She hiked up a few more feet and knelt down on the icy crust. The coldness melted into her jeans, but she didn’t care. Someone had chipped a small cavity in the ice of the glacier and set a five gallon cooler into it. She dug around the edges and pulled the cooler free. She pivoted the handle, which acted as a lock, and opened the top.
Moose steaks, smoked salmon, many different kinds of cheeses, and a bottle of wine. Hot damn. Her mouth watered. Whoever was running this game was one smart cookie. Encasing the cooler in the ice of the glacier kept the food from spoiling and animals from sniffing it out. She liked the way he thought and couldn’t wait to sink her teeth into one of the steaks.
“What did you find?” Gage’s tall shadow fell over her.
“The mother lode.” She shared a real smile with him this time. When he returned it and held out a hand to help her up, her traitorous heart flipped-flopped. “You’re cooking tonight.”
“It’d be my pleasure to feed you.” He pulled her to her feet and kept pulling until she was pressed up against him. “And you’re right. You scare the shit out of me.” His hand came up and framed her face, the other anchored behind her back keeping her close. “But I scare you too.”
Before she could utter a protest, his lips seared hers. Heat erupted between them and flushed her body with enough warmth to melt the glacier they stood balanced on.
Damn, she’d missed him. The way their bodies naturally curved together, the way her insides liquefied in readiness for him, and the way his body hardened to steel. She’d loved his body. Roped with muscle, strong and flexible, she’d loved lavishing attention on his body for hours. Her fingers itched to touch his skin again, feel his flesh hot against hers as he—
“I’m not the only one who wants to do wicked things,” he murmured, his voice husky with arrogance. He nipped the skin below her ear, and licked the sting.
Her fingers curled into fists, and she pushed him. He slipped on the ice and fell on his ass at her feet.
She stood over him, enjoying the view. “The wicked things I want to do involve sharp implements.” She brushed her hands over her clothes as though that would erase his touch. “I found the cache. You can carry it back to camp.”
Trying to look as if she wasn’t running away, Tern took her time and carefully watched her footing as she descended the ice. She could hear Gage cussing behind her as he struggled with the cooler and his slippery toehold on the glacier.
Serves him right for putting the moves on her after all this time. Like he had to disprove her earlier statements of fear. There was no way in hell she was afraid of him.
A shiver caught her by surprise.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo by: Kelli Ann Morgan
Tiffinie Helmer is an award-winning author who is always up for a gripping adventure. Raised in Alaska, she was dragged ‘Outside’ by her husband, but escapes the lower forty-eight to spend her summers commercial fishing on the Bering Sea.
A wife and mother of four, Tiffinie divides her time between enjoying her family, throwing her acclaimed pottery, and writing of flawed characters in unique and severe situations.
To learn more about Tiffinie and her books, please visit www.TiffinieHelmer.com
FUN FACTS
- Tiffinie spends most of her summers working as a commercial salmon fisherman (er, woman), in Bristol Bay on the Bering Sea of Alaska.
- She has a Green Tea Frappuccino addiction.
- Goes weak in the knees for ‘muscle cars.’ Mustangs, Camaros, and Chargers are right at the top of her list to own, race, or just sit in.
- She is an accomplished potter with her own studio. When she’s not writing, fishing or traveling, you can usually find her throwing clay on her wheel.
- Is a gypsy at heart, with a wandering spirit and restless feet.
- Has a secret crush on Daniel Craig, which her husband quietly tolerates.
- Enjoys flying in airplanes or being on the ocean, yet she suffers from motion sickness. When deep sea fishing, she’s always the first one to chum the waters. That’s usually when the fishing really gets started. Coincidence? I think not.
ALSO BY TIFFINIE HELMER
NOVELLAS
Impact (prequel to Hooked)
Moosed Up (prequel to Shiver)
Dreamweaver
Bearing All (sequel to Edge)
BUNDLE
Wild Men of Alaska
ROMANCE ON THE EDGE NOVELS
Edge
Hooked
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
SHIVER
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2013 by Tiffinie Helmer
ISBN-13: 978-0615857541
ISBN-10: 061585754X
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book. For more information, please direct your correspondence to:
The Story Vault
c/o Marketing Department
P.O. Box 11826
Charleston, WV 25339-1826
http://www.thestoryvault.com
Cover Designs by Kelli Ann Morgan
Website: www.inspirecreativeservices.com
Cover photo © Indy Walton
Publishing History: First Edition
Published by The Story Vault
Table of Contents
Shiver
Acknowledgements
Dedication
Map
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
DEATH CACHE: a preview
The Invitation
Chapter One
About the Author
Fun Facts
Also by Tiffinie Helmer
Copyright Information
Table of Contents
Shiver
Acknowledgements
Dedication
Map
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-E
ight
DEATH CACHE: a preview
The Invitation
Chapter One
About the Author
Fun Facts
Also by Tiffinie Helmer
Copyright Information
SHIVER Page 33