Quinn
I waited, knowing that any second now I'd feel the club striking me and the pain and then my eventual death.
I continued to wait, but nothing happened. Curious, I flashed my eyes open... to see a sword—long, sleek, and solid—stuck right in the orc's chest. There was blood running down its body, too.
I dropped my mouth open in shocked surprise.
Stunned and very dazed, a flurry of dark clothing appeared in front of me, followed by a hand—mighty and rough—grabbing the hilt of the sword. As the sword was pulled out of the monster, a booted leg moved toward the orc. Instantly, the sword came free, with blood spurting out as the massive orc went flying back and hit a tree some distance away, collapsing the tree in the process.
If I was stunned before, I was even more so now.
I watched as if I was entranced watching a movie, as the man—my savior—sprinted off toward the remaining orcs. His movement as he fought—or rather slaughtered—the orcs were smooth and graceful, every swing of his sword and kick of his legs was quick and precise. Despite being a big man, when he jumped, it was high as if he were weightless, and when he landed, there was no sound nor did the earth beneath him shake. It was as if he was performing an acrobatic martial art technique, and I was mesmerized.
A slice of his sword decapitated an orc's thick neck, and then another cleanly cut a thinner one in half through the middle of the body, and with more swinging and slicing, more orcs fell to the ground. Within no time, all the remaining orcs were dead, the butchered bodies lying across the woods.
I was, obviously, still dazed and more so, awestruck, when the man turned and strolled toward me.
Gosh, even the way he walked was graceful—slow and sexy, like a lion hunting its prey.
He came to a stop in front of me, stood there, and simply stared down at me for what seemed like a long moment. I, too, gazed up at him, quite dumbly.
Despite the dire circumstances, I thought, Holy smokes, he's a hunk. Wavy, gold-blond hair, piercing blue eyes, straight nose, high cheekbones, strong jawline, and lips that made me want to smooch them. Not to mention that godlike body of his—firm, toned, and simply divine to look at. He was also very tall, at least six foot five, and my neck was beginning to hurt having to tilt back to look up at him.
Finally, he got down on his knees, and without a word, he grabbed my legs and started feeling them.
Huh? What the heck was he doing?
He shifted his attention to my arm, which I still had one hand holding because I had been healing it.
He quickly assessed them, and despite his obvious strength, I was surprised his touches were gentle. His eyes on me, the blue color of his irises drowning me in a summer heat that made me turn so damn hot I wanted to take my jacket off, he finally said, "Are you hurt anywhere else?"
So that was what he had been doing, checking if I had broken bones. I did, but it was healed now, thanks to my magic.
I still couldn't find my voice and mutely shook my head.
"Good," he said, his own voice rusty and deep, and it made the place inside me I didn't want to mention sing.
He wrapped his hand around my arm and said, "Can you stand?"
I nodded as I pulled myself up. Instantly, I fell again.
Damn, but what the heck was wrong with my legs? They felt like jelly.
"Looks like you can't," he said. "Excuse me." He bent, and with one hand under my legs and another about my back, he lifted me up in his arms.
I widened my eyes, stunned.
I licked my lips. My face felt hot with embarrassment. Finally, I managed to find my voice, though a bit hoarse, and I said, "Uh, thank you."
He didn't comment and continued walking until we were a good distance away from the corpses of the orcs. I noticed a stallion. "Oh, wow! It's beautiful, that stallion."
"He's mine," the man said.
Close, he plopped me on the saddle and then easily climbed on behind. Reaching over for the reins, he started the beast.
The feeling of having his mighty chest—warm and hard—rubbing against my back was very nice, I had to admit.
I cleared my throat and asked, "Sir, where are you taking me?"
"To clean up," he said. "Your face is covered in dirt and blood."
I widened my eyes in shock. No wonder he was staring at me.
I felt my face flushing even hotter with even more embarrassment. I tried to inconspicuously clean my face, but he noticed and said, "Leave it until we get to a water source. Orc blood can have diseases. It's best to be careful."
Ah, I did not know that. I stopped immediately and wondered how far the waterfall was from here. I wanted to clean myself as soon as possible. Of course, I could always summon my water magic and clean myself, but Mr. Hunky was here, and I couldn't afford to show off my skill.
Feeling the need to make conversation, I asked, "Sir, may I ask for your name?"
"Aldric," he said.
That was it? Just Aldric? No last name? Gosh! He was not a very talkative one, was he?
I said, "I'm Quinn, sir. Quinn Fairchild."
I added my last name because I wanted to encourage him to add his, too. I, however, was sorely disappointed when he said, "These woods are no place for a slight lad like you, Quinn."
Was it just me or did it sound like he was reprimanding me?
"Monsters make the woods their homes. Your mother would have taught you that as a child."
