“Yes. Yes and yes! I’ll marry you, Torsten.”
The kiss that followed was the best answer she could have given him, hot, passionate, full of pent-up need and love. Soon, however, it became obvious that she intended to give him much more than a kiss. Which forced him to address the issue he knew he could not avoid. He stilled.
“I… Aife, wait.”
Sensing his anguish, she drew back. “What is it?”
This would be painful, but it had to be done. He placed his forehead against hers, putting his fate wholly into her hands.
“I’ve only just regained the use of my legs.”
“Yes. Thank the gods you have.”
He swallowed, for she didn’t seem to want to see what he was getting at. But he could not help but fear his body would no longer be able to function like it had before. And even if it did… There were still no guarantees he would be able to bed her. He knew only too well that he’d had problems following through on the desire he felt for a woman. What if it happened with Aife, too, despite his very real desire, his love for her? What if, by marrying her, he was condemning her to a life of frustration? He would never forgive himself.
“What I’m trying to say is… Would you rather we tried to sleep together now, before we got married, to see what happens? In case I-I could not give you what a husband?—”
“No,” she instantly cut in. “I trust you. I want to be with you, no matter what you can or can’t do. I want to be your wife. You love me, and you know I love you. We will not ‘try’ to sleep together when you’re ready, wewillsleep together. Everything will be fine between us, I know it. I already know of one way to bring you pleasure, I’m certain there are plenty others we can explore together.” She took a step back, determination etched on her face, love shining in her eyes. “In fact, I refuse to sleep with you until we are wed.”
“What?” he spluttered. This was not what he’d expected to hear moments after she’d given him the most scandalous kiss of his life. Not what he wanted to hear.
He’d just been telling her the opposite, that they should try to sleep togethernow, damn it all. He was ready for it.
“You heard me. If you really want me—and I think you do,” she added, nodding at his groin meaningfully, “you will have to marry me first. You will have to be brave enough to accept that what you can give me is exactly what I need.”
Torsten’s chest squeezed at this proof of love and trust he’d desperately needed to hear, and in truth, he believed her claim that everything would be all right. He felt an all-consuming desire for her, and his body had responded as it should to their kiss. Right now he was hard as iron. Still, that was not the same as actual possession, he knew that all too well. Unfortunately, he could not be sure his body would cooperate once it was time to plunge inside her, but he would make damn well sure it tried his hardest.
“Let’s get married tomorrow then,” he said, drawing her back into his arms.
“So soon?” Aife giggled but she didn’t refuse. “It’s not even Friday.”
“I’m sure Frigg won’t mind.”
Being the goddess of marriage, surely all Odin’s wife was interested in seeing was that two people who were in love did get married? Thewhendid not matter. He knew she would not begrudge them this breach with tradition. Tightening his hold on Aife, he gave her another kiss, just as hot and passionate as the one he’d interrupted earlier. She responded in kind, moaning into his mouth, sending shivers all the way up to his scalp and down to his toes. By the time they drew back, he didn’t have any doubt whatsoever that when the time came to make her his, he would rise to the challenge.
“Tomorrow will be perfect,” he rasped against her lips. “You haven’t forgotten what day it is?”
“What d-day?”
Well, apparently she had. He smiled. His kiss had thoroughly undone her. Good. That was what he wanted.
“It’s Michaelmas. I cannot think of a better day for us to get married considering it already is our special day.”
“The day you first touched me.” She grabbed his little finger, in the way she would have done all those years ago. “This time you will touch all of me.”
Yes. Every delicious inch.
“Even if it was not our special day tomorrow, I would still marry you, because I don’t think I’m going to be able to wait until much longer to have you,” he said, rubbing his groin against her, making her feel how ready he was for her.
She ground back like the temptress she was. “Yes, I can feel that.”
“Yes. So, the sooner the better. Unless you’d rather wait because you want to give your cousin Edita time to come to our wedding?” he added in a whisper.
“Mm, that’s an idea,” she answered in the same breathy tone.
“Well, too bad, I’m not waiting for her. She will just have to be told about it in a letter and think what she wants. Besides, Wulfric might not want to let his wife back into a village of ‘simply too incredible to be believed’ Norsemen, for which I don’t blame him.”
“No. Me neither.” Aife let out the throaty laugh that shot straight to his cock. No, with this woman, he didn’t think he would find it a problem performing in bed. “In any case, the only person I would like to attend my wedding, apart from the family who lives here, is my sister. But it would take months to wait for Hedda. So tomorrow is just perfect.”
