Chapter 39

39

Four Months Later

A islinn carded her fingers through Hakon's hair, biting her lip as she peered down at him between her thighs. He always made such a delicious sight there, his brown eyes hot and hungry in his flushed green face, his big shoulders wedged between her legs or her knees thrown over them.

A moan escaped her as his tongue made wicked circles around her clitoris, teasing and playful. She'd woken up this very special day to his hands on her body and his tongue running patterns over her skin. He settled himself down the bed between her thighs and looked content as a cat to stay there all morning.

Any other day, she may have let him. Waking up this way was her favorite, and he well knew it. In their months together, Aislinn had learned to indulge in late mornings. There was little she liked more than listening to the rain patter outside as her halfling licked her to a shattering orgasm.

Today, though—they were to be married today.

As if he could sense her reminder, a grin played at his lips, the corners of which she could just spy over her mons. He pressed his face more firmly into her flesh, lapping at her mercilessly. One of his hands circled over her thigh to spread her wide, and a fingertip began to play at her clitoris as his tongue thrust inside her.

Arching off the bed, Aislinn slung a leg over his shoulder to pull him closer. He rewarded her with a deep purr, setting his lips to her clitoris so she could feel his pleasure.

"Play with your breasts. Let me see you," he rumbled, eyes dancing.

Sucking in a breath, Aislinn palmed her breasts, plumping them and running her thumbs over her nipples as he went back to giving her a most thorough tongue-lashing.

Her lids dipped closed as she fell into the sensations, her hips rolling to meet his tongue. He kissed her cunt like his life depended on it, tongue spearing inside and arching up to catch that special place on the upper wall.

Aislinn shuddered, sparks bursting through her blood. Fates, if he meant to do this all day, she might just agree to delay the wedding a day.

Her release took her by surprise, coursing through her with waves of pure pleasure from her curling toes to her thrown back head.

She was more surprised by the firm knock that sounded on the bedchamber door. Aislinn yelped, aftershocks of her orgasm quaking up her middle.

"My lady? Are you awake?" Fia's voice came from the cracked open door to the solar.

Her friend had quickly become wise to their antics and learned to knock first before seeing anything untoward. Although, Aislinn didn't think Fia minded too much—when she'd walked in and caught an eyeful of Hakon's rounded backside one morning, she'd thrown Aislinn an appreciative wink before clapping her hands over her eyes.

Aislinn looked down at Hakon—only to find her betrothed grinning widely, with no intention of stopping.

"We're awake," Aislinn called back, heart pounding, "but—"

She clenched her fingers in his hair to get him to slow his infernal tongue.

"—indecent."

She didn't think she imagined Fia's snort of amusement.

"I'll come back with a bit of breakfast, shall I?"

"Yes, please! Thank you!"

Fia's laughter echoed from the solar as she left to give them a little more time.

Although she'd been elevated to Aislinn's seneschal and Aislinn now had a new handmaid appointed to her, Fia wouldn't hear of anyone else helping her on her wedding day.

Aislinn had thought maybe Fia would be a good candidate to replace Brenna, but she'd taken to the offer of seneschal with more enthusiasm. In truth, it fit her talents and sharp mind better. Fia's aid was invaluable in the running of the castle and administration of the demesne, and Aislinn was grateful for her competence and companionship.

Aislinn's second choice to replace Brenna had recently taken over as chatelain, and soon after, Dundúran bid farewell to Brenna. It was with mixed feelings that Aislinn said goodbye, and she'd be lying if she said she didn't feel the sting of Brenna not wanting to stay for the wedding acutely. There was nothing else to do except give over Brenna's annuity and wish her well, though.

Brenna hadn't been the only one to leave. Fearghas too had requested his annuity and left not long after receiving it. From what Aislinn understood from Hakon, who still spent some of his time at the forge, the smithy was a much more harmonious place with Edda and Caitlín in charge. A handful of other staff had left, but far fewer than Aislinn feared, and it hadn't taken long to fill their positions.

She and Fia were making good progress in finding suitable candidates to fill the several high-level ministerial roles. Already their new master of coin saved Aislinn many a headache over the accounts, and a new master of grain for the southern demesne would begin their duties in summer.

Their efforts were aided by the return of her father.

