Chapter 23 #2
Bjorn flinched, then stared in her direction. His eyes got wider every passing second that neither of them said anything. But what was she supposed to say? Why did you just maim yourself? What the fuck are you doing?
She settled on the former. “Why are you hurting yourself?”
He blew out a long breath, and she was certain he was steadying himself for the argument that was about to occur. “Trolls have piercings.”
“Pierced by others, I would imagine. Not by themselves.” But no, that wasn’t her issue with it. She stalked toward him, suddenly so angry she could have spit lava. “Why are you mangling your body like that? What could possibly possess you to harm yourself like that?”
He didn’t seem bothered. He sat there in the moss, his pants still half undone but at least his cock hidden.
Still, it was distracting to see all those abs and muscles on display with his pants undone and the finest bit of hair revealed by them.
“My mother advised that I have yet to prove myself as a good husband to you.”
“That has absolutely nothing to do with... with...” She gestured to his crotch and then to his face. “Stop trying to change the subject.”
“I’m not changing the subject.”
“Is it your anger? Is self-mutilation something that soothes you?” She hoped not. Oh gods, what if that was what it was?
Astrid could feel the blood draining from her face.
Suddenly she wasn’t sure she could stand on her own if she had to think about this.
The needle played through her mind, over and over again.
The flash of metal in the sunlight, the cords of his neck in sharp contrast to his body, the pain he must have felt.
Bjorn held out a hand for her to lean on, not standing himself. “I told you all great trolls have piercings that they earn, did I not?”
She was hardly following what he was saying. If she wasn’t careful, she’d topple right onto his poor abused cock and hurt them both. “You did.”
“Husband piercings are earned as well. They are usually done before a bonding, but...” He arched a brow. “The two of us didn’t do things all that normally, I suppose.”
No, she still wasn’t following. Shaking her head, she asked, “What is a husband piercing?”
He looked pointedly down at his cock. “I think you already know the answer to that, Astrid.”
Oh.
Why?
“Why in the world would that be a husband piercing?” she asked, perhaps showing a little of her own naivete.
“Probably because troll wives love them so much.” His voice was sardonic and obviously a little amused. “I’d offer to show you why, but I think that will be impossible for a little while yet. Trolls heal fast, but not that fast.”
She must’ve looked like a fish standing there with her mouth open, but she really didn’t know what to do with this information. Trolls pierced their cocks for their wives? Nothing about that made sense to her. How would a random piece of metal in a cock feel good?
She shook her head. “You did not have to do that for me. This is dissolving anyway. We’re breaking the bond—that’s what you said."
“And in the meantime, we are still bonded, and I have not been doing my job as your husband. My mother’s advice is sound. This may be the only time in my life that I am a husband. I should give it my best effort.”
He took his hand away from her, but she wasn’t sure if she could manage to stand on her own yet. This knowledge was perhaps a revelation and one that she would need to sit with for a while. Piercings. On his cock of all places!
Her eyes kept straying to his lap, and she needed to pull them away from him. She didn’t want to see. She did not. She’d watched the whole process, and that had been more than enough considering the absolute nonsense of what he’d done to himself. He’d put a needle right through himself!
But Bjorn clearly understood what she was looking at. He grinned. “Would you like to see?”
“No,” she instantly replied.
“It is quite gruesome right now. And it will swell. If you want to see what it will look like, you should look at it now before it does.”
“No, Bjorn.”
He shrugged. “If you’re curious, I’d let you. That’s all I’m saying.”
And somehow he managed to make her want to laugh in the midst of all this madness. She caught herself looking down at his crotch yet again before becoming even more annoyed with herself. “Come on, you should get back to your mother’s and put something cold on that before it really does swell.”
“My mother doesn’t need to help. I’ll just get in the stream.”
“Infections, Bjorn.”
“Healers, Astrid.” But he took her hand when she offered it to help him stand. “I’m sure there have been plenty of young trolls doing worse things immediately after a piercing than walking into a river to help the pain.”
“I’m sure we can find something safer and better than that.” Maybe helping him stand wasn’t the smartest idea. Neither of them was very steady on their feet, but she managed to get him walking. And once he was moving, he was able to prop her up.
“This is ridiculous,” he said with a soft chuckle. “You shouldn’t be carrying me home.”
“I’m not carrying you home. You’re carrying me home.”
“We’re carrying each other, then.” The soft look on his face made her heart skitter in her chest. “Thank you, Astrid. For helping me.”
“You’re welcome. I still think it’s stupid what you did.”
She swore he muttered something under his breath like, “I wish I could show you why it’s not.” But then he was moving them forward so quickly she was having a hard time keeping up.
“Why are you in a rush?” she asked.
“Because I have a gift to show you.”
“More than just piercing your cock?”
He grinned, and it was the first time she’d seen a real smile on his face.
One that lit up his eyes and his whole features until he was almost..
. handsome. Traditionally handsome, not just handsome for a troll.
But suddenly he looked like a man she wanted to spend lots of time with, just to see him grin like that again.
“I think you’ll like this one quite well. I went through a lot of trouble for it,” he said.
Well, who was she to deny a gift?