Page 7 of Hotter on Ice

Alya yawned and reached into her bag, pulling out the master schedule, scanning the pages.

“Today you have a meeting when you arrive, and then there’s drinks in the Icehotel, right?” he asked.

She nodded. “I was just checking to make sure we have time for a nap between those two.”

“Can you nap in that igloo?” He had seen photos of the Icehotel rooms, glowing with the tint of ocean blue. They were works of art, really, elaborate beds, chairs and sculptures carved from enormous blocks of ice. Strikingly beautiful but not made for casual napping.

“I could probably nap anywhere at this point, though I think the frozen portion of the hotel is more like a museum during the day,” said Alya, stifling another yawn. “But we’re not staying in the part of the hotel with ice rooms tonight. We’re scheduled in the regular heated building, right next door, for the first night, so we can use the beds in our room anytime today.”

Use the beds. Unfortunate phrasing. As the words left her lips, an image came of using a bed, naked, with Alya riding on top as he fucked her. Henning swallowed back a groan. How long had it been since he’d gotten laid? Too long, clearly.

There were places he could go to fuck, clubs where women got off on having a big, scarred man over them, holding them down, just the way they asked for it. And the women had no problem with his limits either—they had no interest in touching or kissing him anyway. Maybe he should have gone there last night, just to burn off some of this intense want.

But Henning had quit, cold turkey, when he found himself searching for tall, blonde women with endless legs. He had never had a preference before, and he knew exactly why this one was forming. Which was more than enough reason to cut that habit off immediately. What he felt for Alya was so many worlds away from what he wanted from those women. Henning couldn’t bear to mix the two worlds.

So it had been a while. Maybe that was why he had thrown caution to the wind and offered Alya anything she needed. Or maybe, after watching those blue eyes come alive under his gaze, he couldn’t resist.

During his undercover work with the AFP, he had built a career in part on reading people, looking past what they said and concentrating on what they did. Yesterday, he hadn’t missed the way Alya had stepped closer instead of backing away from him, the way she’d licked her lips, the way her breath came faster when she’d touched him. In the days before the disastrous bust that marked the end of his AFP career, he had gotten more than his fair share of attention from women. And he understood his responsibility as a man bigger than most other people, the responsibility of making sure he understood exactly what a woman wanted from him before he touched her. His days of propositions in bars were long over, but he hadn’t forgotten how it all worked. He had to be really fucking careful.

The GPS on the car told him they were nearing the place. He pulled off into a little parking lot in front of the unassuming wooden buildings. Tall pine trees rose up on both sides, and Henning assumed the actual Icehotel lay somewhere behind them. He found a parking spot at the far end of the lot, and turned off the car. Then he rested his hands on his legs, ready for whatever came next, but Alya made no move to gather her belongings and climb out. Instead, she turned to face him. He had the feeling she wanted to speak, so he watched her, waiting her out. After her chest rose and fell a few more times, she met his gaze.

“Yesterday, you said you had no other in-person clients,” she said. “Why did you take this job?”

Henning swallowed, taking his time to consider his answer.

Because I couldn’t say no to you. Because the chance to be next to you for five days was too much to resist.

No, he definitely couldn’t go there. Instead, he went for an easier truth. “Because you deserve to feel safe.”

She tilted her head to the side. “So does everyone.”

“Of course,” he said. “But after what happened in the AFP, I won’t take an assignment unless I’m sure I understand all the threats and would do whatever it takes to keep that person safe. Anything.”

As the words left his mouth, he knew he shouldn’t have said them. They hinted at both the past that haunted him and the intensity of his feelings for her, neither of which had any place on this trip. Henning scrubbed his hands over his face. The bristles from his unshaven jaw pricked at his right hand, but under his left hand the scar that pulled at the side of his mouth was unnaturally smooth. A reminder of how wrong things could go.

Alya’s expression was completely unreadable. “Henning, I’m going to ask you something I’ll probably regret, but here it goes.” She took a deep breath. “If I kissed you right now, would that interfere with our bodyguard-client relationship?”

He stilled. He didn’t even breathe, but his cock jolted to life. Did he hear her right? Fuck, he had thought about kissing her so many times it was hard to register this was really happening. In his head, he could imagine the kiss as his old self, before the attack, before the scars. Soft, beautiful before it turned hungry. Perfect.

But deep inside, his past was still an open wound. Lying on that cold warehouse floor, fighting his own pain while trying to save Sanjay, watching the bastard who caused the explosion get away, he had seen his actions for what they were. Selfish. He had been blinded by his own goal, taking a risk to grab the leader, a risk that ended Sanjay’s life.Thatwas reality, a cold, hard reality he would live with for the rest of his life. Never again would he let his own wants drive his actions. So how could he consider kissing Alya, knowing all this?

Henning blew out a breath. Shit. Why the hell was he thinking about all this right now?

His expression had no doubt grown darker because her smile had faded.

“Sorry,” she said, her voice filled with false cheer. “Should have gone with my first instinct to keep my mouth shut. Let’s just pretend I didn’t say that. I’ll find someone else to proposition.”

Henning flinched. A storm hit him, a storm of protectiveness and something else he didn’t want to acknowledge, despite the ache of his cock.

“No.”The word came out sharp and urgent before he could stop himself. Alya drew in a quick, startled breath, and he winced. Butfuck, no. The idea of watching her flirt with another man was doing crazy things to his insides. It sent a surge through him, twisting into every long-dormant competitive urge to show her all the ways he could satisfy her better. It was the kind of drive he used to thrive on.

No. Just no. He had sworn to himself when he took this job that it had to beall about her. So what the hell was he supposed to do with this situation? Let her go off and find another man, someone who probably wouldn’t give a shit about what she needed? If he said yes to this, gave her what she wanted, it would have to be with his sole focus on her, not selfishly chasing his own needs.

He reached for Alya, touching her cheek, coaxing her to look at him. She did, meeting his eyes, and he found traces of embarrassment. Did she think he was rejecting her? Hell, no.Take it easy. He swallowed.

“There’s nothing in the world I want more than to kiss you right now,” he whispered. “I don’t want you to ever think otherwise, no matter what happens.”

Her eyes widened, and they came alive with unguarded interest. So much better. He pushed on.