Chapter 18

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

E yja raised her head at the noise of pounding feet and dropped the twig she had just picked up. Moon was running toward her in the fading light, as determined as any warrior on campaign, and it took her only one moment to understand what his target was.

Her.

Her heart sank into her chest. Why? What had she done now? All the things he had told her in the last few weeks came back to her.

You can be such a child sometimes. Stop plain annoying me . We should forget about what happened the last few weeks.

The biggest mistake I ever made.

And yet, earlier that morning, they had almost kissed. Say what he might, he had stroked her cheek and almost placed his lips onto hers. Even more importantly, he had initiated it, for once, not her. Was he about to blame her regardless, make it look as if she was somehow responsible for it, announce that from now on there would be no contact between them because she could not be trusted to respect his wishes to be nothing more than friends?

At this point she wouldn’t put it past him.

He stopped in front of her, all bristling intent. By the gods, whatever ailed him, it was bad. But she knew in her heart of hearts that this time she had done nothing wrong. Except perhaps hope that he would change his mind about them being friends, but surely no one could blame her for that?

“What is it?” she asked, her breath coming out in swirls out of her mouth. It was freezing cold tonight but she could barely feel it, with her heart beating hard in her chest.

There was no answer. For a long moment, Moon just stared into her eyes. “Bloody frost”, she thought she heard him say under his breath. Eyja braced herself for a mention of how her eyes were as hard as ice, or something equally scathing but he only smiled.

And then he kissed her.

Just like that. As if it was the most natural thing to do, as if they had already kissed a hundred times before and would kiss a thousand times again, as if it was all he wanted, as if he had never told her they could not be more to each other than friends, as if he knew she would welcome the kiss.

Which she did, with all her heart.

Her arms closed around his waist, her body angled toward his, her lips opened for him, her tongue darted out and started to dance with his. Everything about this kiss, which was not her first by a long shot, felt good, felt right. It was not too forceful, not too wet, not too bland. It was more passionate, more pleasurable, more significant than all the others she had shared combined. Her lips tingled, her blood sang in her veins, her whole body hummed. Moon tasted exquisite, like honey and spice, and felt wonderful against her, all hard and protective. If she’d suspected how good it would make her feel to kiss him, she would have sneaked into his hut at night long ago and forced him to give her what she wanted.

With a groan, Moon reached down to the back of her thighs and lifted her up into his arms.

“Hold on to me, I need more,” he rasped, wrapping her legs around his waist to secure her in place and taking the kiss to another level, reducing her to a mass of need. Everything within her ignited. Could she ask him to lie down and?—

A magpie squawked in the distance, shattering the moment into a thousand splinters.

“Wait.” Remembering where they were, she tried to slide back to the ground, and found that she could not. His hold around her was too tight. No matter how much she pushed at his chest, he didn’t budge an inch. “We should go somewhere else. If my father sees us like this, he will think we lied to him, and then he will force us to marry.”

Moon spoke against her lips. “Let him try. He won’t be able to force me to anything. No one can force someone to do something they have already decided to do.”

“What are you talking about?”

Before answering, Moon took her mouth again. The sensation was too delicious for her not to surrender to his will. She allowed his tongue to spar with hers, her body to wrap around his like a vine After a long, lingering kiss, she managed to draw away. Before they did anything else, there was something she needed to know.

“Moon, what are you talking about?”

This time he allowed her some breathing space. “I went to see Wolf before I came to you. We had something to settle. You see, this afternoon he told me he didn’t want me to see you ever again, as I was a bad influence on you.”

Fury flared within Eyja. Her father had forbidden Moon to see her? And this after telling him he would never force her to do anything she didn’t want to do? Well, forcing her to not do what she wanted to do was just as bad. Because she did want to see more of Moon. Much, much more.

“How dare he!”

In that moment she was glad Moon was holding her securely against his chest, because she was trembling so much she feared she would not be able to stand on her own two feet. Then a thought struck her.

A terrible thought.

“You didn’t agree, did you?” she asked, her voice wavering, her heart fluttering.

