Page 19 of Bound to the Orc Warrior

“I didn’t bring myself here.” He frowns down at me. “Your magic did.”

I rub at a spot in the middle of my chest, feeling some kind of connection to him.

Instead of answering, he glares at my arm. “You’re hurt!”

“Yeah, those birds got me a few times.”

Crouching, he picks up the dropped waterskin and cleaning cloth, wetting the fabric so its magic reawakens. His huge hand is amazingly gentle as he takes mine to lift my arm. A fierce scowl furrows his brow, but he dabs at the cuts so softly I barely feel any pain. When he finishes with one arm, he moves on to the other. “Damned soul stealers. You’ll be more susceptible to them now. Did they get you anywhere else?”

“I don’t think so. I held up my arms to protect my face.”

“Lift your hair and turn slowly, so that I may make sure.”

I scoop my hands under my curls and lift them from my back and shoulders, then I do a slow spin.

By the time I make it back to facing him, Wranth’s no longer frowning and warmth fills his eyes as his fingers brush over the bare skin of my shoulder. “There are no further injuries. Come. I have medical supplies in the saddlebags.”

I lean over to pick up the cardigan and follow him back to where Zephyr stands, still eating leaves.

Wranth plucks a smaller pack from the saddlebag and drops to his knees in front of me. Then he lifts my arm and uses thesoftest of touches to apply a light-purple salve that smells of flowers.

He does it all so easily, as if it’s nothing for a big guy like him to want to take care of me. His concern makes my heart skip, a little twist in my chest that has nothing to do with magic and everything to do with the tender touch of his fingertips.

“What’s in the salve?” I ask, looking for a distraction. “It smells so good.”

“It’s elderflower and other healing herbs. Moon Blade Village has an expert herbalist.” He uses a knife to cut a piece of heavy white cloth into small squares and smoothes them over each injury. They seal to my skin with a tingle of magic.

I pull on the cardigan as he packs everything away, wrapping its cozy warmth around me and trying to not miss the feel of his hands on my skin.

“Now, about you showing up back there,” I say. “What happened?”

“I set off in that direction to hunt.” He points opposite the way we just came. “I’d just picked up the faintest trail of a rabbit, when—” He slams his palms together. “I’m yanked through the world to you.”

“Was that me?” My hand goes to the crystal on my chest. “I didn’t see any glow or feel any tingle of magic like when I teleported before.”

“I don’t know.” He frowns, his dark eyes narrowing. “I do know that it’s going to make hunting impossible.”

My stomach takes this as an invitation to growl, which only makes Wranth scowl harder. He pulls a leather-wrapped packet from the saddlebag and thrusts it into my hands. “Here. It’s not the fresh breakfast I envisioned providing for you.”

I nibble at the hard cookie inside. Instead of being sweet, it’s pleasantly nutty, and I’m not a picky eater. “It’s fine. I like it.”

He grunts, and his tusks crunch through his biscuit as he glares into the trees around us. “We need to test this thing that happened, determine if we’ll always be pulled together. But not here. We need open lines of sight.”

“I know I can’t wait to watch,” Shadow says, his tone amused. His disembodied smile hangs in the air, the rest of him becoming more opaque with each step as he emerges from between two pines.

“We need a meadow,” Zephyr says. “You can do your tests, and I can have a proper meal.”

“I know the perfect one,” the cat says, flashing a wide grin.

With two more chomps, Wranth finishes his breakfast. His concerned gaze rakes over me. “Can you eat and ride?”

“Of course.” I’m only a third of the way through the hard cookie, and I totally get why he doesn’t want to wait for me to finish gnawing on it. These things clearly aren’t made with human teeth in mind.

His hands are firm and steady as he effortlessly lifts me into the saddle in a way that sets my heart skipping. Then he’s up behind me, his body engulfing mine in muscle and strength as Zephyr leaps forward to keep up with Shadow.

Lunch is wild gooseberries plucked straight from the bush, their little spines stinging the tongue, and tiny tart apples bursting with flavor. Wranth offers me another biscuit of hardtack made from hazelnut meal, apologizing again. “I would hunt for you, if I could, my bride.”

“It’s fine, really,” I say. Or at least the food is. The bride thing is still weird.

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