Winter's Scorching Kisses

by Lily Thomas

His mouth fell in a flat line as his eyes flashed, a spark lighting up those dark depths. He thought she was going to deny him and make his job harder.

  “If you want me to trust you, then I need to know the name of my kidnapper.”

  “I’m not a kidnapper.”

  “Still…” He knew her name and more, but she had no idea who he was. She didn’t like him having the upper hand. Information was power, and he was yielding it expertly against her.

  “Mathar. My name is Mathar.”

  “No last name?”

  She could see his jaw tense, and his eyes flashed again. It was weird, but he almost appeared angered about the question about his last name, or maybe he was tired of being questioned by a human.

  “Mor’ie.”

  “Mathar Mor’ie.” It, of course, had a few growls thrown in there that Adorra was unable to pronounce, but it rolled off the tongue nonetheless. “Now that we are on a first name basis, perhaps you could untie these restraints.” She suggested as she turned slightly and presented her tied hands to him.

  Mathar snorted. “Sometimes you humans confuse me, but other time you just make me laugh with your jokes.”

  Her brows drew down over her eyes, unamused by his comment. “Fine.” She stepped closer the rocks under her thin slippers poking her delicate feet. They’d been dillydallying enough. She was eager to see if what he said was true. The hope of seeing her sister again drove her forward.

  He leaned over the side of his horse, reached down and grabbed her under her armpits and yanked her up off the ground and onto the front of his saddle. They didn’t immediately take off, but she waited patiently anyways.

  Something heavy landed on her shoulders.

  “What’s this?” Adorra asked as her head jerked away from the sudden weight over her shoulders until she realized it was just a fur. Her brow furrowed as she twisted her neck to look back at Mathar.

  “It’s about to get a lot colder where we’re headed, and I know your sister would prefer to see you alive rather than frozen solid.” He leaned against her for a brief second to gather up the reins, and then wiped his horse into a gallop.

  Adorra flew back into Mathar’s chest as the horse surged forward. A warm fuzzy feeling grew around her heart. He may be nothing more than an ice giant, but he was seeing to her basic needs, like her comfort.

  Chapter 8

  After a few hours of non-stop traveling, Adorra figured they’d make it to the ice giant castle in no time since Mathar set a mean pace. His stallion didn’t show any signs of tiring despite the constant galloping. The giant horse had a stamina that would rival any horse the king had in his stable. Not only was he carrying her, but the stallion was also carrying all their supplies and a heavily muscled ice giant who had to weigh a lot.

  Loosening up, Adorra allowed herself to relax her spine and backed up against Mathar’s chest. She could only leave so much distance, and her back was stiff with sore muscles. It was indecent to be so close to Mathar, but it wasn’t like she had much of a choice in the matter. He had an arm wrapped around her waist, holding her close, so it wasn’t like she could fling herself off the back of the horse. Even then, that wouldn’t get her anywhere. Her hands were still tied behind her back, and she didn’t even want to think what would happen to her delicate body when she hit the ground at the speed they were going.

  Remembering her tied hands got her thinking about how uncomfortable her shoulders were getting. There was a lot of tension building up in those muscles, but she didn’t want to show any weakness to Mathar. He struck her as the kind of man who only respected other strong-willed people. She’d grit her teeth and bear the pain.

  The mountains gradually grew more rugged. Rocks soon dominated the scenery around them. Green pine trees still surrounded them unconcerned with their passing. The animals, though, fled the moment they raced through the nearby forest.

  Heat poured off Mathar’s arm that was wrapped around her waist, bothering her, because as they climbed in elevation, she found herself wishing for more of the delectable heat. The fur that Mathar had wrapped around her helped to defend her from the harsh air, but even that was having trouble as they proceeded onwards and upwards.

  And it didn’t get any better when the sun began to sink below the horizon. Hues of orange, yellow and red burst across the sky in a brilliant display. It was awe-inspiring and stole her breath away. Every time they entered a patch of trees, she’d regret the loss of the beautiful sky blooming above them.

