Chapter Twenty

G aliena slit her eyes open in the early hours of the morning as dim light was just beginning to creep through the slats of the shutter covering a narrow window. She vaguely remembered Red leaving her alone to wash, and then she'd climbed under the blankets of the bed. She must have fallen asleep immediately because she didn't remember anything more after that.

It was only when she'd lifted her head to look around the room that she realized she had been lying on Red's chest with an arm draped over his stomach—which was still clothed, much to her relief. Further inspection revealed that she was in the chemise she'd put on the night before and was wrapped in a blanket. Red wore a clean linen shirt and braies. He was lying on top of the bedding, his booted feet hanging off the end of the bed, covered only by a fur thrown over their legs.

"Oh, saints above," she whispered to herself when she realized that she had one of her legs crossed over his. The blanket wrapped around her, and Red's clothing, provided a barrier between their bodies, but that did little to lessen her embarrassment at the familiar way they were lying together.

"You're awake." Galiena felt the vibration of his chest against hers as he spoke, his voice gravelly with sleep.

"Yes," she said hesitantly, trying to gather her thoughts. Despite the warmth radiating from his body, she decided the seemly thing to do would be to roll away from him. Which she tried to do but was immediately thwarted by the weight of his forearm wrapped around her back. She let out a sigh and squeezed her eyes shut at the realization that she must have wedged her way into the crook of his arm and draped herself over him in her sleep. It was the way she and Adam had often slept. She waited for the searing loss of her husband to scald her as always, but instead, she only felt the comforting warmth of the Viking's body next to hers. Then she cleared her throat and turned her head to face him.

She had every intention of letting him know that she did not think it wise for them to continue to behave as though they were a married couple when they were not, but all the thoughts in her mind flew away like so many sparrows. His head was resting on his folded arm, and he was looking at her through hooded eyes. The sleeve of his shirt was pushed up almost to his shoulder, putting his muscular bicep and forearm on full display. She couldn't seem to tear her gaze away from the bunching muscles or the smattering of dark red hair visible where his arm tapered toward his wrist. She swallowed hard and forced herself to look up and away from his very appealing and very masculine form, only to be greeted by the cocky tilt of his lopsided grin.

"Take your time, kitten," he said with an arrogant drawl. "I like the way you look at me."

Protesting was futile as she knew she had not been in the least bit subtle. In fact, she probably looked like a fox drooling over a tasty rabbit, the way she had slowly perused the length of his arm from his chest to his wrist. "Don't make too much of it, Viking. I was just taken aback to find you in my bed."

She would have argued that she had a reputation to protect, but most people in Oswestry hardly noticed her existence. She had no relatives or acquaintances beyond Anora and Frode to judge her actions, and by the way they'd readied her for the journey and practically pushed her out the door and onto Red's horse, she suspected they were dabbling in matchmaking. Especially since Red had already announced they were married, even without a vow spoken between them or the blessing of a priest.

Now, he reached for a pewter cup resting on the table beside the bed and offered it to her. "Wine to wet your throat?"

She took the cup from his hand, taking a sip before handing it back to him. It quenched her thirst and moistened her dried throat almost better than a mouthful of stale water. He watched her as he brought it to his lips, and swallowed a mouthful, then set the cup back on the table and repositioned his hand behind his head with a smug smile and a satisfied exhale. He tipped an eyebrow at her.

"If you want me to leave, tell me now," he said in a low voice that sent shivers down Galiena's spine.

"And would you go if I asked?"

"I'd walk through fire on the way out the door if you asked me to."

She believed him. It was a powerful feeling knowing this huge man was willing to let her be in control whenever they were alone. "If I kissed you and then asked you to go, would you?"

His gaze was locked on hers as he nodded, the blue of his eyes dark in the dim morning light. "It would be a pain worse than the flames of hell, but I would—and will—do it without hesitation if you ask."

"And if I ask you to stay?" She couldn't stop the smile that curved her lips when she saw his throat bob, the hair in his trimmed beard rippling as he clenched his jaw.

"Then I will do it. And anything else you ask of me."

Her mouth went dry at his response, and she licked her lips, not realizing exactly what she had done until she saw his eyes widen as though seeing a feast.

"Ask me," he said hoarsely.

"Ask you what, Red?" she teased, knowing well what he meant.

"Ask me to stay and ask me to kiss you."

"Will you stay?" she asked, her voice soft and coaxing, bolstered by the confidence of knowing he wanted the same thing she did.