Was that why he was here, why he was kissing her with such abandon, as if he didn’t care about the consequences? Because it was a goodbye kiss and he knew there could never be others? Was he about to leave the village?

Moon deposited her back onto the ground and looked at her straight in the eye. “No, I didn’t agree. In fact, I told him I could not live without you and asked if he would give his agreement to a union between us, one we decided this time. He said yes. I might add that he seemed rather happy about that development.” He paused and twisted his lips in consideration. “I think he might have wanted to push me into seeing what had been staring at me in the face all this time. And... he called me Moon, something he hasn’t done since we came back from battle, so I can safely assume he was not lying.”

The silence following his words was as loud as the swarming of bees. Eyja was mightily... What was she feeling exactly? She hesitated between incensed, aggrieved and outraged, then realized it was more or less the same thing. She was furious, that was what she was. The wretched men, who both claimed to have her best interests at heart, had gone behind her back, talked about her future as if her opinion was neither necessary nor desired.

“You... You never thought to ask me first, before you went to see my father?” she exploded, incredulous. Didn’t her opinion matter? This was her wedding they were talking about, her life!

“No.” Moon tightened his hold around her, not in the least apologetic. “I didn’t want to give you any chance of refusing me. You and I belong together, whether you want it or not, whether you agree or not. I will not stand by and wait for months for you to finally see it. You will be allowed time to come to terms with it if you need to, but that time will be spent by my side, in my arms.”

In my bed.

The words were not spoken out loud, but she saw them in his eyes. She wavered and felt him steadying her. Even though everything within her melted, she refused to surrender so easily.

“Why would you even want me by your side? Only the other day you told me to forget what we had done.” Did he have no idea of the pain he had caused her? “And I thought I was just an annoying imp? You’ve told me often enough.”

He did purse his lips at that, even if he didn’t quite appear chastised. “You are, but apparently, annoying imps are what I need in my life.” He pushed aside a lock of her hair and stroked a finger over the bruise on her temple, lingering over the scar. “And I’ve finally found one, one that has been marked as mine. I rather like that.”

“You haven’t ‘found’ me. I was here all the time,” she breathed, moved by the declaration. “I was always by your side.”

“Yes. But I only truly saw you when you cut your hair and dressed like the warrior you are at heart. I love you, Imp. I might have loved you for a while without knowing it, possibly even all my life. Why else would I have agreed to have you follow us constantly, or have wanted to name our horse after you?”

“Oh, so I remind you of a horse, do I?”

“No.” Moon’s lips quivered. “Actually, you remind me of a goat. I was thinking of it only the other day. You, my love, are my own little, agile, stubborn, wild goat.”

Joy bloomed into Eyja’s chest. Why was she provoking him when he’d said all she’d wanted to hear, when she could see in his eyes that he meant every word of it? He’d seen her for who she was and still wanted her, still loved her. She reminded him of a stubborn goat and that was not enough to stop him. It could not be clearer, or more wonderful. He did not want her to be more feminine, less brazen, or easier to manage. He loved her just the way she was.

“I love you, too. Marry me.”

A smile curved a corner of Moon’s lips. “I’m supposed to ask that question, you know.”

“It was not a question. It was an order. Marry me, Moon, now.”

He shook his head slowly. “No. Not now. But in short order, I promise. For now, there’s something I want you to do.” He brought his mouth to her ear. “But let’s go to my hut first. As much as I would like to do it here, ’tis too cold.”

Her heart skipped a beat. Too cold. It was not too cold, as long as you were dressed, of course... So did he intend for them to be naked? The prospect made her heart leap.

“Yes.”

Taking her by the hand, he led her back to the village. By the time they reached the door of his hut, they were both running. Eyja was breathless with anticipation. As soon as they were in, Moon kicked the door closed and took her back into his arms.

“Now. On to that thing I want you to do for me,” he purred in her ear.

There was such wickedness in that statement that her breath hitched in her throat. If he wanted her to take him in her mouth again, she would fall to her knees in the blink of an eye. But the gleam in his eyes was more mischievous than carnal. So what? Would he ask her to open her legs for his kisses, the way he had in the forest? She would sit on the table and shamelessly lift her skirts if he did. Her whole body started to tingle at the thought.