Merrick Darrow returned to Dundúran in midwinter, having lost almost half of the company and at least a stone in weight. His gaunt face shocked Aislinn, but that hadn't stopped her from embracing him with all her strength. Over the winter, he and the surviving knights were diligently nursed back to health, although many still had a dullness to their eyes, Merrick included.

It hurt Aislinn to see her father so reduced, and most of the duties of Liege Darrow remained with her as he slowly recovered. He took the news of Jerrod's death with stoicism, although Aislinn more than once found him weeping silently into his hands. She decided not to tell him it was Hakon who'd delivered the killing blow—Hakon himself hardly remembered, and it didn't seem important anymore.

Jerrod was dead. It was time what was left of their family moved past his sins.

Despite her anxiety over what her father would make of her betrothal to their halfling blacksmith, Merrick took the news with good humor. He welcomed him, and over the ensuing months, Hakon proved himself the son Merrick had always hoped to have. Aislinn watched on, glowing with pride as her father and her betrothed spoke animatedly at dinners or when Hakon bowed his head and listened carefully to Merrick's advice.

All in all, it went far smoother than she could have dreamed.

She did, though, receive a stiffly worded letter from King Marius, informing her of the crown cleaning up her little mess and congratulating her upcoming nuptials, even if the choice of groom was thoroughly surprising and wouldn't she rather consider one of his strapping royal nephews. She might've lost sleep over the message had Queen Ygraine not sent her own, her tone much warmer and congratulatory. She welcomed Aislinn's reign in the Darrowlands and applauded her on her good choice of spouse—as word of Hakon's suit in the Choosing had spread quickly throughout Eirea.

Friendship and love make the strongest foundation.

"Come back to me." Hakon pressed a kiss to her inner thigh. "I'm not done with you, and now I must start all over."

Aislinn groaned as his tongue speared back inside her, demanding her undivided attention and denying her a chance to come down from her first peak.

She loved it when he got a bit bossy. After days spent making decisions and issuing orders, it was a delicious relief to be taken care of. She fell into pleasure each night by his command, and she longed to hear his soft, demanding words. Just a few wicked whispers from him could have her quickening with desire, no matter where they were.

Plucking at her breasts again, Aislinn squeezed his head with her thighs, trying to hasten him. He knew her game, though, and took her flanks in his hands to control her pace. His fingers strayed under her backside, and he lifted her hips up to meet his gorging mouth.

Aislinn threw her head back on the pillows, another release rushing toward its peak. Her hips rolled and rolled with her building orgasm, her world reduced to the slick slide of his tongue against her. He rumbled with satisfaction, a vibration that shook her to the marrow and made her see starbursts.

He held her as she thrashed and writhed, that pleased grin on his face.

When her body finally went lax, he carefully set her legs down, kissing each thigh with reverence. His eyes were dark with hunger and intent as he crawled over her. He planted his hands on either side of her head, and Aislinn wrapped a hand around his thick wrist.

"Fates, you're more beautiful than a sunrise," he growled, head dipping to capture her lips with his.

She tasted herself on him, and a fresh spark of lust began to burn in her belly. She spread her thighs for him, and he nestled his hips against hers, his cock burning against her mons.

Aislinn gasped at the heat of him.

"Put me inside you, vinya. "

His eyes trained on her with an intensity that made her shudder with desire. She loved it when he looked at her like that, like she was the center of his world.

Keeping his gaze, she reached down to take him in hand. He burned her palm, spend already leaking down the shaft. She slicked her hand up and down in gentle, firm pumps, watching as he twitched and grew hungrier.

"Just ensuring you'll meet me at the ceremony."

A deep growl rumbled through his wide chest. "Nothing will keep me away. You're mine, Aislinn Darrow."

Aislinn knew it, she just enjoyed hearing it.

She guided his cockhead to her entrance, biting her lip to feel how their bodies sealed together. He wasted no time, pushing deep inside. His hips pressed forward, not stopping until he was fully seated inside her.

Aislinn's mouth fell open with the deep stretch, delighting in how her body gave way for him. With his size, it was never a truly easy entry, but she loved the burn and stretch, loved how he opened her wide and made room for himself, demanding his place inside her body and heart and life.

