The Winter

Chapter 3

Do you have a place that makes you feel at peace?

I love to go to the river down the local den. It's a forested area steeped in ghost stories and talk of fairies. My favourite part has a really high cliff on the otherside of the river and it always makes me think about how long the water has been rushing past this way for it to carve into the rock as it has. Always feel better after a walk there.

Chapter 3

Farrin and Astrid had gone quiet by the time I decided I'd scrubbed myself as clean as I could. Turning and expecting to see them watching, I found they'd disappeared, and it was an all together different gaze I met.

Burning amber eyes bored into mine instead, heating my body in such a way that I barely felt the icy river brushing against my skin. Lounging on the banking much like Farrin had, sat Hati, his lips pulled up into a lecherous grin. Blonde hair curled around his shoulders and framed the angles of his face, his sunkissed skin glowing even with the sky darkened by thick snow clouds.

"How long have you been there?" I asked, surprised by the huskiness in my voice.

Sitting forward, he let his gaze rake over the length of me as I slowly stood. It was a consuming feeling to be looked at so hungrily; as much as it was overwhelming. Fire scorched my veins, my skin flushing at his open appraisal. He leaned further forward still as I twisted my hair to dry it, his eyes following the water trailing down my skin, wetting his lips as if he wanted to catch each one with his tongue. . .

"Long enough," he finally answered, as roughly as I had. "Come here before you freeze."

I sighed, letting the fingers of one hand trail in the steady flow of the river. "I don't think I'm ready to come out yet. Something tells me this is the last moment of peace I'll have for a while."

"I'll make sure it's not. Come here," he commanded again, holding up one of the cloths Astrid and Farrin had left for me.

If it weren't for the heated look in his eyes, I might have denied him again, maybe even tried to get him to join me. He looked much more inviting on the shore though.

Picking my way over slippery pebbles and rocks covered in green slime, I found I couldn't lift my gaze as a mix of desire and shyness crept over me. What was there to be shy about now? He'd seen me naked more than he'd seen me dressed, and he'd explored more of my body than I had myself. I was a skinshifter, I reminded myself. A nomad. When had being undressed in front of anyone so much as made me blink?

Hati chuckled as he swept the towels around my shoulders and started vigorously rubbing the scratchy material to bring warmth back to my limbs. I nearly purred as he worked to make sure every inch of me was dry, my lips twitching when he focussed his attention too long on my rear. Despite his efforts, parts of my hair had already frozen, small crystal-like balls glinting in the low hanging sun as it peeked through a break in the clouds.

"You look like Skaði," he teased, fingering a lock of frozen hair. The warmth of his touch began to melt it so drops of freezing water dropped onto my chest. His smile grew as I shuddered, and his firelit eyes held mine as he leaned in to lap at the swell of my breast.

The Goddess of winter most likely didn't find the cold as uninviting as I did in that moment. I wanted our furs. Our bed. To get swept away in the feel of his body against mine as he moved in me. . .

"We shouldn't be making jokes and being intimate," I muttered, guilt dampening my spirit again. Tugging my hair free of his grip, I rounded a now frowning Hati to pick up my dress. The material clung to my skin, damp hair getting stuck beneath the neckline, but calloused fingers quickly helped free it.