Ragnar and Lila walked in heavy silence toward the river, the morning air still cool against their skin.
The trees thinned, and the sound of running water grew louder, steady, like a heartbeat.
Lila stopped at the edge without a word. She peeled off her torn tunic and leggings, letting them drop to the moss.
Naked, she turned to him, chin high, eyes daring him to look away.
After what he'd done back at the Valos field, standing between her and those spears, she figured he'd earned at least this much honesty.
Ragnar swallowed hard. He stripped too, faster than he meant to, heat crawling up his neck.
Her body was all hard lines and soft curves: thick thighs that could crush bone, heavy breasts that rose and fell with each breath.
He forced his gaze up to her face before it lingered too long.
They waded in opposite directions, their backs to each other, the cold current biting their calves.
Water swirled around them as they scrubbed dirt and dried blood from their skin.
