Chapter 11

Slayer woke with a smile. He never ever recalled waking with a smile but after last night with his wife, he could not keep the smile off his face. It vanished fast when he realized he did not feel her beside him in bed.

"Bloody hell!"

He jumped out of bed and hurried into his garments. How was it that he did not feel her leaving the bed yet again? He raked his fingers through his hair as he glanced around once outside. Of course, she was nowhere in sight, but he knew where to find her. He hurried to the stream.

He heard her laughter, a full, hardy laugh, before he reached her, and he found his smile returning. He stopped to peer past the trees and bushes and watched her. She laughed at two squirrels scampering around her in play and she waved at them when they rushed off up a tree.

He was about to step forward when he saw movement in the bushes not far from his wife.

"I have food if you're hungry," he heard her say and he waited to see who she had spoken to.

His eyes went wide when a scrawny fox appeared and took cautious steps toward her.

"I have berries," she said and scooped a handful from the basket beside her and held them out to the fox. "Come and enjoy. They are tasty." She placed some on the ground.

The fox hurried forward and gobbled up the berries.

"Oh my, you are thin," she said, looking over the animal with concern. "It appears that you injured your leg and that has left you unable to hunt while it heals. Though it does appear it is healing well." She scooped up a bigger handful of berries from the basket. "Here you go. Eat as much as you like. I can pick more."

The animals recognized her trusting and kind soul immediately and he had to admit he had felt it himself, even more so last night when they coupled. There was something about her innocent touch that was different. While her touch easily enflamed his passion it had also soothed something in him that left him feeling more complete, more satisfied than he had ever felt in his life.

Sky stood. "I am eager to see my husband who waits, I believe, impatiently in the bushes, so follow me and I will leave more berries for you where no one will disturb you. I will be right back, Slayer."

He shook his head. How did she know he was there?

"Do not go far," he called out as he made his way to the stream, and she disappeared into the woods, the fox keeping pace with her.

"I won't," she called back.

He kneeled at the water's edge and scooped up a handful of water to scrub away the last vestiges of sleep. He heard her approach as he wiped his face dry with the hem of his plaid and smiled when he felt her hand rest on his shoulder. He quickly snatched her around the waist and brought her down into his lap and kissed her to satisfy the ache of missing her lips since he woke this morning.

She tasted sweet from the berries she had eaten, and he ran his hand up one sleeve to stroke her arm, aching to feel her soft skin. He told himself it would do until he could get her naked again, but he found his desire for her could overwhelm him quickly and he had to be careful and not chase after her like a barbarian who could not control himself.

Sky eagerly returned his kiss and sighed contentedly when it ended. "I never imagined I would enjoy kissing so much."

"Me. Only me," he ordered with a fierce scowl and got annoyed when she scrunched her face in disgust, thinking she did not agree.

"That is a terrible thought." Disgust grew on her face. "I only want your lips on mine. I could not stomach another man kissing me."

A smile hurried to his lips, but a sudden thought stopped it short of surfacing. "I am glad to hear that, but tell me, Sky… are you all right? Did I hurt you last night?"

A soft smile lit her face. "I am good, and you did not hurt me." Her cheeks blushed pink. "I quite enjoy coupling with you."

"Then you don't mind if we do it often?" he asked teasingly.

She chuckled lightly. "It is my duty."

"Nay," he ordered firmly. "I never want you to couple with me out of duty, only out of desire."

"Will you do the same? Couple with me not out of duty but out of desire?"

He did not stop his smile from surfacing. "Believe me, wife, it will definitely be out of desire."

She was shocked that he desired her, and it filled her heart with joy and hope for the future.

"That makes me happy to know," she said.

He did not mean to voice his thoughts, but he did. "I never make people happy, just the opposite."

Sky kissed his cheek, wishing his smile would remain on his face. "Well, you fill me with joy, and your smile makes my joy that more joyful."

"A smile is not something you will see on me often," he cautioned. "Besides," —he poked at her stomach— "you smile enough for the both of us. So, did you save any of those berries for me or did you give them all to the fox."

"I saved you plenty."

"Good," he said, easing her off his lap and onto her feet, then standing. "We will take them back to the cottage to enjoy while we talk."

"Aye. I would like that. You can tell me about your nightmare. My mum always made me tell her about any nightmare I had. She insisted the only way to be rid of them was to talk about them. That if I kept them hidden, they would only grow stronger along with my fears."

