Elfi watched the twoÚlfhéðnardisappear down the stairwell. Her heart soaring like a swan in flight, she latched the hidden door, concealed it with the tapestry, and faced an exhilarated Sif.
“Oh, Elfi, I can’t wait for yourfaðir’s return! I pray that he grants me my freedom. Because Bodo has asked for my hand!” Sif threw her arms around Elfi’s neck, swaying with sheer delight.
“He will, I’m sure of it. And even if he doesn’t…I will. When I become Countess of Étretat.” Elfi kissed Sif’s cheek and whispered, “Now, please help me dress and braid my hair. Because myammawill awaken very soon.”
Elfi unlocked the door connecting to the antechamber and returned to sit upon the chair at her bedside table.
Sif, unable to contain herself, squealed with unbridled joy, then hummed as she deftly plaited Elfi’s long light brown hair.
Chapter 20
Interwoven Fates
Clad in the white wolfskin cloak over his chain mailbrynjaand woolen breeches, Njörd waited for Elfi in the sacred grove. When he spotted her coming out of the cave in the woods, she flashed him a dazzling smile which set his pulse racing as she extinguished the torch and stood it upright in the ground.“Good day, elska minn.”He cast appreciative eyes over her leather armor, focusing on the snug fit of her trousers. As a surge of fire flooded his veins, he wanted nothing more than to skip the training session and go straight to the waterfall cave.
Njörd adjusted his breeches and roared with laughter. “Thor’s thunder, I want you, Elfi of Étretat. Even after last night…and this morning…I yearn for you all the time.” Like a stallion, he shook his head, tossing his long hair back while she taunted him with a sly, seductive smirk. Tamping down his raging lust, he grinned and refocused his attention. “But first, our weapons training and thedance with swords. Then, the deliciousdancein the waterfall cave…”
Aware of the ardent response which flared in her eyes, Njörd chuckled as he withdrew the dagger from the sheath at his hip and hurled it at the target attached to the beech tree. His blade thwacked as it struck the center. With a gloating grin, he strode across the clearing and withdrew the knife. When he returned to her side, challenge blazed in her shieldmaiden gaze as he handed her the dagger. “Your turn. Show me how much you’ve improved.”
A visible thrill lit up Elfi’s beautiful face. With a fierce grin, she hurled the blade as he had taught her. Although she didn’t hit the inner ring as he had done, she did embed the dagger in the target.
He trotted up to fetch the knife and gave it to her, carved wooden handle first. “Again.” He flashed her a snide grin.
She fired a dozen more times, and although her accuracy striking the center varied, she never missed hitting the target.
“You have developed impressive skill quite quickly.” Njörd complimented her progress as he returned the dagger to the leather scabbard at his waist. He gestured to Elfi’s bow, leaning against the beech tree. “And now, for archery.” Handing her the quiver of arrows and the yew wood bow, he smirked. “Impress me.”
Adrenaline seemed to spike in Elfi as she positioned herself before the target, aligning her shoulders and elbows in proper form as he had taught her.
Njörd crept up behind her, needlessly helpingher draw the bowstring back to anchor at her chin. “Lower the bow just a bit,” he whispered hotly in her ear, “and keep this elbow parallel to the ground.” As he adjusted her right arm, he pressed his hardened body against hers. With the evidence of his arousal poking her lush backside and his warm lips nuzzling the side of her neck, Elfi seemed flustered and much too distracted to concentrate.
His husky laugh obviously inflamed and irritated her when he stepped back so she could shoot.
As if determined to demonstrate her prowess, she shook her head, rolled her neck, and repositioned her body. With intense concentration blazing across her fierce but lovely face, she tautly drew the bowstring back to her chin, kept her eye on the target, and loosed the arrow. When it embedded in the center of the target, she spun triumphantly toward him, then fired the rest of the arrows from her quiver in quick succession. Although not every shot hit the inner mark, she still seemed inordinately pleased to have struck the target each time. Her widened eyes searched his face, eager for his approval.
“Vel gert! Well done,elska minn.” Njörd beamed with pride as he helped her remove the arrows from the target and place them back into the leather quiver, which he leaned against the beech tree. When he turned toward her, Njörd unsheathed his sword with a challenging grin. “Búinn?” Without waiting for her reply if she was ready or not, he lunged, forcing her to parry his strike and spin into a downward slice.
Like a graceful lynx, his shieldmaiden leapt and ducked, blocking his barrage of blows with her bossed shield. Slashing, spinning, and striking withShadowbane, she reveled in their exhilaratingdance of swords.
After nearly two hours of intense training, Elfi sheathed her blade and collapsed against him, breathless with unbridled joy and physical exhaustion. Pride and gratitude glimmered in her sea goddess eyes.
Njörd sheathed his own sword. “You are a formidable opponent,elska minn. Your brother trained you well.” He eyed her slender waist and the alluring swell of her full hips. “And his leather armor fits you like a glove.” A savage hunger flared as he ran appreciative hands over her irresistible curves. He crushed his lips against hers and groaned into her open mouth. “I must have you, Elfi. My desire is a physical pain.”
She gazed up at him, her eyes as inviting as the hidden depths of the Mermaid Cove. Lust laced her sultry whisper. “Let’s go to the waterfall cave.”
Pulse racing, body thrumming, Njörd strapped his bow across his back as Elfi secured hers. While she slung the quiver of arrows onto her shoulder and grabbed her shield, he retrieved the firesteel from the pouch at his waist and relit the torch. Holding thefyrbrandin one hand and his shield in the other, he grunted, his voice guttural and gruff. “Lead the way.”
****
The roar of the waterfall thundered behind him, the frothy spray filling the cave with mystical droplets of mist. Njörd unlaced the leather plates and helped Elfi out of her lamellar armor, which he gentlylaid upon the stone floor next to his white wolfskin cloak. While she unfastened her padded chemise, he unstrapped his sword and leaned it against the wall of the limestone grotto. He removed his chain mailbrynja,gambeson,breeches, and boots, to stand naked—his aroused body at full attention— before his siren with the sea goddess eyes.
She glowed in the ethereal light filtering through the cascade, her creamy skin translucent and tempting, her light brown hair gilded with shimmery streaks of gold. As Elfi removed thetrollkorstalisman which had been tucked beneath her armor, the glittering lapis lazuli gems reflected like the waters of the Mermaid Cove. Placing the amulet upon her quilted gambeson, she rose to her full height and stood before him like a radiant goddess.
Once again, an otherworldly, irresistible pull drew him to her, as if the Norns had woven the threads of their fate for them to mate in this waterfall cave.
He cradled her against his pounding chest, lowering his lips to claim hers. Soft and sweet, she yielded to him, opening to accept his probing tongue. Her taste drove him wild, his greedy lips devouring her as he sampled her neck and suckled her supple skin. Laying her down upon the wolfskin cloak, he parted her legs and feasted like a famished wolf.
When he entered her, Elfi wrapped her long legs around his waist, her slender arms behind his back, clenching him tightly, inside and out. He plunged into her warmth, rocking in rhythm like the waves splashing on the shore beneath the cave. As his passion crested in an inexorable peak, he sunk in and shattered, filling her depths with a pulsating plume, like the endless sea surging over the white chalk cliffs.
