Page 12 of Hotter on Ice

Shit.

Hell, no. Not going there. Henning swallowed. He had faced the cold a few times in the last five years, but with Alya, every sensation was intensified, including this. How the hell he was going to get through a night in a room made of ice was still a mystery, but he’d do it.

Breathe in, breathe out. Everything was under control.Shewas fine. The tightness in his chest eased a little as he took another deep breath. And he was ready as the next gust hit him. Just one foot in front of the other.

Alya looked up at him. “You okay?”

He gave her a stiff nod. “Thank fuck they loan out winter gear here. Back in Sydney, I couldn’t have imagined just how cold a place like this could be. You okay?”

Her long legs and slim waist meant she had a lot less built-in protection. But she didn’t seem uncomfortable. She stretched her arms out as the snow fell down on her, welcoming it. “I’m great. Even warm.”

So he blew out a breath and concentrated on that.

It was still daytime according to the clock, but there were no traces of the sun. Instead, there was a hazy dusk-like glow near the tops of the trees, the sun having barely scraped the horizon hours ago before sinking out of sight again. Now, the only lights were electric, hung everywhere, sparkling on the blanket of snow that covered everything.

There was no mistaking where they were headed. The arched entrance to the frozen structure that made up the cold half of the Icehotel glowed a mysterious blue at the end of their path, and the enormous white mounds of the snow structure stretched out in all directions, disappearing into the darkness. Little wooden houses stood around the hotel, each with candles in the windows. They walked through the quiet stillness, side by side, together.

“Are those...reindeer parts?” asked Alya, her gaze latched on the doorway.

They came to a stop in front of the entrance to the Icehotel, and Henning studied it. She was right. The door was covered with what looked like reindeer pelts, and the handles were made of...antlers?

Henning chuckled. “I think this is a sign that the accommodations will be on the rustic side.”

As he reached for the door handle, Alya sighed and closed her eyes. The snow was falling in large fluffy flakes, and they clung to her dark lashes.

“Still okay?” he asked.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she smiled at him.

“We only get one chance to see this place for the first time,” she said. “I just want to make sure I’m paying attention.”

Henning nodded slowly. He knew what she meant. Already today, he had felt it more than once: the wish to stop time, to somehow save that first sensation. But for him, that urge had come when he touched her. Kissed her. This wouldn’t last forever, not the feeling, and not this intimacy, but the memory might last if he was careful with it.

He rested his heavy glove on the antler. “Here we go.”

Henning held the door open for Alya and stepped in behind her. And stopped. The entire interior was ice and snow. Everything. Of course, he had seen it in photos, but to experience it was an entirely different thing. The structure itself was domed, made of snow, with blocks of ice everywhere, clear but with a hint of blue echoing throughout the space. It was nothing like the ice that came out of his freezer. Absolutely incredible. The packed snow of the ceiling and floor reflected the tiny lights set up to make the ice sculptures glow. There was a chandelier hanging in the entrance hall—ice, too, Henning suspected. In the middle of the foyer, there was an enormous ice sculpture of what looked like a Nordic god, bearded and armored, with sword in hand. The bluish cast to the place made him think of the ocean or even the sky.

Alya had come to a stop next to him. There was no one else in the entrance hall, just the two of them, dressed in snowsuits and hats and boots, staring at this miraculous place around them.

“It’s breathtaking,” she whispered.

“You were right,” he said. “Definitely more than just cold.”

And then he was inside one more of those moments, the kind he was trying so hard to hold on to. It wasn’t just the Icehotel itself, but that they were both standing there, together.

Alya walked across the snowy floor to one of the pillars and pressed her gloved hand against it. “Where did they get all this ice? And how do we know it’s not going to crash down on us?”

“I read that the skeleton of the structure is metal, covered with layers of an icier version of snow. The blocks of ice are carved out of the river just outside in the spring, when the ice is the thickest. They’re stored in an enormous freezer building until the next winter comes around.” Henning had done extensive research, off-hours, to answer all his safety questions. To make sure this place was well-engineered. He walked over to another pillar, running his finger along the seam of the ice blocks as he made his way toward her. “Seems pretty sturdy to me.”

Alya looked up at the ceiling, then smiled at him. “Look who did his homework.”

He shrugged. “I was a good student.”

Her laugh echoed in the open room. The sound was magical, andhewas the one who had made her laugh. Fuck, that felt good.

“I bet you were,” she said. “You seem very...focused.”

Her eyes flickered hotter for a moment, so he took it as a compliment. Corinne had called him many things, long before the disastrous bust. Too intense. Too closed off. But the way Alya said this felt different. He moved closer to her until he was standing right next to her, looking down into her blue eyes, peeking out from under those dark lashes and fluffy hat. His gaze strayed down to her full red lips.