This tantalizing Thor’s Day Ann Gimpel is treating us to a teaser excerpt from her latest work, Icy Passage. Icy Passage releases on February 5, 2105, but is available for pre-order now:
Ann’s offering a $5.00 Amazon GC to one lucky commentor!
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Lethal cultures, bizarre illness, and political intrigue create an unlikely backdrop for love in Antarctica, the last true frontier.
Blurb:
Fresh out of residency, Dr. Kayna Quan opts for a tour in Antarctica. Money is short, so she hires on as medical officer aboard a Russian research vessel headed for McMurdo Station. Primed for almost anything, she plays her paranormal ability close to the vest. Being odd man out in a world where most don’t believe in magic makes her wary and feisty.
Brynn McMichaels has been stationed on remote South Georgia Island for two years, and he’s eager for a change. When cultures of the single-celled organism, archaea, overgrow their bins in his lab and begin shifting into another form, he worries he’s losing his mind and talks with scientists at McMurdo, but they have problems of their own—bad ones. After he hears about them, Brynn agrees to help. The weather’s too uncertain to send a plane, so he hitches a ride aboard Kayna’s ship and brings his mutant culture colonies along.
Attraction sparks, hot and powerful, between Brynn and Kayna, but her disclosure about her magic is a tough nut to crack. It doesn’t help that her dead father is stalking her. Lethal cultures, bizarre illness, and McMurdo’s refusal to let them land force Brynn and Kayna into an uneasy alliance. Will their fragile bond be enough to thwart the powers trying to destroy Earth, and them along with it?
***
Excerpt from Icy Passage:
…Kayna swallowed uncertainty, not sure what to say. “Your life sounds so barren.” A lot like mine, actually. “Are you married?”
“Why, Doctor.” He cocked his head to one side, but didn’t stop running his thumb along her jawline. “What a leading question.”
“Are you going to answer it?” Her throat was dry, and she’d never been more aware of a man’s presence. He was alive, electric. If she closed the few inches between their faces, she could taste his lips. He wouldn’t rebuff her. She sensed his interest, but the wife question was important. The raven spread its wings, flew a few feet, and settled again. Approval gleamed from his eyes. Kayna did a double take. Her spirit guide had never showed his beak in all the years she was with Derek, but he was certainly front and center tonight.
It’s almost as if he’s giving Brynn his seal of approval…
Oh for the love of Pete. I’m extrapolating all over the f**king place.
Brynn’s voice took on a husky note. “I had a girlfriend, another M.D. We were together for years. She wanted more than I could give. Eventually, she left me.” He glanced down and Kayna sensed his internal conflict, raw and palpable, before he met her gaze again. “I don’t blame her. I wasn’t very…present.”
“Maybe, she’d still be open to—”
Brynn shook his head. “Too much bad water under the bridge. She told me not to find her after she left. I ignored that wish, exactly like I’d ignored most of her other ones.” A muscle twitched beneath one of his eyes, betraying tension. “The row we had once I tracked her down wasn’t pretty. Not too long after that, I landed a job with a British bioresearch firm and left for South Georgia Island.”
“We have at least a few things in common,” she murmured.
“Like what?” He inscribed small circles on her cheek before moving his hand down her neck.
“I had a boyfriend—another doc, like your partner—but he dumped me once I told him I was going to McMurdo for a year.”
Brynn looked at her, his eyes brimming with emotions he probably didn’t let out to play often. When he angled his head and closed his mouth over hers, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and drew him close. Hard planes of muscle met her fingertips, and she reveled in how good he felt. His crisp masculine scent, sandalwood and amber, eddied about her. When he ran his tongue along the seam in her lips, she opened her mouth and welcomed him. He tasted sweet like the scotch, and his lips became harder and more demanding as she let him explore her mouth.
Brynn threaded his arms around her and buried a hand in her hair, cradling the back of her head. Her breath quickened, and her nipples hardened where they pressed against his chest. It had been months since she’d had sex. Even before her blowup with Derek, he hadn’t touched her in a long time. Need licked at her, hot and urgent, in a rush of hormones all too aware her biological clock was running out of time. Encouragement glittered in the raven’s eyes, and she felt him urge her on.
It would be easy to stretch out on the cushions, slide her tights down, and draw Brynn into her. Too easy. Her body screamed for release, but common sense intruded and she pulled away, panting slightly. “You’re a very attractive man, but this isn’t a good idea.”
“Bad call,” the raven spoke up.
Holy crap snackers! I’ve had too much to drink.
Kayna made a grab for rationality, but the raven stayed put, no longer talking, but with his avian attention glued to her.
“I’d try to argue,” Brynn said, his voice thick with need, “except I agree.” He kneaded the back of her neck. It felt heavenly and she leaned into his touch. “Not that I don’t want to make love with you,” his gaze, dark gold now, bored into her, “because I do. Very much. But I want to take this slow. Get to know you.”
His words made something warm and fluttery begin in her belly and spread outward. She untangled her arms from his body and got to her feet. “We’ll have time to figure this out.”
“Maybe,” he said carefully, and something in his voice—perhaps regret—snared her attention.
“Why maybe?”
“You’re staying at McMurdo. I plan to go home after a couple weeks there.”
With her body buzzing from his touch, and her spirit guide still making his presence—and opinion—known, she murmured, “One step at a time. We’ll see how things unfold.”
Brynn looked at her, his hazel gaze unreadable. “It’s been a long day. Both of us should try to get some sleep.”
She nodded and made her way out of the bar, lurching with the ship’s motion. Brynn had his secrets, like she had hers. She sensed his inner turmoil with her paranormal antennae. It was unlikely he could see into her with the same level of accuracy, but none of that mattered. Whether they’d even arrive at McMurdo remained to be seen.
Hell, he may not be able to live with my secrets even if we make McMurdo.
And I might not be able to stomach his.
Secrets aside, why did my raven show up?…
***
What a sizzling exceprt – thanks Ann for titillating us today!
Ann Gimpel Bio:
Ann Gimpel is a national bestselling author. She’s also a clinical psychologist, with a Jungian bent. Avocations include mountaineering, skiing, wilderness photography and, of course, writing. A lifelong aficionado of the unusual, she began writing speculative fiction a few years ago. Since then her short fiction has appeared in a number of webzines and anthologies. Her longer books run the gamut from urban fantasy to paranormal romance. She’s published over 25 books to date, with several more contracted for 2015 and beyond.
A husband, grown children, grandchildren and three wolf hybrids round out her family.
Contact Ann:
www.anngimpel.com
http://anngimpel.blogspot.com
http://www.amazon.com/author/anngimpel
http://www.facebook.com/anngimpel.author
@AnnGimpel (for Twitter)
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Happy Thors Day!
Cheers,
Jianne
