The one which, when my eyes flashed open, I realized was toppling over on him.
Sylvik
Vaguely,I was aware of the danger, but how could I worry about that when myKteerwas reacting so viscerally to the sorrow and pain in her voice? This female—this strange, wonderful breath of chaos in my ordered life—was hurt by something. The song? Could a song hurt her?
I was reaching for her, intent on wrapping her in my arms to protect her from—fromwhatever?—
When the tree slammed into me.
Maybe, if my feet had been planted, I could have caught it. After all, it wasn’t too much taller than me, mostly air, and not terribly heavy. It’s just that these trees were resting against one another without the support of their taproots to hold them upright and strong.
Why would someone cutdowntrees and bring them into their home?
Perhaps I shouldn’t have allowed myself to be distracted by such a question, or off-balanced by the intriguing female who caused myKteerto purr. Because when the fir slammed into me, I went over too.
I fell backward, landing on my ass in the brown grass—grass! No snow here on Eastshore!—and caught the tree as it toppled over me. The bushy branches caught me, pushing me down further, until I was lying on my back, cradling a Christmas fir in my arms.
This took less than a second, and just as I was about to roll out from under the offending pine—I supposed I would have to buy the monstrosity now—another weight landed on the other side of the trunk, pushing all the spiky bits into my chest. My breath whooshed out of me with a grunt, and I instinctively raised my hands to brace for whoever it was.
Warm wool and silky hair met my fingers.
“Oh my God! Are you alright?” Then, as if I wasn’t holding her head on the other side of the tree, thefemale’s gloved hands began to pat my arms. “Are you squished? Say something! I’m so sorry!”
On the radio, the singer was crooning something about giving away his heart to someone, or possibly the other way around. I looked up through the branches at the frantic female and felt myself grinning again.
“I’m fine,” I admitted, and decided to tell the truth. “You can knock a tree over on me anytime.”
“What?” She didn’t seem to be paying attention. In fact, she was squirming now, and her knee slammed into my thigh as she tried to untangle herself from the gripping branches. “Did it hit your head? Are you seeing double? Oh God, I’m an idiot,” she ended with a groan as she flopped her way out of the grip of the tree. “I should have looked where I was going!”
My grin faded, because those words sounded like someone else’s, someone whom she was repeating. As soon as her weight left the pine, I rolled out from underneath it and sat up, my attention on her. “It’s not your fault. You were hurting?—”
“No, I wasn’t.” She sat with her legs drawn up, her elbows on her knees, and her head buried in her palms. “It was stupid. I was stupid. It’s just—” She took a deep breath and lifted her head. “It’s just a silly game.”
Her lips had curled into a rueful smile, and I found myself fascinated. Unable to help myself, I shifted closer so I could settle on my ass beside her, careful not to touch her, but leaning closer, closer… Her scent was incredible; brown sugar, the sap from the pine, apples, and something spiced.
“What’s the game?” I murmured, gaze on her lips, willing to askanythingto keep her talking.
When she cocked her head to one side, her long chestnut hair fell over one shoulder, and she felt…familiar. As if I should know her.
“You’ve never heard of Whammagedon?” She pointed upward, and it took me a moment to realize she was referencing the song, which was ending. “It’s just a game—if you hear this song, you have to turn it off in the first ten seconds, or leave the store or whatever. The radio host likes to play it to mess with us.”
Sure enough, a laughing host had come over the speakers to jokingly ask who just “got Whammed”, and the female’s smile turned more genuine as she shrugged.
“I really am sorry.” To my surprise, her hand rested on my forearm. “I can’t believe I was that clumsy—well, no, Icanbelieve it, I’m just really sorry. Can I buy you the tree to make up for it?”
She was…asking me. Something. Words. I neededwords.I couldn’t seem to form a coherent thought, though, because myKteerwas throbbing in my chest and my pulse was pounding in my ears and my cock?—
Well, when in all the hells had mycockgotten involved?
Right around the time she touched you.
Yeah, she was wearing thick gloves—how was she not sweating in that get-up?—but I could feel the heat of her fingers through the wool. They were pressed against my bare skin, and every inch ofmewas focused on that touch.
“I…” I didn’t even know her name. How could I react this way to a female I didn’t know?Focus, Sylvik! “I’m sorry, what were you saying?”
Her grin slowly turned shy, and she dropped her chin, green eyes peeking at me from under her lashes. “I was apologizing to you,” she murmured in a surprisingly husky voice.
Gods below.
