Page 37 of Haakon's Fate
“Wait. At least come into the room,” she called out before he could pass through the door. “Lie here, next to the brazier. ’Tis too cold and draughty in the corridor.”
It had been draughty, he had to admit. Could he accept the offer? Would that not be playing with fire? Yes, probably. Yet he could not find the will to refuse.
“Thank you.”
With a nod, he went to retrieve his bedding. When he came back Gytha was still in the same place, and the look in her eyes had not changed. Except that this time he knew with terrible certainty that she was indeed awake and fully aware of his state of undress.
“Get into bed,” he told her, closing the door behind him.Before I tumble you into it.
He was already half-naked, harder than steel and ready to go. It wouldn’t take much to push him over the edge.
“Yes,” she said dreamily. “Bed.”
That did it.
With a muffled oath, Haakon threw the covers on the floor and collapsed on top of the pile, his back turned to the temptress who had just issued what sounded like the most scandalousinvitation. For a few tense heartbeats he waited, dreading to feel her sliding her delectable body next to his on the furs. If she was half as aroused as he was now, she might not be able to resist the temptation.
A moment later he heard the ruffle of covers when Gytha finally, blessedly, climbed into her bed. Soon there was nothing to be heard but the wind blowing outside.
Haakon already knew he would never be able to get back to sleep now, not after having feared an attack on Gytha, not after having felt her hands on his bare chest, not after having fought a mighty battle with his desire. It had been hard enough to settle down in the first place, he would not make it a second time.
Stiff as a lance, he lay on his back staring at the ceiling, waiting for a new day to dawn.
Gytha’s fathercame back mid-morning. He walked through the main door just as she was leaving her room and found Haakon sitting by the hearth.
It looked as if he had slept here, on the wooden chair, on high alert. Certainly no one could have suspected he had actually spent the best part of the night in her room. When had he left?
She had not been surprised to find the nest of furs empty upon waking up, but she had been surprised to fall back to sleep so quickly after the heated encounter of the night. For a heady, blessed moment she had been nestled in his embrace, her hands had been on him, his scent had enveloped her. It was odd she had managed to calm the roaring in her blood long enough to relax and fall into oblivion. Less surprising was the fact that her dreams had been filled with images of a Norse god brandishing a moonbeam in one hand and a bolt of lightning in the other.His hair had been a cascade of gold flowing down to the small of his back and his eyes had been amber—but his features had been that of Haakon’s.
Did he ever wear his hair braided, she wondered, like Halfdan did? She would have to ask him sometime, because she was certain it would suit him as much as it suited Eadhild’s husband.
With some effort, she brought her mind back to the present and the two men talking.
“Thank you, Haakon,” her father was saying. “My business with Wilgard is finally concluded so I don’t need to bother you any longer.” He looked pleased with the results of the meeting with his friend. “You can get back home.”
Home. At the village where he belonged, rather than here in town, looking after a woman he barely knew. She hated feeling like she was a burden for him. Not once the previous evening or even during the night, when his sleep had been interrupted, had Haakon made her feel like an imposition, but her father’s unfortunate comment made her see that, perhaps, he would have rather been somewhere else last night. After all, aside from the inexplicable, unfortunate heat between them, they had little in common. He was everything she was not.
Why would he want to be here?
Haakon winked when he saw her father was not looking at him, as if he had guessed what she was thinking and wanted to reassure her.
“It wasn’t a problem,” he said, his voice even. “I’m glad I could help.”
Warmth spread through her. He meant it, she could tell, it was not just a ploy destined to make her feel better.
“Did anything happen?”
“No. Nothing worth mentioning.”
Nothing except from what had transpired between them while they had played dice and then later on in the still of the night, when he had held her close against his naked chest. Nothing except what had started to bloom in her heart.
“Excellent. Well then, tell Wolf I will come visit in a few days’ time.”
“Of course.”
After one last bow, Haakon left. The door closed on him with the finality of a lid slamming on a coffin. Or perhaps this was her recent loss that put her in mind of such a gloomy image.
“Now, Gytha. Let me tell you what Wilgard told me last night. You are not going to believe it.”