“What is it?” she asked when she could not countenance the wait any longer.

“I want you to tickle me.”

She stilled, torn between delight and disappointment. “Tickle you?” It was safe to say that this was not what she had expected him to say.

He nodded, suddenly serious. “That night near York, I stopped you from doing it and I was a bastard about it. But your body writhing against mine had pushed me over the edge and I could not deal with it.” Ah, so he had been aroused. Eyja swallowed. “Now I would like you to do what you wanted to do and tickle me. I promise you’ll like it, because you were right. I am rather ticklish, not that I would ever admit it to anyone other than you. And I won’t tell you where my weak spot is, you’ll have to discover that on your own.”

Her throat had gone impossibly dry, but she managed to breathe. “I’m allowed to touch you anywhere I want?

“Anywhere.” He allowed his gaze to wander over her slowly. “But I have to warn you. I will take my revenge when you’re done.

He didn’t need to say more. She fell on him, weaving under his arms and dodging his attempts at grabbing her, holding him by the waist, sliding her hands along his legs, his chest, trying to find a way to bring him down. Such was the intensity of the fight that they ended up rolling on the floor together. Half laughing, half groaning, Eyja did her best to expose that elusive ticklish spot. Moon howled when she discovered it was under the arms and triumph surged through her. Her victory was short-lived, however. Soon, he started to fight back in earnest and she understood that he’d been indulging her up till then, allowing her to explore his body and giving her a chance. No more. Now it was serious.

Breathless, she found herself pinned under him on the pallet, unable to move.

“This isn’t fair. You said you wanted me to tickle you!”

“And you did, you lovely, maddening imp, you found out my weakness. But I warned you I would take my revenge…” Light flashed in his eyes and the hold around her wrists tightened. It was still not enough to hurt her, but it made it clear she was at his mercy. As if she would want to go anywhere... She was right where she wanted to be. “Now it’s time I showed you what I have never done to virgins.”

Everything within her dissolved. Finally, he was about to take her. And the best part was? She didn’t even have to ask. They started to tear at each other’s clothes in frantic abandon, only stopping when they were both naked and panting.

“Are you not cold?” Moon asked, glancing toward the firepit where only embers remained. “Shall I fetch more?—”

“No.” Thanks to their earlier exertions and the desire coursing through her veins, she was anything but cold. In fact she was burning. “Touch me.”

“Ah, Eyja, you’re just so... bloody perfect,” he said, before cupping her breasts.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” she rasped back. Looming over her, all bunched up muscles and masculine intent, he was a sight to behold, a warrior about to claim his all too willing prize. She knew in that moment that she would never see him as just a friend ever again. He was her lover, and soon he would be her husband and the father of her children.

“You’re mine, you know that?” he said, squeezing her breast.

“I do. And you belong to me, heart, soul, and body.” That body was as hard as stone and the part jutting from between his legs unashamedly erect. She closed her fingers along the smooth shaft and gave a smile when he groaned his approval. “Nice snake you have here, by the way. I could just... eat it whole.”

The laugh he gave was somewhat shaky. “All in good time, my brave girl. But you, too, have something I could just eat right up.”

He gave one nipple a lick, then the other. Before he could lift his head back up, Eyja grabbed the back of his neck to keep him in place. This was too delicious, she was not ready to have him stop just yet. With a grunt he obeyed the silent but explicit instruction to suckle her harder. One hand slid along her stomach to come to rest in the place between her thighs. She was so wet his finger slid along the seam easily, parting the folds guarding her entrance. He started to circle it gently, before pushing in with slow deliberation.

“Yes!” She wanted that, she wanted more of him, and not just his finger.

Desperate to make him understand what she needed, she opened her legs wide and arched her back. But this time, instead of heeding her command, Moon stilled. There was an odd expression on his face.

“Would you rather wait until we are married to?—”

“No!” she almost shouted. Why would she? They were destined to be together, and he was the only man she was going to lie with, so why wait another moment? “I’m dying for you.” Or rather, she would die if he stopped now.

