Eyja walked in through the door, her baby daughter in her arms. Her eyes were gleaming. At least Torsten didn’t have to worry about her reaction. She was clearly delighted by this turn of events.
“You were there all along?” he asked, amused. Trust her not to intervene, even when she heard how irate her husband was getting.
“Yes, I was feeding Frida outside the window.” With a smile, she handed the baby to Moon and then fell into his arms before reaching out to Aife for another hug. “I’m so happy for you both. Don’t worry about Halfdan, he will soon come to see reason, if he hasn’t already.” She always called her husband by his real name when she disapproved of something he did, which, admittedly, was not very often. “There is no stopping two people in love.”
Indeed there wasn’t. “Thank you, sister.”
“When is the wedding?”
Torsten smiled at this, for he had not mentioned any wedding yet but he knew Eyja would already be making plans. Moon inhaled sharply, but with the baby pressed against his chest, he did not dare let out the growl evidently building in his chest.
“As soon as possible,” he answered, nodding at his friend. Would this proof that he was serious help appease him? Perhaps. “We’ll go see your parents now, ask their blessing and tomorrow, we’ll be married.”
“Perfect.” His sister beamed. “We’ll all be there.”
17
Aife woke up with her back nestled against Torsten’s chest, bathing in his warmth. To know this was the way they would wake up every morning for the rest of their lives was enough to make her smile, even though she had yet to open her eyes.
“Good morning,” he rumbled, tightening his hold over her. How had he known she was awake?
“Mm. It certainly is a good morning, for today we are going to get married,” she answered, anticipation flooding through her.
“Yes.” There was a wealth of joy, possessiveness, and impatience in this one word.
Opening her eyes at last, she turned to face him. He looked mighty fine this morning, with his gorgeous hair loose on her pillow. Unable to resist, before going to bed, she had unbraided it and used her new comb on him.
“Why are you smiling?” she asked, when his lips stretched into a lazy grin.
“When I lay on my pallet these last few days, I swore I would never again in my life linger in bed longer than necessary. Andyet here I am, thinking that I would like nothing more than to remain here all day, snuggling in your warmth.”
She laughed. Indeed she could well believe that after what he’d endured, the bed was the last place he wanted to be in, but circumstances had changed. “No doubt you made this promise because you were thinking you would be lying down alone,” she purred, placing a hand on his naked chest. “But you will never be alone in bed again.”
“No. I’ll be with my wife.”
Deep inside her.
The thought tore through Aife and a blaze of lust scorched her insides.
Though she couldn’t wait to become his wife, it took all her inner strength to leave the bed and get dressed. She’d told Torsten she would marry him before she bedded him, and she would hold on to that promise however much it cost her. He needed to know she loved and accepted him as he was, and trusted him to be the husband she knew he would be. For that, she would have to resist until after they were married to make him hers. Mercifully, it wouldn’t be long, less than a day.
Tonight they would discover how much pleasure men and women could give one another.
Outside, the wind had mercifully stopped blowing. Aife could hear that the preparations were already underway. Everything would be perfect, even at such short notice, since the villagers had spent the last few days getting ready for the end-of-harvest celebrations. Lost to her anguish while she waited for news of Torsten, she had failed to remember the day was approaching. But he was right, what better day to celebrate their union than the day they had both been born? Their parents had agreed it was a good omen, and not being the most organized person, Aife was grateful she didn’t have to worry about anything. All she hadto do was get dressed in her best dress and be at the big boulder when the sun reached its zenith.
This much she could certainly do.
“I’ll go and get ready in my hut,” Torsten told her, placing a swift kiss on her lips.
They had, of a common accord, decided to ignore tradition and spend the night in each other’s arms even if, as promised, they had not done more than kiss and nestle in each other’s warmth. She had also taken the opportunity to tell him about the meeting with the Normans in town the other day. At first she had been unsure whether it was the right thing to do, but Torsten deserved to know that their attackers had been punished and Hugues was dead. There would be no secret in their marriage.
“How could my father place you in danger thus?” Torsten growled, running his hands all over her body as if to ascertain that she wasn’t hurt. “This could have ended up badly.”
“Perhaps. But it didn’t. Nothing happened to me.” Seeing that he was already upset, she kept to herself Girard and Enguerrand’s vile words. “Wolf agreed it was the best way, even if he didn’t like it. I knew I could trust him to protect me. And thanks to our stratagem, the men have been punished, and Ranulf stopped. That is what matters.”
Wolf had confirmed to her only the day before that the Saxon who thought he could harass the Norse people would not be able to hurt anyone ever again. When she’d asked what he meant, he’d explained what had transpired the day he and the reeve had gone to talk to Ranulf.
“As could have been predicted, he feigned ignorance when we asked him questions about his clan. Far from being cowed, he drew a dagger out and started to threaten the reeve. I had to intervene for he might well have killed the man otherwise. I tried to stop him without killing him, for we still had questions to ask, but it proved impossible. He would never have ceased until he’dkilled me, and I had no intention of indulging him. And so he’s dead,” he’d concluded, his face grim. “With him gone, hopefully his clan of pathetic weaklings will see that there is nothing to be gained from persecuting us.”
