Dark Ice

by Connie Wood

  Pink Petal Books

  Pink Petal Books, an imprint of Jupiter Gardens Press, publishes romance novels where the relationship is primary. It doesn’t matter if you want to read super erotic or sweet inspirational books. Pink Petal Books believes that love is a beautiful thing, no matter what form it takes. For more information about Pink Petal Books visit http://www.pinkpetalbooks.com/.

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  Additional Titles By The Author

  The Veteran

  Dark Moon

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, places, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DARK ICE

  ISBN# 9780983589273

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  Copyright © CONNIE WOOD, 2011

  Cover Art ® 2011 by VALERIE TIBBS

  Edited by MARY ANN HAVERLACK

  Electronic Publication Date: June 2011

  This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Jupiter Gardens Press, Jupiter Gardens, LLC.,

  PO Box 191

  , Grimes, IA 50111

  For more information to learn to more about this, or any other author’s work, please visit http://www.pinkpetalbooks.com/

  Dark Ice

  Connie Wood

  PPB

  Chapter One

  The shimmering colored lights danced across the horizon, stretching up to the skies, and the brightness of the stars shone through the glimmering Northern Lights. Dane watched the dazzling spectacle as both the human and animal pieces of his heart felt whole for what felt like the first time in forever.

  His ebony black eyes surveyed his surroundings, animal instincts processing the beauty and harshness of his environment. He stretched his thick, hard muscles and tried to resist the urge to run from the comfort of his den and across the ice fields. It was too late in the night and he needed rest so he could resume hunting as soon as the first light of a still-weak sun hit the horizon.

  Food was particularly scarce this time of year and while he was in animal form, the need for huge amounts of sustenance was always a priority. The logical part of his brain said he should transform back into human form and live in luxury at his home on the outskirts of town. But he preferred his polar bear shape and his base animal instincts, the cold hard ice under his weight, and the freedom it brought. Besides, his human home was too close to civilization, and the constant urge to take human flesh was consuming. He knew what he was and made no apologies for it. He was a shape shifter who could turn from man to bear in an instant. He was a cold blooded animal but he was always careful to keep his kills to a minimum.

  It had been almost a month since the only local shape shifter hunter, the venator, Tynan, left to start a different life with his new found love, Moon. The idea of going into town and having free reign of the townsfolk crossed Dane’s mind when he heard of Tynan leaving the isolated Arctic region. But life-long respect for the hunter allowed his human reasoning to over-ride his animal hunger. So he stayed in bear form and went back to his home while Tynan and Moon left to start a better life together. A twinge of envy pierced him at the thought. The Venator deserved his happiness, especially after the years of injustice he endured. But the simple fact that happy endings were possible gave Dane false hopes.

  Unbidden, the image of the woman he rescued from the carnage at the youth club a month ago slid into his mind. The rush of overwhelming emotion she produced in him still lingered at the edges of his psyche. It urged him to rip and devour, yet at the same time be gentle and loving. The contradiction of sentiment confused him. Why did her emotions affect him so deeply? Why couldn’t he purge the sensation of her body pressed against his as he carried her to safety? How could he forget about her and get on with his life when she was all he could think about most of the time? And it was futile to think of her. Dane knew his reality and without a doubt there was no place for her in his world.

  Sad resignation fought with the powerful feelings of envy and longing. He glanced up to the heavens. The Northern Lights had disappeared, leaving a smattering of bright, glinting stars across the sky. Dane snorted and turned back toward his den as the two halves of his heart separated again, the image of a woman breaking them in two.

  Dane stopped, a rush of magical power washed through him, turning him human instantly. A pile of animal pelts sat on the snow next to the opening of his den, the woman who plagued his thoughts sat amongst them. Her large golden brown eyes widened as he transformed from a bear to a human. One of her delicate slim hands came up to nervously stroke a silver pendant hanging just above her naked breasts. The beautiful image of her shimmered and waivered before his eyes. Dane swallowed hard, heat tearing through his body at the sight and he was thankful that he was standing in the snow to cool his desires. His cravings urged him to go to her and take her. He was a man of deep passions and for reasons unknown to him, this woman concentrated those passions until they were so potent, he wasn’t sure he could control them. But he was also an animal and he would do nothing to hurt her. How would he control urges if he needed to transform?

  “Is this a dream?” Dane asked.

  “You only exist in my dreams, you’re not possible any other way,” she answered, her voice sounding like a soft caress in the vast openness of the ice fields. “I dream about you all the time, but not like this. This feels different somehow.” She ran her hand across the pelts, a look of confusion creasing her brow.

  He could understand her confusion, he too thought of her often, but not like this. Everything felt real, all his sensations like the icy wind whipping across his face, the heat churning through his body, feeding his appetite. The feel of her intense gaze across his body.

  But it had to be a dream since she could never believe what he really was and stay so calm. In real life, she would have run a mile by now.

  She didn’t run from you in the club when you saved her from the wolves.