He placed a kiss on her throat, just above her collarbone then gave her nipples another slow lick. After his earlier suckling, they were hard as pebbles and almost painfully sensitive. “Are you nervous?”

No, not nervous, no. She let out a long exhale. Though she was a virgin, she was not inexperienced, and she could not remember ever feeling this aroused. She would love anything Moon chose to do to her. “No. I’m dying for you.”

“Do you want me to pleasure you first?” He started to kiss his way down to her intimate curls. The sensations he awoke along the way were exquisite but she stopped him before he could reach her navel.

“No, I’m dying for you.”

“Would you prefer?—”

“Moon, are you deaf? Haven’t I been clear enough? I’m dying for you. Please, take me, now. I don’t want to talk, I just want you to—ah!”

The possession was so sudden, so complete, that all the breath left her lungs. Well. She’d definitely gotten what she’d asked for.

Moon placed his forehead against hers in an apologetic gesture. “I’m sorry, my love, but you’ll have to stop provoking me so, for I will always respond,” he said, his voice raw with barely contained desire. “You saw when you offered me your mouth, I’m just too damn?—”

She stopped him with a finger over his lips. “You’re not ‘too’ anything, You’re just the way I want you to be. And you did just what I needed you to do. Don’t stop now.”

“No.”

He plunged inside her again, slowly. She bit her bottom lip at the perfect sensation. It was a tight fit, for certain, but she would not have called it painful, exactly. He withdrew and did it again, more purposefully. She rolled her head back in delight. They had only just started and she already knew this was going to kill her.

“More,” she rasped.

Before the word was finished, he’d increased the speed, giving her what she wanted.

“Put your leg over my shoulder,” he instructed, not slowing down. “I need to be deeper inside. You feel too good.”

“Yes.”

The change in position caused his shaft to rub in slightly different places, increasing her pleasure even further. Eyja bit her lip to stifle a scream. Moon stopped to kiss her, forcing her to soften her mouth again.

“No. Don’t stop yourself, let me hear you this time. It’s safe. We’re safe, we’re home. Please, sweetheart, moan for me, scream for me. Do what you need to do.” He started to move again, giving her no choice. “Let me hear your pleasure.”

She did. She could not have stopped herself anyway. Moans, each more lewd than the next flowed from her lips. When she screwed her eyes shut and threw her head back, floored by a wave of pleasure so intense she thought she would not survive it, she heard him rasp.

“Look at me when you come, my love. Me. I want to see you, and I want you to see me when I fill you up.” Unable to resist such an entreaty, Eyja opened her eyes. Moon was looking at her with an expression she had never seen on his face. “For too long we have existed side by side without really seeing one another, but tonight I want us to see what we?—”

He could not finish because right then her body seized around him, and his eyes caught on fire. All the air left her lungs and suddenly she couldn’t scream anymore.

“Yes!” The groan he made when he stilled sounded as if it had been wrenched from his soul.

A heartbeat later, heat pooled inside her and she came again.

Moon had lost his body. There was no better way to explain how he was feeling. Numb, hollow and, above all, at peace.

Eyja was lying on the pallet next to him, looking barely conscious herself. His hand was wrapped possessively over her stomach. She smiled faintly when he started to rub it, as if she’d read his mind. This time she might well be with child. He’d certainly done all that was required for her to be. The notion made his heart beat faster. Now that he had finally understood and accepted what he felt for her, he could not wait to start his new life as her husband and father of her children.

Once his heartbeat had gone back to normal, he stood up, and went to get a cup of water and some linen to see to her comfort. When he reached his pallet and saw her stretched over the furs, all smooth, lithe limbs and alabaster skin, his breath got caught in his throat. She was so beautiful, so delicate. And he had possessed her like a demented beast.

“Don’t you start,” he heard her say.

“Start what?”

“In a moment you are going to apologize to me for the way you behaved. I can see it in your eyes. Well, I don’t want to hear it. If I hadn’t liked it I would simply have thrown you off me or taken a bite out of your ear.” She lifted herself onto her elbows, daring him to contradict her. He did not, because she was right. She would have done those things and more if she had objected to the treatment he had subjected her to. This woman was a fierce warrior, not a meek maiden. “But I didn’t want to throw you off. I wanted you inside me, deeper, harder, faster. You had better get used to it because it’s not going to change anytime soon.”