  As dusk finally dragged the last rays of sun below the horizon, small flakes of white began to drift through the air.

  Mathar pulled up on the reins of his stallion. The stallion threw out its legs going from a full out gallop to a stop. Her chest slammed up against his forearm, and she grunted in pain. Her chest would be bruised in the morning. She had no doubt.

  The stallion snorted as it threw its head.

  “We’ll be stopping here for the night,” Mathar informed her as he got his excited stallion back under control with skilled horsemanship.

  Then he latched onto her upper arms and swung her off the saddle before she could utter a word, assuming her lungs would work after the maneuver he just pulled.

  The moment her slippered feet hit the ground and his warm hands left her, the cold air swooped in chilling her to the bone. She never thought she’d actually miss an ice giant being wrapped around her, and it caused her stomach to roll in disgust.

  As Adorra waited for him to dismount, the fur slowly slid off her shoulders until it plummeted to the ground at her feet.

  Her dress covered her from her shoulders to her toes and even all of her arms, but the dress was no match for the chilly air. As the night continued to set in, it just got colder until she could see her breath puffing out in front of her in little white clouds. Her teeth began to clatter against each other as shivers racked her body so badly, she felt as though invisible hands were shaking her.

  Mathar finally dismounted and tied his horse to a tree and started to untie the packs from the back of his saddle.

  Relief washed through her. Good. Soon he’d have a tent up, and she’d be able to warm herself right back up. She could only imagine how hard this had to be on her sister. No human was meant to live as high up in the mountains as the ice giants did.

  She’d be there soon, and she’d get them out. Adorra wasn’t exactly sure how she’d help her sister. It wasn’t like she knew what she was doing when it came to mounting a rescue. She was making this all up as she went along, but she had to believe she could get them back to human civilization.

  Maybe she was naïve. Perhaps she should try to escape from Mathar and get assistance.

  Adorra bit her bottom lip. Then again, the king wouldn’t have the resources to waste on sending soldiers high into the snowy mountains for one woman. The war with the rock giants was still being waged on the border.

  If she wanted her sister saved from the ice giants, then she was the only one who would have the drive to do it. No one else could be spared while the rock giants were hammering away at their border defenses.

  Mathar pulled the tent off the back of his saddle and walked away. Adorra glanced down at the fur that had slipped from her shoulders. She wished she could easily pick it up and wrap it back around her shoulders, but with her hands tied she was unable.

  Quickly, Adorra rushed after him. She wasn’t stupid. There had to be dangers up here like wild animals. She may not trust the ice giant, but she knew she could trust him more than a hungry animal. At least he had some sort of intelligence.

  Mathar glanced up as he dropped the tent supplies on the ground with a clatter of wood stakes and supports.

  “Where’s your fur?” He asked concern coating his every word as he strode over to her and began to rub his hands over her arms vigorously.

  “Don’t.” She attempted to pull away from his touch.

  “Don’t be stupid, Adorra. You’re freezing.”

  She relented, because he was r
ight and because his warm hands felt good through the fabric covering her arms.

  “Wait here.” Mathar marched over to where her fur had dropped, picked it up, and brought it back over to her. He wrapped it around her shoulders once more.

  “It would be easier for me to keep it on my shoulders if you would simply untie my hands.” And so she could finally stretch out her shoulders, which were screaming at her in pain. The slow throb from earlier was now a spine-tingling pain that set the hairs on her head on end.

  He watched her in silence with those obsidian eyes, and she wondered what he might be thinking.

  Adorra tried a shot in the dark. “You truly don’t have to worry about me attempting an escape. You claim to have my sister and have proven with a couple of stories that you at least spoke with her. I wouldn’t just abandon my sister when she’s a captive of ice giants.”

  He frowned slightly as he sighed. “We haven’t harmed her.”

  “I have no proof of that.”

