“Fuck,” he growls again, but this time more reverently. He’s staring right at me, speakingaboutme.
It’s like he’s never seen a naked woman before. That can’t be right. I mean… just look at him. He looks like Thor minus the hammer… unless you count the one between his legs.
Long blond hair hangs loose around his shoulders, his muscles ripple as he stands slowly. I follow him up, pulling myself to my feet using the bars that separate us.
More magic slips out of me, zapping between us like an electric current.
Lust blazes in Torben’s eyes, hot enough to melt our icy cages until they harden to steel.
“They hurt you.” His growl is guttural. If Latham and Aric hadn’t told me he doesn’t shift, I’d have guessed there was a deadly creature lurking just under his skin, glaring out through his angry green gaze.
I’m so thrown off it takes me a minute to blink and assess my arms. Hard lines of dark bruises mar my pale skin, standing out in harsh rebuke. Tacky blood dries against my flesh where a wound is slashed into my bicep. Now that I’m focusing on it, it stings like a bitch.
“I’m okay,” I promise. “I’ve had worse.” The shrug I give only makes the raging storm inside him more visceral, so I quickly change the subject. “You’re hurt a lot worse than I am.”
Torben tries to peer over his shoulder at the sword I motion to, but he can’t see it. Craning his hand back, he reaches for the hilt.
“What are you doing?” My nakedness is forgotten as I scold him.
“Taking it out,” he grumbles roughly, like I’m nothing but an annoying peasant he has to explain sword shit to.
“It might be the only thing keeping you alive!” I eye the wound, noticing the trickle of water melting from where it’s embedded inside him. “It could have hit a lung, or an artery or something.” I’m trying to dredge up images from old anatomy textbooks, figuring out just how bad this really is.
I’m not a doctor, I can’t save him if he starts to bleed out. Fuck, I can’t even save myself from this fucking frozen bird cage I’m in.
Torben eyes me like I’m ridiculous. “I’m not that breakable, princess.”
The last word to roll off his tongue comes out derogatory, and though I’ve been called far worse, the way he says it makes it dirtier than all the others.
“Don’t call me that,” I grit out. I hate the way he makes me feel insignificant when I know for a fact they wouldn’t have come all this way to get me if I was just another human… or even just another shifter. They want me for a reason. One I’m still trying to suss out.
There’s no way in hell they came all this way just to deliver a message from my long-lost mother or act as my bodyguards to return me to her. The story is deeper than that. I just need to dive in to find out how much.
But I can’t do any of that if he’s dead. Which brings me right back to the dilemma we’re in.
Torben’s eyes narrow like he just read my thoughts, word for fucking word.
Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was one of his superpowers. Stranger things have happened today.
Torben stalks closer to the bars, and I swear he’s even bigger than Aric, something I thought was impossible until I saw Torben… and even the skeletons made of ice and bone that tower above us all.
I swallow as his scent wafts toward me. It’s rich and sinister. He smells like a dark forest with warmer hints of fire and musk. The earthy scent drives me toward him, my wolf yearning to get even closer.
For some reason, she likes each one of these dangerous assholes.
But she is a bit unstable like that.
Two feet from the bars, he turns and presents me with the perfect view of his tight ass. Appreciation for his toned physique is all I’m paying attention to when he arches a thick, blond brow at me over his shoulder.
“Pull it,” he grumbles quietly.
“I’m sorry… what?” I stumble over my words, wondering if he wants me to reach around him and…
“The sword,” Torben replies dryly, like he’s dealing with an idiot.
It’s not my fault he blinded me with his Viking body and… other unspeakable things. My wolf is practically humping his leg, and my lady bits are all kinds of awake. I shake my head and focus.
“Yeah. No. I’m not pulling that out.” I shake my head and cross my arms over my chest, well aware that the motion is pushing my breasts up and out more than usual.
