Page 19 of Viktor at Sea

“Katarina,” I grinned and turned to face the hostess. “Please save me a slice of pie. I need to use the bathroom, and I’m afraid that when I come back, between Daewon and Dustin, they will eat it all,” I joked.

“I’ll do my best to honour your request, Viktor, but I make no promises,” Katarina laughed.

CHAPTER NINE

Ididn’t really need the bathroom. It was just an excuse to escape the table and prying eyes. I couldn’t very well sneak some turkey and carrots to Kis in front of them all, especially not Katarina who would no doubt slap my hand for merely thinking of the idea.

Contrary to popular belief, Kis had been my cat first. While away on my first mission, I came across Kis on a faraway island. She was meowing pitifully somewhere deep in the forest, and I couldn’t help but follow the sound.

The cat–we now called her Kis–all but jumped at me when I meowed back at her, and I walked out of the forest with her in my arms. She was severely malnourished and shivering from the cold. It didn’t take much to convince the Chief of the faraway island whose name I couldn’t remember, to let me take her, and I spent the entire night nursing her back to health.

By the time we returned to Jorvik, she was as healthy as a horse, and I intended to keep her for myself. I showed her off proudly at breakfast the next morning, but by the end of the meal, her name was Kis, and her new owner’s name was Astrid. Even though my love for her was suppressed back then, and I was still sullen and sulky over the way she had cornered me andtold me off the night before, I couldn’t bring myself to be mad about it. Not when it was evident that the pair were perfectly suited for each other.

Speaking of Kis, where was she?

The juice from the turkey was starting to soak through the napkin and leak onto my hand.

“Kis,” I hissed as I ventured outside via the back door, making sure to leave the door slightly ajar so I could get back inside without anyone realising that I had left in the first place. “Kis, where are you?” I hissed louder. “Kis!”

Maybe it was for the best that I never kept Kis. She infuriated me so much sometimes.

“Come here and get your turkey. It’s starting to drip all over my hand!”

The royal feline revealed herself, coming out of some bushes with her tail raised high, her bottom swaying as she approached me. If Kis was a woman, I had no doubt she would have been just like Astrid.

Seductive and irresistible without even trying.

“Where have you been hiding?” I whispered as I dropped myself onto the steps, stretching my legs out in front of me but making sure not to hit her. I knew first-hand that Kis wouldn’t take it lying down, even if it was by accident, and neither would her owner.

I didn’t expect an answer from Kis as she was a cat, and I wasn’t surprised when she hissed at me, flashing me her sharp teeth.

“No need to take that tone with me,” I huffed as I held out my hand and uncurled my fingers to show her the turkey she had been denied earlier. When she cautiously bobbed her head forward, her little button nose twitching as she sniffed my hand, I wasn’t embarrassed to admit that I was afraid she would sink her teeth into my palm and take a chunk out of it. It certainlywouldn’t be the first time she tried to attack me. Last time, she went for my ankle, and I was left with a bruised ego and limping for a week.

My breath hitched as she finally opened her mouth and snapped a piece of turkey out of my hand. I held my breath when she chewed on it, patiently waiting for the verdict. When she expressed her approval by moving closer to me and rubbing her head against the side of my arm, I laughed.

I didn’t miss the way her nose twitched at the sight of the carrots, but that didn’t stop her from trying a piece. And then a second one.

“For a cat, you sure do love your turkey,” I chuckled when she snapped another piece of turkey out of my hand. “Have you been looking after Astrid while I’ve been away, Kis?” I asked in a quiet voice while I gently stroked her soft fur with my free hand. “She hasn’t been getting into too much trouble, has she?” I joked, and laughed when Kis meowed and sent me a pointed look, as if to ask:do I look like her keeper?

I watched, lost in my thoughts as Kis helped herself to the third and final piece of turkey.

This evening wasn’t the first night that I had been in such close proximity to Astrid. It was, however, the first time I was so close to her while fully aware of my feelings. It was also the first time I had seen her after I had decided that I needed to make her mine.

Kis suddenly scratched the palm of my hand, forcing my attention back to her. When I groaned and snapped my hand away from her, she hissed and turned around, leaping off the steps and disappearing into the nearby bushes.

Well, that taught me to bring only three pieces of turkey when I snuck off to feed Kis next time. Because there would definitely be a next time. Not only because I was rather fond of the feral cat, even if she scratched and attacked me atevery opportunity she got, like just now, but because she was important to Astrid. And whoever was important to Astrid was also important to me.

No one spared me a suspicious glance when I returned to the dining table. Well, no one but Astrid. Her eyes narrowed at me in suspicion. I grinned, but she didn’t return it. Instead, her eyes travelled down my person and rested on my hand, currently turned palm up on the table. It was the same hand I used to feed Kis and now sported a surface-level scratch.

I subtly moved my hand to my lap so no one else would take notice.

Katarina had kindly kept to her word and saved me a slice of pie, though I didn’t miss the way Daewon and Freja eyed it hungrily.

Dessert was just as enjoyable as dinner, and I wasn’t just speaking about the pie. The back and forth between Daewon and Katarina was entertaining, especially when the other three Skaus poked the fire with teasing comments here and there. I had spoken to Dustin a few times before, but I had never spent as much time with him before as I did this evening. Freja was lovely, but I could tell that she was rather uncomfortable from being only a little over six weeks away from giving birth. Even though I didn’t know Dustin and Freja that well, I found myself looking forward to meeting their baby, and I made sure to tell them that.

Astrid, of course, for me, was the highlight of the evening, even when she purposely tried to avoid me several times throughout the dinner, despite the efforts of me and her mother. It appeared that while Katarina was fully behind me proposing to Astrid, and hoped that her daughter would say yes, Daewon chose to stay neutral. And he made sure to tell Dustin that when we broke off from the women for a drink in his office.

“What?” Dustin gasped, still coughing from where he spat out his drink after his father’s sudden announcement. Daewon had never been a subtle man. “You’re going to propose to my sister?”

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