by Lily Thomas
Panic infused her as she heard him yet again sniff near her, and this time it was closer, right next to her ear.
Her back stiffened, and she leaned away from him, scooting her butt away from him, and making sure only his arm touched her.
As a few more hours passed, she once again grew tired. The lack of eating and the loss of a real night's restful sleep weighed heavily on her. Eventually, she ended up falling back against the chest of the giant behind her, because she had no other choice.
Dryden was thrilled when the human leaned back against him again. He wished he could feel her little body molded to his. He cursed the armor that sat between them. He even cursed the clothing and fur blankets between them.
When the wind shifted and blew her scent once more towards him, he was unable to keep himself from leaning towards her and taking her scent once more into his lungs. It was magical to him, a flowery scent, like jasmines. He had only once smelled those flowers in his life when he’d ventured down to the human's territory in his youth.
It was a beautiful flower, full of life and spirit, and warmth.
As he leaned in again to get another sniff of the magical flower before him, the human suddenly shot up to a rigid sitting position, knocking the back of her head against his chin with force.
He let out a curse as he rubbed his jaw, but he was more worried about her head.
Since she didn’t cry out, he waited to see her reaction.
She rubbed her head with one of her hands under the cloak. He had been caught enjoying her sweet scent, but she had at least knocked him out of his trance. She was weaving a spell around him, and it proved to him he had been too long without female companionship.
Goosebumps raced over her skin as the ice giant sniffed her again. Jasmine had to wonder what was wrong with him. Did she smell that bad, or was it that she smelled that good?
Either way, she didn't appreciate his attention.
She shot away from him, and in the process, she ended up knocking her head hard against his chin.
A throbbing pain coursed through her skull, and she reached up to rub the sore spot.
Damn him, she thought to herself.
Nothing seemed to be going right in her life. Jasmine knew it was horrible to wish this, but she wondered why she couldn't have gone through life without knowing what Lord Gothar and Keir planned. Jasmine sighed. But then her sister would have no hope of a rescue. Jasmine wasn’t nursing any true beliefs she would get back to Adorra in time to warn her, but a small chance was better than no chance at all.
Jasmine’s jaw clenched as a terrible thought occurred to here: What if Adorra didn’t even believe Jasmine? Adorra was enamored with Lord Gothar. Explaining he had Jasmine taken into the mountains so that he could kill Adorra would seem extreme and implausible. Adorra thought he was at heart a good man, just a little misunderstood because of his court upbringing.
Jasmine knew Adorra would demand hard proof of Lord Gothar’s deception. She could only hope her disappearance would be enough because she had nothing but what she heard as proof.
And she still had to wonder why Keir gave her to the ice giants. Was he a traitor to their people? Maybe he and Lord Gothar were in cahoots with the giants.
An old thought wormed its way back into her mind. It was possible the giants had stumbled across Keir while he carried her into the mountains, and the giants had killed Keir and taken her. But why take her?
Jasmine wasn’t sure what had happened, and all she could do was guess.
Perhaps the ice giants had some sort of honor code when it came to women. Then again, would that honor code extend to a human woman? One could only hope.
The giant slowed his horse and then brought it to a sudden stop.
Jasmine pulled the black cloak tight around her face as she looked around at all the giants who had also stopped their horses around them. She turned to look back at the ice giant behind her. His hand was up, telling his men, in silence, to stop and hold their position.
“What are we stopping for?”
“Shh,” he hushed her.
She faced forward again and looked at the forest around them. All she could see were trees, snow, and even more snow that was slowly falling on top of all of them. Then again, these men had grown up in the forest. Perhaps there was some unseen danger they knew about that she wouldn't know.
As if sensing her thoughts, the ice giant behind her barked an order to his men. All of a sudden, the horses were arranged in a tight circle, leaving no backs unguarded.
Minutes passed. She wondered if these giants were possibly crazed. There seemed to be nothing out there. She sighed. How long were the ice giants going to stay like this? They seemed to be frozen in place as they waited. Only the horses moved, snorting and stomping their forelegs.
A branch cracked in the distance and grabbed her notice. She stared with rapt attention at the forest around them. After the branch snapped, there was only silence.
The snow drifted in lazy circles before landing on everything underneath it. Jasmine felt the giant behind her move his hand from the reins to one of the swords at his waist. His other arm tightened around her waist, pulling her even closer to his body.
What could be coming out of those trees that intimidated a whole troop of ice giants?
Then her answer came on four legs, and another followed right after it.
Mountain cats.
Jasmine heard stories from men who claimed to have ventured into the mountains, but she had never thought they were true. The men had mentioned the mountain cats were as large as a human's horse but smaller than a giant's horse. She had trouble believing something could be so large, until now.
They stopped at the edge of the tree line, glancing at the group of giants. She saw the indecision in their yellow eyes. This land had to be challenging to live in with the constant snow and scarce prey. The mountain cats eyed the group, figuring out if any of the giants would make an easy meal.
