“Brothers and sisters,” he booms. Pressing my lips together, I continue to look up at him, knowing that he is going to assuredly say something that will no doubt make me cry. “I come to you with a heavy heart,” he calls out. “Gunnar and Hagen have lost their battles. Though it is heavy knowledge for us to bear, do not be sad that they will no longer join us as they are now dining with Dhius and the other gods and goddesses in Valhalla.”
He doesn’t say anything else, he doesn’t have to. The entire room erupts into cheers. I jump slightly at the deafening sounds of the men and women shouting happily for the deaths of these men.
Aaric sits next to me, he lifts his hand and motions for the women in the kitchen to begin serving the food. He doesn’t turn to look at me, he’s busy being a strong king, but he does reach for my hand.
He laces his fingers with mine and I swear my heart skips a beat. He doesn’t even look at me the rest of the night, but instead of like on our wedding night, this time I don’t feel ignored. Instead, I feel important. I am at his side, not behind him, not an afterthought. He is here with his people, but I am here as well.
The rest of the evening, the people celebrate. They sing and dance, just like they did for our wedding, although this time there is an underlying sadness that surrounds us.
Men and women come to us, they give their respects to Aaric, assuming that I still don’t speak their language. I smile and nod as a few of them talk to me, then the farm girl from our wedding night appears again. Her dress is so low cut that I can practically see her areolas.
Narrowing my eyes on her, I don’t say anything right away as she begins to flirt with Aaric. I want to hear what she has to say. Runa is sitting next to me, I hear her clear her throat, but I only shake my head.
“I would welcome you, Konungr. Anything you wanted from me, it is yours,” she coos.
Grinding my teeth together, I try to keep my cool. Heat boils in my belly. Closing my eyes, I try to inhale a calming breath, but it doesn’t work. All I want to do is reach across this table, grab her by her hair and beat the absolute shit out of her.
“Thank you for your offer,” Aaric purrs.
I know that purr. I love that purr. That purr is mine. My stomach twists and I lean forward, grabbing ahold of the edge of the table, curling my fingers around it as I try to breathe. Runa gasps next to me and wraps her fingers around my forearm.
My entire body starts to tremble with anger, with betrayal. He hasn’t done anything, he hasn’t really even said anything, but the tone that he’s speaking with, it makes me completely enraged. They continue to chat. He claims he has to be nice to her, but I still call bullshit.
Standing to my feet, I look over at them, sneering at the bitch who is openly flirting with my husband.
“Aaric, I’m going to bed. I will see you later, after you’re finished with this hóra?”
They both whip their heads around to look at me. The woman’s lips are parted in awe and her face is red with embarrassment or anger, I don’t particularly care which one. But it’s Aaric who is looking at me in shock that makes my lips twitch into a smile.
Turning around, I make the most epic exit ever and march my ass straight toward our bedroom. Slipping into my bedroom, I’m only in there for a few seconds when the door is kicked open and Aaric stands in the doorway.
His chest is rising and falling with what I assume is anger. Probably about the fact that I now understand his language, and that I was pretty much a bitch to the woman flirting with him, right in front of me.
AARIC
Runa. I will see to her after I have dealt with my wife. I close the door, placing the wooden bar in the holder before I turn back around to meet Liv’s gaze. I expect to see her nervous, perhaps worrying her lip, or twisting her fingers together, but instead, she’s standing with her hands on her hips and her eyes narrowed on me.
“Are you finished flirting with the whore?” she asks, speaking my native tongue.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I look down my nose at her. She doesn’t move and neither do I. For longer than we should, we stare at one another in silence.
With a sigh, I take a step toward her. I expect her to take a step back, but she doesn’t. Instead, she stands firm, tilting her head back to continue our eye contact. When I’m close enough to touch her, I reach out and cup her cheek.
Liv arches a brow, watching me, unflinching as she does. “You have learned a new little trick,” I rasp.
She sighs, rolling her eyes to the sky. “Don’t be upset with Runa. I demanded it. I couldn’t be here alone for who knows how long without being able to converse with anyone. I couldn’t tell Sylvi about Gunnar through an interpreter. It was for convenience.”
Her explanation is valid. I agree that she needed to know and understand my language, but I am irrationally angry that she and Runa did this without my knowledge. Sliding my thumb along her bottom lip, my eyes travel its path and I grunt as my böllur grows hard.
“Okay, Liv,” I rasp.
“You aren’t angry?”
My lips twitch into a small smile. “I am, but I will not punish either you or Runa. I should. She went against my orders, however, I can understand why.”
“Thank you for being understanding, Aaric.”
I hum, dipping my chin before I brush my lips across her own. “Always, my dróttning. I endeavor to be the husband that you need me to be.”
She snorts, moving her head back slightly. Her green eyes find mine and she cannot hide the anger in her gaze. It’s beautiful, but it is also a bit confusing. “Liv?” I ask.
“Does being the husband that I need you to be mean you’ll be flirting with other women?”
“Flirting?” I ask, not understanding the word.
Liv rolls her eyes to the ceiling, then shifts her gaze back to meet my own. “Did you want her?” she asks.
“Want?”
She stomps her foot in frustration and I hide my smile behind my impassive features. She wants to know if I wanted to take the woman. She was handsomely built, her breasts full and bountiful. Her face was also attractive. If I wanted her, I could have her there is no doubt about it.
I’ve never turned down an offer from a woman that I wanted to bed. However, though this woman was clearly offering and she was not bad to look at, she wasn’t Liv. My body has not desired another since meeting my wife.
Grinning, I dip my chin, touching my lips to hers. “I do not want her, víf. There is only one woman I want to bury my böllur inside of,” I murmur against her lips.
There is a moment of silence, then she lets out an exhaled sigh, shifting closer to me. “That should not sound as sexy as it does,” she whispers in her own language.
Laughing softly, I reach down and wrap my hands around her bottom, picking her up as my feet carry us over to the bed. Stopping just at the side of the furs, I don’t set her down, not yet. Lowering her to her feet slowly, I look down into her green eyes.
Liv lifts her hands, cupping my bearded cheeks as her gaze focuses on mine. “I love you, Aaric,” she breathes.
One of her hands slides from my cheek to the center of my chest. I feel her palm press against my skin, her green eyes searching mine the entire time. Then, before I can say anything, though I’m not sure what I would say, she rises to the tips of her toes and touches her mouth to my own.