by Lily Thomas
She nibbled the inside of her lip until she tasted blood.
Time was ticking away and still no opportunities to escape had presented themselves. She was beginning to wonder when she would get her chance, although she did fear what the gossipers would say about her.
When she returned to her people, she’d be disgraced, and she’d be unable to make a good marriage match. She was doomed to be an old maid or marrying an unfavorable man.
No one would believe that the brutish giants hadn’t taken liberties with her.
Either way, it wouldn’t be much of a life to go back to. Damn this giant. He had no idea how much he was ruining her life.
Chapter 6
Roxanne blinked her blurry eyes, as Daerrin shook her shoulder gently.
“My business took a bit longer than I intended, and because of that we will be spending the night here.” He informed her as he straightened back up.
Roxanne sat up on the bed of furs and pulled the already high skirt of her fur dress back down her thighs. How much had he seen? What she wouldn’t give to get her hands on some human clothing, something that covered her from her neck down to her toes.
He strode over to the other side of the tent where he started to strip off his armor.
“We are staying here?”
“I think your hearing may not be the best.” He tossed over his shoulder.
Roxanne’s eyes narrowed into slits. “Your insults are starting to irritate. You obviously don’t think much of the human race, but you needn’t keep reminding me of that.”
Daerrin risked a glance over his shoulder and let out a bark of laughter at the scowl on her face, before returning to the task of shedding his armor.
“My hearing is fine, thank you.” Roxanne huffed.
He shrugged, but she wasn’t sure if it had been at her since he was currently taking off his chest armor.
Roxanne watched on in silence. It appeared as though he was just taking the armor off, which she had no problem with, but if he started shedding his clothing, she would protest. And loudly. She didn’t need to be in a tent with a naked or half naked fire giant.
All of a sudden her stomach gave a mighty growl. Either it wasn’t loud enough for Daerrin to hear or he'd been polite enough not to point out she sounded like her stomach harbored a monster.
She couldn’t remember the last time she had something to eat. With all the excitement she hadn’t time to think about food.
“Since we’re staying here for the night, are we having anything to eat?” She gritted her teeth. She didn’t want to ask him to take care of her, but neither did she want to starve because of her stubbornness.
He looked over his shoulder. “We will be eating with some other fire giants around one of the campfires soon enough.”
“Could I not eat in here?”
“I won’t bring you anything. Either you eat out there with us, or you won’t eat.”
Roxanne huffed, but she stood up from the bed of furs. She was too hungry to make a protest. She’d just have to be fine with being watched while she ate around so many fire giants.
As she watched Daerrin take off the last bit of his armor, she was finally able to get a real glance at him. He was just as huge as she thought he would be under all that armor.
A little flush filled her cheeks, and warmth gathered between her thighs.
It was hard not to forget herself when there was such a muscled man stripping in front of her. She wasn’t as young and sweet as her father thought. She’d already experienced a man’s bed, several times and she had an eye for spotting a man who’d be able to please her.
A man like Daerrin would be able to take her in all sorts of locations with no problem, but he wasn’t human, so she would never give him the chance to touch her. She couldn’t stop her body from appreciating his size, but she could keep distance between them. Her head wasn’t as dimwitted as her body appeared to be.
“Are you done yet?” Roxanne folded her arms across her chest, as she arched a brow in his direction.
“Impatient much?”
“I haven’t had anything to eat since this morning.” Her stomach uttered a small growl in confirmation.
Daerrin turned and walked over to her. His hand came up and caressed the side of her face.
Roxanne inhaled sharply as his touch sizzled over her soft skin. She didn’t know if she should move or stay still. After thinking about him naked, she was confused on what to do. She met his eyes, and for the first time, his eyes were less scary, instead of blood red with hate they were lit with a deep burning desire.
She felt the area between her legs moisten.
Seeming to realize what he’d just done, he shook his head and ran a hand through his black hair as he took a step back. “Forgive me.”
She just nodded. What had just happened? Now that he put some distance between them she wondered why she hadn’t just slapped him for touching her in such an intimate way. She should have, but she hadn’t.
“You promised me food.” Roxanne tried to get them back on track for the previous topic ignoring how hot and bothered her body felt.
“Yes, I have. Follow me.”
As he left the tent, Roxanne followed right on his heels. She didn’t want to be left behind in a camp full of fire giants, and she wanted to get to that campfire as quickly as possible since her stomach was now trying to eat her alive.
If she lost Daerrin, she would be frightened for her safety. He was the only fire giant she somewhat trusted with her life, which wasn’t saying much. He was still an untrustworthy vicious fire giant who’d put his revenge filled eyes on the sight of an innocent woman.
Sticking to his side, she followed through the maze of tents, warriors, and horses.
Every once in a while, fire giants would pause in their work to look up and watch her pass by. Again she only felt as though they were only curious about her, but she didn’t enjoy the attention.
Her skin crawled as memories of the fire giant who accosted her floated to the forefront of her mind. She wasn’t accustomed to being manhandled.
