Chapter 6
Aswirl of icy air and a burst of light heralded Wolf’s return into the hut as dusk started to fall over the land, making Merewen both shiver and lift her head at the welcome respite from the gloom.
It was such an apt metaphor for the ambivalent feelings he provoked in her that she could not help a sigh.
Why could things not be simple where this man was concerned?
All day long she had agonized about his unexpected offer of marriage.
Could she marry Wolf?
On the one hand, she saw no reason not to. On the other, it seemed like folly.
Women did not marry men they had only known for a week, men who had bought them, rather than chosen them, men they lusted after.
Well… that might actually happen more often than one suspected, only no one talked about it.
No, they didn’t, because the purpose of marriage was not to indulge one’s senses, Merewen reminded herself sternly!
She had better not lose sight of that fact, even if the stranger who wanted to marry her did look like a Norse deity.
There were more important things to consider than his looks in this affair.
Determined not to appear as if she had been waiting for him all day, she turned around and returned to her meal.
“Don’t worry about me,” Wolf said with a smile, coming to face her.
Merewen shrugged and dipped another piece of bread into her broth. Perhaps she should have waited for him to start eating but, considering she was not his slave, much less his wife, she had no reason to pander to him.
“I was hungry and had no idea when you would return. I didn’t see why I should wait.
And why are you laughing now?” she asked, eyes narrowing.
He had thrown his head back and was indulging in a hearty bout of laughter.
He laughed like a man who had not laughed in a long time and was discovering anew the pleasure it brought him.
And, annoying as it was, she could not tear her eyes from the column of his neck, pulsing with strength and vitality.
Heavens, she really was in trouble if even the sight of his neck had the power of sending her heart into a flutter… Perhaps she should leave before her senses overpowered her mind and caused her to make a decision she would regret.
“I’m laughing because I feel as ridiculous as a farmer who, after years complaining he doesn’t get enough water for his crops, has to watch his fields being submerged under a deluge of rain,” he answered enigmatically.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. Are you comfortable? Warm enough?” he enquired, sitting opposite her.
“Actually, no,” she answered, while he ripped a chunk of bread out of the freshly baked loaf.
“I couldn’t find enough wood to get a decent fire going.
You might want to start cutting the logs at the side of the hut into chunks manageable for a normal-sized person.
The ones I found were all the size of trees. ”
Wolf tried very hard not to laugh again but he only managed to choke on his bread.
He had heard more complaints out of that woman’s mouth in days than he had from Solveig in years.
His wife would never have eaten without first ensuring that he was served, she would have turned blue before admitting she was cold, and as to even suggesting that he liked to take his pleasure with men or contradict him in any way…
He could not recall a single occasion when she had expressed an opinion that was not the same as his.
It had always annoyed him and many a time he had wished she could find the courage to admit to whatever was bothering her, or even just share her thoughts.
Her timidity made him feel like a constant threat, not a pleasant feeling for a man who was already worried that his size gave people the wrong impression about him.
Wolf smiled to himself. Now that he had met someone who was not afraid to tell him just what she thought and point out his failings, he had to concede that staying silent was not always the worst choice a woman could make.
Oh, well, at least he didn’t feel like a monster best cajoled lest he rip her in half.
The deflating of his ego was a small price to pay for that reassurance.
Because of his impressive physique, no one, much less women, ever dared provoke him and Wolf found that he needed to be challenged to feel alive.
He relished the thought that he had to fight to earn his pleasure.
In that regard, the fiery Saxon was the best person he could have met.
And as if that wasn’t enough, she made him laugh—as well as heat his blood.
His determination to win her around flared anew.
“I will endeavor to cut the wood into more suitable chunks from now on,” he answered, hiding another smile.
Merewen did not seem to realize that her request indicated she was expecting to have to tend to the fire in his hut in the future, but he had not missed it.
