Page 26 of Grounded By Love
Lashing out Kaeldar pounded a tree with his fist. Pain radiated through his arm, but he ignored it. He was a warrior with quite the temper on him.
Kaeldar sucked in a few calming breaths. He knew he’d reopened his wound, since something wet trickled down his side, but he didn’t want to show his weakness. He was a warrior, and he would stick through the discomfort.
Maybe they would both die together out here in the forest, with only their mutual stubbornness to blame.
It took a while for Kaeldar to get back, but when he did, he held up his find with a triumphant smile. Claira couldn’t help but grin back at him.
Although a ruthless warrior, he did have a kind streak running through him. He was capable of killing, but clearly he was also capable of being sympathetic and caring.
She didn’t know whether to hold Robert’s death against him. It was Robert who had sought them out. Robert could’ve left well enough alone and stayed in the village. It had been an adrenaline filled moment, and Kaeldar had saved her from a fate she didn’t even want to imagine.
She couldn’t keep thinking about it. If she did, she might just turn herself into a confused mass of emotional knots, to hate the rock giant or to forgive him?
So she turned her attention back to Kaeldar. She’d let time tell what to think about him.
He mashed the herbs, as she instructed, and then gently took one foot at a time to rub the pulp into the soles of her feet. It felt so good to have him working on her tender soles. The mash of herbs started to work its magic on the burns, after only a few minutes.
It amazed her how gentle her fierce rock giant could be, as he kept massaging her feet with his strong thumbs.
Kaeldar couldn’t believe how tiny her feet were in his hands. They just emphasized the size difference between humans and giants.
Never would he have guessed he would someday be in a forest with a human female massaging her feet. Never would he have thought he would be massaging any female’s feet. This wasn’t something a warrior did, but he found it strangely relaxing.
A sense of protectiveness came over him, as he kept thinking about the human male on top of Claira. Blood lust had rushed through him, when he found the two of them. He may have been too eager to kill the human male, but Kaeldar wasn’t about to budge from his position. The male deserved no mercy, for what he was attempting.
She was Kaeldar’s.
But she wasn't his. She was just some human he had need of for her healing. There was still the chance his wound could take a turn for the worse, and she clearly knew her herbs.
His sense of protectiveness must’ve come from his need to stay alive and get back to his people. Without her, he could end up in another fever. Kaeldar couldn’t afford to die, he still had a war to fight. They would drive the humans from their lands, once and for all.
When he took her back to his people he would do his utmost to make sure no harm came to her, but he wouldn’t be able to make any promises. His people firmly believed in the war.
He set her foot back down.
“Stay inside and off your feet, while I find us something to eat. I want us both to be well rested, before tomorrow.” He explained to her, as he got up to leave the tent.
Claira heard him take off with one of the horses, and again she berated herself for letting him go out to hunt. He had better not reopen his wound, or she was going to have some stern words with him about taking a rest.
He might be a warrior, but he wasn’t invincible. Though she was delighted by the rate of his recovery. She hadn’t seen him cringe in pain for a while, and she dearly hoped that meant he was on the road to recovery.
When she heard him return, she waited patiently for him to come to check in on her. When he had told her to stay seated, he had sounded completely serious. She might be the healer, but he was the warrior, and he didn’t take instructions, he gave them.
The tent flap lifted, and he poked his head inside.
“I will prop the tent flap open. I figured you would like to see out, while I prepared the catch.”
“Am I to remain seated?” Claira folded her arms in front of her.
“Of course. You took care of me, let me take care of you now.”
Claira unfolded her arms, as he turned. “And your wound is doing fine?”
“Everything is well.” He called back to her.
As he propped open the tent flap, she scooted on her butt, until she had a straight view out to the campfire.
He walked away, and she was able to appreciate the sharp angles of his face in the light of the flames. He was tall, and, yes, he was also handsome. He wasn’t a human man, but did it really matter? He was still a man.