He pulled back only to thrust inside again with a powerful smack .

Dropping his head, he rumbled in her ear, "You're going to feel me all day. Through every speech and ceremony, you'll feel me here, deep inside you, and know whose mate you are."

"Yes!" she gasped.

He thrust again, making her breasts bounce.

"Say it."

"Yours! I'm yours!"

He purred with pleasure, and his mouth claimed her in a hungry kiss, his tongue thrusting into her mouth as surely as his cock into her greedy cunt.

Their bodies met again and again in a litany of wet slaps, the sound and smell of sex filling the room. Noises escaped her lips, mewls and groans and pleas for more, harder, yes . She demanded everything and she received it, her halfling taking her with a relentlessness that left her breathless. His body was always in motion, rolling like the tide against her.

Slick and spend leaked from where they joined, easing his way. His thrusts grew quicker, his rhythm breaking apart. A tendon in his neck stuck out in stark relief, his arm muscles bunching as he held himself above her and pistoned his hips in mindless, decadent mating.

Aislinn clutched at his great chest, digging her fingers into the meat of muscle. His heart pounded beneath her hands, and his purr vibrated across her palms.

"Hakon!"

"Come for me, vinya. Let me have this until I can strip you from your wedding gown tonight."

The image and the promise of it pushed her over the edge into perfect pleasure. She writhed with it, milking his cock and drawing him impossibly deeper. Her fingers clung to him like talons as she came apart at the seams, vision going blurry and heart pounding so hard, it surely would break from her chest.

Folding his arms around her, he dropped his chest to hers and pounded inside. He didn't spare her from the onslaught of his need, and she wrapped her legs around his hips, taking, wanting it all. He moaned her name into her neck as he came, lashing her with ropes of hot, sticky spend.

Aislinn groaned, cunt clenching him tight with aftershocks as he gave her his release.

When he was spent, he slumped into her, and she gladly took his weight. She enjoyed the crush of his great body, liked feeling totally and utterly surrounded. He was her protection, her buffer—and she didn't think she could go without him ever again.

As their bodies cooled and came down from the heights of pleasure, Aislinn gently ran her fingertips along the side of his head and pressed a kiss to the other.

"I love you, Hakon."

With a rumbling purr, he picked up his head to gaze at her, his eyes gone soft.

"I love you, Aislinn, my heart, my everything."

"Are you ready to marry me today?"

"Nothing will stop me."

Many hours and layers of fabric and hair pins later, Aislinn stood just inside the doors to Dundúran Castle with her father. The people of the Darrowlands had gathered in the castle courtyard, spilling out into the city itself, having come to see the wedding of the heiress and blacksmith.

Her stomach knotted with nerves, but they didn't overwhelm her. The emotions were all good—and she knew, in a few short moments, she'd be with her halfling.

From outside, they heard a great boom of applause start up.

"Almost time," said Merrick.

Aislinn drew alongside her father, tucking her hand into the crook of his elbow. He covered it with his own.

"He's not what I imagined for you, kit," Merrick admitted quietly, "but he's everything I'd hoped."

She smiled up at her father, effervescent with joy. They had gone through so much together. Even before Jerrod disgraced himself, it often felt like it was just the two of them. It was why, for so long, she thought her father could do no wrong. That he was perfect and she had to hold herself, and Jerrod, to his standard.

Aislinn understood now that her father was a man—one who made mistakes. She loved him the more for it, even if there was a part of her that had yet to forgive him for his last campaign. He'd promised her never again, and every day he held to that promise. It would take time and trust to heal the heartbreak, but she had more than enough love for her father to see it through.

It helped that they were now a family of three. Hakon was the partner she could have only dreamed about. To be sure, they had their days of disagreements. He hadn't taken immediately to the work of future lord consort, and it'd required effort to find a balance between supporting her and continuing his work. He was truly talented at the forge and didn't wish to give it up.

Now, he focused on teaching the apprentices. Two more had been added to the castle smithy, and it was his duty to ensure they were taught properly, allowing the other smiths more time to see to other business.

He also worked with Captain Aodhan and the garrison on shoring up the Darrowlands' defenses to ensure nothing like Jerrod's coup happened again. He forged good relations with the guild-masters, particularly the smiths and stonemasons. He acted as an envoy with the growing otherly village founded on the land he'd bought, bringing their news and issues directly to Aislinn.

