Read Online Polar Bared by Eve Langlais - Free Book Online Page A

knapsack, which contained her phone—which mocked her with its two service bars—and camera among other things. Some kind of intrepid explorer she was turning out to be. While she’d snapped a few pictures of her bear encounter, she’d not managed to get any of the man who rescued her.
    A man who used his body to protect her from gunfire. A dangerous guy she dared to kiss—and who kissed her back.
    Sigh.
    For a guy she’d spent only a few hours with, she certainly missed his gruff nature. How she wished she’d gotten to spend more time with him, which was totally crazy.
    The man was a stranger, one involved in some kind of violent thing, given people were shooting at him, and if Gene could be believed, he’d taken care of their attacker, permanently.
    She shivered. He admits to being a killer, and yet that doesn’t frighten me. On the contrary, his dark side attracted her, which was taking her new adventure motto too far.
    Coming on this expedition had been meant to expand her horizons, not end them as a dead bystander caught in the crossfire of some kind of arctic war.
    But she was worrying about nothing. Gene was gone. As in not coming back, out of her life, never to be seen again. The only thing she would ever have of him was a memory.
    Bummer.
    A touch hungry, she went to fire up her propane stove, only to realize her tank was empty. She’d have to swap it out for a fresh one.
    Exiting her tent, she practically ran into Mullet. She halted with a mumbled, “Sorry, I didn’t see you there.” With the tent at her back, she couldn’t quite give herself space, and he didn’t seem inclined to step away.
    “How did you get here?”
    What an odd thing to ask. She wrinkled her nose. “Excuse me. I don’t quite understand what you mean. I came here with everyone else. Remember, I was the one who got to piggyback with our guide and fell off.” The lurch of the snowmobile when they’d first set off took her by surprise to everyone’s vast entertainment. But the true embarrassment was when she was relegated to riding in one of the sleds with raised sides along with the supplies. Sure it was probably safer, and admittedly easier for her, but her cheeks burned at the public admission that she was a klutz.
    It seemed Mullet wasn’t done with his odd line of questioning. “That’s not what I meant. I meant, didn’t you go out exploring?”
    Someone noticed! A pity he was someone she preferred to not have watching her. “I did.”
    “Anything interesting happen?”
    Tons, but she wasn’t about to tell him about it. “Nope. Nothing. Just lots and lots of ice and snow.” And a bear and a man and a shooter.
    Mullet stared at her suspiciously with his beady eyes, and she fidgeted. But when she didn’t say anything more, he grunted and walked away.
    A breath whistled out from her. She hadn’t even realized she held it. What a weird guy. One she would steer clear of. Why the sudden interest in her whereabouts?
    She took back her earlier annoyance over no one noting her absence. She’d prefer to remain in obscurity than have creepy guys like Mullet and his friends pay her any mind.
    Once he left, things returned to normal. Much like an invisible spirit, she wandered through camp to switch out her propane tank, no one paying her any mind. Out of curiosity she asked their tour guide, who was tinkering once again with a snowmobile engine, “Does anybody manage to live out here?”
    “Look around you.”
    “No, I mean live, as in permanently.”
    “There’s still some tribes who do. The hunting is good, and they can follow the old ways without bureaucrats and red tape getting in their way.”
    “But what about non-natives?” she persisted. “I mean, surely there are some permanent residents?”
    The guide stopped his work to give her a hard stare. “Listen, I don’t know what you’re getting at or why you care, but whatever the reason, stay out of it. Or more specifically, stay away from them. Yes, there’s