  “Perhaps you should learn to trust me.”

  “That might be a little hard.” She scoffed. “I’m still tied up like a goose, and you did kidnap me.” Adorra rotated her body, so her hands were between them. “Untieing my wrists might be the first step in me learning to trust you.”

  Mathar’s eyes narrowed in the dark that surrounded them, before he withdrew a long sharp knife out of a sheath on the side of his waist and held it up in the air, the metal glinting at her in the rising moonlight.

  Adorra’s eyes widened, as she backed up. “What are you doing with that?”

  He stormed towards her the knife still raised in the air and a fire burning bright in those dark eyes.

  She froze on the spot and squeezed her eyes shut.

  The fur was ripped off her shoulders, and then he grabbed one of her wrists, and she heard a short tearing sound. Her hands fell limp at her sides, and her eyes shot open as she looked down at her hands. They were free!

  “You released me?” Adorra glanced up at him, slightly confused that he would suddenly begin to trust her not to do something ‘stupid’.

  Mathar pointed the tip of the dagger in her face, and she went crosseyed. “You betray my trust, and there will be consequences. Your sister wants you brought back alive, and I will do that by any means necessary. If you do anything, not only will you be trussed up like a goose, but I’ll gag you and tie you to the rump of my horse.”

  Adorra brought her hands up in front of her and rubbed her wrists where the ropes had rubbed her skin raw.

  Mathar glanced down at her wrists, and for a second she saw something flash in his dark eyes. Something like regret that he’d caused her pain.

  He turned away from her without another word. He may regret causing her pain, but he wasn’t about to give her an apology like he should.

  Reaching down, she rushed to pull the fur back over her shoulders. The fur was cold from sitting out, but in no time it gathered the warmth from her body and buffered her from the cold air.

  Mathar set up the tent in record time, and she watched on, fascinated by what was happening. As a lady, she’d never slept in a tent before and had definitely never seen one set up. It looked easy, or at least Mathar made it seem that way.

  Once he finished, he came to stand beside her. “I assume you would enjoy a fire?”

  “Yes,” Adorra whispered reverently. “A fire sounds more than just delightful.” Her body trembled in delight at the very idea of a raging fire to warm her back up. Night was creeping up on them, and it was only getting colder.

  As Mathar bundled up some logs to create a fire, she continued to massage her wrists, wishing they felt a little better, but she was sure that by the morning they would feel much better and no longer be sore. At least, she didn’t have the rope still tied around them. Her arms tingled slightly as the blood rushed back into them.

  Once Mathar got some dry wood set up and got it lit, the fire quickly ate up the kindling, and then began to swallow the larger logs with greed.

  Adorra approached the fire like a moth to the flame. She was helpless to resist. She then sat down on the ground, her legs going out to the side, the skirts of her dress covering her legs. She kept the fur firmly wrapped around her, as the heat of the fire radiated out and chased away the cold night air.

  Mathar plopped down beside her with a huff.

  “Thank you.”

  “For?”

  “For starting a fire. I’m sure you must be used to the cold, as you’ve lived up here since you were born.” Adorra glanced over at him and watched the light of the fire flicker over his sharp facial features reflecting off his silver hair and the scuff on his face.

  “As I said before. Jasmine wanted you brought to her alive, and you aren’t built for this weather. I figured a fire would drive away the cold and prevent you from catching a chill and your death.”

  Adorra shrugged. “It’s still nice of you even if it is something you’ve been ordered to do.” Although she was positive the orders had come from someone else other than her sister. There was no way they’d taken her sister and then elevated her to a position of power. Mathar was taking orders from an ice giant. That much she was sure of because it was the only thing that made sense.

  Mathar snorted. “If you keep annoying me, I can always put the fire out.”

  She snapped her mouth shut with a click of her teeth. For some reason, he didn’t want to come off as sweet, and that was fine by her. If he wanted to pretend like he was nothing more than a gruff man who did nothing for anyone else, she’d let him believe that.

