by Lily Thomas
He just wished Adorra hadn’t let out that ear piercing scream. Instead, he wished she would’ve let him strip her naked and enter her lush body that he’d only been able to get a tantalizing sample of in his sleep addled state.
Instead of saying anything, Mathar rose and grabbed his boots. She wouldn’t believe him even if he tried to defend himself. He’d been half asleep when his hand had decided to grope her breast. Now that he was awake, he regretted what had transpired just as much as she did.
She wasn’t his type, and he’d told her that last night. It was still as true this morning as it had been the night before. Before she could say anything more to him, he left the tent in a rush.
Once outside, he donned his boots.
Then Mathar straightened and breathed in the cool mountain air. That was exactly what he needed to lessen the raging fire inside of himself. His cock was still hard though. It clearly wasn’t done trying to convince him that she would be an appealing woman for him to bed.
It was time for a cold dip. That would get his mind off Adorra and her amazing curves that could make a man lose his mind with a single glance. Striding through the forest, he brushed past branches, swiping them out of his way as he headed for a stream he knew was nearby. It was close enough that he could be by her side in a second if she needed him.
As Mathar walked through the trees, he rubbed one of his ears with a finger. The poor thing was still ringing from her piercing scream. That damn woman was going to make him go deaf before he could get her to the ice giant castle and let her be Jasmine’s problem.
She did have a pair of lungs on her though. He’d give her that much. Too bad she hadn’t been as level-headed as he’d given her credit for.
Chapter 10
Adorra watched as he strode out of the tent with his boots in his hands. Maybe she’d overreacted, but damn him! She wasn’t about to apologize for screaming his ears off. He should’ve known better than to just grope her while she slept. Although she understood… maybe. She had pressed herself up against him a little, and they’d both been half asleep.
She released the fur cover and briefly shivered as the cold air rushed up. She wasn’t built to live all the way up here in the mountains, and she was afraid it would only continue to get colder. They weren’t even to the ice giant castle, and the cold already had her teeth clinking together.
As she rose, she thought of finding Mathar and apologizing for her little outburst, but then she decided not to search him out. She hoped her little outburst would teach his sleep addled brain not to do that again unless he wanted a busted eardrum.
What she wanted was an apology from him.
Lifting her chin, Adorra shot out of the tent, and then paused as the brisk air shocked the breath from her. Her breath puffed out in front of her in little white clouds, and she shivered some more. They’d better be pretty close to the ice giant castle otherwise she feared she’d freeze solid out here, and they hadn’t even gotten that far into the mountains.
Once she managed to catch her breath, she glanced around her eyes seeking out Mathar. All she found was the horse and the quiet mountains around them. The tree branches shifted in the slight wind with a creaking groan, but no sign of Mathar.
An idea began to hatch away inside her mind. It would be so easy to take the horse and be gone before he knew what was happening, and there was only one horse so she doubted he’d be able to catch her.
But… if she ran would she be endangering her sister’s life?
The horse snorted and presented one of his sides to her as if saying, “Why not take the chance?”
She shook her head. No. She couldn’t. For all, she knew it would anger the ice giants, and they’d punish Jasmine for her escape. She’d stay the course and hope that she’d make a successful escape once she had her hands on Jasmine.
But it was mean of Mathar to leave his horse right there… such a tease!
She cast a glare over at the horse who was munching on something.
Storming over to the horse, she yanked a fur off the back of the saddle and wrapped it around her shoulders. She wasn’t going to freeze to death while she waited for Mathar to show back up. She had no idea where he’d disappeared to in the expansive forest, so she had no option but to wait.
The fur did little, but it was better than the protection her dress offered. Her eyes turned to the fire pit that had died long ago last night. It was no longer putting off heat, and she longed to see the coals glowing a bright red.
She hadn’t really been paying attention last night when Mathar had started the fire. At the manor and court, she’d always had maids to start fires in the hearths. She’d never had to trouble herself with something like that, and now she wished she had paid more attention to the smaller things in her life.
But her lack of knowledge wasn’t going to slow her down. She’d always possessed a go-and-do-it attitude. With the fur wrapped tightly around her body, she bent down next to the fire pit and grabbed a hold of two sticks. She thought she’d once been told that a person could start a fire with just two sticks and a lot of determination, and she was definitely determined!
Adorra wanted the heat of a fire!
Taking a stick in each hand, she began to rub them together vigorously. She had no idea how long this technique was supposed to take but just doing it was warming her up with the exertion she had to put into it.
Adorra had no idea how long she sat there next to the dead pit of coals before feet walked up into her field of vision.
She knew it was Mathar, and she knew he had to be laughing at the sight before him, but she was determined, and she wasn’t going to let him distract her. She might be a lady of the court with no survival skills, but it didn’t mean that she couldn’t try and learn. She was plenty intelligent.
His deep voice rushed over her, causing goosebumps of a different sort. “You will never start a fire like that.”