The mountain cats looked like they were about to leave them alone and walk away, but then the second mountain cat took a step forward.
Her jaw dropped open.
The giant behind her drew his sword, the metal hissing against the scabbard. She scooted closer to the giant behind her. She may have been raised to fear the giants who took misbehaving children, but at the moment the more significant threat was staring them down from four legs.
Jasmine would rather face the giants, who could think through their actions, than two hungry mountain cats who were just acting on instincts.
Chapter 5
Dryden watched the mountain cats’ every move. He read the hunger in their gazes. They were searching for food, but they realized the ice giants outnumbered them.
The second mountain cat prowled around to stand beside the other. Their triangular ears had little tufts of grey fur sticking up at the ends, but that was where the cuteness ended. They had two sharp curved canines sticking out from under their lips, and there were long sharp claws on their huge paws. Their tails twitched in the cold air, swatting the snowflakes away. They were muscular and built to take on much larger prey.
Dryden signaled his men to form a circle with their horses. He didn't want the mountain cats thinking they’d found an opportunity for food.
It wouldn’t be the first time a mountain cat had attacked an ice giant.
The cats spread out to circle the giants. Dryden pulled his sword from his scabbard and hugged the human female closer. He knew it was probable they would try to take one of his warriors down. The likelihood of the mountain cats surviving after they attacked the ice giants would be slim. He didn't want to kill one of these majestic animals, but no one here was going down without a fight.
Thankfully, after doing a full circle, the mountain cats decided the risk was too high. They melted back into the forest, with one look back at the ice giants before they both disappeared into the forest. Their grey pelts made them blend in within seconds, and the snow covered their trac
ks shortly after, making it hard to believe they had ever been there at all.
Jasmine couldn't believe she had just seen two mountain cats. If she lived and made it back to the manor, she would have quite the story to tell. That is if anyone believed her.
Lord Gothar was bound to deny any involvement in her sudden disappearance. He had to have a plan to distract Adorra because Jasmine couldn’t see her sister ignoring the fact she had gone missing. They were close, and they loved each other deeply. They were all they had left of their small family, after all.
Jasmine stayed plastered to the ice giant behind her since the giants remained in a tight circle. The danger of the cats might not have passed, and Jasmine didn’t want to get in the way. Turning to look back at the giant behind her, Jasmine saw him watching the forest intently, his black eyes seeking any more movement from within the trees.
Then his eyes looked down and met her hazel ones.
There was something so magnetic about his onyx eyes. When their eyes met, she felt like his pierced her. Flickers of attraction sparked across those dark depths.
No men had ever been interested in her before. How could anyone notice her when her face was obscured by a book every day? Jasmine would admit the ice giant holding her was quite the specimen. He might not be human, but his face was nicely chiseled with a little scruff on his cheeks. She saw intelligence flowing behind those dark eyes of his.
It was a shame he wasn’t human, for he would have many a woman following after him, maybe even herself, assuming he passed by when she wasn’t engrossed in a good novel.
Jasmine imagined him leaning down and capturing her mouth with his own, lips demanding her surrender. His hand finding its way through the furs layered on her until it encountered one of her breasts, giving it a light squeeze.
Shocking herself with her scandalous thoughts, she faced forwards on the horse and scooted away from the ice giant. She didn’t need to get distracted. She would return to save her sister from Lord Gothar.
All this excitement was tiring her out. Even though the giant had tried his best to warm her, she was still freezing.
The furs had soaked up the water from her skin, but she wasn’t about to strip off the pelts with all the giants around. She felt uncertain about asking for dry furs. Jasmine didn’t want to switch blankets with so many giants around since she was naked. Perhaps they would find her as unappealing as she found them, but then she remembered the glint in his eyes.
What she wouldn’t give to be home with her sister, helping Adorra get over the betrayal of her monster of a fiancé.
Trying to distract herself, Jasmine blurted, “I never expected the mountain cats to be so enormous.”
“If humans lived with creatures rather than take land from them and hunt them, then you may have seen them before today. Mountain cats used to roam the plains you now call home.”
Dryden found the need to hear her sweet little voice again. Every time she spoke, it washed over him. There was something musical about her voice that made him want her to talk for the whole day as he just sat and listened.
He hadn't expected such a fantastic voice to come from a human. Then again, with the way she had affected him so far, why had he not expected her voice to do the same? He’d seen a tantalizing bit of her naked flesh, and he enjoyed what he glimpsed.
And getting her angry might force her to speak with that lovely voice of hers as she defended her people. At least, he hoped it would.
“Not all of us have the chance, or the ability, to do anything about what happens with our lands. Decisions are made by men, and men in power are usually corrupt,” Jasmine informed him.
“I’m sure you can speak up.” The ice giant’s reply sparked a fire inside her.
Jasmine shifted in her seat to look back at him. “Thank you very much, but I am a woman in a man’s world. I don't know how things work in your society, but in the human world, women have no place in speaking their minds. The men rule absolutely and with force.”
