Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

T he first thing I did in the morning was slap the palm of my hand over my mouth in a desperate but poor attempt to stop myself from throwing up.

“Astrid?” Viktor called out to me in a groggy voice, but I couldn’t answer him with a mouthful of bile.

Throwing off the blanket, I rushed out of bed and headed for the door. Before I could make it, Viktor curled an arm around my waist, forced me to sit on the edge of the bed and held up a bucket.

My throat burned as I emptied the contents of my stomach into the bucket, including the liquid poison I had unknowingly consumed yesterday.

“Viktor,” I groaned, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “Please leave.”

“I’m not going anywhere, my siren,” Viktor murmured from behind me, holding the bucket with one hand and my hair at the base of my neck with the other, keeping it out of the crossfire.

“I don’t want you to see me like this.” I pushed my face further into the bucket when my stomach lurched again.

I would have never accepted the drink if I knew it was spiked.

“We’re married, Astrid,” he whispered, smoothing a hand down my back–calming me. “That means we’re there for each other in good times and bad.”

“But this is embarrassing,” I whined.

“That’s what you’ll be saying when you see me drunk,” he chuckled but was quick to quieten down when I heaved and threw up some more.

When my stomach finally felt settled, I pushed the bucket away.

“I think I’m done,” I exhaled deeply. My throat still burned, but my stomach didn’t feel like it would turn inside out anymore, so that was something.

When Viktor handed me a napkin and removed the sick bucket, I thanked him.

“You don’t have to thank me for anything, Astrid,” he whispered, kissing my cheek. “I’m just fulfilling my duties as a husband. Now, get back into bed. You need to rest.”

I allowed Viktor to push me back and cover me with the blanket, tucking me into bed like a child.

“Where are you going?” I asked, watching as he moved toward the door.

“I’m going to get rid of this and bring back something to settle your stomach,” he said, slipping out of the room.

My eyes closed briefly. I didn’t know how long had passed since I opened them again, but when I turned my head, I saw they had landed on a very concerned Viktor.

“How do you feel?”

“Not great,” I frowned and turned to snuggle into his side, craving his warmth. My husband threw his arm over my body and pulled me closer, curling his body around mine. “How long was I asleep?”

“No longer than ten minutes. You were asleep when I returned.” He reached for something behind him. “You need to sit up and get this down you, my siren.”

“What is it?” I asked, staring at the glass of clear liquid he held up for me. “Water?”

“No.” Viktor shook his head and helped me sit up. “It’s Garth’s special hangover cure. Drink it and take a nap. I guarantee it’ll make you feel as good as new when you wake up.”

Desperate to rid myself of the pounding headache that felt like it was splitting my skull in two, I gulped down the drink quickly.

Viktor laughed. “Pace yourself, my siren.”

Taking heed of his words, I sipped the rest of the concoction and let him take the glass from me when I finished it.

“Are you sleepy?” He whispered as we settled back in the bed.

“Kind of,” I whispered back, my eyes closing as I pressed my face into his chest. I don’t know how I had ever managed to fall asleep before marrying Viktor. Now, it felt like I couldn’t fall asleep without his arms wrapped around me like this. “Don’t you need to get to the top deck and do some Captain things?”

“ Captain things? ” He was amused. “They’ll manage fine without me for a while. I’ll stay here with you until you fall asleep.”

“Thank you,” I exhaled in relief. Right now, I wanted nothing more than to be held by my husband until I fell asleep.

“I’d do anything for you, my siren.” He brushed his lips against my forehead in a soft, featherlight kiss. “I should tell you about last night.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “Please tell me I didn’t embarrass myself.”

“Nothing embarrassing,” he chuckled. “It was more… interesting .”

“Interesting? How so?” I held my breath, afraid that I had spilt the beans on the conversation I had with the women from Isle yesterday. While none of it was bad, it was embarrassing to admit to my husband. Especially when the women of Isle were right. I was inexperienced.

His grin was laced with amusement. “Like how you want me to ravish you like an animal and don’t understand why those women don’t enjoy it when their husbands do the same,” Viktor chuckled, and as if he knew that I would try to squirm my way out of his arms, he tightened his hold around my waist and pressed his upper body against mine, trapping me underneath him. “I appreciate you being honest with me, my siren, but we’re still going to wait. Only until you’re ready,” he said in a rough, husky voice, staring at me with dark eyes. “And when you are, I’m going to love you and ravish you until you beg me to stop.”

“Why would I ever want you to stop?” I asked in an airy voice, my eyes locked on his. There was something so enchanting about my husband, something so wickedly handsome and irresistible.

“You won’t because I’ll do things right, my siren. So right ,” he groaned and brushed his lips against mine. “And don’t pay too much attention to what those women have to say. They’re all old and bitter and live differently than we do in Jorvik, but I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that.”

I nodded, yes, but my mind lingered on his promise to ravage me as soon as I was ready. Oh, how I wished that could happen now.

As if he could sense my trail of thought, Viktor’s lips curled up at the corners. He brushed a stray, offending dark strand of hair away from my face before lowering his to mine. I was just glad the hangover cure left a minty taste in my mouth, making it feel clean, or I never would have allowed him to kiss me so soon after throwing up.

“You’ll never end up like any of those women, my siren.” He pressed the words into my mouth, forcing them deeper with his wet tongue, stroking mine sensually. “I’ll never stop loving you. And I’ll never leave you for many months like they do to their wives.”

“What does that mean?” I asked, the words coming out in a breathy moan.

“Either I have to cut back on the missions, or you’ll have to get good at swimming. It doesn’t matter which one. As long as we’re together, that’s all that matters.”

“We should devise a rule,” I murmured, tapping my chin thoughtfully.

“What kind of rule?”

“If it’s less than a month, you can go alone. Anything longer than a month, I’m coming with you.”

“That’s a good idea, but even a month without you sounds impossible, my siren. Maybe we can negotiate it down to two weeks.” His lips turned down in a slight frown. “But it’s a good rule.”

“Of course it is. It was my idea.”

When a knock sounded on the door, Viktor quickly rolled out of bed to open it.

“Who is it?” I asked.

“Breakfast,” Viktor grinned and turned around to present the food tray the Caspian had been kind enough to drop off to us. The tray had a few slices of bread, one big bowl of soup and a small plate of some of the fruit we had picked from Isle.

“I’m never going to drink again,” I groaned when I moved to sit up in bed, and it felt like the whole world was spinning. Viktor helped me up and lay the tray over my thighs.

“Never say never,” Viktor chuckled and held up a slice of bread dipped in soup to my mouth. “Next time you want a drink, I’ll get you something a little sweeter and not as strong.”

I kissed his hand in thanks and accepted the bread he fed me. “You don’t have to feed me, pirate. I’m not that sick.”

“I want to,” he told me with a soft smile, and I couldn’t bring myself to say no to him.

After Viktor fed us both until there wasn’t a single crumb left on the tray, he held me in his arms and whispered sweet nothings in my ear until I fell asleep.

When I awoke later, sometime in the afternoon, I felt much better. I guess Garth’s hangover cure really did work. However, that didn’t stop the big wave of embarrassment from nearly drowning me.

I was spewing out the contents of my stomach after one measly drink while he held up the bucket and held back my hair.

What must my husband think of me?