All of it, though, had taken time and sacrifice. He was perhaps even more uncomfortable than her in courtly functions. He'd needed thorough teaching about manners, customs, and tact, and Aislinn wasn't the best tutor, as she hardly understood them herself. There were times during banquets that she used his hand-talk under the table to help him understand the conversations around them.

In their first fortnight betrothed, Aislinn had waited for him to decide she wasn't worth it. She lived in dread, awaiting the moment he gave her up. Yet, it never happened, and Aislinn realized she'd given him far too little credit. Hakon was nothing if not determined, and he was learning. He never backed down from a challenge.

It was why she knew, with absolute certainty, that he was out there already, awaiting her with his family.

His aunt Sighíl had been fetched by one of Hakon's halfling friends, and she and her family had arrived just in time for the wedding. Aislinn immediately liked Siggy, even if the orcess talked so loudly she was tempted to cover her ears as they spoke. Her mates were good-natured, and her twin girls were darlings, making fast friends with the younger Brádaigh siblings.

In fact, she thought she could hear Siggy herself cheering the loudest just outside.

"I'm ready," she told her father.

Merrick smiled. "Yes, you are."

H akon stood in the shade of a tall wooden trellis erected on the castle steps, purple cones of wisteria hanging down to perfume the air. The spring sunshine was bright, the sky a clear azure, and a gentle breeze blew through the courtyard.

Thousands of eyes watched him, and he tried to ignore the prickle along his back. He'd done his best to look the part, let valets shave and clip and scrub within an inch of his life. Days had gone into making and fitting his doublet of Darrow blue, its thick brocade catching the light; Siggy had insisted on using another day to affix all the needed —her word—additions like metal cuffs and silver buttons.

Siggy had brought a trove of gifts, and he spent a good hour that morning standing still as she bedecked him with a fortune of her finest creations. Around his throat she clipped an exquisite gorget, tooled with hammer and arrow motifs. On the gorget she'd mounted a thick golden torque, customarily worn by mated orcs, inset with the deepest blue sapphires. She'd replaced his plain —her word—steel buckle with one of silver filigree, studded with more motifs and sapphires.

And for his ears, she presented him with new golden hoops, one set with sapphires of the Darrow blue.

"Are these gifts or advertisements?" he'd half-joked.

Siggy just smiled toothily. "It can mean more than one thing."

When she stepped back, satisfied with her work, Hakon felt a stone heavier and like he was marching back into battle, the finery his armor.

Standing there under the expectant gazes of all the Darrowlands, though, it truly was like armor—and he was glad of it. Even if his skin was green and his ears pointed, he didn't want to be a halfling blacksmith in their eyes—he wanted to look like he belonged beside his mate.

Horns sounded from the front of the castle, and Hakon's heart leapt to his throat.

He caught Siggy's eyes from where she stood at the front of the crowd with Viggo, Halstern, and their twins. She grinned widely around her tusks, clapping and cheering, and threw him a wink.

"Do you think gadaron and gamanan would be pleased?" he'd asked her in a quiet moment.

Siggy had snorted with laughter. "To hear of you marrying a human noblewoman? They'd be shining brighter than the moon over it."

"But would they be happy? "

Siggy looked up from the gorget clasp. "They are happy, vittarah. Can't you feel it? It's in the sunlight, on the breeze. It's in your mate's smile and will be in the eyes of your little ones. That is their love for you."

The truth of their love beat bittersweetly beside his heart, a bond not unlike the mate-bond he felt to Aislinn but for his dear grandparents. He could feel their happiness, their approval, and he knew they would have adored Aislinn. Gamanan would have loved her openness and humor, and gadaron would have admired her quick mind.

Aislinn would have fit into his family as well as he felt he fit into hers. It gave him some comfort, a balm for the soreness of not having his grandparents here with him.

Siggy lifted her hands above her head to clap and nodded over his shoulder.

Hakon sucked in a breath. I'm ready.

He turned toward the castle, the crowd behind him growing deafening as Lord Merrick emerged with Aislinn.

She was redolent.