"Aye," he said gruffly, pulling his hand from behind his head so that he could wrap it around her neck. He caressed her neck with his thumb in slow circles while his other hand slid up her back.

"Kiss me, Red."

His mouth was on hers before she could even take a breath. She wriggled her body higher on his chest to get closer to him, his low growl of satisfaction vibrating through her as she gently rubbed her tongue against his, tasting the sweetness of the wine as she explored.

The blanket wrapped around her suddenly felt too confining, the layers separating them too much. Lifting her head, she looked down at him, the passion in the depths of his gaze vivid and his breathing as labored as hers.

"Are you asking me to stop?" His hand was rubbing a slow, soothing track up and down her spine.

She shook her head. "No."

"What do you want, Galiena?"

"I want…" she paused. If she said what she wanted from him, everything would change—at least for her it would change—and there was no going back from it. She had been worried that what she was feeling for Red wasn't real, that her craving for intimacy had more to do with being alone for so many years than with the man looking at her now with an intensity that took her breath away. And her doubts.

Red had helped her regain her confidence by trusting her when she ran into his arms in the street, by not questioning her ability to make the journey, by bolstering her courage when she didn't feel brave, by believing she was as capable as the king's scribes to break the code.

By making her feel not so alone.

By making her feel alive, again.

By making her feel safe. And feel she was home.

He smoothed his hand over her hair. "Whatever you want, it's yours."

"I want you." The slow smile that spread across his face felt like the sun shining down on her after a long storm. "All of you."

A peal of laughter escaped her lips when he flipped her onto her back suddenly and unexpectedly. He nuzzled her neck, nipped the sensitive skin of her earlobe, then took her mouth in a long, slow kiss that made her head spin. When he pulled away to look down at her, she felt dizzy, like she'd drunk too much wine.

"Do you know what you are asking?"

She nodded her head, then lifted her hands to cup his face, his beard soft against her palms. "I want you to touch me, Red. I want to feel your skin against mine. I want all of you."

He kept his gaze locked with hers as he pushed himself off the bed to stand, then held his hand out for her to take, which she did without hesitation. When she was standing next to him, he gently pulled her closer to him. Galiena could feel the heat from his ragged breaths as he brushed the back of his fingers over her cheek and down her neck. He was moving excruciatingly slow, his touch reverent. When he reached the top of her chemise, he caught one of the ribbons at her neck in his fingers, tugging until the bow came undone, then hooked the ribbons where they remained crossed, dragging his hand down until they hung loose.

She shivered when he traced the line of her collarbone as he pushed the chemise aside, baring her shoulder. His lips followed, warming her as he pressed molten kisses from the base of her throat to the top of her arm. He set his hands on her waist, bunching the linen in his hands until the hem of her shift was at her hips, and then he lifted it over her head, baring her completely.

"You're beautiful."

Her apprehension disappeared at his whispered words, spoken with so much awe. Feeling emboldened, she slid her hands under his shirt, pushing the material up as her fingers skimmed over the hard plane of his stomach to the wide expanse of his chest. He reached over his shoulder to grab the back of his shirt and pulled it over his head in one smooth movement, then slid his arms from the sleeves and let it drop to the floor. Her throat hitched at the sight of his muscles bunching and rippling as he moved. A patch of hair covered his chest, tapering down to his stomach and she reveled in the feel of it under her fingertips, gloriously coarse and crinkly. Knicks and scars were scattered across his torso, tokens of his life as a warrior.

Not the body of a farmer.

She closed her eyes for a long moment, banishing the guilt that tried to worm its way into her heart. She would not compare this man to the other. And though she would never forget Adam, now was not the time for memories.

When she opened her eyes again, Red was standing still, his expression relaxed as though he was patiently waiting for her to come back to him. She gave him a reassuring smile. "I want to see all of you."

He obliged, first slipping the dagger from his boot, and tossing it onto his discarded shirt on the floor before kicking off one boot and then the other. She pulled the binding from the end of her braid as she watched him untie his braies, and she shook out her hair until it floated in loose waves over her shoulders, watching as he pushed the braies down his narrow hips and stood naked before her. Her breath caught. His body was magnificent, every part of him exuding strength and power.

" You are beautiful," she whispered in awe.

He closed the short distance between them, wrapping his arms around her waist as he pressed her to his chest and picked her up. She draped her arms and legs around him as he lifted her, the steely thickness of his cock pressing against her core, sending heat spiraling through her as her entire being began to pulse in anticipation of the dance that was as old as time.

He covered her body with his own as he set her down on the bed, bracing his weight on his elbows. She arched up against him, loving the feel of his weight pressing into her.

