Ice Maiden

by

Jewel Adams

One man’s greed sends Amy Bonner back in time
and into the arms of a very determined 15th century lord. If a kiss
is heaven then Amy just found paradise. The moment of bliss
suddenly feels crushed by the memory of the stalking beast with
death’s talons. She can’t help but wonder how long it will take
before someone discovers she is an imposter?

“Such sweet, wicked hopes…my Ice Maiden.” He
stirs the lady’s passion and lights a blaze that a man can burn in
eternal ecstasy within. Bern wants what he holds more than any
spoils from battles fought and nothing will kill his desire to make
the Lady Amelia…His!

Together Bern and Amy fight time and man to
keep the love they discover.

Smashwords Edition

Published by Jewel Adams

Copyright 2010
Jewel Adams

Smashwords Edition,

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Cover Art: BJ Haynes

Editor: Juilette Ashton

“How dare you claim this dig is yours? Peter,
you barely lifted the sifter. Morgan castle is my find and I have
every intention on letting the university know.” Amy grew furious
the more she thought of what he did. She crushed the article about
Peter Humbolt and his great find at the new site for Morgan castle
and threw it at his gloating face.

“Now Amy, I mentioned you in the
article.”

“As your assistant!”

“You know that they respect a man over a
woman in this field. I was only trying to help you get recognition
for the find.”

She stormed pass him, “I suppose you expect
me to fall for that bullshit.”

“You really should, it will only be a huge
stink if you muddy the waters.”

“I have every intention of muddying those
waters, Peter.”

She pulled off her gloves to climb the
perimeter wall. The last rain left the trench in a foot of water
and mud. The sump pump must have stopped working again. She glanced
back over her shoulder, finding him staring at her. “You might want
to get your nails dirty before the press arrives.”

“You never did know when to quit, Amy.”

She just shook her head at him in disgust.
When she started to walk away he called out to her.

“Can’t we talk this over?”

Stopping in her tracks she took a deep breath
to steady her nerves before speaking to him. That was all the time
she had before the blade of the shovel hit her head. Amy stumbled
back and sank to her knees. “Why?”

“Glory and greed, Amy Bonner, why else?”

The next blow sent her falling back into the
muddy water at the bottom of the dig.

Peter stepped to the edge and tossed the
shovel in on top of her, watching as she sunk to the bottom and out
of sight. “Such a shame.”

Ice maiden be damned!

Bern pressed her back into the lush blanket
of emerald grass. No woman could ignore a Randall’s advance once he
chose to take it beyond polite dalliance. Bern suffered enough of
the
Lady’s
righteous airs to crush all his good
intentions.

Staring down at the close-eyed
beauty--
lifeless wench, no wonder no man has laid siege to take
the fair Amelia’s virtue.
Deliberately, Bern raised his hand
and let it settle possessively over the full lush breast, watching
as the delicate lids fluttered as if the woman were awakening from
a deep sleep.

His dark eyes rolled at the truth that said
little for his own charming appeal to arouse the lady. She
practically threw the glove down by her indifference to his
courting, daring him to pick up the challenge. Indeed, such an
invitation she issued. He could not stop his eyes from traveling
over the gentle features tinted by the heather’s own warmth.
Night’s dark mystery against the white moon that is what her thick
hair looked like framing her proud cheeks. Such loveliness must
have life’s passion burning in its heart.
I’ll wager that
beneath that cold, bejeweled surface there lays a blaze that could
blind a man.

His brow creased, his conviction about her
never cooled these last weeks, though heaven knew his thinking must
be slightly off kilter. Lady Amelia did not play favorites in
delivering her wintry blast to a man’s pride, if the rumors were
true. More than a score of good knights and lords fled the crystal
maiden’s hospitality.

Drawn by what no man conquered, his lips
found and tasted the delicate petals of her lips, devouring the
nectar her lips guarded with an intensity that surprised even Bern.
Her lack of response festered inside his pride like a thorn in his
armor. Was he crazy or just prideful and stubborn, to believe this
woman protected a caldron that could warm a lifetime of
winters?

“Such sweet, wicked hopes--my Ice
Maiden.”

The one question which Bern found no answers
was why the lady deliberately hid her charms? And she did. Only a
blind man would fail to notice the woman’s wiles. Was there more to
the lady than anyone discovered? Had she fooled all away from her
door?

Bern knew his love of a challenge and
adventure might be tinting his desire for this woman. Nay, he may
be bored with his life, but he refused to believe he created a
vision that didn’t exist.

His thumb played over the hardening nipple
beneath the silken covering. If the lady were acting, her body
proved its own betrayer, for she swelled in his palm like a ripe
plum. The tastes of her lips were spiced with the honeyed groan of
submission for the man that could stroke her passionate nature.
Bern deepened his discovery, reveling in the fires of victory in
his arms where none before existed.

* * * *

If a kiss were heaven then Amy just found
paradise.

The sensual caress played over her scattered
senses. The commanding call grew too volatile to ignore; bolder and
more savage than the lethargic darkness she felt surrounding her.
Its power refused to be vanquished and she rose to meet the
demanding call, yearning to touch the promise filling her with
life.

But the storm of feelings she entered became
a torrent. Amy felt the lash of unknown fears trying to pull her
back into the darkness. The talons of a beast she dare not look
back upon held horror in its hot breath.