He could not help a smile. There was his impudent, brash imp. He had guessed she would make for a fiery lover and he’d been proven right in spectacular fashion. If she had been so wild on her first time, there was no telling what they would accomplish together in the future. Not that he was surprised. Hadn’t Helga told him that she was tougher than she appeared? Yes, his little wife would be able to take him in all his impetuosity. Reassured, he started to wash her thighs with careful gestures.

“You didn’t bleed,” he observed, seeing no red on the cloth.

He felt her tense under his hand. “I swear I have never—” she started.

“No, I know you’ve never lain with a man.” He believed her, without question. “Forgive me, I didn’t mean it in that way, only that I’m relieved to know I did not cause you more pain than was necessary.”

She relaxed and, closing her eyes, allowed him to wipe his seed from between her legs. “No, there was no pain, as such.”

Mm, Moon mused, perhaps Thorfinn’s caresses had breached her maidenhead a few weeks ago, or perhaps she had not had any to start with. A woman as reckless as she was, always riding or climbing trees might well have a different body than another, more sedate one. It didn’t matter, in any case. It was better she had not experienced any tearing, since it meant she wouldn’t have felt pain. At least no more than what being filled for the first time would have provoked.

“Are you not sore?” Remembering how he had thrust inside her, he felt a twinge of guilt. It had been hard, uncompromising. Say what she might, he would have to learn to control his most savage urges, at least until her body was used to his attentions.

“No, I’m not sore in that way, for your snake is not as big and strong as you seem to think.” She laughed when he huffed in mock offence, knowing this was the reaction she’d been after. How wonderful it was to bed a woman with whom he could laugh. This was something new for him, and he already knew he would never be satisfied with less. Which was good because he was marrying his lifelong friend. “But I do feel as if I’d been trampled by an ox.”

A chuckle escaped his lips. “Sorry, no ox, just me.”

Her eyes opened a fraction. Not the least trace of frost remained in them, he was pleased to see. He’d melted it all for now. “How am I supposed to tell the difference? You weigh about the same.”

“Imp!” That one word seemed to contain all the love he felt for her. He traced a line from the underside of her breast to her navel, then carried on over her hip before splaying his hand over the graze marking it. Apart from this reminder of her ordeal in the crevice, she was all soft perfection and he could not get enough of her. “You know, seeing your gorgeous body on display in front of me gives me an idea. One day, soon, I will cover you with moons and stars, just like you did when you were a child, and then I will lick them one by one, until you beg for mercy.”

Eyja giggled, a delightful sound. “Then I’m afraid you will end up with a black tongue. Just like Hilda’s ox. You really are like the animal, it would seem.”

“I didn’t say I would use coal to draw the shapes,” he drawled, cupping her breast once more. It fit perfectly in his hand, proving they had really been made for one another. “I’m cleverer than a child, I should hope. I will use honey. And once my tongue is nice and sweet and sticky, I will?—”

Too aroused to wait for the rest of the sentence, Eyja crushed her mouth against his in a fierce kiss. He loved how bold she was, how she felt under him, and on his lips. He loved... her.

“I will get some honey tomorrow, for our wedding night,” she breathed, once she finally let go of him.

“Mm. A wonderful idea. But I think I’d better start practicing now, so I don’t make a mess of things.”

She stretched and opened her legs. “Yes. You had better do that.”

In the morning Moon led Eyja back to the clearing where he had taught her to use the sling—and she had ended up introducing him to a pleasure he’d always dreamed of.

Heat invaded her body when he stopped in front of the tree with the moon carving. The place would forever remind her of their scandalous encounter. Not that she needed it. The moment was etched in her mind as surely as the moon was carved in the oak bark.

“Why have you brought me here?” she rasped.

Did he intend to ask her to drop to her knees? She would all too readily comply if he did. Last night Moon had not allowed her to renew the experience, no matter how much she insisted, instead lavishing his attention on her. She had been too lost in pleasure to complain but it would not be long before she demanded they recreate the moment.

