Page 23 of A Viking's Captive

Ilona gently explored his shoulders, massive biceps, and chest with her fingertips. If she kept this up, he would not be able to control himself. When Ilona kissed his chest over his heart, he was almost undone.

Rathnon grabbed her hands and said in Gaelic, “Tonight, after dinner, ye can touch me all ye want.” He pointed to the trajectory of the sun and pointed west, where later it would set. Ilona teased him by splashing him before she emerged, grabbed a towel, and dried herself off. She dressed and added wood to their firepit. Rathnon had told her he would prepare breakfast for them this morning.

He dried and wore his pants before returning to their campsite. His tousled hair framed his face as he knelt by the fire and took eggs, butter, bread, and tomatoes wrapped in fabric from a sack. With his knife, he placed butter in a pan on top of a stone over the fire. The butter sizzled as he cracked open the eggs into the pan. Rathnon cut the tomatoes in half and placed them in the pan to cook. After the eggs and tomatoes cooked, he used wooden bowls to hold their breakfast with oatcakes. He made hot tea in a small pot on the stove and poured it into cups.

They sat and ate their breakfast. “Takk. Yer breakfast tastes good. Who taught ye to cook?”

“Sigrid and necessity taught me to cook. We need to ken how to cook a few things to survive on long voyages and after battles.” Rathnon and Ilona played naming games. Ilona pointed to body parts, and Rathnon identified them in Norwegian, and she repeated the name in Gaelic to facilitate learning more of their partner’s language.

Later, when they repeated the lesson, Rathnon teased Ilona by repeating the wrong word in Norwegian, and she correctedhim. He thought it humorous but soon found out Ilona was very serious in her intentions to learn his language. She expected the same dedication from him. Rathnon didn’t let on that he had been studying with Sigrid.

They sauntered through the woods, and Ilona took baskets to collect herbs and berries. At a higher elevation, they sat and beheld the panoramic view under sunny skies. From this altitude, the sea looked blue and calm, but Ilona kent looks were deceiving when dealing with the ocean.

She didn’t let the unfulfilled wish her parents could have seen her wed mar the day for her. Ilona kent her mother would like her husband but found it more difficult to gauge what her father’s reaction would be to Rathnon.

Hopefully later there would be the chance to send her parents a letter to ken what had happened to her. If her father had the chance to ken Rathnon’s character, she thought he would like her husband.After we have a child, will Rathnon take me back to Orkney to see to my parents’ welfare?

Rathnon barely left her side unless she needed privacy in the forest to care for her personal needs. He either held her hand, had his arm around her, or placed his hand on her arm or at her back. His care and concern helped Ilona feel safe and secure.

Since her vows, Ilona had contemplated her life. Now she owed it to her husband, his aunt, and the community to be a good wife and make him proud of her. But would it be easier or harder for her to win his approval compared to her strict father? Did his clan trade with others, and did they have fairs? How much fighting existed between clans here compared to Scotland?

Ilona turned to Rathnon, who lay on his back and gazed at her. “It is nice not to work for a short time, is it not? If it were up to me, I would keep you with me always, bound to my side. I do not want to share you. I want you all to myself.”

“Ilona did nae understand every word, but with his gestures, she thought she understood what he wanted to communicate to her.

“Did ye wish me to make ye dinner tonight?” she asked.

Rathnon shook his head. He pantomimed his bow and arrow, showing he would hunt for their dinner. Ilona wasn’t used to having time on her hands without tasks to complete. After arriving in Norway, she had been busy every moment until today.How long will we stay in the forest? Will Rathnon be called back into service to the king?She hoped the king would nae call him to leave her soon. Ilona realized she would feel lost if he left her.How have I come to rely on him so quickly?

Rathnon sat up, stood, and pulled her up to him. “Let us hunt for our dinner.” Ilona nodded, and they returned to their campsite, where Rathnon picked up his bow and arrows. While they searched a new area, Rathnon shot more rabbits for dinner, and Ilona collected berries and herbs. While Rathnon dressed the rabbits, Ilona cleaned the skins and stretched the furs using willow branches. She hung them from a low-hanging pine branch to dry and to prevent them from getting dirty.

