Zodians

By Linda Mooney

Includes:

Capricorn – Phillip discovers his guide is more suited for the terrain than he knew.

Aquarius – Meomi inherited her family farm, only to be hit with a major drought.

Pisces – Elliot came to get his fortune read. Instead, Dorrie discovered hers.

Aries – Thugs thought the old couple camping out would be easy prey.

Taurus – Tark saves a young heifer sent to the slaughterhouse where he works.

Gemini – Lucia thought she was the last person alive after an apocalyptic event.

Cancer – Arlene offered him water on a scorching summer day, not realizing how he would react.

Leo – Linsie discovers why one particularly reclusive movie star is considered to be "the least vain man in Hollywood".

Virgo – Penni finds out that sometimes a minor traffic infraction can be a good thing.

Libra – It has been years since Myles has met a woman so pure of heart.

Scorpio – Aria's story about a missing child isn't what Hart expected to hear. Then again, she was nothing like he expected either.

Sagittarius –  It wasn't until an accident on a cold winter's night that Embeth finally got to meet her neighbor.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Linda Mooney
• Release date: Dec 11, 2023
• ISBN: 9781953797360

Linda Mooney

Linda loves to write sensuously erotic romance with a fantasy, paranormal, or science fiction flair. Her technique is often described as being as visual as a motion picture or graphic novel. A wife, mother, grandmother, and retired Kindergarten and music teacher, she lives in a small south Texas town near the Gulf coast where she delves into other worlds filled with daring exploits, adventure, and intense love. She has numerous best sellers, including 10 consecutive #1s. In 2009, she was named Whiskey Creek Press Torrid's Author of the Year, and her book My Strength, My Power, My Love was named the 2009 WCPT Book of the Year. In 2011, her book Lord of Thunder was named the Epic Ebook "Eppie" Award Winner for Best Erotic Sci-Fi Romance. In addition, she write naughty erotic romances under the name of Carolyn Gregg, and horror under the pseudonym of Gail Smith. For more information about Linda Mooney books and titles, and to sign up for her newsletter, please visit her website. http://www.LindaMooney.com

Book preview

One

Capricorn

The wind was picking up, blasting shards of ice like knives into their parkas and outerwear. Even their faces weren’t protected enough, despite the insulated masks. The frozen bullets still managed to find every crease and joint, and pounded already bruised muscles.

Phillip glanced up, searching through the haze for his guide. It was almost impossible to see her, even though her entire outfit was a glaring neon orange. He knew she was there, maybe ten or twelve feet above him, but she might as well have been a hundred feet away.

He tugged on the rope, testing their connection as well as signaling to her. It was firm. Good. That gave him some sense of security. As long as they remained connected, there was hope of getting out of this alive.

Why, oh, why did I have to come up here? he asked himself for the umpteenth time.

Because you wanted to prove something to yourself, a little self-deprecating voice taunted in reply. Because you wanted to show you’re just as virile and strong in your fortieth year as you were in your twentieth. And your thirtieth. And because you’re a glutton for punishment, you idiot.

The rope jumped in his hands. Two hard, definite jerks.

Peering upward, he tried to spot her, but the relentless storm blinded him. He thought he heard her voice shouting down at him. It sounded like she was trying to tell him…

"A cave! There’s a cave!"

The rope moved again, silently urging him to keep climbing. Using his left hand for control, he dug into the solid sheet of ice with the pick in his right. One inch…two inches…slow but sure.

A pair of gloved hands reached under his arms. She pulled, he heaved, and together they managed to bring him over the lip of the ledge she was resting on. With her help, he crawled farther inside the depression before dropping onto his side to rest.

Are you okay? she almost yelled into his ear.

Yeah. Thanks. Where the hell did this storm come from?

It does that this time of year. Totally unpredictable. She pointed behind her. Let’s move inside. We can weather the worst of it in there.