“I don’t need your criticism.” Adorra snapped as she continued to rub the two sticks together. Her cheeks were heating up as she realized that this technique might not actually be true and if it were, she might be missing some elements.
“Should I leave you here to try and start a fire? Assuming you don’t freeze to death before that happens.”
“Yes.” She growled, tired of him judging her.
Silence reigned over the area, but he still stood there watching, and she couldn’t help but feel embarrassed by her naivety. Without him uttering a single word, she knew she was doing something wrong.
“Would you like me to show you how to start a fire?” Mathar offered, and although she couldn’t detect any judgment, she wasn’t about to give in.
Adorra continued, her jaw set in a firm line. She could do this.
“Before we waste all day waiting for you to get a single spark from your twig rubbing.” He growled, growing annoyed with her silence.
“Fine!” Adorra threw her sticks down with a clatter, frustrated that she would end up needing him to explain it to her.
Mathar bent down next to her. “No one showed you how to start a fire?” He seemed flabbergasted by this revelation.
“I always had someone else start the fires in my manor.” Adorra couldn’t help but notice how close he was and how his freshly washed masculine scent appealed to her. He smelled even more like sandalwood. “You bathed?”
“I did.” He dug around in a pouch at his waist and pulled out some flint.
“In a stream?” Up here in the cold mountains. Bathing outdoors when it was this cold seemed like a preposterous idea.
Mathar nodded, and she watched small droplets of water flick off his short silver hair. She was amazed it hadn’t frozen in the cold air, or maybe the air wasn’t as cold as she made it out to be?
“Aren’t you a bit cold?”
“You forget I’m an ice giant. I was adapted for the environment all the way up here, and that includes being able to take a bath in a stream in this type of cold.”
; “True. So, you never get cold?”
Mathar shook his head. “Ice giants have been known to die from exposure. It would just take us a lot longer and a very low temperature to harm us.” He chuckled. “Right now I could be butt naked and have no issues for days.”
“Please don’t.” Adorra held up a hand as she grimaced. That was all that she needed. Him running around butt naked in all his glory.
“Afraid you might like what you see?” He teased.
Adorra grimaced even more. “More afraid of you getting some ideas and hurting my delicate female senses.”
He snorted.
“What was that for?”
Mathar motioned for her to take the flint from his hand, and she did after she gave him a few more glares. The moment her fingertips brushed up against the palm of his hand, she noticed the little sparks that flew through her. Yanking her hand away, she prayed to the heavens that she was the only one who’d noticed.
“You may not know how to survive in the wild, but somehow I doubt you have many delicate female senses to hurt.” She opened her mouth to contradict him, but he held up a hand to stop her from speaking. “Even though I’ve only known you for a short time you seem like a woman who knows her place in the world. Confident. Able to bounce back despite any problems life throws your way.”
Adorra wasn’t sure what to say because to her that sounded like a compliment.
“So, how do I do this?” She was just going to pretend like it wasn’t an intentional compliment and move on.
Mathar reached around him and grabbed some small dry twigs that they could use as kindling. “Once we get these lit, we will introduce larger pieces of wood.”
She nodded.
“Now strike the flint.” He instructed her.
Adorra did as he instructed, but when she struck the flint, only a couple of sparks were produced. She frowned at it. “Am I doing it wrong?”
“Here,” he leaned over, took her small hands in his and guided the stroke, “like this.” He guided her hands with his, striking the flint hard and fast. Sparks shot forward, and the kindling caught fire.
Slowly, the kindling burned in front of them, and a smile grew across her face. Now she knew how to start fires. It was a step in the right direction for her survival up here in the freezing mountains.
“Now I’ll be able to keep myself warm while I’m with your people.” A smile turned up the corners of her mouth.
Mathar chuckled as he pulled back his warm hands, leaving hers to the cold air. She regretted the loss. His touch had been soft and comforting despite the fact that he was an ice giant and he should repulse her.
Rising back up to his full intimidating height, Mathar kicked some dirt over the flames, extinguishing the tiny kindling fire they’d started.
She rose up to her feet and handed the flint back to him.
Mathar stopped her with a hand held out. “Keep it. I have more.”
“Thank you.”
“Everyone should know the basics of survival. Perhaps we’ll even be able to teach you how to hunt.” Mathar suggested, a gleam entering his eyes that she wasn’t able to decipher.
Now it was her turn to snort at him. “Like that would ever happen.” She rolled her eyes. She was a lady, and she knew maybe one lady back at court who knew how to hunt.
“All it requires is practice, nothing more.” He encouraged her.
“I think it might be best if I start with the basics and work my way from there.”
He nodded. “Perhaps this ‘kidnapping’ as you say might work to your benefit. You might learn some new skills from this that might benefit you later on in life. This way you’ll be less dependent on others.”
“Perhaps.” She acted uninterested but was actually eager for this new look on life. It would be interesting to know something that other ladies at court had no clue how to do.
“I need to pack up the tent. Bring my horse over here, won’t you?” Mathar then turned and headed over to the tent without actually seeing if she would.
