Love Story for a Snow Princess (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Beth D. Carter

For an answer, she crawled onto the bed and slid her hands over her body. She watched him as he watched her, saw his eyes follow the movement of her own hands upon her body. One hand trailed down her shoulder and chest, across one breast to her stomach while the other hand continued toward her pussy. She kept herself trimmed so it was easy to slide her fingers in until they brushed over her clit. She could feel his tension, saw him tenting the front of his pajama bottoms, and ran her tongue over her bottom lip. This was different for her, playing the seductress, but in front of him it felt quite easy to beguile.

  She pinched one nipple and moaned. Thea lay back and parted her legs a little farther to show him that her finger was pumping herself, in and out, up and down. It wasn’t enough to get herself off, but enough to tempt him.

  “I want you want to fuck me, Paden. I want your cock buried so far in me we both lose control.”

  “Jesus, Thea.”

  He took off his T-shirt, slithered out of his pants, and knelt on the bed at her side. He still watched her, not doing anything as she gently played with herself.

  She withdrew from her body, reaching out to take his hands and bring them to her breasts. She manipulated them to rub her mounds, lightly over her nipples until they puckered into hard little nubs of need.

  With a moan Thea arched, offering herself to him in seductive submission.

  Paden leaned over her and took a nipple in his mouth, teasing it, nipping it slightly, not enough to cause extreme pain but hard enough to heighten the underlying pleasure. He kissed and licked his way down her body, over her stomach, gripping her hips to hold her steady.

  “Spread your legs,” he ordered in a rough, raspy voice.

  She obeyed, bending her knees before moving them widely apart. He settled his face in her feminine folds, and she felt him inhale against her before using the first swipe of his tongue to bathe her clit. Thea moaned at the feathery lick and reached up to grip the headboard as she pressed her head deeper in the pillows, waiting for the next pass over her sensitized nexus.

  Again he took her with a slow drawl of his tongue as he started as far back as he could reach, up the slick opening dripping juice to the swelling bud of her clitoris. She moaned as his long tongue slid over her slick walls.

  Two of his fingers found her center, sweeping in and out in a circular motion as he pressed in. The unexpected feeling of having something in her vagina, as well as manipulating her clit was too much of a shock, and she came suddenly, crying out as waves crashed over. She arched her back but Paden didn’t relent, perhaps even pressing harder as she rode the crest of her orgasm.

  When she finally shuddered on the last wave of excitement, he withdrew from her, wiped his mouth on the comforter and settled his body on top of hers, in the open juncture of her thighs. She could feel every bit of him against her, muscle to muscle, chest on chest, hip to hip, his legs rubbing along hers, and his heavy cock nestled flush against her slit. He was big and hard and heavy for her.

  His mouth settled on hers, and she opened, allowing him in. She tasted herself on his lips, a dark, exotic musk that wound up through her sense. Thea let go of the headboard and encircled his neck with her arms, hugging him tightly.

  He didn’t press to enter her. He only moved his hips to rub a little, up and down.

  He gripped the sides of his face, and she pulled back from his kiss. They looked at one another, memorizing and committing to detail every single expression. In his eyes she saw him question if this was what she wanted.

  In answer, Thea raised her hips. The fat head of his cock nudged past her swollen pussy lips and burying deeply inside. For a second, neither of them moved, only savored the feeling of skin to skin.

  “You’re so warm,” he whispered.

  Then his hips pulled back before plunging forward. She gasped, he gasped, and their fingers twirled together to grip each other tightly. Again and again, harder and more insistent, he pumped into her.

  “Ohhh!” she moaned. “Yes, please, please more!”

  “You feel so good,” he growled in her ear.

  She gripped his shoulders as the tension inside her rose. He paused for a moment to stare deeply into her eyes, and a quiver rumbled inside her as she began to lose control. Then he started to move again, harder, faster, deeper. She reached with her free hand to grab his hard ass, feeling his muscles clench each time he thrust.

