Shared Between Them by Korey Mae Johnson Read Free Book Online

dazedly off their faces, and then continued to gawk. No wonder giants got bigger when they took treasure—they were made of it .
    “It like… It’s like one of those toys at children’s parties. Only full of gold rather than candy,” Draevan said, moving closer.
    Taric pursed his lips at the description. “Yeah, Draevan,” Taric said sarcastically. “Just like that.” He rolled his eyes until something caught his eye. He kicked the thick giant’s blood away from the ground with the heel of his boot and saw a sharp, golden edge peer through the red. He reached down and, heaving, was able to pick it up.
    It was a giant, round shield. Diamonds radiated from it, glittering through the red stain.
    Draevan turned. “Is that what I think it is?”
    “The elven king’s shield?” Taric replied, looking at it. “The giant was wearing it as a necklace.” He smirked. “We have our gold, Cousin, we have our shield, and we already have an elven wife with hair like mountain snow and tits like pillows.” He wiped his blood-stained face on his sleeve again. “Could this day get any better?”
    “Yeah,” Draevan grumbled. “To actually have her there when we get back to camp.”
    “Something tells me she’ll be there,” Taric said, unable to think about relinquishing this feeling of completeness he felt. “Come on, let’s head back. We can get some dwarves out here to get the gold and tell the elves this eve.”
    “She’d better be,” Draevan grumbled. “Because I do not want this moment spoiled.”
    Taric laughed and patted Draevan on the back. “Don’t be so full of doubt.”
     
    * * *
     
    “The lying whore !” Draevan snapped, wiping the blood out of his eyes as he came to the campsite and realized that not only was the elf gone, but so was his horse. He had never been so upset in his life.
    He was going to marry her, for gods’ sakes! And she just left. No note, no message, no nothing. She hadn't even wanted to give them farewell kisses… Which he was far less than surprised by, but more horrifically impressive was how well she was able to look straight into their faces and lie.
    He threw down his war hammer and turned to Taric to accuse him of being at fault.
    Taric's mouth was pressed together so tightly that his lips were turning white. When Draevan opened his mouth to begin blaming him for this current trouble, Taric waved him away, snapping, “I don't want to hear it!”
    Draevan clenched his jaw, crossed his massive arms across his chest, and glared at his cousin as darkly as possible. He was not only angry with Taric for losing their girl, but also at himself for letting Taric override him.
    They had a lot to discuss before they shared a wife, apparently, or else they wouldn't have one at all! “I can feel your look,” Taric hissed, waving Draevan away.
    “We could have been filling her with our child this very night, Draevan. She could have given birth nine months from today the future hero of the North, but no . No, you just had to run your little experiment!” Draevan yelled. “You can't have realistically thought that our prisoner would just sit on her hands and wait for us to come back!”
    “We had to try to trust her,” Taric said, but didn't back up his statement with the reason why this level of trust was so important. In the past, when they'd heard that trust was so important in a relationship, Draevan remembered that the advice was normally directed at the wife rather than the husband.
    “Damn little thing's invisible, Taric! She's as light on her feet as a dove! We couldn't find her yesterday, and we're not going to find her today! We won't be able to find her until she wants to be found! You damn fool! Next time I suggest we tie a girl up, we’re tying her up!”
    Taric was always skilled at optimism, so it wasn't too surprising that he was trying to cover up his judgmental snafu now. “It's not like we don't have other options,” he said. “We killed the giant, now