Texture of Intimacy(2013)

Nalini Singh

SnowDancer healer Lara knows primal ecstasy. She wakes to it every morning, skin-to-skin with the hard male body of the quiet, powerful telepath who is her mate. Lean muscle and rough heat, Walker is the only man she has ever wanted to call her own. But being mated to a man formed in the ice-cold cage of the PsyNet has its challenges.

Born into a race where emotion is a crime, Walker’s will is a creation of cold steel. Scarred by the life he has lived, the terrible choices he was forced to make, he never expected to find happiness. Now, his heart belongs to Lara and he will fight to the death to protect the bond between them . . . even knowing he might have been too long in the ice of the PsyNet to give her what she needs.

Before Lara and Walker can claim the wild promise of their future, they must first face the painful shadows of the past . . .

Timeline: Takes place some time after Kiss of Snow.

This story can be found in the short story anthology Wild Invitation.