  “Come for me, Thea,” he urged. “Come on my cock.”

  Her breathing turned shallow as he pistoned his massive cock in and out of her hungry pussy, slamming into her until the bed rattled.

  “Oh,” she gasped. “Yes, yes, yes!”

  She screamed as she came, the world splintering apart as bliss exploded within her. He reached between them, right as the crest hit, and rubbed her clit, which sent her into another wave of exquisite orgasm.

  How long she shuddered in ecstasy she didn’t know, but slowly she drifted into the hazy world of exhaustion. Paden pulled out of her and she realized that he was still hard, still pulsing in his own need for satisfaction.

  “I forgot to put on a condom,” he rasped, his voice filled with unfulfilled longing.

  She forced her eyelids open. “That’s not why you didn’t come.”

  He shifted until he lay beside her. She could feel his hard cock against the outside of her thigh.

  “I know,” he whispered.

  Chapter Eighteen

  They lay facing each other. Paden had brought the fire back to life and the light cast a lovely glow in the loft. They stared at each other, and though Thea hadn’t a clue as to what he was thinking, she couldn’t help but think about their lovemaking.

  It had been one of the most amazing experiences of her life. The only glaring exception being that he hadn’t been able to fall off the precipice with her.

  “I’m leaving, Paden,” she told him softly.

  A frown appeared between his eyes. “When?”

  “Hank is expected Tuesday or Wednesday.”

  He didn’t say anything for a moment, but she could see he struggled with something. “Are you going back to Malibu?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  She thought about how she wanted to answer. “I’ve never visited their graves,” she finally said, her voice somber. “In the year they’ve been gone, I’ve not stood at their gravesites and said good-bye to them. Now…now I feel like it’s time.”

  “I want to come with you,” he told her in a slightly unsteady voice, unblinking.

  That surprised her. “What? Why?”

  “Because,” his voice broke. Tears swam in his eyes. “After your family in Malibu I want us to go to Florida.”

  Finally, she moved closer to him, hugging him tightly. His arms went around her as he buried his face in her neck.

  “I’m scared,” he admitted, his voice shaking.

  “He can’t hurt you anymore,” she told him. “And I’ll be with you.”

  He fell silent. They stayed wrapped in each other’s arms, simply holding each other tightly.

  Just when she was almost dozing off, he said one last thing.

  “What did I ever do without you?”

  * * * *

  She went back to helping Miki out at Suinnak, waiting for Hank to fly in. Most of the town came by to say good-bye to both her and Paden. Even Thistle Vann came out, as well as Mr. Quinn who wanted to know what to do with her bank account. She told him to keep it open for now.

  Paden had met his deadline and sent everything off to his editor with instructions he’d be out of reach for a few weeks. He had since spent all his time sitting at his table, drinking cup after cup of coffee and talking with just about everyone.

  She didn’t go back to his house, however. There was no way she would subject him to the same torture as the day she had seduced him to prove a point. So each night he kissed her and left at closing, showing up the next day to while away the hours.

  Miki was sad to see her leave. Truth be told, Thea was sa
d as well. Miki had become a very good friend, her best friend, and since she wasn’t sure where she was going to end up, leaving was slightly bittersweet.

  When Hank arrived on Tuesday, he brought with him supplies as well as the mail. People gathered around the post office excitedly to receive letters and packages.

  As Paden helped Hank load up their luggage, Thea gave Caleb a tight hug.

  “So you did find someone in River Ice after all,” he teased.

  Thea flicked her gaze over to Paden’s sturdy frame for a brief moment. Heat stole into her cheeks. “I suppose Illa Partnership Services did make their money.”

  Caleb chuckled.

  Paden’s arm slid around her waist and she glanced up at his chiseled profile. He stared pointedly at Caleb. “See you around, Caleb,” Paden murmured.

  It was an obvious hint of his status in Thea’s life. Caleb chuckled again and nodded. He gave Thea a wink and walked away.

  She slapped his stomach with the back of her hand.

