“Yes, he does, but looks can be deceiving,” Polar said, stepping out from behind the table. “I have an eye witness that states the boy can change his appearance.”
“Don’t,” Frost growled, clenching his fists on the polished table. “Father, don’t.”
Polar ignored his son’s growled warning. Instead, he looked past him to Idan then to where Joseph was sitting. Fierce determination was etched around his mouth.
“Idan, stand and tell the Directors what happened,” Polar ordered.
Idan shot Frost an apologetic look before he slowly stood. “The boy appeared out of nowhere on the transport. We had already been in transit for over a month and there had been no sign of him aboard,” Idan stated.
“Shut up, Idan,” Frost growled louder.
“I must ask for you to refrain from speaking without permission, or you will be removed,” the Director stated firmly, glaring at Frost. “Surely the boy was simply hiding.”
“For a few days, possibly, but not for a month,” Idan argued.
“Idan, were you piloting this transport at the time?” The Director wearing the green robe asked quietly.
Idan reluctantly shook his head. “No, Star Ranger Coal was piloting the transport,” Idan stated.
“So, you have no firm knowledge except what Star Ranger Coal may or may not have told you?” The Director in the tan robe asked.
“That is correct,” Idan gritted out. “But...”
“Facts that can be proven or first person knowledge only, Idan,” the Director in the dark brown coolly interrupted.
“What other support do you have other than the child was not seen?” The Director in black asked.
“There was a slight... altercation aboard before the boy appeared,” Idan continued, glancing at Frost.
“What type of altercation?” The Director in red asked.
“I tried to kill him and Star Ranger Coal,” Frost stated loudly. “I would have if Joseph hadn’t been there.”
Frost ignored his mother’s horrified gasp or the frustrated glance from his father. This was a waste of time. He could tell by the look on the Directors’ faces that they were not going to change their minds. It was better to just leave now. He already had picked out a transport for the journey.
“Is this true?” The Director in black asked, looking directly at Idan.
“Yes,” Idan replied. “I.... It was necessary to eliminate one of the primitives back on the planet.”
Frost exploded out of his seat. Fury tore through him at his brother’s words. If it was the last thing he did, he would kill the bastard.
“It was not necessary!” Frost snarled.
Idan rose and faced his brother. Both of them ignored the stern voice of the Director ordering them to sit. They both ignored their father’s low, urgent voice to remain calm. They both ignored their mother’s low cry of distress as the festering wound between them burst open.
“Yes, it was. You would have returned to her,” Idan accused.
“I never planned on leaving her! She was mine, damn you,” Frost yelled. “She was mine!”
“You and she would have been hunted down,” Idan continued. “You know that you could never have remained on her world. If her people would have discovered who you were, they would have done everything in their power to discover where you came from and what knowledge you possess!”
“You murdered her!” Frost roared.
“To save you,” Idan replied in a low voice. “I did it to save you.”
Frost heard the truth in his brother’s voice. He could feel Idan’s regret and pain at having hurt him, but it didn’t change anything. Lacey was gone. His beautiful, delicate ice maiden was gone. He fought to hold onto the anger he felt at Idan, but the pain was even greater. Turning, Frost looked at Joseph, who was staring at him with a sad, far too old look in his eyes. It was as if he knew that there was no way they would ever let him go home to his family.
Tears of frustration burned Frost’s eyes as he stared at the young boy. His gaze moved to his mother. Her pale face and tear-filled eyes told him that she had never expected the gulf between her two sons to be so insurmountable.
He turned back to where his father was still standing. The look of defeat was too much. There was only one thing he could honorably do.
“I must insist that you return to your seats,” the Director in black demanded, standing. “You…”
The Director’s voice died out as a loud howl suddenly filled the air. Frost swiveled on his heel at the same time as Joseph jumped up onto his chair. The boy tilted his head back and released another long, loud howl.
“Joseph,” Frost called out, reaching for him.
“I hear him, Frost! I hear Jonah! He’s coming. They’re all coming!” Joseph said, laughing and dancing across the chairs to keep Frost from grabbing him. “Jonah! Awhooooo!”
“What is happening to the boy?” The Director demanded.
The guards in both the front and back of the room started forward before they fell back a step as a colorful oval doorway appeared. The two guards in the front raised their hands, but before they could shoot the streams of ice from their palms, a colorful band of magic wrapped around them. A matching set of pink pigs stood looking around in confusion where the guards had stood before.
“Toads,” a youthful voice was complaining behind them. “Joseph and I like toads and lizards, well, except for Dusty. He’s okay for a pig.”
“Jonah!” Joseph yelled, shifting so he could jump over the chairs. “Jonah!”
“Joseph!” Jonah pushed past the three women in the front who had just stepped through the glowing doorway.
In the back of his mind, Frost knew that the twins had tackled each other. He absently flipped up his hand to freeze one of the guards at the back of the room, but Joanna had already taken care of him. Sam was busy with the other.