"Slow down, love," he rasped in her ear. "I plan to take my time with you." He shifted to her side as he spoke, smoothing his hand up the curve of her hip and over her ribs. His thumb brushed along the underside of her breast, sending unexpected zings of pleasure through her.

"Red," she gasped, wanting him to quit this slow torture. When he put his mouth to her, laving the tight nipple with his tongue, she buried her hands in his hair, pressing into him. He slid his hand down her body to the place she wanted him most, his fingers teasing as he brushed them over her. She lifted her hips as he slid a finger inside her, his thumb rubbing slow circles over the sensitive nub at the apex of her slick folds. She arched her neck and dropped her head back. A soft moan escaped her mouth as he inserted another finger to stroke her in a steady rhythm.

"I want you now, Red," she panted, digging her fingers into his shoulders.

"Patience, love," he murmured as he brushed his lips over the tip of her other breast.

"I need you inside me now." She was coming undone, and she wanted him with her. His hot breath scorched her skin as he licked his way to the base of her throat, swirling his tongue in the indent between her collarbones before planting hot kisses up the column of her neck. When he stopped kissing her, she looked up to see him hovering above her. He grabbed her hand with his, sliding it along the bedding until he had it pinned just above her head. Then he did the same with her other hand, his eyes locked with hers as he held her there, pinned to the bed.

"I want to see your face when I take you." He shifted his hips between her legs, and she bent her knees to bring them up on either side of him. The tip of his cock pulsed against her core as she lifted her hips to his, her body clenching around him, stretching to adjust to his thickness as he entered her.

She tightened her grip on his hands as she arched her body against his, then lifted her knees higher to wrap her legs around his back and take him even deeper. Her eyelids fluttered as the sensation of heat coiled in her center and started to spread through her body, but she kept her gaze locked with his. His eyes darkened as he slowly pulled his hips back, then sank into her again, his speed increasing and her body clenching tighter around him with each long stroke. The delicious tension in her belly started to spread throughout her body as the friction increased.

Just as the intimate intensity of looking into his eyes while he filled her was becoming overwhelming, he dropped his forehead onto hers and growled, "You feel so good, Galiena."

She dropped her head to the side, gasping her pleasure, and he nipped at her neck. Releasing her hands, he planted his on either side of her as he straightened his arms, arching his back as he lifted himself above her.

"Deeper, Red." She reached to grab the hard muscles of his buttocks and pull him into her, wanting to be closer to him. Wanting more of him.

The tension in her core curled tighter as waves of pleasure started to roll through her body. He continued to rock against her as he lowered himself over her, covering her mouth with his as she cried out from the ecstasy exploding in her like a thousand shooting stars, and then Red withdrew from her as a low guttural sound emitted from his throat.

Galiena wrapped her arms around Red as he rested his forehead on hers. Balanced on his elbows, he covered her still and she could feel the beating of his heart against hers as their breathing steadied. In the quiet, she heard rain drumming down on the roof in a constant, soothing rhythm. She felt warm and safe.

"What's wrong?" Red asked, his voice laced with concern as he lifted his head to look down at her, brushing a tear from her cheek.

She didn't know when the tears started, but she could feel the wetness on her cheeks, and she couldn't seem to stop them from falling.

He rolled with her until she was stretched out on top of him. His hands were on either side of her face as he held her still so he could look at her. "Did I hurt you?"

She laughed, but it sounded more like a sob. "Of course not." She tried to smile at him, but the tears just flowed faster. She wasn't hurt and she wasn't sad. She felt lighter than she'd felt in such a long time, like a shroud had been lifted and with it the dull gray fog that never seemed to leave her. Until recently, she had doubted she would ever feel anything other than sadness, despair, and emptiness.

Red had changed her life, and the only thing that scared her more than admitting that she'd fallen in love with the Viking was admitting she loved him to herself. He was possessive and protective, but that was his warrior nature, and she loved that strength and fearlessness, even as she feared it. He led a dangerous life, and she didn't think she could survive losing another person she loved.

He wiped a thumb across her cheek, his other hand rubbing soothingly up and down her back. He was patiently watching her in a way that made her feel like she was more important to him than anything else, and that he would give her all the time she needed to work through what was in her heart.

"You need to quit looking at me like that," she said as he wiped another tear from her cheek.

"Like what?"

"Like you already know what's going on in my mind but you're just waiting for me to make sense of it."

He smiled then, slow, and easy. That was when she realized she'd made a terrible mistake. This man had already started working his way into her heart, and if she was not careful, he would break the fragile shell of it into a thousand pieces.

