Page 70 of Hungry Like a Wolf
“Mmm.”
“Do you want company? Erin? Bodil?”
“No, no, not at all. I only want to be with you. It will be nice.”
“More than nice.” He tugged her closer, his cock stirring at the feel of her soft body.
“But…”
“‘But’?” He raised his eyebrows.
“I do have a request.”
“Whatever you want it is yours. All you must do is tell me.” And he meant it. He’d give her the world if he could and all the gold and silver in it. He only wanted her to be happy and have everything she needed. He’d spend the rest of his life making up for the fact his brother had treated her as a slave.
“I would like”—she touched his lips—“to only speak your language while we are there.”
“But…why?”
“I am Queen of Drangar, am I not?”
“Ja, you are.”
“Then I need to be able to speak to all my people in their tongue. I feel a fraud that I cannot when so many speak mine.”
“You are not a fraud,” he said firmly. “You are married to the king, which makes you queen.”
She nodded. “Exactly, and how can I hear their grievances, listen to their joy, converse with them if I cannot speak Viking?”
“You are right. You should have that knowledge.”
“Good, so we are agreed. We will go to the coast, just the two of us, and when we return. I will know the language of my new people.”
“That is a trade.” He ran his hand down her neck, over her right breast, and then rested it on her flat belly. “Maybe you will also return with an heir inside you.”
“That would be a blessing from God, indeed.”
“I will make offerings to Odin and all the gods before we journey.”
“What about Thormod? Will he come with us?”
“Not on this occasion. I will ask Helga to care for him. ’Haps when he has a sibling, we will take them both.”
“If that’s what you wish.”
“It is.” He dipped his head and kissed his beautiful wife. Her lips were as soft as petals and she tasted sweet like honey. He intended to make the most of their privacy on the coast and indulge his near-constant desire to be inside her. What could be a better way to spend the summer?
*
Two days later,Ravn mounted his favorite horse, which had been packed up with supplies.
Carmel sat on a gray mare and with a look of excited anticipation. He’d made the right decision to take her away from the stuffy, busy town of Drangar for a while.
He’d left instructions with his three councilors to oversee the harvest and repair some defenses just outside of the town boundary. He’d sent an envoy south to get news from the next kingdom and a group of men had taken a boat east in search of amber and furs and possibly slaves.
“Er du klar?” he asked.
“What does that mean?”
