A Heart of Fire (28 page)

Valdrik
groped the hem of her dress and yanked it upwards.

Finna
gasped at the sharp rip of the material. "'Tis too cold out," she
said, reaching down to stop him.

"Is
it?" he asked roughly, pulling at his laces and freeing himself. His cock
sprang upward, and he pulled at her leg until she complied and brought it
across his chest so that she straddled him.

Finna
took her husband's face in her hands and kissed him as she used his feet to
push herself up, straining the muscles of her thighs until she was over him,
and then she lowered her body, his member sliding into her with ease. Finna's
head fell back with the pleasure of his thickness filling her. Her dress fell
down around their legs, and Valdrik held her to him.

"Take
me," he urged. He took her bottom lip between his teeth and raked, teased,
suckled, and then kissed her hard.

Finna
hooked an arm around his neck and brought herself up, almost off his cock, and
then slid back down him. She did this again and again, their stares locked. She
watched as his eyes glazed with pleasure.

Urgently,
she rode him. She grasped his hair, pulling his head back as he snaked his
fingers around her throat with one hand, the other he clamped around her thigh,
lifting her, slamming her down on him. Over and over again.

Finna
cried out at the burning intensity, the friction, the fullness of him hammering
into her.

As
he came, Valdrik let out a strangled cry of pleasure. Finna matched his cry
with a gasp as she rode the wake of his release, milking the last tremors of
ecstasy.

She
could feel the hot jolts of him within her, the wetness of his seed spilling
into her body. Valdrik's head fell to her breasts momentarily, and he chuckled
against her bosom before he lifted his head, his chin to her collarbone as he
looked up at her.

"Last
we were in this wood I would not have imagined you as my wife, and I surely
would not have imagined my wife being so lusty." His lips seared her neck.
"Not that I mind," he quickly added. He gave her one last, quick kiss
and lifted her off his cock, then set her back as he arranged himself in his
pants and then he helped Finna turn around again. "'Tis not what I
intended," he said.

"Nay?"
Finna asked, resting her head back against his shoulder and nuzzling her head
against his unshaven jaw.

Valdrik
surveyed their location and then turned his horse in the right direction as
they had ambled aimlessly since their loving began. He urged the destrier to
move a little faster through the wood. Snow clung to branches in thick mounds,
falling off in powdery wafts as they passed.

"Here
we are," Valdrik whispered and brought the horse to a stop.

Finna
looked around the copse in curiosity, for she did not see whatever it was he
was wishing to show her. "I do not understand," she said aloud.

"
Ssh
," he whispered, and then
pointed high in a tree.

Finna
gasped and began struggling to get from the horse. Valdrik looped an arm around
her middle and handed her down until her feet touched the snow. She dropped
into it, and Finna lifted her dress to step through the thick drifts.

"Your
pet is quite resilient. He has taken up the old home of another bird."

 
Finna whistled to her pet, and the owl craned
his neck at her, making a clicking noise. Fang shuffled out onto the branch and
took flight, swooping down to Finna's outstretched arm.

"My
pet," she cried, smoothing a finger over the feathers on his head. Fang
turned and took a nip at her finger. He waddled along her arm away from her
attentions. Finna raised her brows at him. "
You
are angry with
me
?"
She turned and pointed to Valdrik where he had dismounted, too, and was looking
around the perimeter of the copse. "Nay, 'tis that one to be angry with.
He stole me away from you." Finna made a
t'sking
noise and crooned to her pet until he sidled back up her
arm to nuzzle her cheek. After a moment of reuniting with her pet, she looked
to her husband where he had stopped and bent down to examine the ground.

"What
is it?" she called to him.

Valdrik
looked at her over his shoulder as he straightened.

"'Tis
naught. Come," he held out his arm to her. "'Tis time we
return."

Finna
frowned and looked at the natural state of the wood, the loveliness of the
snow-clung branches, the drifts about their feet, the freshness of the air.

She
did not want to go back.

"Why
return now?" she asked, approaching her husband and his horse slowly.
"'Tis a nice day."

"Now,
Finna." Valdrik mounted the horse and reached down for her.

Finna
frowned deeper as she lifted her arm for Fang to take flight, and she took
Valdrik's hand, gingerly climbing back atop the horse. His wary looks around
the forest disturbed her and told her he was lying. "
Why
must we leave?" she asked low. "I know there is
something amiss that has caused you to act this way. I am not daft nor blind.
Tell me why you tense so."

"'Tis
only a suspicion I do not wish to trouble you with." Valdrik bent to kiss
Finna's neck, but she pulled forward, away from him, and gave him an icy stare.

"You
do not trust me?" she asked.

He
clucked his tongue. "'Tis not that." His lips thinned, and he sat
back from her, leading the horse out of the grove and to the path they had
made.

As
his irritation mounted, Finna grew nervous. He looked behind them only once,
but more so, he seemed vexed over the obvious tracks they left.

Finna's
own frustration rose with each breath until she swung around in Valdrik's lap.
"I do not understand why you will not tell me," she blurted.

Valdrik
stifled his humor at her small outburst and cupped her cheek. "'Tis for me
to worry about, not you."

Just
then, Fang swooped down and landed on Finna's shoulder and flapped his wings
open at Valdrik,
 
giving him a screech.
Finna sat a little straighter and ran her hand over her pet's head, giving her
husband a cutting look. "He is not happy with you," she said to Valdrik.

He
lifted a brow at her. "He? Or you?" He turned his glower on the bird.
"That pet of yours will learn to tolerate me better or he shall find
himself back in that tree."

Finna
snorted. To Fang she said, "He does not mean that, but you cannot squawk
at just anyone here."

Fang
clicked his beak.