Everything blurred and he dropped his hand as he walked slowly around the table. His eyes were glued to the figure in the middle. The beautiful figure who was crying and laughing at the same time.
“Lacey?” He breathed out afraid to say her name too loudly in case she disappeared. “Lacey, my beautiful ice maiden.”
He stepped over Jonah and Joseph, who were wrestling on the floor. He stepped to the side to avoid crushing the black top hat as well. All he had eyes for was the figure walking down the center aisle toward him.
“Lacey,” he whispered again, stopping as she stepped closer to him. “Idan… Idan said he killed you.”
“I’m not that easy to get rid of,” she murmured, reaching up to touch his cheek. “I missed you.”
Frost turned his face into her warm hand. A shudder ripped through him, followed by a low cry as he wrapped his arms around her. He closed his eyes as he picked her up and buried his face in the curve of her neck. He didn’t care that she could see and feel his tears. All he cared about was that she was alive and in his arms. He was never going to let her go again.
“I love you,” he said over and over. “I love you so much.”
“I love you, too,” she whispered, holding him to her.
“Who the hell is Idan?” Sam said, staring at the couple wrapped around each other.
“That’s Idan,” Joseph said, pointing to Frost’s older brother. “He’s the one that tried to kill Aunt Lacey.”
“Oh, he did, did he?” Sam said with an evil grin. “Let’s see what he thinks when Lacey’s older sister gets done with his ass.”
“Order! I demand… order,” the Director in black stated, looking at the odd couples now in the middle of their chamber. “Polar, I think we need to revisit your request.”
Chapter 28
Frost tenderly lifted Lacey up into his arms. She had fallen asleep almost an hour before. He listened as his father and mother talked with Lacey’s parents and the group of Directors.
“I am going to take Lacey to my home,” he informed them in a quie
t voice. “She will be safe.”
“It was a pleasure to meet you finally, Frost,” Evanna said with a smile. “Your parents have invited us to stay for a few days, with the kind permission from the Directors, of course.”
“I look forward to getting to know you better,” he replied.
His eyes glanced over to where his brother was sitting holding his head. Amusement twisted his lips as Idan looked up at him and scowled. His brother had spent the last several hours as a field mouse in a rolling plastic ball.
“Joanna, thank you for everything,” he said to Lacey’s younger sister. “My mother would not have been happy if your sister had devoured Idan.”
“She will be staying for a few days as well,” the Director in black stated firmly.
Joanna blushed and shot the male an annoyed look. “I’m staying because mom and dad are,” she said bluntly. “I took the week off and don’t have to be back at work until next week anyway.”
“I hope you enjoy our world,” Frost said before he bowed his head. “Good rest.”
He shifted Lacey so that he could hold her closer. She was a little heavier than before. All of her family had come prepared for the cold weather. He nodded to Simon and Tory who were watching as Joseph, wearing his black top hat again complete with a winterized Larry, was showing Jonah different things out the window. Topper had returned to Magic a couple of hours before after complaining it was too damn cold for her.
“Frost,” Lacey’s sleepy voice murmured. “Where are we going?”
“Home,” he replied, rubbing his cheek against her fur hat. He jumped when it purred and rubbed him back. “Your hat just made a sound.”
Lacey’s soft giggle warmed his heart. “It’s the rabbits. They love to be rubbed.”
“Have I ever told you that you live in a very, very strange world,” he whispered. “But, I love everything about it.”
Lacey tilted her head back and raised sleepy eyes to his. “I’m glad. Your world is so different from mine, but very beautiful.”
“I missed you, Lacey,” Frost said in a thick voice.
“Take me home,” she murmured, laying her head back against his chest.
Twenty minutes later, they pulled up in front of his home on the outskirts of the city. Frost held out his hand to help Lacey off the Ice skimmer. His arm wrapped around her waist to prevent her from slipping. They walked in silence up the steps of the large home.
He paused on the doorstep. He looked down at her before he bent and lifted her again so he could carry her over the threshold. A sense of pride swept through him. His home was modest compared to some of the others, but it had an excellent view of the frozen river far below.
“Lights,” he called out as he set her down again.
“It’s warmer than I expected,” Lacey said in surprise. “Aren’t you afraid it will melt?”
Frost chuckled and shook his head as he removed his hat, gloves and jacket. He reached for hers as she turned her back to him. He couldn’t resist pressing a kiss to the soft curve of her neck as he carefully removed her thick coat.
“No,” he replied, turning to hang it up by the door. “The ice changes as it hardens. The inside has a thin layer that protects it from the heat. If anything, it makes it stronger and warmer. It also handles the storms that often blow through.”
Lacey walked through the open doorway into the living room area. A carved fireplace with a fire burning blue flames was on the far wall. The back wall was made up of windows of clear ice that looked like glass. It opened onto a large terrace. Outside, small snow flurries danced against the windows. She walked across the room and climbed the steps leading up to the terrace doors so she could look out. The sun had set, but the skies still held the colors of the rainbow. Small lights from fires dotted the river on the horizon.
