Chapter 14
The door opened on a mussed Merewen.
To Wolf’s relief, she seemed composed enough.
She did not appear to have been crying and she was walking normally.
No one could suspect that only a moment ago she had been crying out in pain.
The guilt in his chest eased somewhat. They would be able to recover from this, the simple fact that she had come out of the hut to meet Harald proved it.
She nodded when she saw him surrounded by the man, his wife, and their three children, two of them were barely able to walk.
He knew she would guess what had happened to Ingrid.
Not that it was hard, one glance at her made it painfully obvious.
Her face was bruised and her eyes were lowered in shame.
Indeed, as soon as she saw her, Merewen blanched and touched her own cheek.
Wolf almost ran up to her to sweep her into his arms. But before he could say or do anything to comfort her, the children started wailing.
To his utter shock, Merewen knelt in front of them and ruffled their hair in an affectionate gesture. He knew in that instant she would be the mother he had hoped to find for his children. Something in him shifted.
“I bet you’re as hungry as I am. I am so famished I could cry too,” she told them with a smile. “Would you come inside and have a glass of goat milk and some oatcakes with me?”
When the children looked at their parents expectantly, he saw her face fall.
Evidently she thought they only spoke Norse and hadn’t understood what she had told them.
He stooped toward them because he knew they did understand her language.
They were merely waiting for permission before accepting the offer.
“You can go with my wife. She will look after you.” Pride swelled in his chest at being able to introduce her as his wife. “But make sure you leave a cake or two for me,” he added with mock severity.
“Yes, Wolf!”
While the three little ones bounded into the hut Merewen exchanged a look with Wolf and saw gratefulness in his eye. Indeed, the children were best out of the way while their mother told him all about her ordeal.
Though her heart bled at the thought of what the woman had endured, she could not help but smile at the sight of the children devouring the cakes and telling her all about their new puppy.
A moment later, the door opened on Wolf and Harald. She noticed how the Dane did not look at her face, as if he could not bear to think about why she was bruised in much the same way as his wife.
“Come,” he said, extending his hand toward his children. “It’s getting dark. Thank the lady for the cakes and milk and let’s go home to see Badger.”
“That’s the puppy’s name,” the eldest boy told her excitedly.
“I chose it,” the youngest added.
“That’s a lovely name!” Merewen laughed. “Well, make sure to give Badger a hug from me.”
A moment later, she was alone with Wolf.
She had thought the moment would be awkward, but meeting Harald and his children, seeing the proof of his wife’s ordeal had wiped everything from her mind.
What had happened to her was nothing in comparison.
She had merely lost her maidenhead to the man she was married to, to the lover she desired above all others.
And even if it had hurt her a lot more than she had anticipated, it was of little import.
Wolf would make sure that the next time he took, her she burst into flames.
Now that her maidenhead was breached, being taken would never hurt again.
“How is she?”
Wolf gave a sigh, as if he’d feared having to face her reproach after what had happened and was relieved to see that she was not blaming him.
“Not too well. But I suspect she will be better now that she has been reunited with her family. Harald swore to get his revenge on the bastard who raped her. I know he will put his threat to execution, and I do not blame him for wanting to avenge his wife, but I convinced him to wait until he could do it without getting caught, for what would happen to Ingrid and the children if he was killed?”
“Yes.” Merewen breathed. Indeed. The satisfaction of knowing that her aggressor had been punished would mean nothing to the woman if her husband was killed and never got to see their children grow.
“Thank you for looking after the boys while we talked,” Wolf told her, taking a step toward her. “It was better they never got to hear what we discussed even if they know something is wrong.”
“Of course. Poor woman.”
He stared at the bruise on her cheek, his meaning clear. He was thinking that she had almost been subjected to the same fate.
“We think we know who was behind the crime,” he said, talking to himself as he started to pace around the room.
“A Saxon who seems to have a particular taste for our women. It is as if he considers the Norse settlement his personal hunting ground. It started when King Knútr died a few months ago. Evidently, he hoped that in the confusion over the succession, the climate would turn against Norsemen and he would not be held accountable for any wrongdoing against them. I have tried to catch him many times but the man is more slippery than an eel and I only ever glimpsed him once. We were unable to find out his identity.”
“Has he attacked many women?” Merewen asked.
“Yes. Women, and even very young girls.” Wolf grimaced in disgust. “Virgins mostly. It is always the same. They are taken away while they are alone out in the forest and vulnerable. It took us a while to link all the disappearances to the same man, as the few women who came back were either too shocked to remember anything, too frightened to speak out or had been assaulted with their faces covered to prevent identification. More often than not, they simply vanish. Ingrid was luckier than most.”
A chill descended down Merewen’s spine, for Wolf calling a raped woman lucky could only mean one thing. The others had been killed once the man had slaked his lust with them.