Finna
shook her head at the owl. "Maybe he will give you a piece of the venison
he brought home today, if you are nice."

Valdrik
gave a gusty sigh behind her, and Finna chuckled as they entered the protection
of the wall.

Chapter
Twenty-Two

"Hadarr,"
Valdrik bellowed as he entered the hall. He stopped to bow before the dais
where his Jarl sat by his wife.

Hadarr
motioned him to come forward and Valdrik hurried up the steps.

"What
is it?" Hadarr asked.

"Finna's
owl has been found, and near to the bird were tracks. I believe Aldar's men
have come onto our lands again."

Hadarr
straightened in his seat. "Nay, the fjord is iced over now. 'Tis too
dangerous to cross."

Valdrik
nodded. "But, to the north, is a passage. You know this."

Hadarr
shook his head, rubbing his graying beard. "Nay, 'tis too far to travel in
winter."

"Yet,
it is possible."

Hadarr
eyed Valdrik intensely. "What if the tracks were made by our own warriors
or hunters?"

"Nay,
none of our people have been there since I spotted the owl early this morn when
I hunted. When I first spotted her pet, the tracks were not present. I would
have seen them. Yet when I returned with your daughter, the tracks along the
copse were there. Fresh."

Concern
rippled over Hadarr's features. "If this is so, we must be on our guard.
Post extra men as lookouts. Have one of your men guard Finna at all times when
you are not with her."

Valdrik
nodded. "Finna shall not like that."

Hadarr
chuckled. "My daughter has softened somewhat, but I would not wish to be
the man to tell her she shall now be guarded."

As
Valdrik stood and turned to the hall, he caught Stieg's attention and motioned
him to come nearer. He, too, did not wish to be that man.

Valdrik
caught Stieg by the shoulder and whispered to him, "I want you to keep a
watchful eye on my wife at all times, for Hadarr and I suspect Aldar's men are
about."

Stieg
jerked back from him with a snarl. "Nay. But the fjord?"

Valdrik
shook his head and patted the man's back. "I must post an extra watch.
Finna should be in our dwelling. Would you go and see that she is safe?"

Stieg
snorted. "Your wife is never where she should be."

"It
matters not, seek her out. Follow her everywhere she goes."

"Does
she know I am to do this?" Stieg asked, following behind Valdrik.

He
cast a grin at the other man over his shoulder. "Nay."

Stieg
stopped in his tracks and groaned loudly.

****

Finna
poked at the rabbit in the soapstone pot as it cooked and then drew her finger
over the large, wooden spoon to taste the broth. She tossed in some root
vegetables and seasonings to add flavor. Her cooking skill was not as good as
Geera's yet, but she improved greatly under her sister's instruction, and even
her herb mixing had become better. She still detested sewing though.

Finna
replaced the lid and rose. Her back was stiff and sore, as were her hips. She
supposed it was from all the loving she was receiving from Valdrik. Heat spread
from her cheeks to her neck and downward, causing Finna to lift a hand to rub
at the back of her neck. She smiled to herself and looked at her pet on his
newly fashioned roost, the best she and Valdrik could fashion with little time
or materials.

Where is my
husband?
she wondered. A thin line creased her forehead.

He
had left her at the cottage and told her to stay whilst he cared for his horse,
but that had been long ago. Night had fallen last she went for wood at the back
of the cottage.

She
bit her lip as she went for her cloak. She wanted to check on her mother and
sister once more before she settled in for the night anyway. Her mother
struggled so with her ailments, suffering dearly with pains in the bitter
winter, but it seemed Geera's poultices relieved their mother.

Finna
swung her cloak over her shoulders and clasped it at her neck. She started for
the door, but Fang swooped across the room with a high-pitched squawk and
dropped down on her shoulder, halting Finna.

He'd
scarce allowed her from his sight since earlier.

"Nay,
my pet," Finna said, reaching up to finger his back. "You cannot
come."

Fang
craned his neck around her and blinked, turning his head almost upside down.
His antics caused her to laugh.

"Oh,
what does it matter? Geera has not yet seen you. She will like you much."
She gave him one last stroke and started for the door again.

Finna
let herself out and stepped right into Stieg. She jumped back against the door
in surprise, knocking it back ajar, and Fang opened his wings and screeched at
the over-large man.

"Gods!
What is that?" Stieg yelped and fell back in greater surprise than Finna,
bringing an arm up to shield his face as Fang craned forward and screeched
again, his yellow eyes bright and round.

Finna
couldn’t help but laugh. She laughed until her lungs hurt in the cold weather.
"Serves you justly for stalking around outside my door. What is it you are
about?" she asked, smothering her laugh and reaching up to pet Fang, to
soothe his ruffled excitement. Her owl calmed at her touch, but did not turn
his wary stare from Steig, nor did Stieg look away from Fang.

She
held a hand to her throat as she looked up at the intimidating bear of a man.
He might not have been so intimidating with his size if it were not for the
jagged scar that cruelly marred the side of his eye. Briefly, she wondered how
he'd gained that wound. "What are you doing?" she repeated, reaching
behind her for the door and pulled it closed before all the warmth escaped.

Stieg
swallowed and looked to the sky. "I—I, uh…" he stammered, and wiped
his hands on his pants, clearing his throat.

Finna
narrowed her eyes on him and put her hands on her hips, beginning to feel she
would not like what he had to say.

"I
am to watch you," he muttered, and scratched his bearded neck.

Finna
eyed him curiously. "
Watch
me?
Who sent you to watch me and why?"

Stieg
looked between her and the longhouse and back to her and then to the owl before
he finally settled his stare back on Finna, uneasily albeit. "Your husband
commanded me to watch you as he suspects more of Aldar's men have been roaming
our lands."