‘Yes. You know how you said you would like to celebrate Yule?’
She nodded again, this time a bit more eagerly.
‘Well, tomorrow we will gather decorations from the forest, and start preparing for a feast. The weather is likely to turn, but if it improves, I will go out and hunt. A boar would be best, although they have been scarce this year.’
‘There is no need to go to so much trouble.’ She looked up towards the windows with concern. The shutters were rattling wildly with the wind. ‘It could be dangerous.’
Knowing that she was worried for him made him even more determined to please her.
‘I will be fine. I know this mountain and its temper better than anyone, and of course we need to celebrate!’ Runar said firmly. ‘It will be our only Yuletide together. It needs to be perfect. I made sure to bring a barrel of my mother’s mead, so it will be a good feast.’
Embla chuckled. ‘Well, as you have it all planned, I will go to bed. I am exhausted!’
She handed him her bowl for cleaning and then made her way over to the bed. Previously, when they had lived together, she would have waited for him to leave before undressing for bed. He wondered what she would do tonight, and when she hesitated with her hands on the brooches of her dress, he called out, ‘I shall join you...after I have cleaned up.’
‘Good,’ she said quietly, a blush high on her cheeks, even though she pretended to be concentrating on unlatching her brooches and beads.
His heart cheered at the small acceptance, and he rushed to gather up the dirty cooking utensils. The cauldron was already warming with water over the fire, so he grabbed it with a cloth and chucked everything inside before carrying it outside. It wasn’t long before he returned to the cabin with everything clean.
Embla jumped a little as he stamped his feet at the entrance with more force than he had intended.
‘Sorry,’ he mumbled as he kicked off his boots and set the cauldron down on the table, the bowls and spoons clattering against the metal sides.
His nerves were equally rattled, and he wondered how best to undress in front of her. Usually, he went to sleep fully clothed, and changed after his quick wash each morning. Embla always strung up a blanket for privacy, but he hoped they wouldn’t use one from now on.
He stripped off his clothing quickly, but paused at his trousers. Embla was wearing her shift and was turned away from him, her body pressed against the far wall of the cabin. She was still awake—he could tell by the tension in her shoulders. She had become hesitant last night when she had reached to unlace his waistband, which he presumed was because she was inexperienced with men.
He did not want her to be nervous or frightened of his body. There were other things they could do, and he couldn’t wait to share them with her, to fully explore all the ways he could please her. Hopefully each delicious experience would encourage her to stay.
After all, this was part of his carefully planned campaign of seduction and enticement. He wasn’t all that experienced himself, but he had spent many lonely nights thinking up all manner of ways to make love to a woman, and at least he knew now that hecouldplease her.
He smiled at her stiff shoulders. ‘Do not worry,’ he said, as he slipped into bed beside her, his trousers still on. ‘I will not touch you tonight.’
Embla flipped over in the bed to face him, her face flushed with surprise and more than a little disappointment. ‘You won’t?’
It was exactly the reaction he had hoped for.
What? Why wouldn’t he touch her tonight?
Embla had not expected that, and she was more than a little disgruntled by it. She had been waiting with increasing impatience for him to return to the cabin, her excitement and apprehension almost driving her mad.
When he had proclaimed he would be joining her in bed, she had hoped for a repeat of the previous night. But it seemed she had been wrong to make such an assumption.
Was he already done with her?
Gertrud and her mother had warned her that men did this, pursued women as if they were elusive prey, only to cast them aside with disinterest after tasting them.
And he hadn’t even fully bedded her yet!
Still, it seemed strange that he would be tired of her already.She had not imagined Runar to be so fickle... But what did she know about him, or any man for that matter?
You know enough!she reprimanded the doubt within.I may be a virgin, but I am not naive!
She knew what needed to happen to create a child. She had learned enough about birth to be aware of all aspects of a baby’s creation. Indignation added to her rancour, and she glared at him. She might be innocent, but she would not let him treat her as if she were stupid!
He shook his head, a sly smile on his face as he lay on his back and folded his arms beneath his head. ‘No, I won’t.’
She swallowed deeply when she saw his muscles flex. His chest was golden in the firelight, and only partially covered in soft furs. He didn’t have as much hair on his body as some of the men she had seen in the summer lakes of Gudvangen, and she thought she rather liked the smooth, polished look of him.