She rolled her eyes. He was probably used to working alone or as the commander of men. It would explain a lot. He was used to giving orders and having them obeyed.
Adorra strolled over to the horse the fur still wrapped tightly around her shoulders. The stallion’s head shot up as she neared, and he snorted at her.
“Don’t you give me any trouble.” She muttered to the horse who knickered at her.
She reached out and rubbed a hand down his velvety nose. Then she reached over to the branch his reins were tied to and unwrapped them, before leading the horse over to where Mathar was finishing up with the tent.
“You left me alone with a horse right there. Why?”
Mathar shrugged as he continued to work. “If you love your sister as much as you claim, then you wouldn’t just leave her here with horrible ice giants.”
True.
“Still. I could’ve thought about going back and gathering an armed mob.”
“But you’re smarter than that.” He reasoned. Again he was tossing her another compliment. “Your people can’t spare anyone now that the war between them and the rock giants has heated up.” He shook his head. “And now that your people are sparking a war with the fire giants, they wouldn’t be able to spare a single man on one lone woman.”
“Why haven’t the ice giants joined in yet?” It was a question she’d always wondered. She figured they would help other giants in a war, yet they hadn’t.
“Why would we want to join a war?” Mathar scoffed with a small snort as his eyebrows drew down over his eyes. “We don’t want to see any of our people come to harm.”
It was a good reason.
“So, no matter what happens, the ice giants will remain hidden in their treacherous mountains?”
“Exactly.”
Adorra did wonder which way the war would end up going. The rock giants were still pushing their way through Arcaern territory, and she worried her people weren’t equipped to push back for much longer. This war might end up being shorter than any of them could imagine.
Mathar finished bundling up the tent, lugged it over to his horse, and tied it down on his saddle. He took the reins from her, mounted up, and then bent over the side of the horse and wrapped his hands around her waist.
Her breath hitched in her chest as the heat from his hands burned through the layers of her dress. Mathar appeared to feel nothing as he swung her up in front of him. Once she sat firmly before him, she finally let out the breath she held.
With a flick of the reins, they were off, the harsh cold air beating against her face until her nose went numb.
They were well on their way, and Adorra found herself entranced by the scenery flashing by them as the stallion thundered through the emerald green pine trees. She clung to her fur, careful not to let it go lest she lose it with the wind whipping past them. She wasn’t entirely sure how many extra furs Mathar was carrying around with him, so this one was precious.
Tall pine trees towered over them, watching silently as they galloped past. Their branches waved as they whizzed by as if ushering them onwards. When the snow began to fall, she watched as the ground and shrubbery began to be covered by a steady layer of falling snow. She knew they were getting further into the mountains and closer to where the ice giants called home.
A shiver spread through her.
“Are you cold?” Mathar leaned towards her ear, his warm breath fanning out over the rib of her ear.
And she shivered again, this time it wasn’t about the cold but all about the handsome ice giant sitting so close behind her. The handsome ice giant that was clouding her mind and causing her to forget the hatred that’d been drilled into her towards giants.
“No. Shivering in anticipation of being even colder.”
Mathar chuckled as he tucked her closer to his chest, and she didn’t protest. “Let me know if you need another fur.”
“I will.” She might want to appear strong in front of him, but s
he’d do no one any good freezing to death. It was only sensible to accept any assistance he could give her with the cold.
He leaned back to his original position but kept an arm tight around her waist to make sure she didn’t go bouncing off the front of his saddle.
Adorra shouldn’t feel so flustered and bothered by him, but she did. It’d been a while since Edmund had been murdered in front of her, and she’d found herself wondering when she’d be ready to call another man hers. Maybe she’d be able to find a man after this adventure was over and done. If an ice giant could warm her, then there was a hope she might be able to open her heart to another Lord.
It gave her some hope. After Edmund had passed, she thought she’d never want another man in her life, which saddened her because she desired children. She yearned for children. The pitter patter of little feet was something she needed to have in her life.
Mathar leaned back in. “What do you think of the scenery?”
“It’s beautiful.” She said honestly. She was completely awed by the natural beauty around them when she wasn’t immersed in her thoughts. “We get snow in Arcearn, but nothing like this.”
Already, the snow was slowing the stallion down. The fluffy whiteness was slowly creeping up the legs of the stallion, but the stallion was still plowing through the pillowy white crystals at a brisk pace.
“Even ice giants can get sick of it.”
“I don’t see how.” Adorra shook her head and noticed how cold her ears were getting. Quickly, she moved the fur up higher to cover her ears a bit. “It looks like a winter wonderland. Something one can only experience in a good book.”
He leaned away from her again as he helped guide his stallion through the thick layer of snow that was now covering the ground.
Thoughts of Jasmine plagued her as they continued traveling. Soon she would see her sister again, and she couldn’t help the excitement that bubbled up inside of her. She just prayed Jasmine was alright and that she’d been able to adapt to such a formidable environment on her own without too many scars. She could only imagine having to live among ice giants.