Loving His Fire

by Lily Thomas

  She knew the prince would have a hard time making it out of this alive. Yet, she was having a hard time caring what happened to him. He was an unsavory man who didn't deserve any sort of mercy. He had just tried to force himself on her.

  As she slowly made her way towards Stryme, she asked. “Will it fall back on you?” She wasn't asking to spare the prince's life. She just didn't want his death to bring war to the fire giants. If the humans found out, she was sure they would want to avenge their prince.

  “What are you talking about? Why are you going to him?” The prince unsheathed his sword, getting ready for a battle he had absolutely no hope of winning.

  Stryme smiled wickedly. He was clearly going to take pleasure at dispatching the prince.

  “Whore!” The prince yelled.

  Elizabeth turned to glare at the prince. If Stryme was willing to risk a war, then fine. At this point, she felt like the world could do without the prince. Then the women of his kingdom wouldn’t have to worry about him lurking in the corridors at night.

  A spark flickered in Stryme's eyes, when the prince called her another foul name. A chilling growl escaped from his throat, and he was past hearing what she had to say.

  She saw the moment the prince realized he might actually be in over his head.

  “Please.” Elizabeth pleaded again. She didn’t want there to be repercussions for the fire giant people. She had come to enjoy the fire giant people, even if there was the occasional lemon, like Lele.

  Finally, Stryme looked down at her. “You know I have to. He will tell them who took you. This way, there might be a chance no humans will know what happened.”

  The prince stared in shock, as Stryme and Elizabeth talked together.

  “Stryme, you have to be careful. There are guards here with us in the forest.”

  “They’ve already been dealt with.”

  “Then it’s up to me to kill you!” The prince leapt forward in an idiotic spike of courage, his sword aimed to slice at one of Stryme's legs.

  Stryme pulled back on the reins, causing his horse to rear, and Elizabeth sidestepped away quickly. She knew better than to be near their small battle.

  The prince strode forward again, but this time he aimed for Stryme's horse. His sword flicked out, and the horse let out a nicker, as it was slashed on one of its forelegs. Though not wounded badly the horse reared, dislodging Stryme from it's back.

  Jumping to his feet Stryme saw a flicker of metal as the prince attacked again. Thankfully, he was able to put his sword up in time to block the prince's.

  Now Stryme had the advantage. He wasn't on a horse, and he had strength the prince would have no hope of matching. He also had years of in battle experience pulsing through his veins. Battle was drilled into fire giant warriors, until it was instinct.

  With just a couple of quick strokes of his sword, Stryme disarmed the prince. With one final lunge, he sank his sword deep into the stomach of the prince. There was satisfaction shining bright in his eyes, as Stryme watched the man gurgle up blood with his last dying breathes.

  He heard Elizabeth take in a sharp breath and turned to find her looking away from the gruesome scene. The dying man dropped to his knees, then face planted into the dirt.

  Stryme walked over to Elizabeth and with uncertain hands wrapped her in his arms.

  “Don't get me wrong, he deserved to die, but was it the right thing to do?”

  “He would have told the humans living within the castle what happened. Now my men will get rid of all their bodies and the evidence will be gone.”

  “They will have disappeared with no trace.” Epsilon filled in.

  “Hopefully, we won't have any trouble with the humans.” Stryme turned her to face him, as he tilted her head up to look into her eyes. “Trust me on these matters. I wouldn’t have killed them, if I hadn’t thought it necessary.”

  With a deep breath, Elizabeth tried to calm her nerves. She wasn’t sure how long it might take to get that horrible image out of her mind. She never wanted to see another person die again. Yet she feared there would be a long war to come for this entire land.

  “Now what should we do?” She stared up at him.

  Her heart gave a flutter, as she realized she would have always longed to be with him. He was the kind of man who would fill most people with dread. With his crimson eyes, onyx hair, and the many swords he wore all over his body, he was a true nightmare. But she would always see him as someone who would do anything to protect her.

  He was her gentle giant.

  “Now we take you back to where you belong. By my side.”

  She held no objection.

  Chapter 19

  Stryme stared down at the top of Elizabeth's head. He was holding her in his arms, as they were lying down in front of the hearth. They had just finished making love yet again. It was as though they would never be able to have enough of each other.

  His rough hand circled her softly bulging stomach. Who would have been able to guess a human and a giant would be able to produce offspring?

  He was hopeful the birthing process would go without any hiccups, but no one knew what was going to happen. As far as he or anyone else knew a joining like this had never happened.

  He let himself relax, as he felt her stir next to him.

  “Are you awake, my sweet?” He whispered lightly in her ear.

  She stretched her arms, as she rolled over. “Yes, I am.”

  “How are you doing?”

  “Well...” Her gaze wavered from his, and he was able to see the worry creeping into her soft brown eyes.

  “What is it that’s bothering you?” His hand came up to caress her face.

  She heaved a heavy sigh. “I’m afraid this might be out of your realm of assistance.”

  “Tell me, and then we will know for sure.”

  “It’s been a couple months, since you rescued me, and I’m wondering how the war is going for my people.”

  Stryme was silent for a few moments, as he tried to think about what to say to put her mind at ease. He frowned, until his eyes lighted up with success. “You have a brother.” A brother he had decided to forgive for the sake of love, and he didn’t regret it one bit.

  “Yes.” She cocked her head to the side, clearly wondering where he would go with this.

  “Surely, your brother can unite the kingdoms, if the war goes poorly. He sounds like he can handle himself, and there have to be eligible young women in the other kingdom, and if they break their promise he will be better able to handle it. With no direct heir for Sardarn they might want a strapping young prince like your brother.”

  She tapped a fingertip against her chin. “Unless he’s still fighting on the front lines.”

  “With you gone, he won’t be on the front lines. He’s the next and only heir there is nothing to worry about. None of my scouts have seen a prince fighting against the rock giants. Let us see how it goes, before you worry yourself to pieces. Your people seem to be holding their lines.”

  She smiled. “I suppose that’s true.” She stared into his eyes. “Thank you for giving up your revenge. I wish my brothers hadn’t treated you so cruelly in the first place.”

  Stryme smiled. “You can thank Keylz and Kiyla. They were the ones to remind me the past is the past.”

  She gave a small laugh. “Of course they meddled in our affairs.”

  He leaned down and kissed her nose. “Now let me get you nice and relaxed.” Within a blink of an eye, he was on top of her. He held her wrists above her head, as he rubbed his erection against one of her pale thighs.

  “Oh, yes.” She panted.

  They pushed any thoughts of the war from their minds. For now, they would take pleasure in each other’s company.

 

 

 
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