Joining me on the couch, Freya pulled her legs under her and spread a cozy blanket over both of us. “It’s human nature to fall in love. I’ve seen it happen and it’s not something you can control.”
Smoothing the blanket with my hands, I looked to the fireplace that would need to be tended to soon. “Have you been in love?”
“Yes, but nothing ever came of it, and I was too embarrassed to ever admit it.”
“Who did you fall in love with?”
Freya grinned. “That part I’ll take to my grave.”
“Was it someone I know?”
Freya pulled a finger over her lips. “Don’t ask me questions about it because you’ll never get answers. All I’m saying is that humans fall in love, and I don’t believe for a second that French people or Motlanders are exempt from that.”
“Freya, come on. You know we have laws against romantic relationships.”
“Mhmm. You’re conditioned to suppress your feelings, and to avoid the person you’re attracted to. But even if they’ll never know how you feel about them, you still feel it in your heart. You just force yourself to snatch the bud before you allow it to blossom.”
“Maybe you’re right, but I can honestly say that I’ve never been in love.”
Freya stared at me. “Never?”
“I’ve felt attracted to a few men, and I’ve had sex, but Aubri described being in love as a state of mind where you can’t eat, sleep, or drink. I’ve never tried that.”
“Aubri was exaggerating. She just said it because she’s never been in love herself.”
“I thought she liked that soldier she talked about last year.”
“Who… oh, I know what soldier you’re talking about. The Huntsman. No. That infatuation ended abruptly when Mason allowed her to train with the Huntsmen for a while. She went off on a training camp this summer feeling all excited. When she returned, she swore to stab the next man who spoke to her. Apparently, the Huntsmen didn’t exactly welcome a woman warrior among them and the soldier she liked turned out to be a prick. I don’t know the details, but that massive scar that Indiana has on his neck is a result of a brutal fight between him and that soldier she liked.”
“Really? I asked Indiana about his scar at the arrival dinner, but he said it had been an accident.”
Freya raised her brow. “Well, that’s a lie, unless he classifies an accident as attacking a huge warrior for offending his friend.”
“That scar is no joke. He must have been close to dying.”
“Yeah. Solo said that Indiana would have died if Mason hadn’t interfered.” Freya’s eyes darkened and her voice lowered. “My cousins are by far the most lethal fighters in the Northlands. You’ve met Solo, right?”
“Yes. He and Mason are spitting images of Magni for sure.”
“They really are. Except Mason has Laura’s red hair. Aubri is lucky to have them as brothers. I don’t like how she puts herself in danger all the time. She has an unfortunate tendency to rile men up to get them to spar with her. At least everyone knows not to mess with her or take liberties. If they did, her father or brothers would come after them. No sane Nman wants to go up against Magni, Solo, or Mason.”
Freya’s wristband vibrated and it made her look down. “Oh, they are on their way back.”
“Should we fix them some lunch?”
“I already prepared everything while waiting for you to wake up. I even set the table, in case you didn’t notice.”
“You’ve been a busy bee.”
Freya leaned forward and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am that you’re okay. Just stay and relax on the couch while I put the food on the table. They’ll all be hungry when they get here, not least Thor, Indiana, and Mason. Nmen have a ravenous appetite.”
As I watched her walk to the kitchen, I thought about the promise I’d made Mason about having sex with him tonight and wondered if his appetite still included me.
CHAPTER 14
Secret
Mason
All the Motlanders were fussing over Belle and making it impossible for me to get close to her. During lunch I was distracted and knocked over my glass like a clod. My brain was definitely occupied with thoughts about what had happened between Belle and me last night and the promise she had made me about tonight.
I tried not to make my interest in her too obvious, but when she didn’t touch any of the food it worried me.
“You should eat,” I told her with concern.
She hardly looked at me when she answered, “I’m not hungry. I just had breakfast.”
Thor raised an eyebrow. “What about yourself, Mason? I’ve never seen you not go for a second serving and you didn’t even finish your plate.”
“It’s nothing. I just wasn’t that hungry.”
While I’d been out sledding with the others today, my biggest concern had been to come back to the cabin and find that Belle’s behavior toward me had changed. We had agreed to keep the sex a secret, but if she flirted with me in public the others might be able to tell that something was going on between us. My worries had been for nothing. If Belle had warm feelings toward me, she hid it well.
“Since you’re feeling better, I guess this means you want the sleeping couch back,” Victor muttered to her when we left the table.
With my plate in my hands, I stopped mid-stride, my ears growing four sizes while I held my breath. If she told Victor yes, that meant she would break her promise to me, which I half expected her to do.
“It’s okay. You can stay on the couch. I actually slept better in the bed.”
Victor lit up. “You sure?”
“Yes.”
I searched her eyes to give her a silent thank you, but with Belle moving away she didn’t see it. It confused me that she had hardly looked at me at all since I got back from sledding.
“Who wants to play chess?” Victor asked
“I do,” Freya offered, but he ignored her and turned to the others.
“Other than Freya.”
“What’s wrong? You don’t like to lose?” she goaded him. The two of them had been beating each other in chess since the first summer and tonight he wasn’t taking the bait.
“I’ll play,” Lachlan offered.
Holly reached out to stop Lachlan when he passed her. “But I thought we were supposed to have an emotional release session on what happened yesterday.”
“Belle says she doesn’t want to spend the whole night talking about it,” Freya commented, “so maybe we should stick to the agenda and discuss freedom of trade, travel, and speech like we planned to do.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to insist that we at least allow a quick session of talking through what happened last night. It was terribly traumatic.” Holly’s bangs were far too short for my taste, giving her a childish look despite the fact that she was twenty-five and predicted to be elected to the Motherland Council at the next election.
In the end we all sat through almost two hours of what the Motlanders described as a reflection on our emotions. I was quiet for the most part, my mind showing me vivid memories of finding Belle in that snow tomb.