These would be perfect to use for Rathnon’s tunic jacket she had made. Ilona wanted to edge the hood, sleeves, and bottom hem with fur. The jacket would look marvelous on him and provide additional warmth in the winter weather.

When they returned to the longhouse, Ilona would begin work on a thick, warm tunic. While they waited for the meat to roast, Ilona asked, “Rathnon, what colors do ye like best for yer shirt?” She pointed to his tunic and then the blue sky, the brown dirt, and a green leaf. Then, she gestured that the weather was cold, hugging her arms, to try to indicate warm clothing.

Rathnon pointed to the brown dirt first and found a darker green leaf as a second choice. They ate the rabbit with potatoes they’d brought from the longhouse and roasted, and with their tea, they ate the berries Ilona had collected. While she washed their dishes by the burn, Rathnon stoked the fire and added more wood to smoke the remaining meat.

He added more pine branches under their furs, making their mattress plumper and softer. Rathnon placed a clean sheet over the furs and the additional folded blankets and furs to the side within arm’s reach.

In the evening, Ilona wandered into the forest before sitting beside Rathnon. He gently unbound her hair and brushed it for her, having already removed his shoes and socks and pants, wearing only his tunic.

He gently pulled off Ilona’s dress, shoes, and socks. Her breath quickened as his hand brushed against her skin. She lay down, and her hair fanned out, spilling like a cascading waterfall over the bedding.

Rathnon smiled at her with a smoldering glint in his eye. He started by kissing her fingertips, then moved up her arms to her collarbone. Then he kissed her from her feet up her legs. He pulled her tunic off and looked at her, reveling in seeing his naked wife beneath him. Ilona tried to cover herself using her long, thick hair, but he moved her hands back. “You give mepleasure, wife, to gaze at you. Do not cover yourself. Clothes impede what I want to do to you.”

Ilona trembled under his hungry gaze. Then she surprised him by pulling him down on top of her and rolling them over on their sides. Rathnon gazed at her, smiling, wondering what she had in mind for him. She continued her exploration from this morning and trailed soft kisses over his arms, his chest, his neck. Ilona caressed her hands up and down his legs, savoring each curve of hard muscle and marveling at the contours of his beautiful body. She tugged at his tunic, and he pulled it off over his head to please her. In the daylight, her eyes became enormous as she saw his erection.How could it have fit insideme?

Ilona gazed intently at him and gently touched his erection, driving him wild, but he remained unmoving. She marveled at the softness of his skin, but also how heavy and iron-hard when she held it in her hand. Inflamed with need, it was torture for him to lie still under her delicate touches that teased his need of her.

Ilona moved her attention up his body and slid her hands under his arms, tickling him. She delighted in finding a spot that caused him to laugh and squirm. In a moment, the tables were turned. Rathnon clenched both of her hands in one of his and kissed her lips, then down her neck to her breasts. Now it was her turn to squirm under him, Rathnon drove her wild to be ready for him.

Moaning with pleasure and writhing underneath him, he finally entered her, and Ilona called his name with urgent need. He thrust in slowly and pulled back, and Ilona urged him on, meeting his thrusts. The pleasure built for both of them. Their releases shattered at the same time, leaving them breathless.

The white-hot lightning coursing through Ilona was more pleasurable than yesterday, and relief filled her when she experienced nae further pain. Relaxed, they held each other and fell asleep. Rathnon awakened her hours later to take her to the heights of passion time and time again. The last time, shortly before sunrise.

Ilona awakened first and gazed at her slumbering husband, who must be tired from his exertions during the night and morning. She took care of her personal needs and washed her face and hands in the burn. Ilona fished for their breakfast, hoping to surprise her husband with a tasty meal. She sought to please Rathnon when she caught several large brown trout, a couple of perch, and a whitefish.

Ilona cleaned and gutted them on a rock, then washed the fish in the fast-flowing water of the burn and skewered them on wooden skewers over the fire.