There were only a few glances cast her way that she felt might have a touch of malicious intent in them.
When they reached the campfire, she let out a breath she’d been holding during their brisk walk in the hair-raising camp.
The warmth radiating off of the campfire was delightful though. While she’d slept in the tent, the sun had set under the tree line, and now the campfire was a beacon to her empty stomach and her chilled skin.
The fur dress Daerrin had given her was warm where it covered, but that was the problem. There were parts of her that weren’t covered.
Daerrin took a seat on a log already in place by the fire and Roxanne followed his lead by sitting on the other side of the same log.
Now she had the opportunity to focus in on the fire giants around the campfire and observe their interactions. She watched as they roasted what appeared to be some birds over the campfire.
“I never would’ve thought of fire giants as cooks. I expected to be given some salty dried meat to munch on.”
“I can get some for you if you so desire.” Daerrin tossed over at her.
“Don’t get me wrong. Fresh meat will be welcome. It was only unexpected.”
Her eyes followed every drop of fat, and her ears basked in the sound of the fat sizzling when it fell onto the hot coals below.
The saliva built in her mouth, as she zeroed in on those roasting birds.
“Staring harder won’t make them cook any faster.”
A frown overcame her face.
“I’m hungry. Can you blame me if the sole focus of my attention are the birds?” She didn’t want to seem desperate for food, in case Daerrin decided to withhold it from her. Who knew how far his revenge might go. He could get some sick pleasure out of starving her if she wasn’t careful.
“If you keep frowning, you will mar your face. Then again you probably couldn’t do much more to make you loo
k any worse.” Daerrin assessed her from where he sat.
“Excuse me?” Roxanne’s head turned sharply as she looked over at him. “I find it hard to believe you just said that. You truly have no manners whatsoever.”
But Daerrin gave her no answer as he turned his back to continue with some other tasks. Roxanne folded her arms in front of her chest. This fire giant was going to drive her insane.
Insulting her looks. She huffed. There was nothing wrong with her looks, and he wasn’t about to make her start doubting it. Many men had offered her their hand in marriage, and if she made it out of this, she hoped many more still would.
Roxanne had her looks. Her fiery hair and jade eyes always turned heads when she walked into a room.
She was tempted to make Daerrin eat his words. If she tried, she had no doubt she could get him between the sheets. But she wasn’t sure that was such a fantastic idea. She feared what might happen. Her body had responded so eagerly to just one simple touch.
Daerrin tried to keep himself occupied while the birds cooked over the flames rather than the pretty little human captive. He’d forgotten himself earlier, but he wouldn’t do that again.
“Glad you found some men willing to go hunting. Gave me something more to do than just hand out biscuits and dried meat.” Byeg commented as he glanced over at the roasting birds.
“I’m sure you won’t be the only one to enjoy a meal of fresh meat.” Daerrin knew his captive would enjoy them. Her stomach growled like a hungry mountain cat.
Thoughts of Roxanne had him glancing over at her. There were so many questions he had, and she was the only one who could answer them for him.
“I find myself troubled by your presence at the border.” Daerrin faced her way, turning his back to Byeg, but his cook had a dinner to keep his eye on.
Roxanne turned to him and just raised an eyebrow in his direction.
“Surely your father knew it would be dangerous for him to have you at the border.” He wondered why he couldn’t stop talking with her. Why he couldn’t stop baiting her. “It seems selfish of him to risk your life when the threat of war was knocking at your gates.”
“You have no idea of what you speak.” Roxanne hissed, her jade eyes flashing, as she jumped to defend her father.
“Then why were you there?” Daerrin pressed. He honestly was confused. “You might defend your father, but that doesn’t make it any less foolish for you to be at the border.”
“I was there because I couldn’t bear to be without my father, not because he forced me to be by his side.”
Daerrin watched as she nibbled her lip. There was something else she wanted to say, and he didn’t want to speak and spook her from saying what she had on her mind.
“My mother was killed in childbirth.” She admitted. “I was never able to meet her, so my father is the only close relation I have. I want to spend every moment I can with him.”
In case she lost him during this war. He could see the truth in her eyes. She might act confident, but she knew life was unpredictable.
Daerrin nodded, but he could see her glare at him. She probably thought he couldn’t feel any pity for her, but he did. “I know what it is like to lose family.” He’d lost his entire family on one horrible day that kept plaguing him every waking and sleeping hour.
“I answered a question. Will you now answer one of mine?”
“If it is within my ability. I won’t make any promises since it depends on what you wish to know.”
“How do you know our language? I know of no humans that can speak yours.”
Daerrin smothered a smile that pulled at his lips. “Humans can't speak in growls. I know of one human female that has tried, but even after living with us, she still has trouble with it. And that’s putting it lightly.”
“A human woman?” Roxanne’s jade eyes lit up at this new tidbit of information.
“Now, now, Roxanne.” He waved a finger in the air. “One question at a time.”
She huffed at him, blowing a stray strand of hair away from her face. “So then? What is the answer to my question?”
