Page 16 of Hungry Like a Wolf
“Which makes her, in my eyes and the eyes of the Lord, a sinner.”
“‘A sinner’? Why?”
“To lie with a man, she should be married to him.”
“And your brother? He is also sinning?”
“Absolutely!” She pointed at the door. “Until she arrived, he’d been celibate, the same as me—”
“What is that?”
“Celibate?”
“Ja.”
“It means not to lie with someone. No sex…ever.”
“Ah, I see.” He paused. “But why would you want no sex ever?”
“It is not forever, but God’s will that a union should be blessed before sharing a bed.” She paused. “It is the sanctity of marriage they are disrespecting.”
He saw the irritation washing over her face. But there was one thing he couldn’t quite believe. “Are you telling me that until my sister arrived here, your brother, Hamish, was a virgin?”
“Aye, that is exactly what I’m saying.”
He laughed, loudly, and several sleeping Vikings stirred. “Oh, in the name of Thor, she will have thoroughly corrupted him.”
“Whatever do you mean?”
“I do not believe there is even a word for celibacy in my language. Sex is free and easy; pleasure is there for the taking. But you know that, right? You are married to my brother.”
“What I do in the bedchamber with my husband is none of your business.” She held his eye contact with more than a hint of fierceness.
He held up his hand. “I do not wish to offend, Your Grace.”
She inclined her head and started eating her own plate of eggs.
“But in our land, when the nights are long and dark and cold,” he said, “it is known for many people to take to the same bed. Arms and legs entwine, bodies become one and slick with sweat. Gasps and cries of ecstasy. It is a way to pass the time, a way to keep warm.”
Her lips formed a perfect ‘o’ and her spoon had stopped halfway to her mouth.
“Men with men, women with women, there is no jealousy, no judgment, so you see why I say my sister will have corrupted your virgin brother.”
She frowned. “So you would not care if someone took your wife?”
He paused. “Sadly, that is not an issue now that I no longer have a wife.”
She made a little cross sign on her chest. “Lord bless her soul.”
“She is with the gods,” he said quickly. “But I would not have minded her being with another man, as long as it was my idea and I got to watch.”
“‘Watch’?”
“It would be fun so see her pleasured and know it was my turn next.”
“Oh, you really are a heathen.” She stood with her plate of food.
“You do not think Haakon would do the same?”
