I lowered my gaze to her strange, light-blue trousers. They were drenched, with the fabric torn at her knees and several other places. Her chafed knees were blue, as were the other areas where her skin was directly exposed.
Fire churned within me. Who the hell left her this poor? Even poor fae dressed better than this. In fact, I’d never seen clothes like hers before. No mate of mine would be permitted to dress in such ragged attire.
I found the salve in the medical bag and applied a thin layer of the pale cream to her wrists and the tops of her hands, appreciating the scents of tallow and lavender. "This will help with the pain and help you regain your body heat more easily."
Her skin was waxy and pale, and her lips blue.
A knot formed in my throat as I lifted my gaze from her body to her face. “Forgive me. I don’t intend to impugn your modesty, but I need to take your clothes off to warm?—”
“I d-don’t give a f-fuck about modesty.” Her teeth chattered. Though there was a thickness to her voice and a bleariness in her eyes, her spirit shone through. “I j-just want to get warm. D-do whatever it takes. T-take them all off. I’m f-freezing!”
A lump lodged in my throat. She wasn’t warming up fast enough. I needed to do more. I ripped off my own coat and tore away my tunic and the undertunic beneath. Next came my boots and my trousers until I stood before her in nothing but my small clothes. I started peeling off her damp clothes, trying not to notice her nakedness, but my eyes devoured her body.
My dick rose to attention, impossible to hide in the thin clothing I now wore. Disgust flared through me at my own desires and primal urges. I should be focused solely on her health—she deserved better than this uninvited reaction.
Gritting my teeth, I continued to work with steady hands. Her shirt released from her skin with a soft, sucking sound. The wet, pale fabric of her strange undergarment outlined the soft curves of her breasts and revealed the hard peaks of her nipples, pebbled tight from the cold. I forced my gaze to remain clinical, but my blood heated despite the chill still lingering in the air. Then I saw her stomach and ribs, and my anger surged.
Dark bruises spread in thick bands across her torso, climbed her sides, and encompassed her shoulders. My breath left me in a sharp rush, and my chest tightened until my ribs ached. The firelight caught every uneven color and edge as I took in the depths of my inability to protect her. Every mark was a testament to my failure.
“C-cold!” she gasped as the air hit her bare skin. Her body curled up instinctively.
Dammit. Here I was, making her discomfort worse. Shaking off my anger enough to focus, I started working on the peculiar metal fastenings on her trousers. The stiff and heavy fabric resisted as I tugged it down over her hips and thighs. They, too, were darkly bruised, especially her left hip, as if it had been thrown against something multiple times. Even the bruise-free skin beneath was mottled, the flesh cold and clammy under my fingertips as I worked the ruined garment free of her legs.
The burn of the cold and the pain of her circulation being restored would likely keep these bruises from speaking their full pain. One small mercy, perhaps. She didn’t appear to have any large open wounds, but there were smaller scrapes that bled a little. The slash across the back of her leg from the arrow had healed completely, leaving only a faint scar.
If she was what I thought she was, her bruises would heal far more slowly until her body heat had been restored. Cold temperatures inhibited healing for Aurora and Day Fae. Her ears might be rounded, but given her appearance, I couldn’t imagine she was anything but one of them.
The fire snapped and crackled beside her, its heat warming my face. I moved closer so my body blocked any stray draft from the far side of the bed. I set the medical bag at the top of the bed. “I’m going to help with your body heat. That’s it.” Then I climbed into the bed, intending to put her back to my chest and layer the blankets over us, then give her the medicine. But as the mattress dipped, the wicked little creature twisted and thrust herself against my body as if she could burrow into my chest and envelop herself in my heat.
I stiffened, and a startled hiss escaped my lips. My arms clamped around her involuntarily.
“Oh! You’re so warm!” She shivered and shoved harder against me.
Fuck, she was strong. And still too cold. It was like holding the most beautiful ice sculpture that had ever existed. Her chest touched mine, and she whimpered, the soft sound slicing through me like lightning. I couldn’t breathe.
Whatever she wanted—anything she wanted—she would have, as long as she didn’t leave me. Nothing would take her from me.
Her head rested against my chest, and her breath shuddered against my bare skin.
My throat bobbed as I fished out one of the more pungent of the tonics from the medical bag. “I have medicine for you.” I uncorked the top and pressed the bottle to her lips. “Just sip. Try to stay awake for a few minutes, then you can sleep. It will help restore your blood flow and heal you, though you’ll probably be stiff for a day or two. You may have some scabbing, but those will fall off soon.”
“Thank you. The snow and ice felt like it was trying to scrub the skin off my face.” She parted her lips, wincing slightly, as if she felt the sting of the cuts. I tilted the flask to let the amber liquid flow. A little spilled down her chin and onto her neck and breasts, but most went where it needed to. She grimaced. “It tastes like blue cheese and licorice.”
A startled laugh escaped me. "I wouldn't know. I've never tasted blue cheese or licorice." The medicines did taste foul though. I knew that from experience.
"Lucky you." Her fingers curled against my ribs, still clumsy, still cold, but seeking warmth with a desperation that made my chest ache. "Where are we?"
I smoothed her hair back from her face and wiped away the melted snow. Her magnolia and apricot scent strengthened over the smell of smoke and sweat. “A way point. It’s an enchanted place of safety and protection, stocked with basic resources and simple spells.”
Her eyelids cracked open, and she looked around, her gaze drifting to the caribou, the dirt floor, the firepit, and the northeastern corner that held a half-moon-shaped well with a lid for easy access to water. “This place is enchanted?” she asked softly.
A smile tugged at my own mouth. “It doesn’t look like it, I grant you. But its simplicity is part of what makes it easy to hide. These way points were built long before my time. The magic is strong but of a simple variety that lasts a long time and has few ways to go wrong. It’s also easier for us to hide its presence.”
The caribou huffed and then lowered its head once again to the food trough, and she wrinkled her nose.
I couldn’t hold back my smile because I was confident that I understood her concern. “The wards protect us, but the magic will also absorb whatever waste is left and eliminate odors. Including that in the spell was a wise choice as, at times, there have been as many as twenty hunters and almost as many beasts of burden jammed into this place. The stench alone would have perhaps made some prefer the cold.”
She snorted. “Thank goodness. The last thing I want is to freeze, drink blue cheese mixed with licorice, and smell caribou feces. Especially all at once. Do you use spells to keep it warm here? Seems like the fire might be redundant?”