“Most fire giants know how to speak your language. It is taught from a young age. You can’t understand your devious neighbor if you don’t speak their tongue.”
Roxanne didn’t know what to say to that statement.
“I believe you when you say that no human could learn your language. After hearing all of you growl and grunt at each other, I definitely couldn’t see anyone being successful.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know why anyone would even bother trying.”
Daerrin chuckled. “You’re proving my point about humans.”
“I could imagine,” Roxanne continued after glaring at him, “that any person who tried would only end up sounding like a beast in heat.” Roxanne couldn’t imagine making a spectacle of herself like that.
“You know a lot about sounding like a beast in heat?” Daerrin laughed.
She frowned but ignored him. He was only trying to bait her into a reaction. “Eventually, this war will come to an end, and the human side will be victorious. So there’s no point in learning your language.”
The smile slipped from his face as he glared at her. “Don’t be so quick to assume the human side will win.”
“We will see, won’t we?”
Roxanne opened her mouth to inquire about the human woman he’d spoken of, but promptly forgot, when he started to take the birds off the spit with the help of another fire giant.
Her eyes locked onto the birds, but she kept her mouth shut. She didn’t want to appear too eager and have Daerrin withhold it from her.
The bird was divided up swiftly, and Daerrin’s portion was put on a slab of thick bark.
Roxanne’s lip curled. “You use bark as a plate?” Then again what would she expect from a camp full of fire giant warriors? “My father’s men carry around enough supplies so that each soldier would at least have some sort of dish to eat off of.”
“And you wonder why the humans are having difficulty fighting this war. They're burdened down with their refinements.” Daerrin ripped off a leg and handed it over to Roxanne.
“This will be the best that we can offer until we reach the castle. I would take what is being offered and be thankful.” Daerrin growled. “Or I will take it back and eat it for you. Maybe then you’ll be more receptive when you’re offered a meal.”
He was right of course. She should take what was offered to keep up her strength. She couldn’t be a lady out here and expect to survive. It was time to hunker down and make her father proud.
Roxanne frowned at it, but she reached her hand out slowly to take the hot bird leg from Daerrin. Their fingers brushed only for a second, but a thrill shot through her, like a connection searing straight through her veins.
Pulling back, she scooted away from him on the log to put a little space between them. She had no idea what to make of their brief contact, but she was going to act like she hadn’t noticed it.
As the leg passed in front of her face, the delicious smell rushed past her nose causing her stomach to growl in eagerness.
Looking over, she found Daerrin digging into the bird, without a shred of shyness, and she let out a relieved sigh. It appeared as though he hadn’t noticed the shock of their fingers meeting.
Juices from the meat ran down his hands and arms, but he didn’t seem to pay it much attention. He ate with gusto. She’d give him that.
Turning back to her bird leg she brought it to her lips and nibbled on it delicately. It was delicious, but she credited that to her hungriness, not the skill of the fire giant that had cooked them.
Nibbling on the leg was taking too long for her eager stomach which twisted in anger inside her abdomen, but she also didn’t want to have the juices of the leg running all over her face. If the fire giants were using bark as plates, who knew what they would use as a napkin.
“Just dig in already.” Daerrin’s irritated voice snapped. “No one here will ev
er be interested in you, whether you have juice all over your face or not. You are only a human female.”
Roxanne just glared at him while he ate some more of the bird. He was no gentleman that was for sure. “How dare you imply that I’m unattractive, for I’ve many men who pursued me. And the fire giant who grabbed me roughly appeared to think I might be worth something.” She shot back.
Daerrin’s crimson eyes flashed, but he didn’t say anything in response. She’d count that as a win on her side.
But she did finally dig into the bird leg. Her hunger wouldn’t be ignored any longer, whether or not giants were watching her.
By the time she finished her bird leg, her face was covered in grease, but she didn’t mind a bit. She was just happy to be filled to the brim. She would never admit it, but she was glad she dug right in like Daerrin suggested.
It’d been slightly fun to use her fingers, and she may have licked the bone a couple of times. What could she say? She’d gotten into the spirit of having a meal in front of a campfire.
“Full?”
“Yes, thank you.”
He turned back to the campfire and stretched his long legs out towards it.
Her eyes drifted over him, envious of his relaxed frame. She felt like she would burst any moment from all of the emotions boiling within her. So much had happened in such a short time frame, and she wasn’t sure what to make of it all. There’d been no time to process.
Her life had been so orderly and the plan always laid out before her. Now though, everything was up in the air. The chance for a good marriage might be over, which meant she might have a difficult life ahead of her. She’d be judged at every turn, and Roxanne was sure the harsh rumor mill at court would have a field day.
Roxanne pushed it from her mind. She had to focus on one situation at a time. Right now she had to deal with Daerrin, and then she could deal with the rumor mills.
This was her chance to get a thorough look at him. Other than his crimson eyes and immense height, he looked like any other man. If he’d been a human, she would have been all over him, as would many a woman.
