Read Online Love Story for a Snow Princess (Siren Publishing Classic) by Beth D. Carter - Free Book Online

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