A Heart of Fire (27 page)

Valdrik
went back to the shelf to gather something else and then startled her when he
sank down to his knees by the tub as he stuck a washing cloth into the water to
lather it with soap.

Finna
released another sigh and rolled her head back on her shoulders as Valdrik
began to wash her, running the cloth over her back and shoulders, over her
arms, leaving a trail of soapy bubbles on her skin, the smell of the bath oil
clinging to her.

He
took gentle time with her. Finna couldn’t deny his touches rekindled a spark of
desire already, especially when he touched her between her legs in the water to
wash her there.

She
gasped and turned to him.

His
lips came to her neck, the gentle kisses and rough abrasion of his beard making
her want to crawl out of her skin from the intensity, the restlessness, he
stirred.

"Do
you enjoy this?" he asked.

"Aye,"
Finna said on a sigh, leaning her head back onto his shoulder.

Valdrik's
hands came around to cup her breasts. He plumped her, teased her nipples with
the pads of his thumbs until they hardened and pearled under his touch.

Finna
hissed and arched into his hands, the firm mounds straining against his fingers
as he squeezed her wet skin. Already, she wanted for him again.

He
palmed her once more and then stood, going to a trunk at the end of his bed and
pulled out a drying sheet.

"Come,
before you get cold." He held out the sheet to her, and Finna stood, the
water rushing down her body as she stepped from the tub into the sheet.

She
shivered a little, and Valdrik pulled her into his arms, lifting her and taking
her to the fire where he sat in a chair and cradled her in his lap.

After
a moment, he murmured her name near her ear. "Finna."

"Hmm?"
she asked, content for the moment.

"I
wish a happy marriage, not one full of contempt and fighting. Can you give me
that?" he asked, tilting his head to look at her. "That is all I wish
of you."

Finna
reached up to cup his cheek in her hand, smoothing her thumb over the bristles
of his beard, over his lips. Her eyes fell to his mouth and locked there,
desperately wanting to feel that mouth on hers again.

A
happy marriage? It was what she desired as well, but with Valdrik? They were so
oddly matched. After all, she had been raised by his enemy. But…

"I
shall try, do you treat me in bed the way you just have, Viking." She
smiled at him and lifted her head to give him a gentle kiss. A light smooching
sound filled the dwelling followed by a growl from Valdrik.

"You
are not too tender to be taken again?" he asked. There was so much excited
anticipation in his tone. A spark came to his eye as he looked on her.

Finna
chuckled, for she knew if she said
aye
he would perish.

"Nay,
Vik—"

He
claimed her lips so fast, grasping the back of her head, he stole her breath
and swallowed it into his lungs before Finna could finish.

Valdrik
stood to carry her to the bed, tossed her onto the straw mattress, and there
they spent the remainder of the day.

Chapter
Twenty-One

A fortnight later

Finna
wandered through the village, within the walls, seeking her husband. Winter's
snow crunched under her boots, but no longer fell. Not this day. Today the
skies were clear, and no biting winds whipped at her as she walked down the
path, only a blanket of crisp cold surrounded the village. Her breath puffed in
a little white cloud around her face as she crested the hill where Stieg had
directed her.

Finna
came to the small shed-like building with only supporting posts in front, a
wall in the back, and a thatched roof, which held a thick, even layer of snow.
She leaned around the entrance and then went to her husband. He glanced over
his shoulder at her approach, but continued working with the carcass of the red
deer he had slain. He had made cuts to remove the pelt, and once he was done,
the skin would be taken into a dry place to be stretched and made into leather.

Finna
reached for him and smoothed her hands around his sides from behind. He jolted
at her touch and then turned to look at her.

"There
you are," he said, and bent to kiss her brow. "I wondered when you
would rise."

Finna
came around his side, smoothing her hands over her belly. "I am overtired
of late, Viking. Mayhap because you keep me up all night with your
loving."

He
bent to kiss her again, and Finna wrapped her arms around her husband's neck
and kissed him back, deeply. She found she rather enjoyed this change between
them.

"Careful."
He looked over to the deer hanging by its legs from a rope strung up to the
wooden beam overhead. "I do have work to do. I was going to come find you
when I finished."

She
made a feral, guttural sound in her throat and let him go, as his hands were
bloody and he could not touch her. Finna swallowed at the sight of the blood
and took a steadying breath. Quickly, before it upset her senses further, she
turned away.

"I've
come to ask you for something, husband," she said.

He
turned over his shoulder as he began his work again. "Is that why you
greet me with kisses?"

"Nay."
Finna gave him a lopsided grin. "I wish to have my dagger back. You told
me that one day I might have it, and I wish that day to be today."

He
sighed and turned to her. "Why? Shall I expect you to wish a sword to be
forged next?"

"Nay,
I wish to give the dagger to Geera. She has a need for protection."

Valdrik
gave her a look of concern over his shoulder as he continued to cut the pelt
from the carcass with a sharp, bloodied knife. "Why does Geera need a
blade?"

Finna
bit her lip. "Ever since I came here and she did not wed you, it seems
every man in the village has hounded her to incredible lengths. The man from
the stairwell, Geera told you of his atrocious actions?"

Valdrik
stopped what he was doing altogether and turned to her, dropping his bloodied
hands at his sides, the long knife hanging from his fingers. "Aye."

"He
has now made a second attempt."

Valdrik's
eyes glimmered with something that looked akin to rage. "I counseled him
myself and told him he should never go near Geera or you again." His
nostrils flared with a hard exhale. He wiped the upturned bottom of his sleeve
across his forehead and glared icily toward the longhouse. "I shall deal
with this," he said.

