Page 69 of Hungry Like a Wolf
“How lucky we are that the gods saw fit to deliver me a woman who is a fine wife, lover, mother, and protector of our lands,” Ravn called out. “Fate has been kind. We will give our thanks to Thor, Odin, and the goddess Freya for our good fortune.”
Carmel felt like her heart would beat right out of her chest. Never in her life had she felt such warmth and adoration. With Ravn at her side, surely, she could achieve anything.
And with these people, the people of Drangar, she felt she really could be all the things Ravn had just said she was. Wife. Lover. Mother. Protector. Huntress.
Ravn spoke of his and his people’s luck that she was there, but the truth was Carmel felt like God had truly shone his light upon her and blessed her with everything she’d ever wanted. She’d been seen and heard and her hope for the future was to deliver fine sons, but also daughters, because Drangar was a place for a girl to grow up knowing that there was no ceiling to her abilities. She could hitch her longboat to the stars if that was what she chose to do.
“I love you,” Ravn said, kissing her cheek.
“And I love you, King Ravn of Drangar. I love you so much, and I always will.”
His breath hitched and he held her tighter. “You do? You will?”
“Aye.” She smiled. “And when you take me home in three years, I hope you’ll stay a while, visit my family with me.”
“And then… Then what? At the end of the visit.”
“I do believe we will return to Drangar and our people.” How had it happened so fast? She didn’t know, didn’t understand it. But this was her home now and she’d be content with visitingher family…on the understanding they accepted her choice of husband.
Would they?
Could they?
But that was a worry for another day. Right now, this day, everything was pretty much perfect.
Chapter Seventeen
Two full moonslater, the sun was filling the sky for many hours of the day, barely dipping below the horizon in the middle of the night.
The tiny bugs that plagued the summer months had returned and fires still burned in homes to keep them at bay. Ravn was bothered by them, but not as much as Carmel was. Her bites were sore and red and she kept covered up, her clothes scented with cloves.
“I am sorry for your discomfort,” he told her, wrapping his arms around her small frame and pulling her back to his chest.
“It is not so bad.” She set down her weaving shuttle. “The wee beasties were a pain in my homeland too.”
“Would you like to leave Drangar for a while?”
“Where would we go?”
“To the coast. I have a small dwelling there. The insects do not breed in the open ocean, so it is much easier to live.”
She turned within his arms. “It’s true. It’s still water they like and the forest is full of that.”
“So? Would you like to take a trip away with me?”
She smiled and some of the tension left her shoulders.
Her smile filled his heart. Ravn knew he’d never been as in love as he was now, and each day, he fell for his wife a little bit more. She’d found her way into his soul. Without her, he’d be lost, a wanderer through life with a heart shredded.
“So is that smile aja?” he asked, touching the tip of his nose to hers.
“Aye, I would like that, for a few weeks.” She hesitated and he sensed there was something else she wanted to say.
“What, my love?”
“Just us?”
He tipped his head and a stir of interest heated his belly then traveled lower. “That was my plan.”
