under his breath the whole time. Since he’s speaking the same language as the Monks and the military guys, I can’t understand him. Still, listening to his voice is soothing. He gently sets me down in the armchair, and I watch him intently as he tosses more logs onto the fire.
My breath catches when he takes his shirt off. Under normal circumstances, I’d probably appreciate the view—the guy’s got abs for days, huge, muscly biceps, and a delicious little happy trail leading down to the waistband of his pants.
Unfortunately, these aren’t normal circumstances. Seeing him undress without warning seriously freaks me out. It’s certainly crossed my mind that I might be sold to somebody as a sex slave. Just because this guy acted surprised and angry to see me, and he’s treated me kindly so far, that doesn’t automatically mean he doesn’t have messed up intentions.
When he sees the alarmed expression on my face, he quickly shakes his head and speaks rapidly. I sit there, totally tense, and wait to see what he’s going to do next. I mean, it’s not like I can run away at this point. I can’t trust anybody on this realm, or even understand them, and I wouldn’t last long at all if I somehow managed to get outside and hide in the woods.
He runs his hands through his hair, and gives me a super guilty look as he reaches down to lift me up. Just like outside, he moves too fast for me to really process. I hardly have time to blink before I find myself sitting curled up in his lap with his jacket wrapped around both of us.
I try to push myself away from him at first, but he makes these soft shushing sounds and hugs me tightly. I realize I’m still shivering when he rubs his hands up and down my back and arms, though nowhere near as much as I was when I was stuck in the cage. I let myself relax then, just a little. His body heat will warm me up much faster than just sitting beside the fire alone.
He takes one of my hands between his much larger ones, rubbing it roughly in order to warm up my frozen fingers. It hurts a little, but I know it’s probably necessary. I don’t know much about frostbite, but I have to assume that regaining feeling in my frozen fingers is a good thing. He spends several minutes on my right hand before moving on to my left. While he works, I keep my eyes on his face. This guy is totally saving my life right now. The longer we sit here like this, the more I feel myself relaxing and warming up to him.
Eventually he looks up, never stopping his ministrations to my hand, and smiles timidly when our eyes meet. “Reule.”
At first I assume he’s saying something else in his native language that I can’t understand, and I smile back awkwardly at him. He drops my hand, clears his throat and taps his fingers against his chest.
“Reule,” he says again.
I realize he’s telling me his name, and I smile for real. He stares at my mouth for a quick second, and meets my eyes with a hopeful expression on his face. I’m not going to be an asshole like I was to Amias and pretend I don’t understand. Reule is the first person who’s shown me any real compassion since I was kidnapped from Rian’s party. Well, there was that younger military guy who tried to take my shackles off, but he didn’t really try that hard to help me.
“Reule,” I repeat his name softly. My throat is still a little raspy, but Reule doesn’t seem to mind. He grins at the sound of my voice, and I bring my right hand up and touch my fingertips to my chest so I can tell him my name too. “Isla.”
“Isla,” he repeats my name with a slight growl and the hint of an accent. But god, it feels so good to be called by my name after so many days of being treated like an animal or a possession.
Tears form in my eyes, and I quickly bury my face in his neck. I’m a little embarrassed I’m reacting so strongly to hearing him use my name. But he just hugs me tightly to his chest, encasing me in warmth.
I know he won’t understand me, but I can’t help saying the words, anyway. I nuzzle his neck and whisper,