It was beautiful, peaceful. She wondered what his world would look like and now she knew. It was so different from her desert, yet the same in many ways.
“It’s so beautiful,” she said, turning to look at him with a glowing smile.
*.*.*
Frost had watched with pride as Lacey walked through his home. He liked the way she ran her hands along the back of the couch. It reminded him of when she ran them over his body. He wanted her, needed her.
He followed her into the living room, pausing to admire the sweet sway of her hips as she climbed the three steps leading to the terrace doors. His eyes darkened as he remembered what she looked like standing naked in the kitchen as he bent her over her small table.
He opened his mouth to ask her if she wanted anything to eat or drink before he made mad, passionate love to her. He was only going to give her the one chance for a reprieve before he took her to his bed and thoroughly loved every inch of her.
He swallowed hard when she turned to smile at him. His throat dried up as his shocked gaze locked on her turned figure. He shook his head when he realized that she had said something.
“Lacey,” he choked out. “You are… you…”
Lacey ran one hand self-consciously over her rounded belly while the other pushed back her hair. Their daughter was the reason she had been able to find him. She had been forced to wait until the baby was big enough to reach out.
“She was the link I needed to find you,” Lacey said, rubbing her extended stomach. “I had to wait until she was big enough to find you, though. That’s why it took so long.”
“How…,” he started to say before he flushed. “I mean I know how, but… how?”
Lacey laughed and walked back down the steps to stand in front of him. She slipped her hand into his before resting them both on her stomach. She chuckled when he cupped it between his hands.
“I needed a connection to you,” she explained. “That is one reason why the twins are so tight, they are connected. They were both too young to reach out to each other. Our daughter is as well, but with my help I could use her connection to you to find you.”
“A daughter,” he murmured, marveling at having not just Lacey, but their child as well. “This will definitely make the Directors accept you. The law states they cannot turn away from one of their own people. She is a part of my world now.”
“She is a part of both our worlds,” Lacey said. “Besides, if they try to stop us, I’ll change them all into toads and give them to the twins.”
Frost’s laughter started low before it grew. He swept her off her feet and twirled around with her. His heart that had been frozen for the past several months now felt like it was about to explode with happiness. He stopped suddenly, making her head spin.
“Can you return to your world?” He asked anxiously. “I mean, I can purchase a transport…”
“Who needs a transport when you have a witch?” Lacey teased. “Now that we have opened the portal, it will be easy to open it whenever we want. The hardest part was making the initial connection, kind of like building a road through the mountains before there was one there.”
“A witch,” Frost laughed. “It will be interesting seeing how the Directors handle this information. A primitive culture that can move through the star systems without a transport and fly through the air on a broom.”
“Not bad, huh?” Lacey laughed, before she grew serious. “I missed you so much. I was devastated when I thought I lost you.”
“I… I never want to live through that again,” Frost admitted with a low moan. “Lacey, is it safe to make love to you?”
She turned her head so that her lips touched the corner of his mouth. Her arms tightened around his neck. With a snap of her fingers, they were both naked.
“It’s just what the witch doctor ordered,” she whispered.
“Have I told you how much I love that you can do that,” he whispered, lowering her to the couch in front of the fire. “I think we should start in the living room and work our way through the house.”
“I like the way you think, my ice man,” Lacey murmured as he sank down over
her.
About The Author
S. E. Smith is a USA Today and #1 International Best Selling author who has always been a romantic and a dreamer. An avid writer, she has spent years writing, although it has usually been technical papers for college. Now, she spends her evenings and weekends writing and her nights dreaming up new stories. An affirmed “geek,” she spends her days working on computers and other peripherals. She enjoys camping and traveling when she is not out on a date with her favorite romantic guy. Fans can reach her
[email protected] or visit her web site at: http://sesmithfl.com
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Additional Books:
Abducting Abby (Dragon Lords of Valdier: Book 1)
Capturing Cara (Dragon Lords of Valdier: Book 2)
Tracking Trisha (Dragon Lords of Valdier: Book 3)
Ambushing Ariel (Dragon Lords of Valdier: Book 4)
For the Love of Tia (Dragon Lords of Valdier: Book 4.1)
Cornering Carmen (Dragon Lords of Valdier: Book 5)
Paul’s Pursuit (Dragon Lords of Valdier: Book 6)
Choosing Riley (Sarafin Warriors: Book 1)
Ha’ven’s Song (Curizan Warrior: Book 1)
Hunter’s Claim (The Alliance: Book 1)
Razor’s Traitorous Heart (The Alliance: Book 2)
Lily’s Cowboys (Heaven Sent: Book 1)
Touching Rune (Heaven Sent: Book 2)
Indiana Wild (Spirit Pass: Book 1)
River’s Run (Lords of Kassis: Book 1)
Star’s Storm (Lords of Kassis: Book 2)
Jo’s Journey (Lords of Kassis: Book 3)
Rescuing Mattie (Lords of Kassis: Book 3.1)
Tink’s Neverland (Cosmo’s Gateway: Book 1)