by Lily Thomas
Mathar was close behind him, and Dryden saw a couple of his men race to the other side of the riverbank. Would they be able to save her?
Jasmine's mind went blank with the first shock of the cold water, freaking out, but then swiftly her brain kicked into action, desperate to live. She struggled against the current of the river. She hadn't thought it would end up being this strong, pulling and yanking her under again and again. The freezing water sapped her valuable energy, and she eventually resorted to using her strength just to keep her head above the raging river water.
She caught sight of a rider galloping beside the side of the river, trying to catch up to her and finally passing her on land.
Why was Keir so intent on getting her back? He should be happy she was going to die in this river.
It had been a stupid decision to fall into the river, one that she would never repeat if given a chance. Jasmine blamed the mix of the drug in her system and her fear. The thought was quick and fleeting, as she struggled to keep her head above the freezing water.
A rider suddenly appeared in front of her in the river, riding the largest horse Jasmine had ever seen, and she had seen many a warhorse. The river pulled her to the side with a strong current, and as the rider reached out to grasp at her, she was pulled just out of his grip.
Jasmine was uncertain whether or not she was happy about being pulled out of his reach or not, but she was unable to think about it for long because the river still had its clutches on her. This river had not been the ally she’d been hoping for.
She went sailing past a large boulder, missing it by only a few inches.
A second rider spurred his horse into the river farther down from her. His horse sailed through the air to land directly in the middle of the river, and she was headed straight for him.
Her head ducked under the freezing water, then resurfaced, and she got a good look at the man attached to the hand that had just snagged her by her slippery shoulder.
Her mouth hung open, as she stared into the dark black eyes of an ice giant. His silver hair blew around in the slight wind, and his black warhorse stood staring at her with deep black eyes as well.
She didn't think, she just reacted, biting into his gloved hand as hard as she could.
He let go, and before the river took her away, she saw the shock on his face.
Jasmine would rather face the freezing river than an ice giant. What had Keir done with her? Her life was getting too exciting, and she was afraid she wouldn’t live long enough to help her sister.
Mathar watched as the human rejected her rescuer, biting down on Dryden's hand. It was understandable.
What human female would want to be captured by a giant? Of course, the human would rather face the river. Unfortunately for her, Mathar had assumed she might get away from Dryden and had set himself a little farther down the river while they’d been busy.
Mathar had let the human female slip past him once before, but he was going to catch her this time. She was a wily one, but now they knew her tricks.
She saw him and tried to avoid him, but Mathar grabbed her by the hair and hauled her up onto the front of his saddle. Kicking and screaming, she tried to escape his grip. He grabbed both of her wrists with one large hand, forcing her to sit straight up in front of him on the saddle.
Taking the reins in his other hand, he guided his horse to the riverbank. There he tossed the human to Dryden, who was awaiting their return to land.
“It’s time to tie her up.”
Dryden glared at him but nodded. “I was already thinking the same.”
Dryden caught the human female and held her arms together. He then tied her wrists together with some rope he’d taken off the back of his saddle.
“Perhaps you could have handled her a little less roughly?” Dryden asked Mathar, raising an eyebrow and speaking in their language. He had no intention of starting a conversation with the human female… at the moment.
“I got her out of the river, did I not?” Mathar grumped back at Dryden. “Just thank me, and then let's get going again.”
“I do thank you. I only wish you would have done it more gently. You could have ripped her hair out.”
“I grabbed the closest thing to reach.” Mathar defended his actions. “Afraid you won’t like her without hair?” Mathar teased.
Grudgingly, Dryden had to admit Mathar had saved the human, even if he’d been rough about how he did it.
Mathar was a great friend and warrior, but he was a bit rough around the edges. His friend had lived a rough childhood with little to no family love and warmth, and it showed. Dryden just hoped Mathar would someday find a woman who would thaw that ice-cold heart of his.
The fiercely shivering naked female in his arms drew his attention away from thoughts of Mathar’s past. He wrapped her up in the warm furs, hiding her small naked body from view and the brisk air.
Not only was Jasmine shivering from the cold, but from terror as well. She faced forward on the ice giant's saddle. When the other one had grabbed her by her hair, she’d felt a brief second of pain.
She would’ve raised a hand to feel her scalp, but the ice giant had her hands held firmly behind her back.
He tied her wrists behind her back. There was no fight left in her. The river had taken any energy she had and sucked it all away. All she wanted was to have her body hidden from view, not that any of them seemed to be interested in the fact she was butt naked.
She had no idea what had happened between now and when she’d been inside the stable.
When the ice giant growled and grumbled at the other, her heart nearly stopped. At first, she was unable to control the shivering that overcame her, but then a strange sense of calm came over her as she realized there was nothing she could do. Her wrists were tied behind her back, and she had no more energy to fight with the giants, or with the raging river.
The only question that persisted in her mind was how she’d gone from Keir's hands to an ice giant's. Had she been traded? Her heart sped up. Keir might be a cruel man, but was he evil enough to give her to giants?