A gown of Darrow blue hung from her shoulders, revealing her delicate collarbones and throat, around which dangled teardrops of sapphire and aquamarines. Layers of blue silk draped from her hips like a fall of water, rippling as she walked. Gold and silver thread caught the light, making her sparkle and glitter. Her hair had been brushed and braided to a high sheen, shining like pure gold. Pearls glinted in the curls, and her crescent headdress was studded with them.

Her wide smile was the most beautiful of it all, and that only grew when she caught sight of him waiting for them.

Hakon's heart thudded painfully in his chest, the mate-bond pulling tightly, as if to draw them together faster.

Fates, she's beautiful. She looked every bit the noblewoman—more, she looked like the proud heiress of a great demesne, the leader of a strong people. And she's mine.

Love and pride heated his blood, and he reached greedily for her as she approached with her father.

Aislinn joined him under the trellis, folding her hands with his. Her smile outshone the sun overhead, and his nerves burned away in the presence of her radiance.

He hardly heard Lord Merrick as he began to speak. A hush fell over the crowd, everyone leaning closer to hear.

"As liege lord of this land, it is the greatest of honors to bind my daughter, Lady Aislinn Darrow—" he smiled fondly at her, his voice cracking "—with Hakon Green-Fist. We celebrate their union today, tomorrow, and for always."

The people clapped and cheered, calling their names.

"Have you, Aislinn Darrow, come here today of your own free will?"

"Ardently, yes," she answered, squeezing Hakon's hands.

"And do you mean to take this man as your husband, to pledge yourself to him, to bind yourself to him, and to give him all the rest of your days?"

"Yes," she said for all to hear. But for him, she added, "They're already yours."

Hakon fought with all his might not to grab her and crush her to his chest and never let go. This woman—she was everything to him. Hopes and dreams paled in comparison to her.

Lord Merrick turned to Hakon, a twinkle in his eyes. "Have you, Hakon Green-Fist, come here today of your own free will?"

"Nothing would keep me away."

"And do you mean to take this woman as your wife, to pledge yourself to her, to bind yourself to her, and to give her all the rest of your days?"

"Yes. I've been hers since I first saw her."

The crowd cooed and laughed and cheered.

"And will you, Hakon Green-Fist, swear fealty to the Darrowlands, to its Liege Merrick Darrow, and its heiress Aislinn Darrow?"

"Yes."

"Will you give your life for her, serve her, and uphold her rule?"

"With everything I am."

Nodding his approval, Lord Merrick pulled a blue strip of velvet from his pocket. Hakon and Aislinn lifted their joined hands, and her father carefully wrapped the cloth around them before tying off the ends in a small knot.

"Tied together, bound together, joined together."

The words imprinted upon his soul, and the breath rushed out of Hakon. Relief, terror, love, they all invaded his senses until all he could see was her.

She's mine.

"I declare them husband and wife—and your future Liege and Lord Consort. What say you?"

"We welcome them!" cried the people of the Darrowlands.

"Then before your people, make your vows and seal it."

Hakon pulled his mate close, resting their bound hands against his chest, over the heart that drummed a tender beat. He slid his free hand around her waist, needing to feel her. He was aware of the thousands of eyes upon them, but holding her kept him centered.

"You were my friend first," Aislinn said, tears gathering at her lashes. "You've always seen me for who I am. Your patience, your kindness, everything you are is a gift. One I will cherish all the rest of my days. Not everyone is lucky enough to marry their friend, but today, I'm a very lucky woman."

The people gushed and cheered, but Hakon hardly heard. His ears rang not from the crowd but the promise of her vow.

"I came to the Darrowlands seeking a new life. A home and a family. I thought I knew what I wanted—and then I saw you. Against reason, I hoped for the impossible. I couldn't give you up, and I never will. You are more than I ever dreamed or hoped—you're everything. And I will spend my life giving that to you in return."

Dropping his head to hers, he murmured against her lips, "You own me, vinya. "

He took her mouth and sealed their promises with a kiss. Around them, the crowd cried with gaiety, calling their names and well-wishes. The courtyard hummed and shook with their clapping and stomping, and Hakon could feel their deep love of Aislinn.

He understood them—he was just as lucky as the Darrowlands to have her.