Without further ado, she nestled in the furs by his side. He heard a chuckle, a delightful sound he wanted to hear every day of his life.
“Why are you laughing?” he asked, taking her chilled hands in his to warm them. Her feet were already imprisoned between his thighs. She wouldn’t be cold for long.
“I was thinking that it didn’t take you long to break your promise not to fuck me, Heimdallr,” she whispered.
He snorted. Indeed it had not. “If you must know, I regretted the words as soon as I uttered them.”
“Yes, apparently you did.” She chuckled again. “Well, there is another of your promises I would like you to break. Can you… Do you think you could carry on calling me Alva?” She sounded unsure of his reaction.
“Why?” She had ranted against it so many times, he was surprised she would want him to use the name.
“In truth I’ve never liked my name, which sounds so much like Ealawynne. I like it even less now.”
He felt her shiver against him and this time Sven knew it had nothing to do with cold. He started to nuzzle at her throat, offering comfort. He could not imagine what it would do to someone to know that their sister, their twin sister, had wanted them dead.
“I understand.”
“Edwin gave me a special name too when we started to see one another. He called me Wren,” she said somewhat shyly.
“Good name.” Just as good as Alva. He smiled against the skin below her ear, one of his favorite spots on her body, so warm and smooth. “You are as soft and round and cute as the little bird.” His hand came to rest on the curve of her hip. Yes. Soft and round.
Perfect.
Then he stilled, as he remembered. That day, when they had eaten snow, and she had inexplicably wanted to flee, he had just told her he had spotted a wren and the innocent statement had startled her.
“The wren,” he said, sure of himself. She had not inexplicably wanted to flee. She had just been reminded of the man she had once loved, and felt she was betraying him just by being in the forest with another man, and enjoying herself. “That’s why.”
That she understood what he meant without any more details was an answer in itself.
“Yes. I think that’s why I balked at you calling me Alva at first,” she explained. “No one had given me a special name before Edwin and I hated that you were doing the same thing as he had. I hated how it made me feel. Special, cherished again. But now, I love it, preciselybecauseit makes me feel special and cherished. So, will you please carry on calling me Alva?”
He kissed her tenderly, humbled that she should confide this with him. “I will do whatever you want me to.” He did like the idea of having a special name for her as well, a name no one else was using, of making her feel special and cherished, because she was. “And you can keep on calling me Heimdallr. Or choose any other name. As long as you do call me.”
“Always.”
His hand landed on her stomach. He couldn’t wait to see her bloom with the new life she was creating.
“I had an idea last night. If it’s ok with you, I would like to place your father’s carving on the cradle I intend to make for our child,” he said, looking at her in the eye. “I think it would be fitting. But if you preferred to keep it as is, or even place it on the door frame of the hut, like it was in your house, then it’s not?—”
“No.” She placed a hand over his cheek, eyes misting over with emotion. “Putting it on the cradle is the perfect idea. Thank you. It would mean a lot to me.”
Sven took her hand and placed a kiss on her palm. “It would mean a lot to me too. My parents will be able to meet this babe. I wish yours had been as well. But at least we can tell Osbert.” The old man was as close to a father as anyone could be.
She nodded, and a single tear escaped her eyes. “Yes, we can.”
“Now. Are you ready to go into town or is there something you want first?”
Alva smiled. Her hand snaked along his chest in a trail of fire and landed on his shaft. He instantly went hard as stone. Praise be to the gods, he had finally found the woman of his dreams.
“There’s something I want first,” she whispered in his ear.
23
“Congratulations!”
From the way Osbert’s eyes started to sparkle, Eahlswith could have sworn he was seeing her properly, like he had all those years ago, when she’d first arrived in town. A lump started to form in her throat at the memory.
“Thank you,” Sven said, gifting the old man with one of his most stunning smiles.