Slowly, she was coming to accept the idea of them living together…
It was a good start, undeniably. “This is very good, by the way. You can certainly cook,” he said, taking another bite of his bread.
He was not trying to flatter her. The quality of his meals had markedly improved since she had arrived.
“Cooking broth or bread doesn’t require blazing heat, fortunately, so there is nothing extraordinary in the fact that I was able do so.” It was brief, but he thought he saw a gleam of satisfaction warm her eyes. Though she would never admit it, she had enjoyed his praise.
Better and better. Time for more teasing. He already knew she responded well to it, or at least, in a way that pleased him.
“With those skills in the kitchen, you shall make a fine wife. And now I cannot help but wonder what skills you possess in bed, as a woman accomplished in the art of lovemaking is guaranteed to please her husband,” he purred, barely resisting the urge to wink.
Just as he had predicted, she flared up.
The dark eyes flashed in fury, making her appear like an angered goddess about to unleash her ire onto mere mortals.
Blood rushed to his groin. She had never looked more beautiful and he almost reached out to her to find out just how skilled she was right here, right now.
His body, denied for longer than it ever had been before, was at a snapping point.
Usually when he wanted a woman, he did not have to wait days to take them to bed—and he usually didn’t want them with such force. This was all unprecedented.
“I’m afraid you will have to keep wondering about that,” Merewen said, abandoning the rest of her broth before getting up.
Her appetite had quite deserted her. Wolf’s provocative words had inflamed her blood and chilled her to the bone at the same time because the taunt had made her realize that she had no idea how to please a man in bed.
For all her wild imaginings, she had no experience whatsoever and little notion of what would be expected of her.
In her dreams, the men did everything, but Wolf’s lewd comment had made her see that perhaps a woman was supposed to do more than just lie there and be pleasured.
It was a sobering, frightening realization because she had no idea what that might be and, even supposing she had been bold enough to discuss such a thing and ask questions, she had no one to turn to.
Biting her lip to hide her distress, she ostensibly went to the river to wash her bowl and spoon. Heavy clouds had gathered on the darkening horizon, bringing a distinctive chill along with them, a chill that seeped into her body and reached all the way to her soul.
What was she to do now?
Making a decision about a possible union with Wolf had just been made even more difficult. Until now, she’d thought she would be the only one regretting her decision. But now she understood she had been unforgivably na?ve—again.
Wolf was bound to be disappointed with her lack of experience.
He’d just admitted to being eager to discover the skills she possessed.
What would he do when he saw that the little innocent did not live up to his expectations?
Would he turn from her and choose a more accomplished woman to warm his bed?
Would he take lovers to compensate for her inability to please him?
The mere idea was enough to make her retch.
To finally have a man at her disposal and then having to watch him leave her because he found her lacking would be unbearable, a hundred times worse than being on her own.
If they were to marry, then she wanted to have a true marriage, not just a cold arrangement where Wolf would not think himself accountable for his actions or feel free to bed all the women who took his fancy.
At the moment, he was the one pushing for this union because he wanted her in his bed, but how long would it be before he regretted his decision to buy her for his wife?
And if she allowed herself to behave in the way she wanted to when he bedded her, then it wouldn’t be much better.
Instead of boring her with her lack of initiative, she would horrify him with her wantonness.
A tear threatened to spill onto her cheek. The night of her brother’s funeral, she had thought with no small amount of dismay that she might never cry again because she did not have anyone left to cry over. Now it appeared she’d found someone. As consolations went, it was a small one.
“I’m sorry if I offended you. I shouldn’t have said what I said. It was crude of me.”
The voice was soft, the tone sincere. Merewen did not turn around. Night had fallen, but Wolf would still be able to see that her eyes were too shiny.
“It was.” She could not pretend she had not been hurt.
“I’m sorry.” A warm hand landed on her shoulder. She froze, not knowing what to do. She had not expected Wolf to apologize to her, or even notice he had offended her. And now he was touching her, again.
And she was melting, again.