She grimaced. Of course it would. “Perhaps we should wait for Dyna.”
“It will only get worse, lass. Best I do it now.” Klyde studied her for a bit, then reached in his coat and brought out a small leather wineskin. He took a drink and offered it to her next. “Here, drink this. It will help take the edge off.”
Lucenna accepted it without question, and she took a sip. The ale burned down her throat and flushed her face with warmth. It was no use waiting for Dyna to heal her. She already felt faint, and her arm was throbbing terribly. Klyde raised his eyebrows when she tipped her head back and swallowed down the rest of the ale. It immediately rushed to her head, leaving her woozy.
She wiped her mouth. “I’m ready.”
Klyde shifted to sit next to her. His large, warm hands took hold of her shoulder and elbow. It was in these moments when she noticed how much he dwarfed her.
Tightening his grip on her arm, he nodded. “Clench your jaw or you’ll bite your tongue.”
Lucenna snapped her teeth shut and closed her eyes. His breath brushed against her cheek.
“Look at me,” he ordered softly. She tilted her head to look up at him, and he was watching her, his eyes as calm as a still sea. “Now breathe.”
Bracing herself, Lucenna inhaled a sharp breath through her nose a second before he shoved her arm into its socket. She screamed through her gritted teeth and slumped against him, breathing harshly.
Klyde cradled her against his chest, lightly massaging her shoulder joint, encouraging the pain to subside. “It’s over now, lass. You did well.”
He rubbed her back, working the heat back into her body. Whenever his fingers brushed her lower spine, it bloomed electrical currents of warmth across her skin from her toes to her scalp. She shivered as hermind grew hazy. He was warm. She tucked her cold nose against his throat, and he stiffened.
“You smell nice…” Lucenna mumbled.
He chuckled. “You mean like mud and blood?”
“Like a winter forest at sea…” Why was she telling him this?
Klyde held her back by her shoulders and his eyes widened as she smiled at him lazily. The cool breeze felt good against her flushed cheeks. “Are you all right?”
“I’m grand.” The pain was faint, pushed to the back of her mind. Lucenna blinked at him through her bleary vision, taking in the angles of his face and the moonlight falling over the worried knot between his brows. His wet hair fell in messy waves past his jaw. Reaching up she stroked his cheek, feeling the bristles of his stubble. She wondered what he looked like without a beard. “You’re pretty.”
“Ah, erm, well, I suppose I am.” Klyde cleared his throat. Was he blushing? “Lass, you can’t look at me like that. You have me stuttering like a fool.”
She giggled at the befuddled look on his face and said in her best brogue accent, “Aye, lass.”
“Gods, you’re drunk. I shouldn’t have given you the whole thing. We’re in for a night.”
Lucenna laughed again. There was something about his voice. She simply liked hearing him speak. “You’re funny, Klyde Morken. Are you always this funny?”
She stood and slipped on wet stones, flailing backward toward the river.
“Oi!” He snatched her wrist and yanked her back to him. “Are you trying to be the death of me, woman?”
The question snapped her out of her haze. The last thing she wanted was to be the death of anyone.
Suddenly annoyed, she pushed off his grasp. “Why did you break my orb?”
“Come on.” He moved her away from the bank. “You need to lie down. We should find somewhere to stay for the night.”
“No.” She jerked her arm free, whimpering at the throbbing in her shoulder. “I won’t go anywhere with you until you tell me why.”
Klyde ran a hand through his hair and groaned with exasperation. “I couldn’t stand it, all right?”
Lucenna blinked at him.
“I know he’s the one you want, but…” He stepped closer, and her pulse quickened. “Some arrogant, infuriating, inept part of me didn’t want to share you with another man. When the orb began to glow, I reacted before I could think. I truly am very sorry about that.”
Lucenna suddenly couldn’t look at him. That was quite clearly a confession, if she understood him correctly. He had to be teasing her again. But she couldn’t think clearly past her pounding heartbeat. “W-well, that is the most a-absurd thing I ever heard. Fool.”
