He walked up to her, took her purse before she could react, and grabbed the phone out. Agata didn’t move, didn’t even react, just found this strange amusement as he stared at the iPhone. He turned it around, upside down, and started tapping on the screen. Music started blasting from the phone, and he promptly dropped it on the ground. She couldn’t help it. She started laughing at the sight of that He-Man suddenly taken off guard by the music. The more she watched him the more she realized he was either a very good actor, or he seriously had no idea what in the hell a cell phone or iPod was.
Tears of amusement tracked down her cheeks, and she was surprised she could find any kind of happiness in this situation. But when this dark look crossed his face and he turned to grab a hand ax from the shelf, faced the phone again, and brought the metal down on it, she sobered instantly.
She jumped as pieces of her phone crushed beneath the onslaught, and shrieked when he brought down the ax again and again until there was nothing but remnants of her phone and case on the floor. Eyes wide, mouth hanging open, and her shock filling her, she watched Stian, saw him toss the ax back on the shelf and cross his big arms over his chest like he was proud of what he’d done. He muttered something under his breath, and it sounded satisfied, like he’d just made his first kill or something.
“What the fuck,” she said to herself, lowered her gaze to the pieces of her cell, and then looked back to Stian. “You broke my expensive as hell phone.”
He huffed out, and gestured for her to come forward for her to eat. For the next twenty minutes she ate, watching him and keeping herself on alert. This man was dangerous, yet he hadn’t harmed her. He clearly wanted her, yet he hadn’t slept with her, hadn’t forced himself on her. This was a strange, screwed up situation, but she would be strong. She had to stay strong.
Chapter Six
Stian crouched in the underbrush, watching as a goat wandered around, grazing. It had clearly gotten away from the village, but no one had claimed it or searched for it as of yet. He’d take it as his own to feed his woman, make her nice and plump, because he’d be filling her with his children very soon. There was no use in waiting. He was getting older, and he’d always wanted a family, but because of his reputation, because of the brutal nature of his life, he’d never been given the chance to show a woman that he could be good to her.
Winter was fast approaching, and he wanted to have as much extra food and supplies stocked up as possible. It was always harsh and cold, but he knew this winter would be a lot warmer, and a little less lonely now that Agata was here. But it would take time for her to realize that she was truly his, that he’d always ensure that she stayed his. She knew nothing of him, of his world, and whether she was dropped down on this world by the gods themselves made no difference. He’d found her, would claim her, and he’d make her see that this was her home now.
He drew his bow back, aimed it at the goat, and in a fluid motion released the arrow. It landed in the side of the animal¸ a clean shot that had it dropping instantly. Stian slowly rose from his position, moved over to the lifeless creature, and just as he was about to lift the animal and put it over his shoulder to carry back home, the sound of a twig snapping far too close to him had him on alert and spinning around.
He now had his ax in hand, his gaze scanning the area, yet he didn’t catch any movement. Another snap, this one from the opposite direction he’d first heard it from. He spun and looked behind him, swept the perimeter of the forest with his gaze, and knew that although he couldn’t see what was out there, something watched him, waited. It was that tightening in his neck, that rush of adrenaline, and the feeling that eyes were on him.
“At ease, warrior.” The female voice came from behind him, and he turned and saw an elderly woman looking up at him. She was clearly blind given the milky color to her eyes and the scars that lined them.
He kept his ax ready though, because despite the fact she was an elderly woman, there was this power that came from her. Perhaps she was a seer, a person that could see the future of others?
“Who are you?” he said and scanned the woods behind her, and to the sides, making sure she was alone.
“I’m but an old woman.”
He doubted that. Stian had this feeling she was much more. It was a tingling in his body, a tightening of his skin. It was an instinct he went with to stay alive, and it had served him well.
“You’ve been out here alone for many moons, have you not, Stian?”
The fact she knew his name was surprising, especially since he knew she wasn’t from the village. He’d grown up around those people until he’d come into adulthood. He knew all the elders, and she was not one of them.