  “What?” he grumbled.

  “No he-man stuff, okay?”

  He only kissed her forehead.

  Miki gave her a hard good-bye hug as Hank urged her into the plane. “You take care of her!” she told Hank.

  “Thanks for your sisterly concern for my own welfare,” he teased her.

  She punched him on the arm.

  The door shut behind her, and Paden double-checked her seat belt.

  “Last chance,” she told him.

  He shook his head. “Actually, there’s no chance, Thea.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  It was a two-hour flight from Nome, Alaska to Anchorage, and then a nine-hour flight to Los Angeles. By the time they touched down, all they both wanted to do was collapse in exhaustion. Thea actually did conk out during the half-hour taxi ride from LAX to her house in Malibu. Paden roused her, and she paid the driver as he unloaded his trunk. When he sped off, Paden whistled as he took in the large house.

  “Are you telling me you’re, like, superrich?” he mocked.

  She shrugged. “Well, not yacht-status rich,” she teased back.

  Her two-story, five-bedroom ranch nestled over a private bluff top overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and it had been a year since she’d been back. Thea had hired a company to pack up the house, either moving things into storage or dispersing them. She had donated a lot, but it still held a large California king which was all that was going through Thea’s mind at the moment.

  Paden stood in front of the wall of windows, looking at the waves crashing against Point Dume and shook his head.

  “I never imagined you living in a house like this,” he said.

  “What do you mean? What type of house?”

  “It seems very…sterile.”

  She frowned and looked over the kitchen and dining room. Everything was white and stainless steel, and without the warm accents her mother had added, it did look slightly cold. “It used to be really nice,” she finally said. “There was always noise. We all lived at home, me, my brother and sister, so there was lots of activity.”

  “Are you going to keep it?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t think so. I didn’t know what to do at first because this was where I grew up. All my family’s memories are here. But it’s not a home anymore, is it? At least, not my home.”

  He came up and put his arms around her, holding her tightly. She leaned against him for a moment, taking his strength. “The one good thing is that I never got rid of the bed. Come on, I’m about ready to drop.”

  * * * *

  The next day, feeling refreshed, they headed out to Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. The drive took over an hour and during most of it Thea sat in the passenger seat staring out the window, letting the GPS guide Paden. She saw the same landscape she had seen all her life, the bumper-to-bumper traffic moving at times quickly and other times at a snail’s pace. She couldn’t help but compare the openness of River Ice to the claustrophobic feel of Los Angeles.

  Paden didn’t say much as he drove through the cemetery’s black gates, winding up the drive through the pristine, meticulously maintained lawn. All the gravestones lay flat, flush against the grass and soil. Thea led him up a hill, where her family’s graves rested in the sun.

  Jason would have liked that.

  Thea brushed away some debris off his stone. He had been a swimmer and loved the sunshine. She carried two bundles of roses, as did Paden, and she laid one on each grave, brushing away dead leaves and grass.

  “Ouch!” she hissed, bringing up her hand. Her middle finger had a bright splash of blood running down it, cut from some object on the grave marker.

  She paled, wobbled a bit, and he reached out to steady her. But she only took a deep breath and turned her face away. “In my purse are a couple of napkins,” she told him, a little wisp of breathiness pinching through her words. “I don’t think I’ll ever like blood, but I promise I won’t faint.”

  He wrapped up her finger as she faced away. When he went to step back, however, she grabbed his hand and brought him next to her.

  “Mom, Dad,” she said, “This is Paden. He’s my…” She paused and looked at him. Paden raised an eyebrow. “He’s very special to me.” She smiled and looked back at the graves. “And I wanted you to meet him. He’s a good man, a graphic artist. He’s got fan pages following him.” She leaned over and whispered in his ear, “My dad would’ve thought that was cool.”

  He smiled, gripping her hand tightly. He looked at the tombstones, the names and dates. “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Snow. Hera and Jason. I’m Paden Patrick Poseidon Winters.”