She watched as some humor glinted back at her from his dark eyes. He was amused by what she was telling him!
Then something dawned on her. Of course, he would know her language. If he were in league with Keir, it would make complete sense that he would be able to communicate with humans.
She glowered at him, but he didn't seem to mind.
“Perhaps you should try not to kidnap human women,” she spit out.
At first, she thought he might not answer her, but then he growled low and deep at her. She could see the displeasure written clearly on his face.
Her skin formed goosebumps, and Jasmine realized she might have possibly pushed him too far. She had no idea what might set off the ice giants around her. Jasmine decided then and there to watch what she said. If she wished to save her sister, she had to remain alive.
The ice giant reached out a hand and gripped her arm hard as he told her, “I am not in the business of kidnapping anyone. We found you in the mountains freezing to death in the snow. Plain and simple.”
“What do you mean, you found me?” Jasmine asked. Instead of responding, the giant raised his gaze to the woods they were traveling through.
She wasn’t done yet. “What do you mean that you found me? Where was I? Was there no human man nearby?” Had Keir really dropped her off in the mountains to die in the cold?
He stayed silent.
Grumbling to herself, she faced forwards once more. Jasmine would get her answers at some point. It wasn’t like she was done asking questions.
Maybe Keir had dropped her off somewhere pre-arranged, and then the giants had picked her up. She wouldn't put it past Keir and Lord Gothar to do something like that, but to work with the ice giants? Was there no end to what Keir and Lord Gothar would do in their despicable little lives?
Jasmine wondered if the two of them thought she was dead right now. If they did, it would most definitely give her an advantage. They wouldn't expect her to send word to her sister about what Lord Gothar planned. She just had to get word there before it was too late. Hopefully, it wasn't already too late for her sister.
Jasmine had no idea how long she had been unconscious. Days could have passed, maybe even longer. Unease consumed her as she thought of her dear sister.
Straightening her back, Jasmine resolved to be courageous in front of her captors. Showing fear would just give them the upper hand.
Dryden watched as his human straightened her back. Gutsy little thing. Even grown giants were scared of him when they piqued his anger, but here she was demanding answers from him. She had quite the backbone. Good quality, if she was about to spend the rest of her life with ice giants.
Looking to his side, he noticed Mathar raising an eyebrow. It was becoming an annoying habit.
“Find something intriguing?” Dryden asked, speaking in their language so the human wouldn’t understand them.
Mathar shrugged his bulky shoulders. “She seems to think the worst of you, of us,” he amended.
The human thought he had kidnapped her when he had actually saved her life twice. There might even be a possible third saving… those mountain cats would have loved to attack and make a meal out of her. She should just thank him and be done with it, instead of accusing him of an abduction.
“She can think what she wants. She was raised with those thoughts of hatred. We can't convince her in a day the stories she heard are wrong. It is a belief they are fed every day of their life, like mother’s milk. Probably the same stories we are fed about humans.” Dryden explained.
Both sides were to blame for the hate. He just wished there was a way for them to live alongside each other without such problems.
“The giants as the evil ones. I find that ironic since they are the ones who force anything and everything foreign out of their way.” Mathar shook his head and cast Dryden a pitying glance. “If you plan on keeping her alive, then you will need to change the way she thinks about us. And quickly, or she could make enemies of our people.�
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“You’re right. We will have to see how hard it is to change her mind about us.”
Dryden turned his attention back to the lovely human sitting before him. “I saved you twice, and you had best remember that before you make enemies in a land that is foreign to you.”
She turned around so fast. He didn't even have time to blink. The vexation was visible on her face as she stated, “I remember you rescuing me once, and I remember you were the one who put me in that situation!”
“I recall you wiggling right off the horse of your own accord,” Dryden retorted, awaiting her reaction. Even when she was angry, her voice cast a web around him. A web he could feel making its way into his very soul.
“I was only on the horse because you kidnapped me from my people. Was I not supposed to be shocked and want to escape when I found myself in the arms of an ice giant?”
“And you decided the arms of an ice-cold river were better than those of an ice giant?” Dryden retorted. “Tell me, how many more minutes do you think it would have taken before your limbs seized up and you drowned?” Dryden looked away to guide his horse around a fallen tree.
Thankfully, he looked back at her in time to catch the best expression adorning her face. Her mouth opened and closed, as she tried to form words. He could see she wanted to tell him off, but she couldn’t come up with the exact words she wished to say.
Dryden laughed out loud, and he saw Mathar smirk since he was close enough to hear their conversation.
The human female glared at Dryden, and then at Mathar as well when she caught him smirking. She huffed angrily as she faced forward, clearly not amused that she was the reason for their uncontained glee.
He felt slightly sorry about it, but he could tell she was a human who had the strength to deal with her captivity. Which also meant he would have to keep an eye on her. She could end up being a wily creature if left to her own devices. He could see it in her flashing eyes.
