Page 34 of Winter's Scorching Kisses
Chapter 9
Adorra leaned back as she straightened her spine, stretching out the muscles in her shoulders. They were still sore from when her hands had been tied behind her back. It felt so nice to have free range of her arms again, and she prayed he wouldn’t tie her up again.
Mathar picked out another piece of dried meat and then handed her the bag. “Do you want some more to eat?”
“Yes.” She reached out a hand and took the leather bag from him. Digging a hand into the bag, she drew out an especially large strip of dried meat. Using her front teeth, she yanked off a piece. It was good for a piece of dried meat. There were even a few spices on there which made it taste a lot better then it would’ve had it just been dried and salted.
Within seconds, she’d devoured her piece.
“It’s pretty good.” Adorra tried to start up some more conversation. If she was going to be traveling with him for the foreseeable future, she needed to get to know him. She didn’t just want to sit in awkward silence.
“I’m sure you’re used to better.”
She chuckled lightly. “I am. Still, it’s better to have something rather than nothing.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“It is!” Adorra knew he couldn’t believe a lady like herself could be so level-headed and reasonable.
“Do you want more?” Mathar held out the bag.
She took it back and selected a few more pieces. Silence fell over them again.
“What about your family?” Adorra wasn’t sure he would open up to her, but there was nothing else for her to do other than get the conversation going again.
“They’ll be of no interest to you.”
He’d shut that down faster than she could get it started, and it caused her to wonder what his family life was like. Once she finished her last piece of dried meat, she let her hands fall into her lap as she watched the fire crackle happily in front of her.
“You say my sister is well?” Adorra wanted to know more about her sister if he wasn’t going to be kind enough to make small talk.
“Yes. She is doing very well. I know she’s looking forward to seeing you again.” Mathar relaxed by placing his hands behind him and kicking his legs out towards the fire. “She hasn’t stopped thinking about you since she joined us.”
Adorra snorted. “I would think so after being a captive of the ice giants. The thought of seeing me again must be the only hope in her life.”
“She isn’t a captive.” He ground out, growing irritated with her. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.” His dark eyes flashed over at her.
“All I know is that my sister disappeared and now here you are,” she waved a hand at him, “telling me that she is with the ice giants. What would you think in my shoes?”
“I wouldn’t jump to conclusions. Your sister has been treated well and is about to get married.”
“Which is ridiculous.” Adorra shook her head as she rolled her eyes. “Jasmine would never want to marry an ice giant.”
“Then you don’t appear to know your sister as well as you thought you did.”
Adorra snorted. “We will see when we get to the ice giant castle.”
“I’ll make sure I’m there when you first talk to your sister to watch the surprise that will surely spread through you when you find out she is more than just happy with us,” Mathar promised her.
She opened her mouth, but he held up a hand before she could utter a single word.
“Don’t argue with me, Adorra. As much fun as this banter is, I’m not in the mood to listen to you tell me how that simply can’t be possible. Just because you find us giants abhorrent doesn’t mean your sister feels the same.” Mathar paused. “She’s surprisingly open-minded. I don’t remember her once minding the fact that she was with us.”
Adorra clamped her mouth shut tight. She wanted nothing more than to continue to argue the point, but what was the purpose? Did she really think she could convince him of something? He had his view, and she had hers. It was as simple as that.
They fell into silence once more, and all she could do was either stare at the fire or stare at him, so she chose the moment to study him from the corner of her eyes.
The firelight played over his face accenting all the angles of his face to absolute perfection. If she forgot herself for a moment, she could imagine reaching out and stroking a hand across his face, and running her hands over that stubble. She was sure it would prickle against the soft skin of her fingers and send thrills shooting all the way to her toes.
