Ivar and Jan spurred their horses toward four figures that stepped onto the path. As they drew closer, they saw four bows pointed towards them.
“Lena, put your damn bow down before you shoot me. Again,” Jan griped. “I still haven’t forgiven you from when we were children.”
“I didn’t shoot you. I shot the apple.”
“That I was biting into!” Jan pulled his horse to a stop and slid from the saddle, running through the mud to embrace his sister. He tucked her under his chin and kissed her head before whispering, “Thank the gods, Lena. I couldn’t lose you. You’ve been sister and mother to me all these years, and I still need you.”
Jan stepped back and let Ivar encircle her in his arms. He lifted Lena off her feet as he smothered her words with a kiss. He ignored the others and walked into the tree line.
“He’s making that a habit,” Eindride groused before calling out, “Don’t go too far. We don’t know who or what else is out there.”
Ivar walked just far enough to give them privacy. He ran his hands over every part of Lena he could reach before cupping her jaw in his large hands and pressing a feather-soft kiss to her lips.
“Not enough,” Lena whimpered as she pressed her lips more firmly against his, demanding entry for her tongue. She swiped it against the velvet interior of his mouth as she pressed her body against his.
When they pulled back, they stepped apart. They assessed one another, each for their own reasons.
“I’m hale, Ivar. They didn’t hurt me.”
“I couldn’t do it, Lena. I couldn’t.”
“I figured that when I realized it was you. You couldn’t have made it here so quickly if you’d been with her very long.”
“I admit I--”
Lena’s hand covered his mouth.
“No. Don’t you dare tell me. I don’t want to know.”
Ivar pulled her hand away before kissing her palm.
“Let me speak. You don’t know what I was going to say. I was going to say I admit I should have tried harder for our tribe’s sake, but no matter how I tried to pretend she was you, it would never be enough to fool me into bedding another woman.”
“You were thinking of me?”
“It was the only way to make my body do anything. It wasn’t going to be up to much if I didn’t picture you. You’re the only one who has ever stirred it.”
It shocked Lena that she was about to ask for more details, but now she had to.
“How far did you get?”
Ivar shook his head before closing his eyes. He was incapable of looking at Lena as he admitted the truth.
“I kissed her, and once she removed her nightgown, I touched her breasts. I was prepared to— to kiss her elsewhere, but there was no way to ignore that she wasn’t you. I couldn’t do that. It was far too intimate. I had a sheath on, but even when the tip of my cock touched her, it was utterly all wrong. I jumped from the bed and lost everything in my belly to the chamber pot before running out. I suppose the only good thing is that I didn’t call her by your name.”
Lena absorbed what he told her. She felt ill knowing he had seen another woman naked and had nearly bedded that woman, but it was meant to have been far worse. She had prepared herself for Ivar going through with the bedding. Lena eased the breath she had not realized she was holding from her lungs. Part of her wanted to rail at him for touching Inga even a bit, but she knew she had no right, least of all because he was standing there with her and not his wife. She was now the other woman.
“Lena?”
Lena nodded but stared at the ground. Ivar tucked his finger beneath her chin and lifted it until he gazed at her face again.
“I want to be angry. I want to be jealous. And I suppose I am jealous, but I know I have no right. You are supposed to be hers now. Not mine.”
“Do you think I would be any different if the situation were reversed? I think you’re far more reasonable than I ever would be. You haven’t killed Inga. I would undoubtedly kill any man who thought to take you from me.”
“Don’t fool yourself. The thought has crossed my mind many times. Especially as I shot two men tonight.”
Ivar growled as they inevitably came around to the reason they were standing amid a forest.
