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“You’re covered in blood,” Simon pointed out with a frown. “Are you hurt?”

I hadn’t noticed, but most of my focus was on Simon. When I finally looked at my brother, I realized his face was covered in blood, as were his clothes. Worry swept through me, but he quickly dismissed the notion.

“It is not mine. I would have come sooner to deal with the rat, but several cowards crept in from different directions and attacked the women. I made sure they did not succeed in their attempts.”

So it was not only Finn who was attacked in such a way. The Fer’na really were without honor. You were not considered a man if you resorted to those means of assault.

“Would you like someone to stay with you?” I asked. Others were posted on guard—we would not risk an attack twice—but he stood alone in this area. That seemed unsafe.

“No. I will watch over the east until the sun rises.” He turned his gaze to Simon, then to me. “Your tribute took down many enemies to protect our clan. Should he wish for it, you should bring him back to his home. He has earned his freedom.”

Simon sucked in a breath of surprise. Meanwhile, my heart sank. Einar was right. Simon had done a great favor to our clan. He’d protected its members and saved Orthorr. Should he request it, I was sure anyone would be willing to return him to his town. And I’d have no choice but to let him go.

SIMON

We checked on Maman first before heading back to Feigrind’s tent. She was unharmed, the attackers never having gone near her, but she wanted to know what happened, and she wouldn’t let us leave before we told her the story. By the time she was satisfied, I was exhausted, and my feet were dragging as we walked away.

The bodies of the men I’d killed were gone by the time we got to Feigrind’s tent. They weren’t my first. Life as a whore was dangerous, and I had to be willing to take a life to save my own. It was never something I enjoyed, and I was glad I didn’t have to see the results of my actions. I could just move on from it and hopefully get some rest.

Feigrind was quiet as we stepped inside. He noticed the tear in the tent immediately, and I flashed him a pained smile.

“Sorry. I didn’t want them trapping me in here. I cut my way out and?—”

He shook his head, interrupting me. “You need not apologize. You did what you had to in order to stay safe. I would never begrudge you that.”

He fell silent again, and after a while, it started to weigh on me. I didn’t know what he was thinking. He hadn’t said much when I told Maman what happened, and his jaw was tight the entire time. It felt like he was angry at me for fighting, even though he’d just said he wasn’t.

“What?” I snapped, turning to face him with my hands planted on my hips.

He shook his head, but I put a hand up to stall him before he could outright lie to me.

“Don’t start. I know you’re mad about something. So spit it out already. I’m tired, and I just want to sleep.”

“I’m not angry,” he said, his voice tight with pent-up emotion.

I gave him a sour look. He was hiding something, and I wasn’t going to be able to sleep until I figured out what.

“You can tell me, or I’ll go stay with Maman. I’m not playing this game with you tonight.”

His hands fisted at his sides, and his jaw flexed as he gritted out, “If that is what you wish.”

I threw my hands into the air, exasperated. “It’s not what I wish! What I wish is for you to tell me what’s wrong! I wish to finally get a good night’s sleep because, daggers or not, I didn’t sleep well while you were gone! I wish?—”

He lunged, cutting me off by slamming his lips to mine. I never backed down from a challenge, so I met him head on, practically climbing his body to get on more equal ground. Helifted me off my feet, his big hands cradling my ass as he kissed me fiercely, like he wanted to devour me whole. Despite my exhaustion, my cock hardened against his abs, and I grew breathless and needy under his assault.

Breaking away, he nipped and kissed down my neck instead, intensifying my desire even more.

“I wish for you to stay,” he murmured against my neck between kisses. “I am not angry. Einar was right. If you wish to leave, I will have no choice but to bring you where you want to go. It would bring me dishonor to do otherwise. But I don’t want you to go.”

The need and heartache in his voice tugged on my soul. Never in my life had someone cared so much about me that they begged me to stay. Even my mother, despite how much she loved me, eventually sold me off to the brothel. She had no other choice, she couldn’t afford to feed us both after she got sick, and I would have ended up there eventually when she died a year later. But her love wasn’t enough to keep me with her and safe. Feigrind wanted to keep me. He didn’t want me to go.

Gripping his hair, I forced his head back, kissing him again. “I don’t want to go,” I murmured against his lips. “I want to stay here with you.”

He groaned, dropping to his knees before laying me gently on the bedding. I pulled him down with me, our mouths fused together as we reached heights of desperation I’d never felt before. I enjoyed sex. I’d neverneededit before. I needed it now. Needed to feel him inside me, to be wrapped up in him in every way I could.

Feigrind must have felt the same, because he literally ripped the clothes from my body and his, only breaking the kiss when he absolutely had to. He didn’t even pull away to find the oil, and I heard the clatter of things being knocked about as he reached for it blindly. Laughter bubbled up in my chest, but it quicklydissolved into moans as his slick fingers reached between us to rub against my hole.

He pulled back, breathless as he looked down to where he touched me. “I don’t want to hurt you. How?—”