“The girl who came to see you yesterday… Frigyth. She said you had taken her defense when she was attacked,” she said slowly. “But if I understand, this man was not to blame. It was a man from the village who had assaulted her. Does that mean that you side with Saxons if need be?”
“I side with the victims, always, whoever they are.”
Merewen swallowed hard, unable to move. Wolf loomed over her, his eyes burning with intent and she knew what he would tell her next.
“Will you forgive me for leaving you at such an inopportune moment earlier?”
“Of course.”
“And for—”
“As to that,” she cut in. “There is nothing to forgive. You did nothing wrong. The fact that it hurt had nothing to do with you, and all to do with the fact that I was untouched. Next time it won’t be like that.”
She flushed so violently she had to avert her gaze. She had just admitted out loud she was already thinking about their next lovemaking.
Gratefulness flooded through Wolf. Merewen had forgiven him everything, and she was already thinking about the next time he would make love to her. She didn’t think him a monster. She was ready to give him another chance. The relief was dizzying.
“Yes, next time will be better, I swear it.” He crushed her into his arms. He would give her pleasure beyond her wildest imaginings, be the lover she had been waiting for. She deserved no less.
“Could it be…” The tentative voice came from somewhere below his chin. “Now?”
That one word had blood rushing to his groin so fast he inhaled sharply for fear he might collapse. The idea that he could be inside her with his next heartbeat was enough to bring him to his knees.
He forced himself to reason.
“No, little one. I want to make sure your body recovers first. I can’t bear to hurt you again, even unintentionally.
” He was so hard, so much bigger, stronger than her and so desperate that he needed to calm the tempest in his body before he claimed her.
Never did he want to hear her protests or see her grimace with the pain he had caused her.
Merewen pressed herself against him, not in the least impressed—or afraid—and placed her hand on his straining member.
“But I… I think you want me.”
“I always want you,” he said in a low rumble. “It doesn’t mean a thing. I’m not a green boy anymore. I can control myself.”
The minx gave him a stroke. “Can you?”
He let out a feral growl that caused her lip to curl. Oh, so she was enjoying torturing him?
“Stop that. You are not getting anything tonight.” He took hold of her wrist to stop her from sending him over the edge. He’d just claimed not to be a green, excitable youth! Now was not the time to act like one and spill in his braies!
“Very well, we’ll wait,” she purred. “But I’m warning you, there will be no stopping me tomorrow night. I will have you inside me, I will have the pleasure you promised me. And then we will start our married life in earnest.”
Merewen woke up with a smile on her face.
She was no longer a virgin, she had experienced mind-blowing pleasure at her husband’s hands and tonight she would know what it was to have a man surge inside her.
Wolf would give her what she had craved all this time—and more, if the heat flaring between them when they touched was any indication.
She stretched, pleased to feel she had recovered from her ordeal in town.
Last night, before wrapping his arms around her in bed, Wolf had made her swear she would not try to seduce him and she had promised, seeing the strain on his face and loving him for his restraint.
He was determined to forget his own needs to make sure she was not hurt.
Such thoughtfulness deserved an effort on her part.
She was certain it would not hurt her the next time she welcomed him inside her body but perhaps it was better to err on the side of caution.
Experience had shown that there was a vast difference between what she imagined and what actually happened.
The last thing she wanted was to cause him more distress so perhaps he was right, and it was wiser to wait until her body had recovered because she could not guarantee there would be no discomfort so soon after her deflowering and she did not want to worry Wolf. A little delay would not hurt.
She could wait, now that she knew she loved him.
A bolt of thunder seared Merewen’s insides when the thought burst through her mind.
Was she in love with Wolf? Surely not! But then again…
It would explain a lot of things that did not make sense otherwise.
Anxiety was not responsible for the fluttering in her heart every time she looked at him, lust alone could not account for the heat pooling in her loins every time they touched, gratefulness did not explain the way she yearned to be with him constantly. But love…
Love would make her heart flutter, her loins boil, her soul ache and everything in between.
She stole a glance at the empty pallet next to her and took a deep breath.
Perhaps it was for the best that Wolf was not here right now, as she needed time to absorb the momentous discovery on her own.
How would he react when she told him of her feelings for him?
Certainly he would be stunned to hear she had fallen for the stranger who had bought her.
But would he be pleased? Suspicious? Uncomfortable because he did not return her feelings?
She shook her head, refusing to put thoughts in his head or get carried away.
She had twisted herself into knots over his reaction to her wanton nature and look what had happened!
He had been delighted. So she would do him the honor of believing he would be sensible about her revelation, even if he did not love her back.
Hadn’t he proven enough he could do the right thing?
In just a few days, Wolf had gone from being a blond giant who had frightened her to a husband she had fallen in love with.
And so it was decided.
Tonight, while he was making love to her, she would tell him she was in love with him.