Page 24 of Hungry Like a Wolf (Vikings Rock #3)

T wo full moons later, the sun was filling the sky for many hours of the day, barely dipping below the horizon in the middle of the night.

The tiny bugs that plagued the summer months had returned and fires still burned in homes to keep them at bay. Ravn was bothered by them, but not as much as Carmel was. Her bites were sore and red and she kept covered up, her clothes scented with cloves.

“I am sorry for your discomfort,” he told her, wrapping his arms around her small frame and pulling her back to his chest.

“It is not so bad.” She set down her weaving shuttle. “The wee beasties were a pain in my homeland too.”

“Would you like to leave Drangar for a while?”

“Where would we go?”

“To the coast. I have a small dwelling there. The insects do not breed in the open ocean, so it is much easier to live.”

She turned within his arms. “It’s true. It’s still water they like and the forest is full of that.”

“So? Would you like to take a trip away with me?”

She smiled and some of the tension left her shoulders.

Her smile filled his heart. Ravn knew he’d never been as in love as he was now, and each day, he fell for his wife a little bit more. She’d found her way into his soul. Without her, he’d be lost, a wanderer through life with a heart shredded.

“So is that smile a ja ?” he asked, touching the tip of his nose to hers.

“Aye, I would like that, for a few weeks.” She hesitated and he sensed there was something else she wanted to say.

“What, my love?”

“Just us?”

He tipped his head and a stir of interest heated his belly then traveled lower. “That was my plan.”

“Mmm.”

“Do you want company? Erin? Bodil?”

“No, no, not at all. I only want to be with you. It will be nice.”

“More than nice.” He tugged her closer, his cock stirring at the feel of her soft body.

“But…”

“‘But’?” He raised his eyebrows.

“I do have a request.”

“Whatever you want it is yours. All you must do is tell me.” And he meant it.

He’d give her the world if he could and all the gold and silver in it.

He only wanted her to be happy and have everything she needed.

He’d spend the rest of his life making up for the fact his brother had treated her as a slave.

“I would like”—she touched his lips—“to only speak your language while we are there.”

“But…why?”

“I am Queen of Drangar, am I not?”

“ Ja , you are.”

“Then I need to be able to speak to all my people in their tongue. I feel a fraud that I cannot when so many speak mine.”

“You are not a fraud,” he said firmly. “You are married to the king, which makes you queen.”

She nodded. “Exactly, and how can I hear their grievances, listen to their joy, converse with them if I cannot speak Viking?”

“You are right. You should have that knowledge.”

“Good, so we are agreed. We will go to the coast, just the two of us, and when we return. I will know the language of my new people.”

“That is a trade.” He ran his hand down her neck, over her right breast, and then rested it on her flat belly. “Maybe you will also return with an heir inside you.”

“That would be a blessing from God, indeed.”

“I will make offerings to Odin and all the gods before we journey.”

“What about Thormod? Will he come with us?”

“Not on this occasion. I will ask Helga to care for him. ’Haps when he has a sibling, we will take them both.”

“If that’s what you wish.”

“It is.” He dipped his head and kissed his beautiful wife. Her lips were as soft as petals and she tasted sweet like honey. He intended to make the most of their privacy on the coast and indulge his near-constant desire to be inside her. What could be a better way to spend the summer?

*

Two days later, Ravn mounted his favorite horse, which had been packed up with supplies.

Carmel sat on a gray mare and with a look of excited anticipation. He’d made the right decision to take her away from the stuffy, busy town of Drangar for a while.

He’d left instructions with his three councilors to oversee the harvest and repair some defenses just outside of the town boundary. He’d sent an envoy south to get news from the next kingdom and a group of men had taken a boat east in search of amber and furs and possibly slaves.

“ Er du klar ?” he asked.

“What does that mean?”

“Are you ready?”

“Aye, I am,” she answered.

“ Ja, jeg er .”

“What does that mean?” A slight frown creased her brow.

“It means ‘Yes, I am.’”

She repeated it with concentration.

“And so the lessons begin,” he said with a smile as he kicked his horse on. “When we return, you will be thinking in my language.”

“I hope so.”

They rode out of the village amongst several shouts of good luck and safe journey . Ravn nodded seriously, though Carmel smiled and waved and called her thanks.

Her light nature and ready smile were just a couple of the things he loved about her.

