Page 43 of Wolf Alliance

He was certain she would check on the boys, but he wanted to guarantee she would come to bed with him afterward. He shifted in his chamber, dressed, and headed for the lads’ room. He wouldn’t leave it to chance that she would join him.

When he arrived at the chamber, he thought she might still be dressing in her room, but she was trying to coax the boys into their beds. All three were sitting in the corner of the room far away from the shuttered windows where they could see the flashing light from the storm, hear the winds howling, and the rain slamming against the thick stone walls.

“Up with you,” Erik said, not about to pamper the boys. He lifted Johnne off the floor.

Before he could put the boy in his bed, Accalia said, “Oh, aye, what an excellent idea. You will take them to bed with you.”

He had to have looked at her like he thought she was jesting to make such a suggestion. He wantedherin his bed, not his sons! But then he believed he had the best solution of all. “Aye, and Accalia will join us so we can protect her too.” He smiled at her. Two could play at this game.

That got the boys off their bums in a hurry, both Hendrie and Thorfinn grasping her hands as if sealing the bargain. She raised her brows at Erik. He smiled again. He had won this engagement between them.

The nannies’ jaws hung agape as he carried Johnne to his chamber, Accalia following behind, the other boys holding onto her hands with a death grip. When they reached Erik’s chamber, he had this perfectly planned. He would be in the middle of the bed, Accalia to his right where he would snuggle with her, and the boys to his left who would feel safe in his big bed with the two of them showing the lads they had nothing to fear.

But Accalia wasn’t about to let Erik dictate bed arrangements and she immediately had the boys go to the center of the bed, which they eagerly did, scrambling under the furs to take their positions. Accalia took the right side of the bed and Erik was obligated to take the left side. The lass had won again.

Though to be sure, he had her in his bed—with him, delighting him. The next time? He planned for it to be a lot less crowded.

The more Accaliawas around Erik, the more she came to love him. She knew he’d been hesitant to play with her as a wolf, though she wondered if he thought he might hurt her, he didn’t believe in playing with a she-wolf, or he was too serious. She’d loved it when he took the chance and had fun.

She wanted to do more of that, but by the time they’d attempted it, she had been too worn out to unsettle him once he had tackled her. So she conceded he had won and she knew he had loved that. But the bed situation?

When she saw the boys were terrified to go to their beds and Erik would force the issue, she knew she had to intervene with a motherly touch. She hadn’t expected Erik to agree, but with the caveat that she had to join them in his bed.

She had guessed his intention, so she was glad she had changed the scenario to suit herself. She was ready to join him in bed, but not with the boys. Since the boys were with them, she didn’t want Erik to show her affection and intimacy, best shared in private.

She and he settled onto the mattress on opposite sides of the bed and looked across the sea of boys, all three already sound asleep, and she knew that his sons joining their da in bed had been the right thing to do. He raised his brows at her and gave her a devious smile that told her she wouldn’t win the game again. She smiled back. Who said she wouldn’t?

Then she closed her eyes and thought of all the good—and bad—things that had happened during the day. She wondered how the visit with her friend Bessetta and her brothers would go on the morrow. She suspected Bessetta would want her to sleep with her as they had done as young girls when visiting one another and tell her all that had gone on since they had last seen each other.

Bessetta had gained a sister-in-law, but nothing much had happened in Accalia’s life—until she had to travel with Erik to his castle.

Then before she was ready, she heard Erik stir and she wanted to groan. She wasn’t ready for the day to begin.

After havingpleasant dreams of chasing Accalia while they were wolves, catching her and making her his, Erik woke to find his sons sprawled across his big bed and saw Accalia slipping out the door so she could return to her room and dress. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, wishing he had been able to wish her a good morning before she left.

“Time to get up and break our fast,” he told his sons.

They all groaned a little.

“We have visitors today. Come on. Time to get up.” Erik climbed off the bed and the boys rose, looking half asleep. “Go to your chamber and your nannies will help you get ready.”

“Where is Accalia?” Thorfinn asked, frowning as if he thought she hadn’t slept with them all night.

“She left to get dressed in her chamber.”

“Did you kiss her?” Johnne asked.

“Of course, he kissed her,” Thorfinn said as if he were the expert.

Hendrie watched Erik’s expression as if he didn’t trust that Thorfinn was correct.

Erik would have loved to have kissed her, cuddled with her, and more, but the boys had been an obstacle three times over. He smiled.

“He did,” Johnne said as if Erik’s expression said it all.

Hendrie twisted his mouth in thought, then said brightly, “He couldna have reached her. Not over all of us.”

Hendrie was smart, Erik would give him that.

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