Page 20 of Winter's Scorching Kisses
Leaning over Adorra, he was about to scoop her into his arms, when some of Jasmine’s parting words came back to whisper in his head. He needed to bring some of Adorra’s dresses with him when he took her. Jasmine had been adamant that he do this, because her sister enjoyed the finer things in life, like fabric caressing her skin. Not animal skins like the giants preferred.
He gritted his teeth as he walked around the room until he reached a wooden armoire and ripped open the wooden door. Inside there was a rainbow of colors. He wasn’t sure which ones to grab. It wasn’t like he was a woman or a man who knew anything about this kind of thing. Dresses were out of his comfort zone.
Blinking, he stared at them in overwhelmed confusion. For once in his life, he felt a sweat break over his brow. He was afraid he wouldn’t pick the correct ones, and Jasmine would have Dryden take his head for the gross misstep.
Mathar glanced over to where Adorra was spread out on her bed. He did like her when she was wrapped up in red. He glanced back at the dresses in front of him and picked out a crimson, an azure, and a forest green dress. Now, she would have a variety, and he could only hope he’d picked the right ones.
He might not like Jasmine fully, but she was his queen, and he had a task given to him by her, which meant he needed to do it correctly.
Unfortunately, he didn’t know much about women’s clothing, especially when it had to do with human women. Their clothing was the most complicated thing he’d seen in his entire life. There were so many strings and poofs in the fabric.
Grabbing them off their hooks, Mathar did his best to shove their layers of cloth around him so that he could carry the clothing and Adorra at the same time.
Walking back to the large four-poster bed, he ripped the covers off of her and scooped her up in his arms. Time to get them both back to the ice giant castle before anyone here at the manor noticed she was gone.
Heaving her up off the bed and into his arms, he battled back her fluffy dresses. Once he had everything under control, he strode over to the open window.
He brought her close to his chest as he prepared to jump out the window. He glanced down at her and shook his head. The things he did for his king and queen. He rolled his eyes as he sighed.
Mathar leaped out the window and pressed his back against the stone of the manor walls. Creeping along the wall, he got to a point where he could view the guard posted above him. As the guard turned his back, he sprinted across the field.
He was ready to get back to the ice giant castle, drop off Adorra and build himself a home out in the peaceful forests of the mountains. Somewhere to call his own and to finally let Dryden know that he would need to find himself a new shadow to do his bidding.
Sticking to the shadows of the night, he worked his way back to the forest. With a glance over his shoulder to make sure no alarms had been raised, he entered the dark forest. He kept on walking until he found the tree he’d tied his horse up to earlier.
Then he stopped dead as his eyes landed on two human men near his horse.
He suppressed the urge to growl, and instead gently place Adorra on the ground. Then he shed the dresses without a sound and unsheathed his sword with a hiss. He would give the human men a few minutes to leave, but if they didn’t, then he would need to kill them. Time was counting down. He had no idea when people in the manor would notice their lady had disappeared.
Mathar waited in the dark as he watched the humans.
The two men were studying his horse… probably trying to figure out what a giant horse, which was larger than a normal human horse, was doing here so close to human territory.
“What do you think it means?” One of them asked.
“It means we have a problem.” The other replied as he reached out a hand for the reins.
Mathar shook his head. As much as he wanted to let the humans live and avoid a fight, he was going to have to kill them. He couldn’t let them report back that they’d seen giant activity over here. It would only point to the ice giants, and with Adorra’s disappearance? The humans might not impress him, but they weren’t stupid either. They’d put two and two together.
“That’s my horse.” Mathar strode out of the dark, making himself clearly visible under the light of the moon.
The two men spun around, their eyes going wide.
“It speaks!” One of them announced.
“Yes, it speaks.” He cracked a grin. The humans saw them as nothing more than primitive beasts, but the rock giants were showing them. The war was proving just how advanced the giants were. Dryden might not want to join the fight, but Mathar couldn’t say he wasn’t happy the rock giants were giving the humans hell.
“Let’s go.” The other man whispered as his eyes scanned over Mathar.
“No, we stay and fight the giant.” The first said back, too confident for his own good. “Just imagine the glory and the wealth we’d get by bringing his head to our king.”
Mathar studied the men in front of him. Neither looked like anything he needed to fear, but his training told him not to underestimate either of them. For all, he knew they could surprise him.
The first man unsheathed his sword, his blue eyes flashing with confidence.
Mathar wanted to snort, but he had to keep his head, and not let his own confidence overwhelm him.
The second man unsheathed his sword, but Mathar caught the second man’s hand trembling. Too bad the second man didn’t have the intelligence to flee while Mathar was busy with the first. Two against one. Even if they were human, this was bound to be fun.