  “Is there anything to eat?” Adorra glanced over at the crackling fire, hoping he’d be kind enough to produce something to fill her stomach. Her stomach was trying to eat her and now that some of her immediate fear had calmed she was ready to eat something. Anything.

  Mathar untied a small pouch from his belt and handed it over to her.

  Taking the offered bag, her hand skimmed his, and a shot of warmth rushed through her. Quickly, she snatched the bag and pulled her hand far away from him. She opened the drawstrings of the bag to find dried meat. It wasn’t the best, but she wasn’t about to complain when her stomach was screaming at her to give it something.

  She popped a chunk into her mouth, and her mouth swam with saliva as it jumped for joy to have food finally given to it.

  Mathar didn’t like it when she called him kind. He was a warrior. He wasn’t a suitor vying for her attention. He still felt a little bitter towards Dryden for sending him to fetch Adorra in the first place. He didn’t think inviting humans to the ice giant castle was the wisest decision. They always brought trouble.

  Then again, what did it matter to him? Jasmine and Dryden were the ones who’d wanted to bring her up here, and when Adorra realized she couldn’t go back, he doubted she’d blame anyone other than the two people responsible.

  As she’d said, he was just the one following directions, not giving them.

  Mathar had let his emotions dictated his actions earlier. She’d been pleading to have her wrists untied, and he’d obliged, but he wondered if he would come to regret that decision.

  Leaning over, he intruded in her personal space hoping to disturb her. “You do anything,” he pointed a finger at her as he made direct eye contact, “I’ll show you just how terrifying giants can be. I might be doing this because I’m obeying orders, but it doesn’t mean this is how I’d been hoping to spend my time.”

  Adorra nodded, her eyes wide and quivery as she tried to read him. Good. He didn’t need her causing any trouble.

  “Anything.” He warned.

  She swallowed her bite and nodded her head. “I won’t do anything. Amazingly enough, you can trust me to behave.”

  He leaned away from her and studied her in the firelight. He’d enjoyed being closer to her while they’d ridden further into the mountains. Her soft feminine scent, like chamomile, had appealed to him, making him wish he could just wrap her up in his arms and burying his face into
her neck.

  Adorra was stunning as well. Jasmine was bookish, a woman who was beautiful in her own right, but Adorra was the bewitching one. Her hair was a bit mussed from all their traveling, her bun hanging loosely against the back of her neck, but she somehow still managed to look like the lady she was. She’d also been emotionally stronger then he would have ever guessed. Not once had she shed a tear or freaked out… except for that moment in the tent when she’d screamed her head off. But the surprise of seeing him with the effects of the berries would’ve made any human lose their mind for a few seconds. For the most part, she’d remained confident and sure of herself.

  “You are close to your family?” Mathar asked. He had no idea where the question had come from, but there it was.

  “To my sister, yes.”

  “And other family?”

  She turned her slender neck as her eyes studied him before she arched a brow at his questioning. He was just as confused as her. He wasn’t usually the talkative type, but it seemed better than sitting there in silence.

  “Our parents were taken from us at an early age.” Her eyes stared into the crackling flames as a deep sadness penetrated those hazel depths. “Every memory I have of them is fond though. My mother was a real beauty. The catch of the court. I remember that much.”

  Mathar could easily see that if her mother had birthed an absolute beauty like Adorra.

  “My father wasn’t too bad looking either.” A small smile tugged on one corner of her mouth. “He had many women and their mothers breathing down his neck, wishing he’d show their daughters some favor. When he met my mother though, no other woman could compare, or so the rumors go. They’d managed to find love unlike a lot of people. It was a true romance.”

  He nodded. “It sounds nice.” What he wouldn’t have done to have a childhood as good as hers. Hers sounded so peaceful, at least for a time, while his had been nothing but terror each and every day.

  “You sound… sad.” Adorra leaned over studying him with her hazel eyes, and he worried she might see too much.