He must have heard the breathlessness in her voice for he smiled and shook his head “We’re not here for that, Imp.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t be too disappointed. The day is not over yet.”

Her whole body started to tingle at the promise. This time she would not let him distract her, no matter how skilled he was at it. She suspected he would not oppose much resistance, however, if she played her cards right. He had not last time.

“Before I do what I came here to do, there is something I should have told you yesterday. But between one thing and the other, I got distracted. Forgive me.”

He took her hands in his and Eyja’s heart started to beat faster when he looked at her. She knew that expression. Moon was fighting rising anger. That was the thing about getting involved with someone you’d known all your life. They simply could not hide anything from you, you always knew what they were feeling or thinking. And clearly, the news he was to impart made him angry.

“What is it?” Only a moment ago they had been laughing together. The shift in mood worried her. Moon must have seen it for he spoke, putting an end to the awful waiting in two short sentences.

“It’s Farmon. His brother Cuthbert sent word that he’s dead.”

All the air left her lungs in one big exhale. “Dead.”

“Yes. You don’t have to fear seeing him anymore. You’re safe, it’s over,” he growled. “He will never get to you now, and anyone else wanting to hurt you would have to go through me first, which will be no easy task. I will prove just as fierce as that giant on the bridge, the one no one but you was able to fell.”

“Of this I have no doubt.” She placed her forehead against his chest, relishing the sense of security he was offering. With this man on her side, she had nothing to fear. “Thank you. I love you.”

“Don’t thank me. It is my privilege and pleasure to be the one looking after you, loving you and pleasuring you.”

“Yes.” Three things he did better than anyone else. “And I promise to do the same for you.”

A wicked smile answered her. “I do not doubt it. Now. On to the reason why we came here.” He drew a dagger from his boot. “I’m going to carve a sun next to your moon because one is nothing without the other. I know that, because you are the sun to my moon, Eyja, the Sól to my Máni, and without you I am nothing.”

Oh. The man had a wicked mouth that could bring her body untold pleasure, she knew that already, but apparently he also had a silver tongue... Surely it was too much for one woman?

“Sól and Máni are brother and sister,” she said weakly, not quite sure how to deal with this new romantic side to Moon. The friend had been wonderful, the lover was something else entirely. “I don’t think you see me as your sister after what we did last night, do you?”

He growled. “No, and I never did. Do you think I would have used your mouth the way I did if I saw you as a sister or even just a friend?”

Was he trying to kill her? “Stop talking about that, or I will want to do it again, and this before the end of the day.”

He gave a throaty laugh that reached all the way to her core. “As far as threats go, this one is not exactly one to make me tremble. But first, I will carve a sun into that oak. From this day hence, it will be our tree and every time you bear me a child, we’ll come back to it and add a star. I hope to be surrounded by our own constellation one day.”

Eyja’s chest tightened. This was such a beautiful thought that she could not help but fall in love with Moon all over again.

“Go on, then. I can’t wait to see my sun beside your moon.”

She watched him work slowly. One nick at a time, he made the shape appear in the bark and soon, a radiant sun shone in the crook of her moon.

He drew back to observe his handiwork. “What do you think?”

“Perfect.”

The sun he’d carved was vibrant with life and energy, beautiful. Was that really how he saw her? Tears threatened to spill from her eyes. Ah, what was that man doing to her?

“ You are perfect. So, let’s go and get married, Imp,” he purred into her ear. “And then, I’ll fuck you until you can’t stand.”

The crude words sent her insides to the consistency of honey. She grabbed his tunic to draw him closer to her, and leaned her back against the moon and sun that would forever be linked, long after they were dead.

“No,” she said in a rasp. If he thought he could tell her something so shocking and leave it at that, he had another thing coming. She would never again deny herself—and him—the pleasure they craved.

“No?” He sounded just as breathless as she was and the part of him pressing against her stomach was impressively hard.

“First, you’re going to fuck me right here, against our tree, until I can’t stand. Then , and only then, will we go get married.”