  The small voice of hope was buried deep within his mind. Dane shook his head trying to dismiss the thought. He wouldn’t dream when he knew there was no chance to be had. And if he could only be with her in his dreams, then he would accept that graciously.

  Dane moved toward the woman, and stepped onto the thick soft pelts. She stood up to meet him and Dane sucked in a breath as she stood before him, completely naked and open to him. He’d had many lovers over his lifetime, but he could always feel the slight edge of trepidation, see the fear in their eyes as he came close to them. He never blamed them, it was instinctual to be scared of him, just as it was his nature to inflict fear in others.

  He felt no trepidation in the woman before him and the tightness in his chest that had plagued him since he first saw her, squeezed at his heart. She was tall for a human woman, though she was dwarfed by his size. He wanted to reach out and caress her soft, smooth skin as it shivered in the cold.

  “If I touch you, will you vanish?” Dane reached toward her face, his hand hovering just centimeters from her cheek.

  “I don’t know. I don’t want to disappear. I want to be here with you.”

  The earnestness in her voice surprised him. Very few people actually wanted to be near him. And never a human female. Especially one as beautiful in body and spirit. He clenched h
is jaw and hoped he didn’t awaken from this dream as he cupped her face. She closed her eyes and leaned into him.

  “What’s your name?” Dane asked, his voice sounding husky even to him.

  “Lea. And you are?” She opened her eyes to look at him.

  “Dane.”

  She laughed and the vibration shook him to his very soul. It had been a long time since he heard the sound of laughter.

  “Strange that we need introductions in a dream, you’d think we would automatically know each other,” she said.

  Dane smiled and ran his thumb across the smoothness of her cheek. She felt so real he wanted to savor every moment. With gentle fingers he tilted her head up to face him and searched her eyes for any hesitation before he leaned in to claim her lips.

  He growled at the taste of her and fought down the animal inside him. He clenched his jaw for an instant as the bear nearly won over his desires. Slowly he slid his tongue across the crease of her lips until she opened to him.

  She stepped into him and pressed the length of her body against his. His arms immediately went around her, bringing her even closer to him. He wanted to feel her skin on his, without the barrier of clothes. As if she wanted the same thing, Lea slipped her hands across his back, underneath his shirt. He moved with her, broke the kiss and ripped off his shirt.

  Lea giggled and kissed the center of his chest and Dane swore he felt a bolt of heat hit his heart. Unable to contain himself, he bent down and lifted her against him. She wrapped her legs around his waist, pressing her core against his jeans.

  She kissed along his neck and he’d never been so hot in his life. Dane growled again and Lea kissed against the vibrations of his throat. She clung to him as he gently lowered them down against the warm pelts until she lay under him with her legs still held firm around his waist. She stopped kissing his throat, searched his eyes and kissed his lips with a force and passion that surprised him.

  He met her enthusiasm. Her hands skimmed down his back and Dane broke the kiss and nuzzled against the softness of her neck. She ran her hands through his hair and clutched his head, leading him down to lave at her breasts. His hot tongue flicked across her hardened nipple and she arched up to him, moaning his name. The sound almost sent him over the edge. He shifted his hips against her, frustrated that he was partially clothed while she lay sweetly naked below him. Lea got the message and her fingers frantically reached for his jeans and opened them. Dane rolled off Lea, removed his jeans and threw them into the nearby snow. When he turned back to her, she smiled at him and opened her arms, the simple act sent desire beating through his system.

  Lea reached over and ran a hand down his side and wrapped it around his shaft. He groaned as she grasped him and he moved over her once again. She wrapped her legs around his lean waist and pressed her core against his arousal. He closed his eyes and readied himself to slide within her.

  Dane stopped, all his muscles ridged to the point of pain. Protective instinct came to the forefront of his mind and overtook all other emotion. The animal in him sensed it a split second before his human mind engaged. Evil. Behind them. Hissing he tried to launch himself away from Lea, to keep her from harm as he transformed. He couldn’t stop it now. His hand swept across her chest and he sent up a silent prayer to whatever god she worshiped that he hadn’t hurt her.

  His senses heightened in an attempt to locate the source of danger. He couldn’t see it. The ice fields seemed as desolate as ever but a distinct, foreign scent—and that sixth sense that kept you alive in his violent world—told him they weren’t alone. Dane sniffed the air, the aroma of putrid rotting flesh penetrated his nostrils. But it was the underlying smell of a fresh kill that appealed to him at the same time it repelled his human mind.

  Something was nearby, killing for pleasure. Dane could sense the delight in the kill. Was it an enemy or simply competition? Looking down at the snow, he saw unfamiliar footprints leading away from him and across the ice field, heading into town. Dane raised himself to his full impressive height and surveyed the horizons. A pale sun lightened the sky in the distance, but there was no sign of the intruder.

  Dane turned back toward his den and his heart sank. Lea was gone, bare snow now sat where the pelts had comforted them. He wanted to throw his head back and howl in frustration. Instead he tempered his emotions. Damn fool, he thought. He knew better than to get his hopes up, even if it were only a dream.

