FROSTFIRE TEASER

Happy Friday, guys! Here, as promised, is a FrostFire teaser, offered with the usual proviso - the manuscript isn't edited yet, and any scenes you read here are subject to changes both minor and major, or even total deletion.

Text under the cut:

    “Listen, dog,” she began, as Stela ran back to her again, “If this is some joke of yours...” 

    Stela wagged her tail, plunging forward as the trees opened up to reveal a pool of deep green water, rippling and glinting in the sun. The pool was fed by a thin waterfall that splashed down a rocky cliff-face. Vivid green saplings and ferns sprouted from the rocks. A dry crescent of smooth river pebbles edged the pool.

    Frost was about to begin praising Stela when she saw the man. His back was to Frost, and he was, not surprisingly, naked, wading out of the water to a pile of clothes carefully folded up on the dry pebbles. Heavy muscles clenched and shifted smoothly under warm brown skin as he pulled himself up onto the shore and began to dry off.

    Frost had seen naked men before. Uskaand was a land of icy rivers and hot springs, and it was common for men and woman to swim together. People covered themselves with drying cloths when they got out of the water, but the springs themselves were usually clear and hid nothing. No one was overly concerned about nudity. Her first instinct was simply to look away politely until the man had finished dressing himself.

    But she didn’t.

    The man’s back, shoulders and buttocks were a mess of scars. Long, curved scars from a whip. Thick uneven scars that looked like burns. Thin silvery scars that must have come from something with a cutting edge. The wounds were long healed, but some were still livid while others had almost faded. Frost realised she was looking at the result of months – years – of abuse. The man pulled on his breeches and shirt, concealing the marks, but Frost could still see them in her mind. Her stomach turned over. She couldn’t imagine how anyone could endure so much pain.

    She began to back away into the trees, carefully, quietly. This man, who took such care to bathe in a private place, must never know that he had been seen.
    Stela barked, the sound ringing out clearly above the noise of the waterfall. Shirt still unfastened, the man turned. He was smiling, and the look transformed him so completely that for a moment she barely recognised him.

    It was Arian.

    She tried to wipe the pity and horror off her face, but she had never been good at hiding her feelings, especially not when she was upset. They stared at each other, unmoving.

    Then Arian swore, low and vicious. He lunged forward across the pebbled shore and seized Frost’s arm, fingers biting into her flesh like iron. Despite the fact that she was a good inch taller than him, he managed to shake her, almost wrenching her from her feet.

    “You followed my dog so you could laugh and gawk at me? Get an eyeful, did you? Now I suppose you’ll run back and tell everyone?”

    “I wouldn’t! And besides I don’t know anyone to tell – ” she babbled, her bundled up things dropping to the ground again as she struggled to keep her balance on the shifting river stones. “It was a coincidence!”

    He swore again, this time calling her a name so vile that she gasped. Pity and guilt vanished. Her teeth ground together and her hands curled into fists. It had been so long since she really lost her temper that she almost didn’t recognise the feeling.

    “Let go!” She brought her closed fist down on his wrist. He released her with a grunt of pain, and she used both hands to shove him back. “You’re a bully! How dare I what? How was I supposed to know you’d be here? Does this place belong to you? Well? Does it?”

    "You followed Stela here! You must have known she would lead you to me –”

    “Why?” Frost interrupted. “I don’t care about you. I don’t even know you. Why would I waste my time plotting to spy on you?” She reached out to poke him in the centre of his bare chest. “You’re not the only one in the world with scars. I’m sorry I saw them, and I’m sorry I intruded on you, but if this is the way you react whenever you get caught off guard it’s no wonder everyone in camp hates you!”

    His face went ashen with rage. “Go!” He bellowed. “Get out of here before I do something you’ll regret!”

    “I’m not leaving!” she bellowed back, stamping her booted foot and sending tiny rocks flying everywhere. “You go! All I wanted was a bath, and you’ve already finished. Go away and take your damn interfering dog with you!”

    Stela whined softly, and Frost realised the dog was still beside her. Frost patted her head with a sigh.

    “Sorry girl,” she said, as Stela licked her fingers. “But your master is an ass.”

    “Stela!” Arian barked out. “Come!”

    The dog gave Frost’s fingers one more lick, then went to Arian, who pointed at the ground sternly. The dog sat with a sigh that was the mirror of Frost’s.

    “Listen carefully,” Arian said, making what seemed like a painful effort to keep his voice even. “I want you to pick up your things now and leave. Go back to camp. Don’t come here again. Don’t come near me.”

    “You’ve no right to give me orders. I came here to wash and I’m going to.”

    She began to strip, unlacing her leather jerkin and pulling it over her head to drop on the pebbles, then beginning on the fastenings of her grubby shirt.

    Arian averted his gaze hastily. “Holy Mother, don’t you have any decency?”

    “Plenty, but it’s a little hard to bathe with your clothes on,” Frost said, working on the ties at her wrists. “Besides, the only woman you have eyes for is Luca.”

    Arian’s eyes flew up to meet hers. Frost flinched from that stricken look, the last of her indignant rage draining away. Without a word he walked off, forging straight into the trees. Stela woofed softly and went after him, tail between her legs.

    “Arian! I’m sorry!” Frost called out. He did not pause, or look back. Within a second he had vanished, and Frost was left alone. Just what she had wanted. Only the pleasure was spoiled now. 

    When will I learn to keep my big mouth closed?

Well, guys? What do you think?