While Gerda was reading her notification tabs, Julian was reading Gerda.

The world was lucky that she wasn't more selfish. Even just asking to borrow his locket had left the otherwise confident troll in an awkward flush.

She was still holding his fathers mantle and scepter. If each item granted a +3 attribute bonus alone, he couldn’t imagine how powerful the set would be all together.

People had fought wars over less powerful treasures.

But she didn’t seem to care about them other than for the purposes of completing her quest.

“Finally.” She breathed softly, the word a whisper. Gerda refocused on him. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He waited for her to hand him back his scepter, and considered how much he should offer for the mantle. If for no other reason than it would make his sister happy to see it returned.

Gerda didn’t move. She actually pulled the articles close to her and levelled me a very scrutinizing stare. Her eyes swept over my shoulders, chest and settled on my thighs.

It riled me up as much as it worried me.

“Your Grace…” She began.

“Julian.” He cut her off.

“Julian?” She shot him a questioning look.

He raised an eyebrow in challenge. She accepted with an amused smile. “Alright, Julian, I was wondering…”

“Yes?” Gods, his name sounded so good on her lips. Again, he wanted to kiss her. Not that the urge ever went away.

“How do you feel about an equipment upgrade?”

She dropped the entire set. The items were too big to fit on the table, so she summoned them beside the corner table leg between them.

The plate armor was on its side, a shield leaning up against it and a sword jutting from the arm hole. An ornate crown circlet of woven orichalcum hung haphazardly on the sword guard.

“The set grants a +5 in all attributes.” She explained, sticking out her hands with the proffered scepter and mantle.

Julian couldn’t help himself. He started laughing.

“Gerda,” This was the second time he’d said her name without honorifics, and he wanted to say it again. That would sound weird, so he resisted. “You can’t just gift me the most powerful suit set on the continent.”

“Of course I can. I’m Madame Potts.” She looked down her nose at Julian haughtily, like he was the one being unreasonable.

“At least let me pay for it.” Julian insisted, not taking the items.

“I don’t want or need for gold,” She told him. “And you’re going to be in charge of keeping me safe on our journey north. The scepter and mantle already belong to your family. You should have the rest.”

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“There’s nothing you want?” He asked, delaying until he could think up a suitable argument to change her mind. In the council room, she’d accepted fines for literally reaching out and saving people, it hadn’t sat right with him them. He was angry on her behalf and disapproved of her giving so much without expecting anything in return.

Then her gaze dropped to his lips. “Well… there is one thing.”

He froze. Her half-lidded eyes made his heart pound in his chest and he held his breath, his imagination running wild. His whole body tightened. After days of carefully walking a line, he couldn’t believe she was going to take the first step.

“Go on.” His voice dropped low in anticipation. The need to hear her say that she wanted him was so strong it near drove him to his knees. But he waited.

“I…” She blinked twice in rapid succession and the moment was gone. Gerda looked away and drew a haggard breath. “Actually, I…I’m fine. There’s nothing. Take it.”

Julian felt like he’d been whipped. He didn’t know if his own lust was clouding his judgement or if she was deliberately seducing him and then running away. This was a thousand times worse than her playful teasing; he felt like he was being cut loose after walking on the edge of a cliff for days. And he fell hard.

He’d reached the end of his control.

“Then let me tell you what I want.” He took the items out of her hands and tossed them to the side. “More than this suit, and more than my father’s scepter.”

She leaned back, surprised at his sudden intensity, her hands retreating. Julian had to fight to soften the words as he gave in to his ardent frustration and infatuation with the troll.

“I want you to admit that there’s something between us. That I’m not the only one feeling this way.” Her beautiful brown eyes went wide as Julian stood. He leaned down over the table corner's edge and scooped up one of her long braids of dark green hair, lifting it to his lips. “Tell me that you want me to kiss you senseless.”

“I–” Her words caught as she stared at his fingers playing with her hair.

“Tell me that you can’t stop thinking about me; because I haven’t stopped thinking about you since the night we met, and it’s taking every last ounce of my restraint to pretend otherwise.”

“But–”

“I want you.” The words terrified him but he pushed forward. Before he heard her rejection, he needed to say everything so there would be no confusion on her part. He confessed, “I won’t last one more day without breaking under the weight of this all consuming distraction that is you, Gerda. I want you.”

Gerda pushed her chair back, and her braid slipped from his fingertips. He let it go and stood up straight again, giving her space.

“Are you done?” The bridge troll looked up at him, a war of emotions flitting across her face. He’d always prided himself on reading her expressions. There was frustration, excitement and longing… and fear.

It was like an ocean smothering the small flame in his chest.

Her previous partner, as Julian understood, had been a monster. A troll, yes, but Julian wasn’t speaking to his monster race. The casual way she’d spoken about her ex-husband’s abuse made him physically ill.

“Yes.” He forced himself to take another physical step back. To will his face into a calm and unthreatening mask that covered the roiling churn in his stomach.

She stood up. The suit set vanished into her inventory as she walked around the table to face him. The bridge troll stopped only inches away, her shoulders set and her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

Gerda lifted one finger and pushed Julian. For the barest moment, he resisted, but then let her shove him backwards.

He teleported, the room shifting around him. His leg hit her bed unexpectedly, and he fell backwards onto the coverlet.

“If you want me.” Gerda was standing between his legs at the edge of the bed and looking down at Julian. The finger she’d used to push him over lowered and delicately traced up his thigh. “Prove it.”