  He headed back toward the den, hoping he would be blessed with another dream before he was forced to go out and hunt. At the entrance, contrasting against the snow, lay the pendant Lea wore around her neck. The leather strap was broken and a drop of fresh blood tarnished the gleam of the silver medallion.

  Dane touched it with his huge paw and immediately transformed. He gripped the necklace tight in his hand and cursed himself. The sweet tang of her blood filled his head. He had hurt her when he changed, how much, he didn’t know.

  ~* * *~

  Lea awoke with a jerk. She racked a shaky hand through her hair, moving the long brown tendrils from across her face. Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm her nerves and attempted to remember her dream. The feelings, the sensations of it were still running through her body. But her mind had already blurred the details. She remembered coldness all around her and then the feeling of warm heat and hard muscle. A man. A giant of a man with white blond hair and black soulful eyes. The same man who haunted her dreams since the night of the attack on the youth club. He was the only thing she could ever remember clearly, that and the feelings he evoked in her.

  She glanced at the glowing red numbers on the clock. Only ten minutes before the alarm was set to shrill into the early hours of the morn. Sighing, she hit the alarm and switched on the bedside lamp. She slipped from the covers and gasped in shock. Why was she naked? Tearing the covers from the bed, she found her satin pajamas tangled in the sheets. She must have taken them off during the strange dream. Confused, her hand automatically went up to clasp the comfort of her pendant and met bare skin. The necklace was gone, but droplets of blood coated her finger. Frowning, she looked at where the pendant usually rested. Four very thin gashes crossed her chest, they were barely deep enough to draw blood and only small amounts of crimson marred her soft white skin. Had her necklace scratch her in the night? Or was it her clawing at her chest in her sleep, trying to find the pendant?

  She flung the bedding to the floor in an attempt to find the silver necklace her mother had given her the morning she had become a woman. From that day to this, it had never been removed from her neck. Until now. Lea all but tore the bedroom apart trying to find it before moving to the bathroom. She searched everywhere, even shinning a flashlight down the drains in a vain hope. It couldn’t be too far away. She knew she had it on last night before she went to sleep. She wouldn’t panic, it had to be somewhere. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself, knowing it wouldn’t do her any good to over-react. Sighing in resignation, Lea stepped into the shower. It wasn’t a good start to the day. A day that she’d been dreading for the last month.

  Today would be the first time stepping back into the youth club since the evening of the attack. That night was still a blur of reality and fantasy. The last thing she remembered clearly was talking to Moon on the phone before terrifying fear crashed into her subconscious and kept her logical mind from seeing the details of what truly happened. That’s where her nightmares took over. Dreams of wolves, bloodshed, fear and a polar bear. And a devastatingly powerful and sexy man carrying her away to safety.

  Lea turned the knob from “hot” to “cold” and shivered under the icy stream of water, allowing it to invigorate her before turning it off and stepping out of the shower. The phone rang in the living room and she grabbed a towel and let the answering machine pick it up.

  “Hi, Lea. It’s Brent, I hope it’s not too early. I wanted to check and see if you’re ready for today. I’ll meet you out front of the club. You don’t have to do this alone. Hope you had a dr
eam-free sleep. I’ll see you later, okay?”

  Brent hung up and Lea heard the machine’s artificial voice state she had one new and one old message. She wasn’t surprised that Brent called to offer his support today. A fellow psychiatrist in the office building where she had relocated all her clients, he had offered his services as a professional courtesy. She had come to rely on their sessions to try and decipher her ever increasingly vivid dreams. Not to mention the trauma of the night.

  She hung up the towel and headed toward the bedroom to dress. Making a detour she went to the answering machine and hit the replay button. She listened to Brent’s message again, though she hardly heard it. It was the second message she wanted to hear. Lea went into the bedroom and dressed as she listened to the message she replayed many times.

  “Hi Lea, its Moon. Sorry I left so suddenly, but I had to take my chance at happiness before I lost it forever. I know you of all people would understand. I found Tynan and now we’re together and traveling around for a while. When we settle down, I’ll call and let you know where we are.”

  Moon’s exasperated sigh, one that Lea had heard numerous times during their friendship, was quite pronounced.

  “I wish you picked up instead of your machine. I need to know that you’re all right after the other night at the club. I know what happened was horrendous, but I hope you’re okay. I just want to give you a great big hug.”

  A muffled male voice could be heard in the background and then Moon’s ‘Okay sweetie, just a second’.

  “Honey, I have to go. Please be safe and happy. I’ll call you when I get the chance. Thanks for being my dearest friend when I needed one the most. Bye, Lea.”

  The machine beeped at Lea and she came out of the bedroom, now fully dressed. Her hand hovered over the delete button, but she couldn’t do it. The message brought her a strange kind of comfort. It was a link to life before that fateful night and a reminder that it was real, not just a figment of her imagination. Moon had been on the phone with Lea when all hell broke loose. And it was comforting to know that even after such a traumatic night, her friend was able to find happiness.