I shifted and turned my head slightly to look at him. My gaze met with his strong jawline. I could see stubble, and boy, I wanted to run my fingers across it and feel the roughness of his facial hair and the warmness of his skin. I shifted my eyes to his lips and licked my own involuntarily in temptation.
I said, "She did, my mother I mean, told me about that." It was a lie, of course. I hadn't been born here, nor had I grown up here. I continued. "I was just exploring, and I suppose I, uh..."
"You're very slight for a boy," he said abruptly. "How old are you?"
"Eighteen, sir," I said.
He snorted. "Eighteen, my backside."
Did he just say my backside?
I turned to look at him again. "I am really eighteen, sir," I said. I'm actually twenty-five on the inside if you must know.
He shifted his gaze to me, and I stared at him. I noted a slight smile broke out as he said, "You're a pipsqueak. My ten-year-old son is almost as big as you are."
I nearly dropped my mouth open, and my heart sank.
Son? He had a son! So, he was already married. Damn! And here I was planning on flirting, and with a man who thought I was no taller than his ten-year-old son at that.
I snapped, "Well, excuse me for being a pipsqueak. Some people are just born small."
"Is that so?" he said.
I kept quiet after that until we arrived at the waterfall where I had practiced my magic earlier. He got down and then wrapped his mighty, calloused hands around my waist and hauled me down like I was a child.
"Thanks," I uttered, my eyes on him. I found it impossible not to look at him.
He turned on his heel and went about picking a large leaf and folding it into a cone shape. Then he used that to draw some water from the pool. Was he going to drink that unsterilized?
I opened my mouth and was about to say stop when he turned and came to my side. He pulled out a rag and dipped that into the water and then he, of all things, started cleaning my face, which pleasantly surprised me.
"I can just wash my face at the pool," I said.
"And contaminate it with orc's blood?" he commented.
Oh, wow! So he was an environmentalist sort of person?
The sounds of horse hooves reached my ears, and I turned, alert. Mr. Hunky Aldric, however, didn't seem to react, and I wondered if he had bad hearing. But he seemed like the type who could pick up the slightest sound and would react, those warriors who were used to the woods and their danger.
I saw two men on horsebacks heading our way, and the moment they saw us, the younger one smirked in what seemed like amusement.
"I see you've found yourself a lost little pup, Aldric."
They were comrades? Was that why Aldric didn't react, because he knew the sound of their movements? I was... amazed.
"Theo, can you clean up the orcs?" Aldric said. "It's about a five-minute ride from here to the east."
The older man, who looked to be in his mid-forties, nodded and then turned his stallion around. The young one, who looked to be around Aldric's age in his late twenties or early thirties, came close and then got down from his horse.
"Who's the pipsqueak?" he asked.
I glared at him. "I'm not a pipsqueak, and the name is Quinn Fairchild, sir," I said. "Nice to meet you, and yours?"
He burst out laughing. When he managed to stop, he said, "A pipsqueak with a sharp tongue, I like it." He leaned in close and continued. "Holy Goddess, but you're a beauty." He grabbed my chin, turning my face away from Aldric's, and started inspecting me this way and that. "It must have been hard on your father keeping bastards at bay."
I snorted and said, "The bastard pig doesn't care less." I was referring to Lord Bedford, of course. As for my real father back on Earth, Peter Chen, he'd assign me a bodyguard if he had the means to. He had been that protective of me. I had been his little darling, after all.
"Vincent's the name," he said. "I'm Aldric's best friend."
Another one refusing to share his last name, huh?
I said, "So between you two, you're the talkative one?"
He nodded, and another burst of laughter came out. "Indeed, how perceptive of you, pipsqueak."
I frowned. "Quinn! Not pipsqueak." Turning to Aldric, I said, "Thank you for saving my life, sir. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll take my leave." I turned on my heel.
Despite wanting to stay and get to know Aldric more, even just a little, I knew I couldn't. I needed to practice my magic, and time was getting shorter. Lord Norsewood would be arriving next week, and I couldn't afford to waste time dilly-dallying.
I gave Vincent a death-ray stare and said, "It's Quinn. Remember it," before passing him.
"Do you intend to walk home?" Aldric's voice came my way.
I halted and turned to look at him over my shoulder. "Why, yes. I walked here, after all."
"You're brave for a pipsqueak," Vincent said. "This part of the woods is deep, and even if we're not from around here, we know it's dangerous, and yet you venture all the way out here alone and on foot at that."
"I'll give you a ride," Aldric said.
"Really?" I asked, pleased that I got to spend a little more time with him. More so, it'd cut the traveling time short. A win-win in my opinion. "Thank you very much, sir."
Aldric moved to his horse, and I eagerly toddled after him when Vincent said, "I'm starving. How about lunch before escorting the pipsqueak to his home, Aldric?"
My stomach decided to inform the world that it was hungry, too, by growling.
"It seems I'm not the only one," Vincent said, smirking.