Five:

"Grunthor, can I come too?" Jo begged.

He sighed. "All roight, little miss. But Oi think that its dangerous."

They were going deep into the Hidden Realm, to subdue some of the rebellious clans. Jo rode with him on his horse, and Grunthor kept one humongous arm wrapped around her. every once in a while, she would swat it away, and Grunthor would wait a bit and put it back.

These were the only times he could hold Jo. She was an actual woman, not like an angel from heaven like Rhapsody. Jo had real woman smell, a combination of sweat and spice and just a bit of stink from not bathing. But she was very real, and maybe, just maybe, he was falling in love with her.

She swatted his arm away again. He put it back.

Set in the first Rhapsody novel.