Grounded By Love (The Giant Wars #2)(17)

He didn’t need to be getting food. What he needed was a rest, a nice long rest with no sudden movements.

Gingerly, she walked around their small campsite and picked up sticks for kindling. If he did catch something for them to eat, they’d need a fire to cook it on.

When she figured she had enough, she went to grab a dagger. Claira winced every once in a while, as she hobbled around. Although singed, her feet hadn’t been in contact with the flames for too long.

She folded her legs under her so her feet were sticking out from under her butt. Then she used the dagger like a shovel and made a wide shallow hole for their fire pit. After arranging the wood, she coaxed the smoke into a lively flame. Very soon, she had herself a good-sized fire going. It happily crackled over the sticks in the fire pit.

Claira froze, as her heart seized in her chest. After her close encounter with fire earlier, she wanted to smother it with water or dirt, but she reminded herself that this was just a cooking fire. No one was about to throw her into it.




Kaeldar half expected the human to flee the moment he left camp and definitely hadn't expected her to start a campfire. He would’ve thought she’d take the horse and left him. He was the stuff of human nightmares, yet she stayed.

Did she still intend to heal him or had it just not crossed her mind she had the horse and could’ve ridden off?

She was sitting with her legs tucked under her, and he had a perfect view of the bottoms of her feet. They were slightly touched with the blush of a burn. He’d been hoping he rescued her in time to spare her any pain.

He shifted the rabbits in his hand and walked over to the human female.

Her sea green gaze looked up, as he came up beside her. Kaeldar sat down next to her, laying the grey rabbits out in front of them. Kaeldar couldn't take his gaze from hers. He couldn't get over those striking green eyes of hers. They were so different, but so beautiful.

But they would need dinner, so he turned his attention back to the rabbits. Taking a couple sticks he stabbed the rabbits onto them, and then stuck them over the fire to roast.




Claira watched him out of the corner of her eye, as he prepared the rabbits. She was amazed he’d been able to catch them. His wound must’ve opened up by now with the amount of excursion he was putting into her. Yet she didn't know how to ask him if she could have a look.

He may have saved her, but she felt uncertain about herself. She didn’t actually know him, after all, and she didn’t wish to make the wrong move and exasperate his patience.

She knew all the terrifying stories every other human grew up being told. He may not be a nightmare, at the moment, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t become her nightmare.

So they sat in silence. Both of them watched the fire crackle beneath the roasting rabbits. The smell tickled her nose and caused her stomach to give a loud grumble that seemed to echo through the silent air.

How long had it been since she’d last eaten? She had no idea. Since she’d encountered the rock giant, her life had become a blur. Impatience filled her, as she eyed the roasting rabbits. Claira wanted them to finish cooking quickly. Preferably, before she died of hunger.

The feeling of being watched made the hairs on her neck rise and snapped her out of her hunger. Glancing over at the rock giant she blushed.

He was scrutinizing her with those dark eyes of his, those black eyes that seemed to see straight through to her very soul.

She smiled at him shyly. It seemed to shake him, and he glanced away from her. Her smile wavered, and then fell from her face.

How could a rock giant make her feel so uncertain about herself? She had absolutely no idea how to act around him. He might be injured, but he had proven he could still be a force to reckon with.

Her thoughts turned inwards, as she felt the silence press down on her. If her fellow humans couldn't accept her, then her last hope were the rock giant people. She might be able to provide something they needed, like a healer. There was always the possibility, and she was nothing if not a dreamer.

“So…” The rock giant turned to face her, when he heard her voice. “What can I call you, because calling you ‘the rock giant’ might get confusing, if we meet up with any more of your people.”

“Kaeldar. And you?”

“Claira.” She smiled over at him. Now she knew a little more about him. It wasn’t like they were becoming fast friends, but it was a start.

The name seemed to fit him. It was hard on the tongue, just like his well-built body. Her mind shifted to thoughts about his body. Her cheeks colored, as she recalled running the wet cloth over the hard planes of his chest back in her cottage.

Never before had she thought of a patient like this. She had seen so many naked chests in her line of work, and yet his was affecting her in a most curious way. He wasn’t even a human.

Interrupting the direction of her thoughts, Kaeldar snatched the rabbits from the fire and handed her one.

Claira grimaced at the rabbit on a stick he was offering her. “I don’t know how you plan on me getting to the flesh, when the fur is too hot for me to touch.” She held up her hands. She had a few calluses, but nothing that would allow her to peel a rabbit right off the campfire.

Without a sound, he ripped off the chard fur, and he didn’t seem to mind the heat coming off the freshly cooked meal.

When he was done, she happily took it back. She was ravenous, and she wasn't going to be shy about eating in front of him. Her rock giant couldn’t keep his eyes to himself, probably thought she lacked any sort of manners.