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I stare down at my fingers, buried somewhere inside the enormous leather glove.

Lucan chuckles. “They’re a wee bit big.”

“A wee bit?”

He pulls the second glove over my other hand. It hangs awkwardly from my wrists, the fingertips extending several inches beyond my own.

Lucan turns back toward the furnace. “Now,” he says, reaching for the tongs. “Let’s see what those hands can do.”

He drags a sturdy wooden stool toward the furnace and sets it down with a heavy thud. “Sit.”

I lower myself onto it, tugging awkwardly at the oversized gloves. Lucan moves behind me. His broad chest settles warmly against my back as he leans over my shoulder. I go completely still.

He reaches around me, pointing toward a long, narrow piece of metal resting on the workbench.

“Take that with the tongs.”

I glance down. The tongs look almost comically large in my gloved hands. I manage to grip the metal and lift it from the workbench.

“Good,” Lucan murmurs.

His hand closes loosely around my wrist.

My breath catches.

“Now, guide it into the furnace.”

He gently directs my arm forward. The furnace’s orange, bright flames dance above a bed of red-hot embers. Heat immediately rolls across my face.

Lucan holds my wrist securely, showing me how to position the metal above the coals.

“Keep it in the hottest part,” he says. “Let the heat do the work.”

I watch as the end of the metal gradually changes color.

Lucan’s hand remains around my wrist, steady and warm despite the furnace blazing inches away.

“Not yet,” he murmurs. “Give it another moment.”

I nod.

The metal glows brighter.

“There.”

He guides my hand away from the furnace and toward the anvil.

I set the heated metal against its surface.

Lucan reaches for a hammer and places the handle in my hands.

I nearly drop it.

“Goddess!” I gasp, gripping it tighter.

A deep chuckle rumbles behind me. “It’s heavier than it looks.”

“You think?”