his face. “I don’t know what you expect of me, Thea, but I can’t be…”

“Can’t be what?”

“Can’t be the next man who promises you anything.”

She blinked, trying to process his shifting moods. “But I didn’t ask you to promise me anything. You didn’t like kissing me?”

“God, no!” he stated. “I loved it, a little too much.”

“Then, you don’t like me?”

He sighed. “No, I like you, Thea. It’s just very complicated, okay? I’m…I’m just a very complicated man.”

“Can you make it uncomplicated?”

He brought his gloved hand up to cup her face. “If I could, for you, I would. Come on.” He nodded toward his snowmobile. “I’ll get you home.”

She bit her bottom lip, trying to suck off his essence that lingered on her skin. “Sure. Home to the hotel.”

Their drive back seemed colder. Maybe it had to do with the fact that Paden had kissed her so passionately and then did a one-eighty, leaving her heart iced over.

Paden threw his goggles across the garage then ran a hand through his hair. She was driving him mad. He didn’t know what to do. Her eyes were changing, slowly losing that sad, lost emptiness that had drawn him in, seduced him. Those eyes he could relate to, he could handle, maybe even keep the monster tamed because it would all be meaningless. Being with her would’ve meant nothing.

Except now, whenever she looked his way, her gaze held eagerness and a hint of excitement. She wanted him, and the problem he faced was the fact that he wanted her back.

The demon woke up. He could feel it stirring.

“Fuck!” he yelled and picked up one of his kitchen chairs and threw it against the refrigerator. The monster really liked the violence. It liked the destruction and urged him on.

He opened drawers, looking for the knife. When his search of the kitchen proved fruitless, he stalked into his bedroom and checked the nightstand. There it lay, dull silver gleaming in the hallway light. He stared at the blade, straight edged and sharp. The demon moaned, calling for it.

It scared him that the knife had been in his bedroom yet he had no knowledge of putting it there.

His mind went blank as he reached for it, clutching it in one hand. With the other hand he unzipped his pants, popping the top button. He reached into his shorts and gripped his hard shaft, using the moisture that leaked from the tip to coat the velvety skin. He pumped, up and down, squeezing the end just enough to please the monster, the revolting demon that lived inside his head.

He closed his eyes as he fisted himself. Thea came immediately to mind, the woman who’d awaked a monster long thought dead. In his mind, he undressed her, slowly, kissing every inch of skin he exposed. Sinking into the vortex between her legs and lapping at her cream, he would take the moans mewling from her mouth and feast on them. He parted her further, able to slide one finger into her sweet pussy. Her hips bucked as she cried out his name, and the hand holding his cock squeezed as he heard her breathless whimpering of his name. He could almost feel her body tighten as he sucked in her clit, using his tongue to tease the sensitive nub. And as she came, as her juices ran over his tongue and face, the hand holding the knife sliced down on his leg.

He exploded in a climax that shook his very soul.

“I found a place for you to live,” Miki said causally the next day as Thea was changing the coffee filter.

“Oh,” Thea replied, concentrating on the pouring the grounds. “That’s great. But how long do you think it’ll be before Hank can fly back?”