He followed her on hands and knees, sometimes having to resort to sliding on his belly like a penguin, before they entered a larger, cave-like structure. Except it was another ledge that ended about a meter away from the far wall. Daylight barely filtered inside, but by this time their eyes had adjusted to the dimness.

Be careful you don’t roll over, his guide half-teased.

He watched her reach inside one of her coat pockets and pull out a small bag. She opened it, extracting what looked like a piece of jerky. She noticed him eyeing her and held out the bag.

Jerky?

Thanks. He plucked a piece. Lifting his face mask, he popped it into his mouth. It was dry and tough, but it tasted wonderful once his spittle softened it. They ate in silence until he asked the obvious question. How long will we have to remain here?

Maybe you’d be better off asking how long that storm’s going to last, she countered.

That long, eh?

She answered with a snort. Maybe we’ll get lucky, and this thing will blow over soon.

No pun intended? he tossed in.

Another snort.

Okay. What happens if this doesn’t end anytime soon, and we get trapped up here?

She shrugged. It’s been known to happen. Her dark eyes slanted over at him. That’s why you signed the release.

Phillip studied her as she shrugged off the backpack and gear she carried, and set it next to her. Beneath her heavy jacket and layers of insulated wear was a twenty-something woman with jet black hair and eyes almost the same color. Initially, he’d been reluctant to have her sign on to be his guide up to the summit of this mountain, but he’d relented once he’d checked with several of the other sherpas and discovered she was as capable, if not more capable, than they were.

That, plus she was the only one left to hire.

Jaylianna, right?

She smiled. You have a very good memory, Mr. Case.

Phillip, he gently corrected.

She smiled again. And how does Mrs. Phillip feel about you traipsing about the world on your own?

I’ve never been married. At her astonished look, he continued. I’ve been so involved in my work and trying to build my business from the ground up, I never found the time to fall in love, much less have a family.

I read your resume. Jaylianna waved a hand at their surroundings. This doesn’t look like something that has anything to do with your business.

No. It doesn’t. He also divested himself of the forty-plus pounds he carried, laid it beside him, and leaned his back against the rocky wall. When I was in college, a group of friends and I decided to hike through Europe one summer. I was twenty. It was such an exhilarating and life-changing experience, I decided to do something similar when I hit thirty.

And that was?

I traveled the complete length of the Amazon by boat.

She nodded her head. Impressive. So for your fortieth birthday, you chose to climb to the summit of the Himalayas?

It seemed safer than to try for Everest, he halfway jested. I have to admit, it was quite a surprise to find someone like you hiring herself out as a guide.

Girl’s gotta eat, she quipped.

You’re not afraid of some client… He let the rest slide. Somehow he knew she’d understand what he meant.

A hardness came over her features. I’m not as weak as some people believe.

I know. From what he’d observed over the past few days, he had no doubts she could hold her own.

And, because I know you’re going to ask me sooner or later what’s a girl like me doing on a slope like this, let’s just say I come from a family of mountain climbers.

He’d suspected as much. She had a strange accent. Hard to place, but pleasant to listen to. It’s in the blood.

She chuckled. That’s one way of putting it.

She pulled out their satellite phone from a side pocket of her backpack and turned it on. Base Hugo. Base Hugo. This is Expedition Argos. Base Hugo. Do you copy? This is Expedition Argos.

The phone crackled. This is Base Hugo. We copy, Expedition Argos. You’re in one hell of a shitstorm. Have you found shelter?

We’re in an ice cave at thirty-nine thousand feet, she informed the man on the other end. What’s the forecast?

Not promising. Looks like this thing’s going to last at least through next week. There might be a small window to send a helicopter in to bring you out this Saturday, but that’s iffy at best. Hope you’re ready to hunker down and wait it out.

We’ll keep in touch, Jaylianna promised. Our next call will be at… She checked her wristband. Sixteen hundred hours.

Copy that. Talk to you then. Hugo out.

She turned off the phone and tucked it inside her inner coat pocket. "Unless you get cold, we need to