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He stops and his large hands grip my legs and then my waist as he slides me from his back and around to his front, so I am facing him. Something flutters around me, and the wind suddenly dies down. “Freyja?”
Reluctant, I lift my head to his.
Aurdyn’s arms and wings are wrapped around me, shielding me from the blizzard in a lovely dark cocoon. It’s quiet inside Aurdyn’s embrace. “Is that better?” His voice echoes against the thick membrane of his wings as he studies me in concern.
Unable to speak through still chattering teeth, I nod.
“Your human body is not built for this weather; you will freeze. You cannot remain out in this storm.” Anger flickers to life inside me as he reminds me again how pitiful he thinks humans, but it’s quickly doused by the blast of cold air that hits my face when Aurdyn raises his head to scan our surroundings. “I will find us shelter.”
“What about the mining village?”
I’m still wrapped around his front, with his wings folded over my body. He threads his fingers through my hair and cups the back of my head, holding me against his chest, protecting me from the full assault of the icy wind. “It is too far,” his voice rumbles.
In the shelter of his wings, warmth slowly begins to seep back into me, heightening the sensation of each movement of Aurdyn’s body against mine as he walks. His entire form is layers of thick, heavy muscle. Not an ounce of fat on him. As if his powerful, muscular form were cut from marble—too perfect to be real.
Trying to distract myself from the terrible cold, I concentrate on the feel of his strong arms wrapped around me, one supporting my backside and the other banded across my back. I’m fascinated by the leathery texture of his wings, noting a few fine lines along one of the sails. I wonder if those are scars.
His heart beats a strong and steady rhythm beneath my left ear as I stay plastered against him. Closing my eyes, I focus on the sound, allowing it to crowd out any lingering discomfort from the blizzard swirling around us.
Aurdyn stops abruptly and I feel a shift beneath me as he balances on one foot while kicking out with the other. It connects with a hard thump against something, and I jerk my head up. “What are you doing?”
Instead of answering me, he growls. “Open up,” he bellows. “Or I will tear down this door.”
“Aurdyn, you cannot just threaten to—”
A loud creak sounds behind me, cutting off my words, and I turn toward it. The door swings open, and a stocky man with blond curly hair, silver eyes, and pointed ears looks up at us, his expression furious for less than half a second before raw fear overtakes his features.
He’s a Dwarf. If not for his pointed ears, I’d probably think he was human. Their kind are very similar to mine, and only a slight bit taller. Panicked, he tries to slam the door, but Aurdyn pushes through, causing the man to stumble back.
A woman screeches behind him. “Orin!” She rushes to his side, her curly chestnut hair falling like a curtain across her face as she leans over him.
“Get back, Moira!” he yells. “Run!”
Her gaze snaps to us and all the color drains from her face as she stares up at Aurdyn.
Orin twists and places himself between us and her. “Please, do not hurt my mate. I’ll give you whatever you want, Dragon. But leave her alone.”
Aurdyn kicks the door shut behind us and glares down at him. “I’m not going to harm you. Now get up, Dwarf,” he growls. “And fetch whatever you have that is warm.”
The man blinks several times in obvious shock.
“Now,” Aurdyn commands.
A door creaks open across the way and two small children appear. “Mother?”
“Children.” The woman jumps up and rushes to them. “Get back in your room,” she says in a quiet but urgent voice. “Do as I say.”
Instead of listening, they stare in wide-eyed fascination at the two of us. From the look of it, they appear to be twins—a boy and a girl. Each of them with brown, curling hair like their mother and bright silver eyes like their father, with cute, pointed ears.
Despite his trembling form, Orin stands staunchly between us and his family. “Please, don’t hurt my family,” he pleads.
“Then fetch something warm as I asked,” Aurdyn snarls.
“Stop it!” I smack at his chest, and his head snaps to me. He blinks several times, as if he cannot believe I just did that. “Be nice, Aurdyn.”
Before he can say anything, I turn toward the Dwarf and his wife. “You’ll have to forgive my companion. My name is Freyja, and this is Aurdyn. We’ve been traveling all day and he’s just a bit grouchy.” I lean in a bit and whisper. “He also has not had his morning tea in a few days now, and that alone can lend itself to a short temper.” They stare at me in shock as I continue. “If you would be so kind as to allow us to shelter here for the night, we would be very appreciative.”
“You—you’re not going to—to hurt us?” Orin’s voice trembles as he stumbles over his words.