  “What?”

  He gave an ironic shrug. “It’s a little known fact. But what else would you expect a man who makes boats for a living to name his son? At least my mother insisted it be somewhere as a middle name.”

  Thea started laughing and suddenly, the sun shown a little warmer, the air blew a bit more crisp, and her heart beat a little lighter. She knew, somewhere in heaven, her mother was clapping her hands.

  * * * *

  They stayed in Malibu two more days. Thea contacted a realtor and put the house up for sale, taking care of all the details before she and Paden flew from Los Angeles to Miami, Florida. With each passing hour, Paden grew more and more quiet, pensive, staring at his hands and retreating inside his head. Thea didn’t interrupt him. She knew from firsthand knowledge that some things had be worked out alone.

  When they arrived, a gentleman waited for them in baggage claim, a man who looked like a slighter older version of Paden. She hung back, watching as he greeted his father. They first shook hands but then the older man pulled Paden into his arms for a quick hug.

  “Dad, this is Panthea Snow,” Paden introduced her. “Thea, my father, Grantley Winters.”

  She shook his hand. Grant Winters covered the back of her hand with his, and she saw the flash of tears swimming in his eyes. “Thank you,” he whispered to her.

  “For what?”

  Grant turned his head and watched his son grab their suitcases off the revolving rack. “I haven’t seen my son in ten years. I haven’t even talked to him. Then one day, out of the blue, he calls me saying he wants his mother and I to meet a woman who’s very important to him. So, thank you, for bringing me my son.”

  Warmth spread through her, happiness at hearing Paden felt like she was helping him.

  She hadn’t been far off the mark about his superrich yacht status. Grant Winters had a car and driver which took them from the international airport to the luxurious suburb of Bal Harbour, to a house that made hers seem like a hobbit’s home. They passed through gated security and up a circular drive to a house shaded by large, heavy palms. The white house had dark accented trim and plants stashed in every available open space.

  Paden’s mother, Darlene, waited for them at the open door. As petite as her husband was tall but shorter than Thea, which didn’t boast much. Yet what she lacked in stature she made up for in energ
y. The woman constantly moved. Though they had money, Darlene took care of her home as much as she could, relying only a part-time house cleaner to get to the places she couldn’t reach.

  She embraced her son, tears running down her cheeks in happiness. Paden hugged her back tightly as he buried his face in the crook of his mother’s neck. It was almost too beautiful to watch. Darlene also gave Thea a tight hug before they went on a tour, even Paden, since it had been ten years since he had last seen his childhood home. Hardwood floors lined the house, rugs contrasting with the dark coloring. Art and photos graced the walls. Plants brought a touch of warmth as they walked through the den, eat-in kitchen, family room, formal dining room, and the library. Paden picked up one of his graphic novels and raised an eyebrow to his father. Grant Winters only shrugged good-naturedly.

  Though the personal chef, Sylvia, cooked the dinner, the evening swam with a comfortable warmth. Salmon with dill and lemon juice baked to perfection. Vegetables, salad, rolls, all of it mouthwatering. Thea doubted she’d ever eaten so well. Afterward, desert and coffee completed the meal.

  “We’re going to the prison tomorrow,” Paden announced after the rich chocolate cake had been served for desert. He just pushed his piece around on his plate.

  “Why?” his father asked, startled.

  Paden shot her a look and took her hand. “I need to confront him. I…need to show myself he’s not a monster, that he’s not my monster. Anymore.”

  Thea squeezed back hard, giving him all her strength.

  His parents didn’t question his decision, but she could see twenty-five years worth of sadness, frustration, and anger rolling in their eyes. They had done everything for him to protect him once they had gotten him back. Thea could see the idea of having their son go back to confront the monster who had taken him from them didn’t sit very well.

  “I’ll go with you,” Grant said.

  “No, Dad,” Paden said softly, shaking his head. He reached out and took his father’s hand. “You can’t protect me anymore. I love you, but I need to do this without you.”