He took the basket from her as they walked and munched on the berries. "Did you have many nightmares?"

"I had a recurring one when I was young. Perhaps my mum was right about talking about the nightmare since I haven't had it in many years."

"Tell me about it," he urged, eager to learn all he could about his wife.

Sky had shared the dream with only her mum, yet she felt a need to share it with Slayer. "There is a woman dancing before a blazing fire. She is beautiful and she holds a dagger in her hand. I hear chanting and drumming. Though I fear getting too close to her, I cannot help but continue to walk toward her. When I am not far from her, she stops dancing, glares at me, and turns into a wolf. That is when I wake up screaming." She shivered at the fearful memory.

Slayer snuck his arm around her, seeing how the retelling of the nightmare frightened her. "I will not let any wolf get you."

"I believe it is the reason I have been hesitant to make friends with the wolves I sometimes see in the forest."

"Wolves are vicious creatures. Keep your distance from them and on that you will obey me," Slayer ordered, the thought of her going anywhere near such ferocious beasts alarming. When she did not respond, he stopped walking, forcing her to do the same.

"Aye, husband," she said, to avoid arguing with him. But she truly did not know that if she came across a wolf in need that she would not help him.

"We may as well enjoy the sun while it lasts," Slayer said and walked to the large oak tree and helped her sit beneath it before joining her and placing the basket of berries on her lap for them both to enjoy.

"What about your nightmare from last night?" she asked.

His brow puckered. "Strange that your recurring dream was about a wolf since I was warned to pay heed to wolves in my dream. I have had similar dreams to the one I had last night, Warrand pleading for help, then telling me I was too late. Only last night he warned me to pay attention to the wolves."

"What would wolves have to do with his death?"

He shook his head. "I don't know."

He watched her tilt her head and her brow narrow as she gave it thought. He did not know how any man could look upon her and not see her beauty before even noticing she had two different colored eyes. The more he looked at them, the more her eyes enticed and intrigued, and the more they added to her beauty.

He reached out and gently rubbed the spot between her eyes. "Don't over worry it."

"Does he warn you of danger? Or is it attention to the wolves, a pack who protects their own that he tries to tell you about?"

"I never thought of it that way," Slayer said, suddenly looking at her and his brother and father's deaths differently.

"What way?"

"That someone may have no interest in claiming the clan for himself." He shook his head slowly. "That his only true interest could be in seeing what is left of my family dead."

Sky's eyes went wide. "That could change the questions you ask yourself and those who may know something."

Rory, the liar, came to mind, and he planned on questioning him again.

There was an even huger worry that came along with that possibility. "If that is a possibility, it is even more imperative that we keep our marriage a secret. You are already in harm's way. I will not see it made worse for you."

"You have no word on Leora yet?" she asked, her worry about her sisters continuing to haunt her.

"Nay, but I have no doubt it will not be long before we hear something," he assured her.

They continued to talk and enjoy each other. Even when clouds drifted in overhead, they remained as they were, talking laughing, kissing. It took a few raindrops falling before they hurried into the cottage.

Slayer barely had the door latched behind them when he scooped his wife around the waist to lift her, leaving her feet unable to touch the ground but allowing him to easily kiss her. His lips moved to her ear to nibble along it and whisper, "I have a hungry desire for you, wife."

"And I for you, husband," she whispered back.

"Time to get naked again," he said and nibbled along her neck.

A pink blush tinged her cheeks.

Her blush highlighted her beauty but also concerned him. "You are uncomfortable being naked in front of me? There is nothing I have not already seen."

"I know. It is just that I never thought to be naked in front of you. I thought married couples just shifted their garments around and was done with it."

"Where is the pleasure in that? Though it would do in a pinch." A quick image of tossing her garment up and satisfying them quickly was quite appealing.

"You will be patient with me while I learn?"

"You do well already."

Sky spoke softly and a bit reluctantly. "But I have yet to explore you as you do me."

"Then we will get naked, and you can explore me all you want."

"You would not mind?"

"I insist," he said, his growing manhood also insisting.

While the rain beat down on the cottage, Sky proceeded to explore her husband's naked body. Smiles and laughter were shared until the passion grew so hot that Slayer took command and satisfied them both.

They talked, ate, and coupled the day away, and when night barely touched the land, they fell asleep in each other's arms, far too exhausted for any nightmares to disturb them.