Something heavy landed on her shoulders and curved around her body.
She’d been so absorbed in her thoughts she hadn't noticed all the attention she was getting. Both of the giants were staring at her. She had a direct line of sight to the one that had lifted her from the water by her hair, and she felt the one behind her staring at her back.
The one in front of her was just like the stories she’d heard as a child. Jasmine had never seen a giant up close before.
He was taller than any man she had ever seen, with pure black eyes, long silver hair, swords strapped all over him, and an armored black horse. She gaped at the ice giant.
Keir had brought her into the mountains, but what did he get out of giving her to them? Why couldn’t he have just killed her? Realization dawned. What if they murdered Keir and took her?
Taking out their frustration on her would probably please them immensely. Silently, she choked on her closing throat. There was no way she would ever be able to return to her sister now.
She was either going to die or live a lifetime of captivity with the ice giants. At least she and her sister would be rejoined in the afterlife. Jasmine was slightly tempted to burst into crazed laughter. Her life couldn’t turn any more upside down.
Heavy hands came down over her shoulders, and goosebumps spread through her as all sorts of horrible images floated through her mind. She had just tried to escape, and they couldn’t be happy about it.
Then the strangest thing happened. The giant behind her rubbed up and down her arms like he was trying to warm her.
Was there no end to the shocks she would experience today?
He kept rubbing her arms while he grumbled something again at the giant in front of her.
The ice giant in front of her reached behind himself and drew out a few fur blankets, which he tossed to the giant sitting behind her.
The ice giant wrapped her i
n the soft furs. They warmed her, but not quite enough. She still shook with the cold. The river had sapped her body of energy.
Dryden wanted to stop and warm her more, but he needed to regroup with the patrol on the border. So now his only option was to get there quickly. He would try his best to keep her alive, but he was limited while he was on horseback.
“Mathar, I don't plan on stopping for long, but we need to warm her up in some way. I don’t believe she will make it to the camp otherwise.”
Mathar shook his head. “Then I suggest we boil some water for her. It will take the least amount of time, and it should warm her.” He looked down at the small human in Dryden's arms.
“Sounds like a good idea to me. Get it started. I want to be gone soon.”
“Then let us be quick.” Mathar jumped down from his horse, collected wood and soon had a small pot of water above a fire he’d made. Within minutes, he had steaming water, which he then poured into a cup and handed over to Dryden.
“Thank you again, my friend.”
“Let’s just hope we don’t miss our opportunity to see what the fire giants are up to.”
Taking a deep breath and hoping the human would be wise enough to trust him, Dryden held the cup up in front of her face. The steam rose up from the hot cup and into the cold mountain air, attracting her gaze.
“Be careful. She might smack the boiling water into your face.” Mathar warned.
“Do you never have anything positive to say?” Dryden asked, a little exasperated with his friend.
Mathar shrugged. “I feel like it is a valid concern. She just threw herself into the frigid water of the river. Who knows what she might be willing to do to you.”
“She’ll drink it. She’s too cold, and she’ll want to warm herself.” He hoped.
“Here. Drink this to warm yourself up.”
Jasmine jumped a little as he spoke in her language. She wouldn’t have expected them to speak in the human language. No one had taught her how intelligent or similar their people might be.
She peered down at the cup the ice giant offered her.
“Why?”
“Why what?” The ice giant asked, not understanding what she wanted to know from him.
“Why warm me up?” The question was, why did they want to keep her alive?
“I can always toss it into the snow if you don’t want to drink it.”
There was no option for her if she wanted to get back to her sister. She had to survive. Then she would seize her chance to leave these ice giants behind.
Her future didn’t look bright, at the moment, but she hoped that would change. So, she took the cup from him, making sure her hand didn’t brush against his gloved fingers. She was close enough to him already.
“Where is my dress?”
“We had to take it off of you, so your wet clothing wouldn’t chill you. Once you were dry and your clothes had dried, I was unable to figure out how to put it back on you.”
Jasmine just nodded. She wasn’t fond of the idea that these men saw her naked.
Slowly, she sipped the hot water. Her hands shook from all the shivers running through her body, but the hot water warmed her all the way to her toes, gliding down her throat and landing in her stomach. Jasmine huddled deeper into the furs, as the ice giants made their way back into the forest and left the river behind.
Though the hot water helped, she was still chilled to the bone. The cold air whipped against her face as the giant increased the pace of his horse.
Her ears started to burn with the cold. Turning her head to the side she tried to warm her ears against her shoulders, but with her shoulders being just as cold, she was unable to warm her ears any.
Something warm and black was draped over her head. Jasmine reached a hand up to grip the material. It was thick and had a warm musky male scent to it. Realizing it was the giant’s cloak, she was about to refuse, but the warmth coming from it changed her mind. Instead, she snuggled deeper into it, wrapping it around her body and head.