She softened his sharp edges and was an ointment to his sometimes-fractious mood.

It was as though Freya had known he’d need someone with the opposite temperament to his but at the same time someone who was still strong and skilled and regal.

Ja , she was perfect.

The journey to the coastal spot Ravn had in mind was a half-day’s ride through the forest and then another few hours past the steep entrance to the fjord.

As soon as they came out of the forest, the air was crisper and laced with the tang of salt. His stomach tightened with a sudden longing to be at sea. Sailing was in his blood. Exploring was his destiny.

Even though I’ve found what I was looking for?

He glanced at Carmel, who was studying the majestic cliffs with a look of awe in her eyes.

Her skin was so delicate, her neck slender, and her hair flowing behind her, catching on the breeze.

He knew the strands felt like silk when they lay on his naked chest or better still were spread on his abdomen.

The need to jump onto a longboat and hit the open ocean suddenly dissipated. He didn’t want to be anywhere except right where he was, at his wife’s side.

“The cliffs are beautiful but useless for crops,” she commented.

“They are made from the body of Ymir. His bones had to go somewhere.”

“Ymir?”

“ Ja , it is how the gods created the world. From Ymir’s blood, they made all the sea and the lakes.

They used his flesh to create the earth we stand upon.

And his hair, they made the trees and all their leaves and branches.

” He pointed upward. “And from his bones, the mountains were shaped. They made rocks and pebbles from his teeth and jaws.”

“Bones.” She frowned at the rocks. “But—”

“I know it is not your belief, but it is mine.”

“And I respect that.” She paused. “It is also quite a fascinating concept.”

“It makes sense.” He shrugged.

“Though if the sea and lakes are his blood, would they not be red?”

“They were once. They have been diluted now.”

She nodded and her attention went to the horizon. The ocean had come into view, thickly blue and sparkling. “There is also a story in the Bible about the rivers turning to blood.”

“There is?”

“Aye, when God was angry, he turned the Nile to blood. The fish died. The river was smelly and couldn’t be drunk.”

“Your god was indeed angry to do such a thing.”

“I am glad not to see it.”

“Ah, but I’d wager you are glad to see that.” He pointed forward.

In the distance, against a strip of sand and sheltered by a tall, sheer rock was a small dwelling, a pit house. He’d made it many years ago with Haakon and Orm. They’d been young and keen to show they were capable of building a robust shelter.

“Oh…is that where we’re staying?”

“ Ja . You will like it. The air is fresh and clear, the fish plentiful, and there are scallops, crayfish, and mussels, more than we could ever eat.”

“You make my stomach rumble.” She laughed.

“We will be happy there.” He kicked his horse on, keen to get there now that it was in sight.

The home was a quarter buried. They’d dug deep into the peat so that the door was several steps down.

This had made it easy to construct half stone, half wooden walls, and a roof of two large, flat panels that reached a peak in the middle.

The roof was covered in soil and grass and they’d decorated the highest point with replicas of Thor’s hammers.

There were no windows, but a hole to let smoke out in the rear gave enough light inside.

Mainly, it was a summer dwelling, used for sleeping and storage when hunting and foraging in the area.

The circle of thick stones outside was used as a seating area and sat around another fire pit with supports for a cauldron.

It had been two years since he’d visited, but he hoped it was still stocked with wood and the roped bed frame was still intact.

“Already, the wee beasties are dispersing.” Carmel smiled and pushed up the sleeves on her tunic. “What a relief.”

“There are none at the house,” he said. “You will be quite safe naked.”

She laughed. “Safe. Naked. With you around, husband? I think not.”

“Ah, ’haps you are right. You might be safe from biting insects, but not from a horny king who simply can’t get enough of you.”

She laughed.

Soon, they dismounted on a patch of bright-green grass that had a stream running at its edge and left their horses to graze.

Before long, they’d unpacked and Ravn had a fire going.

“We do not need to hunt or fish tonight,” Carmel said. “We have supplies.”

“That is good.” He stood and shucked off his tunic, the sun instantly warming his skin. “For I have the bed to attend to.”

“It could do fresh straw in the mattress.” She pinched her nose. “It smells as though a wanderer wintered here.”

“I will do that now.”

“And I will bathe, in the stream.”

He nodded and ducked inside, keen to get the bed to his wife’s liking. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be lying with him on it and he was counting on that.