Free The Ice Seduction (Ice Romance) by SK Quinn

right. Stealthy, silent and deadly. If we were prey, he’d have shot us by now.
    His blond-brown hair is blowing wild in the wind, and he’s wearing a camouflage jacket and carrying a shotgun under his arm.
    ‘What are you doing up there? ’ he growls up at us, swinging the shotgun into a holder on his back.
    ‘We were just coming down,’ I call , helping Bertie onto the lower branches.
    ‘Of all the stupid, dangerous things …’ Patrick comes to the foot of the tree and reaches up to catch Bertie, swinging him to the ground.
    When I get to the lowest branch, he reaches up for me too.
    Before I can argue, Patrick’s hands catch under my arms and he lifts me to the ground.
    We stand for a moment, facing each other.
    I’m out of breath from the climb, but Patrick is still as a statue, his angry eyes roaming my face.
    ‘What the hell were you doing? You could have been hurt.’
    He still hasn’t let me go, and I feel the firmness of his fingers against my ribcage.
    I notice the brown stubble around his jaw and a hint of sideburns by his ears. Everything about him is just so, so … wild .
    ‘Bertie … I mean we both decided to climb up. There was an eagle circling the nes t. And Bertie wanted to scare it away. We weren’t doing any harm.’
    I’m aware that I’m still breathing quick ly, my hair flying all around my face in the wind.
    Patrick turns to Bertie, but his hands are still around my ribs.
    I feel a lovely sort of icy warmth in my chest, and shiver.
    ‘I t’s good Bertie’s out in the woods,’ Patrick says. ‘I never liked him being shut away inside.’
    ‘ Look, if there’s any trouble about this, I should take the blame,’ I blurt out, my cheeks turning red. ‘None of this is Bertie’s fault.’
    ‘Trouble?’
    ‘I thought he wasn’t allowed out here … Mrs Calder said …’
    Patrick ’s lips pull into something like a smile. ‘You really can’t follow orders, can you?’
    ‘I guess not .’
    ‘ But I don’t give a damn what Agnes Calder thinks. If she knew what was right for Bertie, he wouldn’t need a nanny.’
    ‘But doesn’t she look after him sometimes? Between nannies?’
    ‘She has done. But I’ve never liked it.’ He hits me with those sharp blue-green eyes. ‘He needs someone like you. Someone who cares.’
    His eyes twinkle a little and a smile pulls at his lips.
    My heart beats hard in my chest, and I feel like I’m falling.
    Get it together, Sera. Mrs Calder says that Patrick Mansfield is spoken for, and even if he isn’t … this is dangerous territory.
    I step back out of Patrick’s large hands, going to Bertie and putting a hand on his shoulder. As usual, he shrugs me away.
    ‘Um. So what are you doing out here?’ I ask Patrick.
    He laughs. ‘I have to justify myself now, do I? For walking around my own woodlands?’
    ‘No, I —’
    ‘I’m p rotecting the grounds,’ says Patrick.
    ‘From what?’
    ‘Poachers. They come for the white stags. One in particular, Hawk Turner, I’ve been after for a long time. He’s out there today. I can always tell by the damage to the woodlands.’ Patrick spits on the ground. ‘He shoots first, looks later.’
    ‘ Hawk Turner?’
    ‘His name for himself, not mine. I’d call him Scumbag Turner. He never comes this near the castle, but out there—’ Patrick waves towards the dark woodlands and the snow-capped mountains, ‘the stags roam wild. Stay in this part of the woods. Like I said. No further than the stream. And you won’t get caught in the crossfire.’ Patrick’s strong eyebrows pull into a frown, and those clear sea-green eyes fix on my reddy-brown ones. ‘Got it?’
    ‘Yes .’ I don’t know where to look. It’s hard to stand still with Patrick’s eyes on me. This is just too much. I tug myself free of his stare and turn to Bertie. ‘I guess we’ll just carry on with our walk,’ I say.
    ‘Don’t climb any more trees,’ says Patrick gruffly, taking his gun from his back and putting it