Kissedher.
It was warm and soft at first, a gentle brush of lips, but then harder, deeper. Gaelfr’s long tongue slipping between Raye’s lips, tasting her, as he betrayed a husky groan, and his kiss deepened, his strong arms curling around her back, drawing her in closer. Wanting this. Wantingher.
And though Raye should have pushed him away, she clutched back at him. Tasting him in return, breathing in his hot succulent scent, shivering into the strength of his solid body, the hardness swelling in his trousers. And there was a sudden wild urge to drag him down to the garden path, to spread her legs, to welcome him deep between…
Until Gaelfr stiffened. Yanked backwards. And whirled around away from her, while a sharp, sickening hurt surged through Raye’s chest. No, he didn’t want her, she couldn’t trust him, and…
“Get behind me, woman,” he hissed. “Now!”
28
Raye blinked at Gaelfr for a short, swaying instant. Taking in the sudden rigid tension all over his big body, the flaring of his nostrils, the sword gripped tightly in his hand.
And it was the sword that jolted her awareness back again. She hadn’t noticed he’d brought the sword out with him, and he wouldn’t draw it on her, would he? No. And that meant…
She followed his gaze across the garden, to the forest on the southern side — to theshadowsin the forest, moving closer. People. Approaching them.
Fear spiked up Raye’s spine, her heartbeat thudding in her chest, because was it… the mercenaries? The men? Had the men followed them here? And damn it, what had Kalfr said about that awful Sybil, too?She swore she would destroy me. She swore she would track my scent, and then she…
“Behind me, woman,” Gaelfr muttered, his eyes still glittering on the shadows, and Raye belatedly leapt to obey. Hovering behind his rigid bulk, and settling her hand against his taut bare back. Just needing to feel him, maybe, to know he was here.
“Is it the men?” she breathed. “Or…Sybil?”
She couldn’t hide the contempt in her voice, but Gaelfr’s low answering growl sounded vicious, too. “I ken not,” he said, quiet. “I follow two of the scents, and one of them is an orc. An orc I…”
His shoulders hunched higher, the muscles of his back shifting beneath Raye’s hand. As if this new orc was worse than attackers, somehow. And Raye’s heartbeat wrenched even faster, her hand stroking Gaelfr’s back, her eyes frantically searching the trees.
“Gaelfr?” called a deep, resonant voice. “Is that you?”
Gaelfr twitched beneath Raye’s hand, but he raised his sword, and howled something that sounded like a war cry. Earning a similar howl in return, and then a huge, shaggy-haired orc broke through the trees, with several other people behind him. A tall human man, and… twochildren? Human children?
“Who are they, Gael?” Raye whispered, fast and urgent. “Tell me.”
Gaelfr’s back shuddered, his breath huffing out. “The orc is our clan brother Olarr,” he muttered. “He was our battle-captain in the war, before I… I left.”
Olarr. The name sounded familiar, because wait, there had been an Olarr in Svein’s Orc Mountain book, right? The orc with the human family? And also, there was something about the way Gaelfr had said that last bit. Something regretful, or ashamed. Perhaps because… the war had still been raging when he’d left, all those years ago. And if Gaelfr had been a warrior — likely a very good one — and then he’d run away, his fellow warriors wouldn’t have been pleased, would they? And now, his former captain had come here? Not even a single day after they’d arrived?
“Wait, you don’t think your captain has come here topunishyou?” Raye belatedly hissed, the alarm too sharp in her voice. “Or take you away from us?”
Gaelfr’s gaze flicked toward her over his shoulder, his eyes unreadable, because — damn it. Raye had just betrayed that she didn’t want that to happen. She couldn’t stand for Gaelfr to be punished, or for him to leave them. Not yet.
But it was too late to say anything further, because this huge Olarr orc and the others kept coming closer through the garden. Olarr was heavily armed, with two massive axes on his back, and the human man beside him was unnaturally tall, with a large, gleaming broadsword hanging from his belt.
But then Olarr’s face split into a broad, sharp-toothed grin, and he lunged forward, and hauled Gaelfr into his arms. “Brother!” he exclaimed, in a deep, rumbling voice. “Ach, it is so good to see and scent you again! Where have you been, all these summers? What has kept you away from us for so long?”
Raye could feel Gaelfr’s relief — at least this wasn’t an attack or a threat — but his shoulders were still stiff and tense, even as he embraced this Olarr in return. He hadn’t responded to any of Olarr’s questions, either, and instead, that was a distinct flush, creeping up the back of his neck. As if he didn’t know how to answer, or as if he was… embarrassed. Ashamed.
So in a foolish burst of bravado, Raye swept forward and stood tall at Gaelfr’s side, her chin lifted. “In case you weren’t aware,” she said, “Gaelfr didn’t have a choice about going away, or staying away for so long. He was obliged to, for… family reasons. He was doing his best for us, and for our son.”
There was an instant’s silence, during which everyone present snapped to look at Raye, even the children. And though there was only mingled confusion and mistrust in the new arrivals’ eyes, Gaelfr’s expression was surprised, then comprehending, then… grateful. As if he appreciated Raye defending him. Taking his side. Calling Sveinour son.
“So this must be Svein’s mother, yeah?” cut in the tall human man, his brows raised. “Raye, isn’t it?”
There was something about the way he said it — too light and casual, with clear skepticism in his blue eyes. And damn it, Raye shouldn’t have interjected into this, because of course they all knew who she was. They all knew she’d banished Kalfr from Svein’s life, for seven years.
“Ach, this is our mate, Raye,” Gaelfr firmly replied, making Raye twitch, because had he ever spoken her name aloud before? “I have brought her and our son here to Kalfr. To help keep them safe, and to rebuild the bonds between us.”
His words quivered oddly up Raye’s spine — not only at theour matepart, andour son, but also the part about him wanting to rebuild the bonds between them. But surely this was just a show for their guests, right? Or a repayment for Raye defending him to them?
