The Shifting Ice

By Alyce Caswell

Dom Zhang’s day has just gone from bad to worse. Having fallen to his death while on the job, he is rescued and healed, but he also becomes the only prisoner inside an icy fortress without any exits. Rasson, the god of ice, has chosen Dom as his consort and expects the mortal to gratefully accept a place by his side.

But Dom has no intention of settling down. He’s got an entire galaxy to explore before he dies and he definitely doesn’t have time to be held captive — or to contemplate the perks of marrying a god. Even if one of those perks is immortality...

An M/M novella.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alyce Caswell
• Release date: Dec 20, 2018
• ISBN: 9780648162667

Alyce Caswell

Alyce Caswell, when she isn't buried in a book or drinking her way through a giant pot of tea, is a keen writer of fantasy and science fiction. Her space opera family saga, The Galactic Pantheon Series, has been released digitally through various retailers.

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The Shifting Ice

by Alyce Caswell

Copyright © Alyce Caswell 2018

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Cover design by Hampton Lamoureux, TS95 Studios © 2018

ISBN: 978 0 6481626 6 7 (EPUB version)

ISBN: 978 0 6481626 7 4 (Amazon version)

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

About the Author

Also by Alyce Caswell

CHAPTER ONE

At least the vidcam will capture this, Dom Zhang thought as he plummeted to his death.

The starship that had deposited him this close to the planet’s magnetic pole was long gone, disgorging the rest of its passengers half a world away at a soulless spaceport surrounded by sunny, sparkling beaches — the perfect place for tourists to add their footsteps to the millions that had come before them.

Dom wasn’t interested in shooting the same tired footage that everyone else had on their personal vidcams. Nisha, his boss, only handed over the coin-chips if he captured exciting new ’scapes for the Graphic Stock Collection. Once his footage was uploaded there anyone could pay to access it, no danger required on their part.

Funny, Dom had never really thought about how dangerous his job was until his hoverboots cut out and his rappelling line snapped.

One piece of equipment failing — that’s bad luck.

Two failing — the Creator God is out to get you.

If you’d asked Dom how he thought he was going die, he would never have picked ‘falling off a giant freaking iceberg’.

Why bother being afraid of heights when you’ve got the tech to make sure you never fall? Why worry about not being able to call for help when no one can get to you in time anyway? And why entertain the thought of dying when you’ve survived so many times before?

At least his day hadn’t started quite so badly.

• • •

Some hours earlier

Fingers laced behind his head, Dom kept his eyes sealed shut to better enjoy the sensations rippling through him. Sure hands grasped his hips and a wickedly hot mouth slid down his spit-slicked shaft, taking its time to reach the base — the starship’s captain was certainly living up to his boast that he could bring a man to the edge and make him dance along it.

Dom’s vidcam was hidden in the corner, courtesy of its miniature cloaking device. No sense wasting the opportunity to add this encounter to his own personal collection, especially since the captain was quite toned for one who spent his life darting from star to star. The onboard gym probably helped.

Dom felt the swollen head of his member brush against the back of the captain’s throat for one glorious moment — and then that moment was over. Unable to stop himself, Dom angled his hips upwards, trying to increase the maddeningly slow pace his companion had set, but the captain released Dom’s cock and shook his head, tutting.

Dom held in the growl. Barely.

‘Told you I’d make you beg for it,’ the captain said smugly.

Dom opened his mouth — definitely not to beg, of course, but to bargain — when his communicator squawked. He threw a glare at the device lying beside his pillow, knowing that he couldn’t ignore it; his contract required him to be contactable at all times. Failing to answer this call might cost him his job.

He grabbed the communicator and released a hiss of air when he saw that the culprit was his boss. ‘Galactic Gods, Nisha! What is it?’

‘Mr Zhang, your vidcam is the property of the Graphic Stock Collection,’ Nisha said flatly — hers was the sort of voice that made Dom nervous because he never knew if she was about to praise or lambaste him. ‘It should not be misused in this manner.’

The captain started looking around the cabin. There was no use pretending it wasn’t there, so Dom fluttered a hand and the vidcam shimmered into view. He expected anger or outrage, but the captain merely appraised the device, looking thoughtful.

Dom pressed his palm to the mouthpiece of his communicator. ‘I’ll totally send you a copy.’

‘I think I’ll have to improve my performance,’ the captain said, winking.

Dom smirked and returned his attention to his communicator. It was still deathly silent; Nisha didn’t waste her words.

‘Now, Nisha,’ Dom drawled, ‘my contract states that I am free to work without any interference that might hinder my creativity. You hacking into my vidcam could be considered interfering. Which makes this a breach of contract. The Collection wouldn’t want me going to the mediaists with that, would they?’ He paused, raising his eyebrows at his companion and tilting his head towards the vidcam; an unspoken question. When the captain smiled broadly in response, Dom added, ‘Don’t worry, Nisha. You’re welcome to watch.’

Nisha used a single curse word, just one, and then the connection cut out.

‘Do you think she’s still watching?’ the captain asked.

‘I have no idea,’ Dom said, dropping his communicator. ‘But I’d appreciate you getting back on the bed and putting on a good show anyway.’

The captain was most willing to comply.

• • •

Many hours later, the vidcam was aimed at empty, desolate scenery. The device would continue to hover there beside the iceberg until either the battery died or it was retrieved by the Graphic Stock Collection. All of the Collection’s vidcams were fitted with trackers; it wasn’t unusual for them to outlast their users and this made retrieving the tech a lot easier.

The user of this particular vidcam