As Cold As Ice

by Mandy Rosko

  Either way the woman worked to speed up Ethan’s recovery inch by inch; Jessica wasn’t about to question her about that.

  There were children in the building, quite a few of them, ranging from small enough to be toddlers through nearly adult-sized.

  There had to be at least a hundred people living in this place, and all those mouths to feed required some of the adults to go out into the world, to risk themselves by posing as normal citizens, bringing back food, finding work, that sort of thing.

  At first, Jessica couldn’t see anything amiss with anyone. Leo had returned, bringing a young blond-haired man with him. They seemed intent on serving Jessica everything she needed to speed up her recovery. A hit on the head wasn’t important enough for the only healer in the building to waste precious energy on her, and Jessica wanted that woman’s attention on her brother anyway.

  Jack and Cindy came for a visit. Cindy seemed somewhat embarrassed to shake Jessica’s hand. Then again, considering Jessica used to be with Cindy’s lover, their meeting had probably gone a thousand times better than average.

  Did Soren know about that yet? Jessica watched the two men as they also shook hands, but she couldn’t tell. Soren’s eyes had glowed a little when they’d let go of each other’s hands, but that could have been her imagination, wanting to see a little dominant possessiveness from her new boyfriend.

  She liked it when the dragon came out and didn't want Soren to suppress it.

  Jessica wasn’t put in front of the people in charge; it was Leo and his friend Dylan who came to ask her everything she knew about what had been going on inside that building. Jessica didn’t know what they were looking for, or what they wanted to do with the information, but she didn’t see a problem with telling them about the paranormals being trained to hide in plain sight, to bring in other paranormals. That seemed safe enough.

  Soren was always with her, and he tended to squeeze her hand comfortingly from time to time as Jessica spoke.

  She appreciated that.

  After several days and a dozen hours, Leo seemed to have all he needed, and he didn’t ask for any more information. Finding five or ten different ways of asking the same question had probably grown as old for him as it had been for Jessica.

  All the while, she had to wonder what it was Ethan and Jack knew about that made them suspicious of these people. Jessica had her own theories.

  Until she got some solid evidence, however, there wasn’t much she could do but stick around and see how things played out.

  Already, she’d been asked if she wanted to go out in the field, to help bring in any other paranormals who could be of use.

  That was her first clue. This place didn’t rescue just anyone, only those who could be of use to them. It figured.

  Thankfully, Soren bought her a few days. He diagnosed her with exhaustion, so she had some time to lie around, to be useless and not contribute while she stayed in bed.

  Soren always found his way under the sheets with her, and of course, it wouldn’t be proper if their clothes stayed on.

  Jessica loved having Soren’s bare skin on hers. She loved it when he spooned behind her, slid inside her, made love to her slow in the beginning, the back-and-forth motion of his hips turning hard and fast before he came. She loved the way he held her after it was over, how they could sit silently and not talk and things weren’t weird. She loved how certain she was that Soren cared for her, wanted to take care of her, even if she could take care of herself just fine.

  For the most part.

  That was part of what also had her so damned scared. No one had ever cared about her like that. No one had ever loved her, except for Ethan, but that didn’t count; they were siblings. This was entirely different.

  “What will we do if these people turn out to be crazy?” Jessica asked.

  Soren just squeezed her in that way she liked, which made her warm despite her inner cold.

  “I don’t think everyone here is crazy,” Soren said softly, his warm breath tickling the back of her neck. “There are people here who are serious about helping paranormals get away. They are still doing something good. They saved you and your brother.”

  Which was what made these conversations so awkward. Jessica didn’t want to accuse the people who had helped her so much of any wrongdoing, but after only a few days, there was already too much secrecy. She had yet to meet the person in charge of this whole thing, and the hours and hours of questions…it was as though the people in charge wanted something other than information on how to help the people left behind.

  But that was little more than a feeling. Not enough, and yet Ethan, Jack, and their lovers suspected something. That was enough for her.

  “If there is something wrong,” Soren continued, “we’ll deal with it. If the people in charge have some nefarious purpose other than helping paranormals in trouble, we’ll do something.”

  Jessica snorted. “Nefarious. God, you talk funny sometimes.”

  She’d be lying if she said she didn’t like it. It was part of the Soren charm.

  He squeezed her, and she could hear the smile in his voice. “You know what I mean.”

  Jessica turned her head and smiled at him. “Yeah, I think I do.”

  He’d said the word ‘we’, after all. He’d been saying ‘we’ an awful lot lately. That was something she loved about him, too; he didn’t make it a secret they were a pair.

  Soren leaned in to kiss her and Jessica moved into it, parting her mouth when the tip of his tongue slid forward. That sense of safety and security returned as she felt his cock stirring behind her. Jessica turned to face him, pushed him onto his back then straddled Soren’s waist, ready for another round with her dragon, shivering in delight when his eyes changed as she did so.

  If there really was something wrong with the people in charge, they would have a lot of trouble messing with her. Who would want to pick a fight with the woman who had ice powers and a dragon for a lover?

  The End

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  Author’s Note: Thank you for reading As Cold As Ice. And for your patience waiting for it to come out. Lol. This was the book that didn’t want to be finished, but thankfully it happened. If you enjoyed this book, please leave a review at the retailer where you purchased it, as they feed my evil soul.

  About Mandy Rosko

  USA Today Bestselling and Award Winning Author Mandy Rosko lives as a hermit with her scared of everything dog, and she works in Ottawa, Ontario. Every once in a while she peels herself away from writing and Internet surfing to socialize with real people. She loves videogames, Sailor Moon, Hatsune Miku, and her dog.