She needed to divert herself with a different topic, something that would remind her why falling in love with him would only lead to heartache. She stacked her hands on his chest and rested her chin on them. "Tell me about some of these scars on your chest. How did you get them?"

He studied her for a long moment, then said, "Most of them are old, remnants of a time when I was young, cocky, and stupid. Which one do you want to know about?"

She picked her head up to look at his upper torso, tracing a finger over a faint line arching over the end of one shoulder. "This one."

"That one is courtesy of Ox."

Galiena's mouth dropped open in surprise. "He was your enemy once?"

Red shook his head. "After my first battle under Hawk's command—which we won—I returned feeling arrogantly over-confident. I told Hawk I was ready to train with his elite warriors, actually demanding that he let me prove myself. Ox took it upon himself to show me that I wasn't as tough as I thought." He laughed at his own folly. "It was a good lesson."

Galiena could feel the pleasant vibration of his chuckle where her body was flattened against his, making her very aware of the large, warm, naked man beneath her.

"Tell me about this one." She touched her fingers to a puckered scar high on his chest, just beneath his shoulder. When she looked back at his face, his eyes were ice-cold.

"That is from The Executioner."

Thunder rolled outside as the wind and rain increased, forcing a cold gust of air through the small window. Galiena shivered and Red rolled onto his side, still holding her to him, then reached down to pull the blankets over them. She cuddled against his chest, as he draped a leg over hers.

"How did you escape him?" she asked quietly. When he'd told her about his mother and uncle, he'd not said anything about what happened to him, and she hadn't pressed him for the details.

"Hawk." He was silent for a breath, then continued. "The Executioner ambushed us on the road. We were on foot and alone, and the coward shot me from the cover of the trees. When he emerged from his cover, my uncle drew his dagger and tried to defend us, but The Executioner jumped from his horse, wrestled the knife from him, and used it to kill him. My mother tried to run, but he chased her down before I could get to him and killed her, too, with my uncle's dagger."

Galiena's gut clenched with horror. "How old were you?"

"Twelve. He would have killed me, too, and was about to finish the job, when Hawk came upon us. He'd heard my mother's screams and arrived just as The Executioner was standing over me. I'd fallen to my knees. He'd grabbed the front of my shirt and was about to rip my throat apart like he'd done to my mother and uncle, but he didn't get the chance. Hawk was barreling down on us, blade drawn, and The Executioner chose to jump on his horse and escape rather than meet his own death."

"And you've served Hawk ever since?" She knew the world was violent and full of cruel people, but it was painful to think of any child having to watch their mother and uncle being killed before their very eyes. "What of your mother's cousin?"

"Hawk was a young warrior, with little experience and no desire to take on the responsibility of an attendant. But he didn't have the heart to leave me to fend for myself in a country I knew nothing about. He helped me find my mother's cousin, but the man was already dead—murdered—by the time we arrived at his estate. Fortunately, in the two days we traveled together, I impressed Hawk with my strength and fortitude, and we've been at each other's side ever since." Red shrugged nonchalantly as he said the last.

"And you are sure the hooded man from Oswestry is the same man?"

"After failing to track him down for nearly two decades, I enlisted Hunter to help me find him, and he says it's him. I didn't get a good look at him because of his hood, but he was similar in build and had the same swagger."

"I'm so sorry, Red," she said, gently circling the scar on his chest with her finger.

"Let's not speak of him now," he murmured and pressed his lips to the top of her head. "It's storming a gale out there and there's nothing to do but stay right here until it passes."

She had forgotten how wonderful it was to lay in bed with a man, limbs tangled together and sharing each other's warmth. Sharing secrets and dreams. Slipping her leg higher between his, she hooked her heel on his calf and wriggled closer. "Tell me something else about you, Red."

"What do you want to know?"

"Hmm," she hummed, contemplating. She just wanted the comfort of hearing him talk as he held her like this. "Do you have a home? Or do you live at Hawkspur?"

"Both." He tightened his arm around her waist, pressing her closer to him. "Hawk has granted me a small manor house on the edge of the village at Hawkspur as payment for my service. When the time is right, I will furnish it and make it a home, but for the time being, I stay in a room at the castle."

"Is there ever a right time for a warrior to settle down?" she asked with a teasing laugh.

"Aye, there is." The tone of his voice was full of promise and hope.

And it scared the hell out of Galiena. There was so much that could happen, so much that could go wrong. No one knew better than she that those promises and hopes could be gone in an instant.