The gait of the horse lulled her to sleep. As her eyes closed shut, she leaned back against the armored chest behind her. Even when the ice giant snaked an arm around her waist, she didn't protest.
Jasmine knew she would fall off the horse in her sleep. His arm would be needed if she wanted to get any rest without crashing to the ground.
Dryden watched the back of her head as the human drank some of the hot water. He couldn't see her expressions because they were riding, but he could imagine her relief as the water warmed her.
She had given him quite the panic attack. It was a miracle the river hadn’t washed her away from them forever or dashed her against any boulders. He understood her wanting to escape, but the river had been a foolish idea.
As he increased the pace of the riding party, he noticed her shivering even more. She was also trying to warm up her ears, which had turned bright red with the cold.
A frown marred his face, as he tried to think of what he could do to help warm her even more. Then it dawned on him that the cloak he was wearing would be warmed by his body heat.
Without disturbing the human, he shed his cloak and then wrapped it around her. At first, there was no reaction from her. He wondered if she would refuse the offered cloak, but then she grabbed the edges of the black cloak and wrapped it around herself.
He noticed her swaying to the rhythm of his horse's gait, and he knew she was drifting off to sleep. She may have slept most of this journey, but there was a difference between a drug-induced sleep and sleeping to restore the mind and body.
Gently, Dryden wrapped a strong arm around her waist, increasing the pace of the riding party at the same time. He wanted to get to the campsite as soon as possible, so he could get her warmed up all the way.
Hopefully, she’d learned her lesson from the river and wouldn’t try anything else stupid.
One could only hope the dunk in the river had cleared her mind of any foolish escape attempts. Dryden could only save her life a certain amount of times before he threw his hands up in defeat. He turned his face towards the sky and the still-falling snow, praying to the gods she would be better behaved.
He had saved her life twice now. Maybe her people had gotten rid of her because she couldn’t stay out of trouble.
The human leaned against him as she drifted off into slumber. Her scent wafted up to his nose, and he sucked in a deep breath. A shiver ran through him as her scent entered his nostrils. They widened, as he took her scent deeper into his lungs. She smelled delightful, like a flower. It was tantalizing and delicious, and it made him want to breathe in more of her delectable scent.
Dryden bent towards her, as he inhaled deeper, his face almost resting against the human’s cloaked head.
“Don't suck her all up, or there won't be a human in your arms anymore,” Mathar jested, as he rode up beside Dryden.
Dryden leaned sharply away from the human and cast a glare in Mathar’s direction. “Shouldn't you mind your own business?”
“Can't mind my own business when you are so loudly making gasping noises over the human female, now can I.”
“I wasn't gasping, I was...”
Mathar interrupted by holding up one of his hands. “Please, spare me the details of what you were thinking.”
“Thinking?”
“It was written all over your face. I think our mighty king has decided he would like to try a human female in his bed.” Mathar laughed to himself, while Dryden just glared at his fellow warrior.
Sometimes Dryden wondered why he even put up with Mathar. Mathar got too much joy out of teasing Dryden. The two of them had been raised together, like brothers, and they more or less acted like they were genuinely related.
When Dryden didn't answer, Mathar gaped at him and asked, “You aren't considering it, are you?”
“I never said I was. Where do you come up with these outlandish ideas?”
“Well, your non-denial makes me think you might be considering it. Ho
w am I to know what is going on it that strange head of yours?” He paused briefly and then continued, “You were the one who decided to rescue the human, after all. Anyone else would have left her there to die in the valley.”
“Will you not let it rest? Although you are heartless, not even you could leave a female in these woods.”
“I would have left her where I had found her.” Mathar pointed at Dryden. “Unlike you, I would have realized taking her with us would end up being a huge issue.”
Dryden looked down at the cloaked figure before him. She could end up being a handful, but if he proved the ice giants had no intentions of harming her, then would she be such a handful?
Maybe she would be relieved to be with them. Someone in the human world wanted her dead. He was sure the rider they had seen was the one who’d left her in the snowy mountains.
Then again, he should wait and see how things went. A human female living among ice giants could be a recipe for disaster.
As the trip lengthened, the human, little by little, inched closer to him. She winded up with her backside pressed up against his armored chest, and her butt pushed right up against his crotch.
Dryden groaned as he wished there was a piece of armor guarding his crotch against the feel of her soft butt. The sway of the horse pressed her soft cheeks right into his now raging hard-on. There was just something about her he found irresistible, her small nose, those eyelashes that fanned out over her cheeks, and the spark of fire he glimpsed in her eyes when she fought the river and him.
Again, his head dipped low as he took in a deep breath, taking in her scent once more.
Jasmine awoke to find herself pressed up close against the ice giant behind her. Then the sound of him sniffing startled her, but she dismissed it.
He could just have a sniffle after all, but then his member became rigid behind her, and she felt something prod her below her buttocks. Jasmine stiffened, as she realized the hardness she felt was his rising excitement. She wasn’t too experienced when it came to men, but she knew enough to know what it was.
