Page 58 of Adrift in Iceland
‘I’m sorry. That sounded like I’ve fallen in love with you already, and I didn’t mean —’
‘I’m falling in love with you too.’
He was still holding her hand, and now, he pulled her towards him and looped his arms around her waist. She looked up at him, at the same time noticing that his beard smelled insanely good.
‘You are?’
She nodded and leant her cheek against his chest. He kissed the top of her head.
‘The summer’s going to be over before we’re ready. It makes it harder,’ he said, reading her mind.
‘It’ll be hard whenever we have to say goodbye now.’
‘Let’s make sure we have plenty to think back on then.’
He pushed her gently backwards until her calves hit the side of the bed and she sat down. Then he kept coming until he was lying on top of her, leaning on one elbow while his other hand began exploring.
As they kissed, she reached down and ran her fingers around the inside of his waistband. He’d taken some layers off, as well as his waterproofs, so there wasn’t much between her and the hardness she could feel inside his trousers. He gasped into her ear as she continued, briefly taking his erection into her hand before letting go, eliciting a moan from him instead.
‘Astrid…’
She moved her hand upwards, burrowing up and under his top, loving the feel of his muscles under her hands. He had an incredible body. It looked strong and capable and made her feel safe. Even feeling safe felt sexy. Here, in his bedroom, she felt the connection between them more strongly than when they’d been on the boat, or even in her apartment, which didn’t feel like home enough yet. She didn’t know why, but this room, this cottage, felt like home and gave what they had together some deeper meaning. Being invited here, when she knew it wasn’t something he was in the habit of, felt as if he was letting her in. Leifur was a man of deepfeelings but few words, but now she was here, she knew how he felt about her. It was scary, but it was too late to run away now. And for the first time since she’d arrived back in Reykjavik, she didn’t want to.
As she lay in his bed, naked, thanking the weather gods for the storm that had given them the afternoon off, Astrid realised her priorities had shifted. This was what life was about. Connection, having somewhere to call home that really felt like home, and love. Because she had to be honest with herself and admit she was in love with Leifur. It hadn’t been part of the plan, but then she remembered what her friend Sofie had said before she left Tromsø. The best adventures in life happen when the plan goes wrong. Perhaps that was true.
Leifur was dozing next to her, with the hint of a smile on his lips. What would it be like to wake up like this every morning? With her legs tangled in his and her arm lying across his stomach, rising on each breath he took. How would it be sharing her life with someone for good rather than the way they’d been together for the past couple of weeks, which until now, had felt temporary.
‘Morning,’ he said a couple of minutes later, his eyes still closed but the lazy smile growing.
‘It’s not morning, it’s still yesterday.’
‘That’s the best news I’ve heard all day,’ he said, reaching his arm around her waist and pulling her to his side. Feeling the warmth of him against her whole body was delicious.
‘Shall I make us some food?’
‘I can take care of that,’ he said. ‘I have a freezer full of food from my mother. We just need to gamble on what it is and heat it up.’
‘You don’t have your frozen foods immaculately organised and labelled?’
‘Do you?’
‘No, but I don’t have home-cooked food donations tofreeze very often.’
‘I can’t get out of bed.’
‘I need to go to the bathroom. Can I borrow a sweater?’
‘Middle drawer,’ he said.
She slid out of bed and chose a soft navy-blue sweatshirt from the drawer, then opened the top one and pulled out a pair of woolly socks.
After she’d been to the bathroom, she went into the kitchen and opened the freezer. There were cartons and bags of all shapes and sizes, and it was impossible to know what they held.
‘I’m going to choose some freezer food and put it in the oven,’ she called.
‘On your head be it! Come back to bed!’
She picked up a foil carton and peeled back the lid. It was as unidentifiable as everything else. She shrugged, turned the oven on and pushed it inside before padding back to the bedroom.