She
almost
felt sorry for the poor
bastard. "Still, I would like Geera to have my dagger. In case anyone
else…"

Valdrik
nodded. "Aye," he said on a breath and came to plant a kiss on her
head. "The dagger is in my trunk at the foot of our bed."

Finna
pulled back. "
That
close? This
whole time?" She scoffed at him.

He
laughed gently in return. "Go, fetch your dagger and give the blade to
your sister."

"Thank
you, my husband," she said as she started off, but turned to pin Valdrik
with a lusty stare, one that promised his kindness would be repaid.

Her
look had him staring after her, the deer clearly forgotten.

****

"I
do not see how the men spend all day training out in this cold," Geera
grumbled. She stepped forward and took a jab at Finna, which Finna deflected in
one easy thrust.

Finna
spun to the side, knocking her sister in the back, and with a cry of surprise,
Geera went face first into the snow. She rolled to her side and quickly gained
her feet, brushing off the powder.

"Ooh,
that was cold," she said in a quivering voice. "This will never work,
Finna. You make me feel completely useless."

Finna
laughed. "As you do me when we are in the kitchens, or the sewing
room." She shrugged. "Everywhere but here." Finna angled her
practice sword at Geera, but Geera's shoulders dropped and she relaxed her
stance and came to her sister, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Skill at using a blade will not come to you in a day. I have every faith
you will learn to protect yourself though." She smiled then. "I have
something for you." Finna took the training sword from Geera and started
for her things where they lay on her cloak by the wall at the side of the
training yard.

"You
do not have to give me anything," Geera called, hiking the bottom of her
dress to tromp through the snow after Finna. Though their scurrying around the
empty training yard had left the snow there compacted and rutted, Geera's
shorter stride forced her to step over the clumps with greater efforts.

"I
want to." Finna took the jeweled dagger from her cloak. Valdrik had
wrapped it in a piece of cloth, and as she turned for her sister, Finna
unfolded the tied corners and displayed the dagger on top of the rough
material.

Geera's
eyes darted between Finna and the blade. "I cannot take that."

"Aye,
you can and you shall. I have no use for this dagger any longer. Give one of
those bastards a poke with this and not only shall he think twice before making
another attempt, but so will the next man."

Geera
reached and took the blade, mesmerized by the beauty of it. "'Tis very
sharp," she noted, ignoring the jewel encrusted hilt, her eyes only on the
sharp point.

"Finna!"
a man's deep voice called, startling them.

Finna
turned to look over her shoulder and saw Valdrik riding up on his monstrous
sized beast, the breaths of the animal turning to clouds as it shook its head
when they came to a stop. Finna started out of the training yard with Geera
behind her.

"Is
something wrong?" she called up to him, gently patting the horse on the
neck.

"Nay."
Valdrik shook his head, smiling down on her. "Did the training go
well?" he asked Geera.

Geera
snorted. "Finna may not know what she is doing with her women's work, but
she certainly does in the training yard."

Valdrik
laughed and then reached down to his wife. "Come, ride with me."

Finna
speared him with a hesitant look. "Why?"

"You
shall see, unless your frail limbs are too cold already." He sat back in
the saddle with an air of confidence, as though he knew he had hooked her with
his taunt. "I promise it shall be well worth your time."

Finna
pursed her lips, eyeing the horse. She remembered all too well the last time
she had been on that beast with Valdrik. But still, she stooped and took up her
cloak to fix around her shoulders, hooking the clasp at her throat, and then
turned to Geera. She gave the younger woman a peck on the cheek. "Stick
the dagger in your boot and keep it with you always. Please, take the training
swords back to Ragnarr."

"
What
?" Geera said. Her eyes flared
with some alarm and she blinked dumbly at Finna.

Finna
gave her a wink and then took her husband's hand, stepping on his foot in the
stirrup to give herself a boost. She came to sit on his lap and turned to him.
"Where do you take me, Viking?" she asked.

His
body against hers was like a shield of warmth. Valdrik dipped his head and
kissed her, a lusty growl unfurling into her mouth as he did so.

"Careful,"
Geera called up to them. "With the cold this day, a cloud of steam might
unfurl off the two of you and everyone shall think the training yard has gone
up in flames."

Finna
laughed against her husband's lips, and they both looked to Geera as she
started off to find Ragnarr. Valdrik turned his horse in the opposite direction
he had approached from.

"You
do know," he said quietly, "Ragnarr does not tend to the training
swords."

"I
know," Finna said just as quietly and took a peek around Valdrik at her
sister.

"What
is it you think you are doing, wife?" he asked, a hint of warning in his
tone.

Finna
snorted at that warning. As if she would tell him. She waved his question
aside. "Truly, where do you take me?” she asked.

"If
I were going to tell you, I would have the first time you asked. 'Tis a
surprise. I told you earlier I had planned to come find you."

"A
surprise?" Finna rested her back against her husband, relishing the
hardness of his body, the smell of
man
surrounding her. The sheer thought of his nearness stirred her to distraction.
"I thought you meant for a bedding."

They
left the protection of the wall and meandered slowly into the forest. Valdrik
kissed the curve of her neck, and Finna turned her head for a deep kiss, their
lips crushing together as she turned and wrapped her arms around him. Valdrik
reached down and began to palm her breasts through her dress.

"The
last time I had you atop my horse, drawn across my lap, you protested. What
changed?" he asked between hot, openmouthed kisses. He dug his fingers
into Finna's hair as she flicked her tongue against his, slowly at first, but
then faster, hotter, until indeed a cloud of steam rose from their bodies into
the cold air around them.