Page 5 of Yuletide Orc

Bikkar snarled, but his expression softened quickly. Too quickly. He reached between us and pulled the gag from my mouth. “Watch your words. I’ve no qualms about keeping you gagged until sunrise.”

I had no doubt aboutthat. Bonecrusher was not known for mercy. And yet here he was, showing it anyway.

“Does Yule mean so much to you?” I asked, hating the way my tone immediately came out biting. I inhaled sharply and looked to side. “What I mean is, why observe it if you hate me so? No one will know.”And no one cares.The only people who would had run in fear instead of waiting to assist me out of the fight.

Anger flashed in Bikkar’s eyes. His fists clenched around the gag, making it look diminutive in his hold. “Because unlike what you peoplethink, wedohave rules. Customs. Traditions that mean something, that must be respected. And this is one.” I glanced away again, unable to handle the brunt of his rage-filled glower, but Bikkar gripped my chin and forced my gaze to meet his. “This is a mercy, thief mage. Be grateful for it.”

“Don’t touch me,” I spat. “I’m appreciative of you saving me from death by wolves, but let me the fuck go.”

Bikkar hesitated for only a moment—although that hesitationwasweird—before removing his hand from me. The action gave me hope when it shouldn’t have. With a tight inhale, Bikkar reached forward and began undoing the front ties of my top.

“What are you doing?” I shifted away as best I could and nearly fell backward onto my ass.

“You will get sick,” Bikkar explained, unfazed by my reaction. He went back to work and had the top completely undone in moments. Every brush of his fingers on my skin sent chills spiraling down my spine to my toes. Little eddies of excitement that warmed me from the inside out—at least until my senses came back to me.

I rose my bound wrists to hold the piece to my chest. “Stop.”

“There’s no point in letting you be sick for tomorrow, thief mage.”

“Why do you evencare?” I shouted. Bikkar opened his mouth, rage burning in his eyes once more, but I cut him off before he could speak. “Right, Yule. That doesn’t matter to me. You want to keep me safe for your traditions? You go for it. But donottouch me.”

Bikkar leaned in until his warm breath tickled my lips. “I felt the way you molded your body to mine on the ride here. The way you stiffened when you realized your body craved mine.”

And how his had craved mine. Maybe it’d just been some post-battle fever, but we’d both felt it.

My lips pressed together into a thin line. I wouldn’t admit to anything. Not aloud and definitely not to Bikkar.

“You wanted me to touch you then,” he continued.

“To stay warm,” I shot back. “And to not fall off the horse because you decided to take me home and play house.”

Bikkar grunted deep in his throat. It reverberated through me. He pulled back, his eyes darkened once more. “You can keep throwing this gift in my face, but I will not have you become sick on my account. Not on Yule.”

He reached for my cold, wet top again and pulled it from my grip. Then one of his massive hands closed around where my wrists were bound and held them as he undid the rope with his free hand. My breath caught in my throat, but I didn’t move as he untied me long enough to pull my top from my body, leaving me in just a bra. By the time Bikkar had finished, my chest heaved with every breath and my heart pounded in my ears. I wanted to believe it was because I’d never let Bikkar quite this close before, but the truth was so much less acceptable.

As soon as he’d tossed the garment aside, he retied my wrists together and pressed the palm of one hand against my shoulder. “Lie down.”

My brow furrowed. “No.”

His jaw clenched tight. “We may be enemies, thief mage. But I won’t harm you tonight.”

“That doesn’t mean I want to be naked in front of you.” And yet, there was an ever-increasing part of me that was enjoying his appraisal of my body. Bikkar was doing a decent job of hiding it, but mine wasn’t the only breath hitching. His movements had slowed, too. Gotten gentler.

“If you want to sit in cold, wet pants for the next day, be my guest,” Bikkar said as he reached behind him to grab a warm fur blanket. “I’m only attempting to uphold tradition.” I flinched as he moved close again, but his face was nearly unreadable as he draped the warm blanket around my shoulders.

Uphold tradition. Peace. So, peacewaspossible with orcs? I supposed thinking it wasn’t was a gross stereotype. But Bikkar and his tribe had clashed with so many towns before the Crown had gotten involved. Even now, enough people in Caiburn feared Bikkar the Bonecrusher that they had hired my party in secret to kill them all. And even after all that blood and all that battle, all the life-debt that hung between us, Bikkar was setting aside that rage and vengeance to uphold orc tradition.

I could not claim to be so faithful to something that I would do the same.

At the end of this, I would still be his prisoner if I didn’t escape. I’d be held accountable for my party’s and my actions this morning. But if Icouldescape, being in the best shape possible for that escape would be ideal. Which meant not shivering all the time. That’d really be an issue while spellcasting.

“Okay,” I said with a heavy sigh before awkwardly pulling the large fur blanket around me to cover myself. Only then did I—not without humongous effort thanks to my bound hands—manage to slide off my pants and kick them over to Bikkar.I crossed my legs beneath me and faced him as he hung my clothes near the fire to dry. “Thank you.”

Bikkar nodded, but the darkness in his eyes remained. When I looked to his hands, I saw the whites of his knuckles. It was all a stark reminder that Bikkar didn’t want this any more than I did. And yet, here we were.

“It’s Elysia, by the way.”

His green gaze met my blue one. “Hmm?”

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