Caught between two flames of equal
devastation, she fought against them with a fervor that left her
breathless. Only one held the haven that spoke of protection and
the strength. A force that could destroy the terror clawing at her
soul and she pushed forward to reach the sunrise of its light.

Bern lost his mind to the erotic dream that
rose to surround him. If he wanted to stir the lady’s passion, he
lit a blaze that a man could burn in eternal ecstasy within. Once
awakened, the woman held out promises of untouched rapture to his
male senses and Bern was shocked at the depth with which she could
take hold of his life force.

No gentle maiden did he now hold, but a
vixen, a lass as wild as her hills and as boundless as the
reflected beauty no man held claim to. The treasure he unearthed
shined above all bounty of war. Bern wanted what he held more than
any spoils of battles fought before and nothing would kill his
desire to make the Lady Amelia...His!

The air filled her starving lungs with the
force of a gale. Ach...feeling, the bliss, yes, and the pain!

The storm swirling inside Amy tossed her
about in an assaulting maze of different sensations. One overrode
all others and she gloried in the torrent firing her body. The
moment in ecstasy suddenly felt crushed by the memory of the beast
that stalked her with death’s talons... “I can’t breathe! The
weight, ach!”

“What’s this? Does the Lady wish to deny me?”
A fierce anger took hold of Bern over the woman’s sudden struggle
to avoid his kiss. “There are no longer any lies between us, Lady
Amelia!”

Amy panicked under the lips crushing her own.
Yes, the kiss and the man were no dream. The possessive hold he
increased to restrain her proved real enough, but so was the fear
taking hold of her. Scared beyond thought, passion’s fires cooled
and fright’s heat engulfed her. Her only thought was to escape the
oppressive hold and run!

Without reflection, her fist started striking
the solid wall of brawn surrounding her.

She became a wild thing in his arms. Bern
recovered from his shock quick enough to capture her tiny fists and
pin them beside her head. He stared down at her flushed face
waiting for her to open her eyes. The feel of her breast rising
against his chest, proved too pleasant to ignore because of his ire
with the lady.

Instinctively, Amy knew he was watching her.
She tried to regain her control. God, what was she thinking to
strike out at him like that? And yet, she couldn’t make herself
meet his waiting gaze. Combating the very real man still holding
her and the lingering fears wasn’t an easy accomplishment.

Taking a deep breath she fought back her
panic, telling herself there had to be a logical explanation for
what just happened. Though nothing she told herself explained why
she was in a stranger’s embrace and for a moment, she knew,
returning his ardent caresses with her own equally feverish
ones!

There was the fear; she didn’t want to look
any deeper, horrified at what she might find.

“Who exactly are you angry with, Lady
Amelia?”

When she heard no one answer his question,
she knew he was addressing her. She turned her head away to strive
for a reason why he would call her, Lady Amelia? Lying beneath his
virile form wasn’t helping her thinking. Stars, but every coiled
muscle burned into her feminine softness. He was no small man!
“Please, let me up?”

“Nay Lady, not until I see what scheme now
shines in your lovely eyes.”

His coy declaration sparked Amy’s temper.

The gold flashed in brilliant lights,
overpowering the tawny blue depths. “So righteous, my Lady?”

“Who the hell are you?”

“Ah, denial is it?”

“God, would you get off me!”

“I prefer this position.”

“You are crushing me.”

“Am I now. A moment ago, you thought
differently. Pray tell, what has changed your lovely mind?”

She stared at him as if he were raving mad.
If Amy thought he would care, he vexed her. Trying to gather her
wits about her, she watched him through half closed lids. If the
large masculine body she’d yet to see was making its impression,
the total man would probably rendered a staggering blow.

Rich, tiger gold hair flowed about his
shoulders, heedless to any kind of order. His face was broad and
worn, filled with adventurous lines. Behind the projected devil
make care look, Amy saw where he could turn predatory in a wink.
Rugged, he was that, but breath stopping and a charmer no doubt,
when it suited him. Right now, that powerful square jaw was
relaxed, as were the smooth planes of his brow. Tiny arrows shot
like lights from the corner of his eyes. The once straight nose
held crocked evidence of prior breaks. It was easy to imagine he
would be the fighting type, it must be the eyes, their rather
fierce darkness. But they weren’t black, rather a deep indigo blue
with stunning ebony flakes about the iris.

“I have never known you to be so quiet, nor
to show so bold an interest in...me.”

“I am not.” Heat flooded her cheeks at being
caught.

“I too find the view very pleasing.”

She couldn’t escape the finger that traced
the slight jut of her chin. “So soft.” Her lips parted of their own
volition as his finger trailed over her teeth.

She should bite him...

When he jerked his finger away, she couldn’t
stop the laughter overtaking her. She really needed to learn some
control in his presence. “Sorry.”

“Nay, ye are not, but then neither am I.”

He moved faster than she did. Amy found
herself drifting back into the flames of passion under his ruling
kiss. She tried to tell herself, she could break free of his power
if she wanted to, he denied the lie. Every part of her body wanted
to feel his exquisite form.

When he finally pulled his lips back, his
smile held male victory over her defeat. She couldn’t even escape
his gloating snicker. “Like I said, dear Lady, no more lies.”

Feeling him relax his guard over her, Amy
grasped the opportunity. Shoving with all her might she succeeded
in rolling him off her. Pushing herself in the opposite direction
she glared at him as she lay on her stomach and he came to rest on
his side. Before he could reach her she managed to struggle to her
feet.