Chapter Twenty-Seven
The following day, Astra and Skadi were the first to wake, although it was almost noon by the time they left the King’s chamber. They hurried out of the room so as not to disturb the soundly sleeping Agnar.
Thankfully, Astra appeared to be recovering quickly and all her worries seemed forgotten when she was reunited with her doll.
Some of the children gathered around her asking questions about her ordeal and Skadi was about to silence them when Brenna shook her head. ‘Let her talk—it may help her and I swear to keep an eye on her.’
Skadi gave her friend a grateful pat on the shoulder. ‘Thank you, I really need to check our stores.’
After carefully checking and planning the meals with the cook, Skadi was confident there would be enough food to last them most of the winter.
But she ordered that all traders pay for their taxes and harbour fees with any grain they had, over luxury items or silver—even if it meant a loss of income, it would help feed her people.
It wasn’t much, but it added a few more bags to her stores.
Visiting traders warned her of King Sven raging to anyone who would listen about the ‘disrespect’ of Agnar forcing himself on Queen Skadi.
Not because he particularly cared what happened to her, but because it disrespected him and his ‘dear friend’ Heimdall.
The news made Skadi’s insides twist with rage. But she intended to fight back.
Determined to help Agnar in his deal with King Erik, Skadi loaded a ship of gifts for Queen Torvi, King Erik’s wife. She didn’t know the woman well, but remembered her speaking kindly about the elegance of her table when she’d last visited.
After she’d reassured herself about their supplies, she went to check on Agnar, who sat up in bed with a jerk as she entered. He sank back against the pillows with a sigh of relief when he realised where he was.
‘Are you well?’ she asked, bustling in and putting another log on the brazier as she passed it. The room was warm, but if Agnar had caught a chill it was best to keep it that way.
‘I needed more sleep than I thought.’ He rubbed at his face absently, frowned at the bandages and began to unravel them. ‘Has something happened? Is Astra well?’
‘She is fine.’ Skadi opened the door and called to a nearby servant, ‘Please heat water for the King’s bath, and bring something substantial for him to eat.
’ Then she came to the bed and perched beside him, explaining about the gossip from the traders and the grain supplies.
She went into great detail about her plans to increase the grain store at every opportunity—even if the cost was heavy on their purse.
‘I thought it more important to ensure everyone is well fed. Do you agree?’
He nodded and she was frankly pleased by how intently he had listened to her, nodding and muttering words of encouragement regarding her plans, all while he unwrapped the mountain of linen and examined his hands.
She thought they looked better than last night, but still looked very sore, and she winced with sympathy.
‘Tell me your other plans, so that I can help,’ she asked. ‘Did you send messengers to my uncle?’
‘Yes, I informed him of King Sven’s attempt to kidnap Astra.
I also sent messengers out to the petty Kings.
I am hoping they will revolt against King Sven in the spring.
But nothing can be done during the dead of winter, except to wait.
King Erik promised me grain, but we may have to prepare for the worst. I am worried Sven will claim he was trying to rescue the Princess from me and that will cast doubt in their minds about our marriage and my right to rule. They will fear I forced you.’
Skadi tilted her head with a pout. ‘Well, you did. It was not my choice to marry you.’
‘Would you choose me now?’ he asked casually and she realised that she had begun to understand him better. He asked because he hoped the answer had changed.
‘I am glad we are married,’ she said. ‘But the past is still true. I would not have considered you before… You are too young.’
He chuckled, wincing as he stretched. ‘I do not feel young.’
Skadi laughed, swatting the thick muscle of his arm playfully. ‘You slept too long. Your body has become stiff from lack of use.’
‘Is that so?’ he asked playfully with a raised brow.
She rolled her eyes and was thankfully saved from further blushes by the arrival of several servants carrying buckets of hot water and a tray of food, which Skadi took and placed on Agnar’s lap.
After the servants were done filling the wooden bath, which was shaped and carved much like a boat, they left. Skadi went to her little chest of herbs once again and chose some soothing oils and healing herbs to scatter in the water.
‘You are pampering me,’ Agnar observed with amusement as he ate his meal. She was pleased to see it was a hearty selection of cured meats and fish, as well as a variety of cheeses, pickles and bread followed by honey cakes and stewed plums. Enough to revive a man after the trials he’d faced.
‘You are a king. You should look like one,’ she answered, setting out the combs and pumice stones on the table beside his bath.
The clatter of his tray being put aside was enough to let her know he had left the bed and her heart raced in anticipation.
‘Are you going to join me?’ he asked huskily, the heat of his body bathing her back as she pretended to avoid him.
‘I will tend to you.’
‘You are not a servant, Skadi.’ He stroked her hair gently.
She’d only braided the top half today, letting the rest fall loosely around her shoulders.
His fingers brushed against the nape of her neck and she bit her lip to stop the moan that threatened to escape.
She could never have enough of him and the realisation frightened her.
She turned to face him, and saw the questioning look on his face. ‘I want to care for you,’ she explained.
‘As an apology?’ he asked, appearing displeased by the prospect.
She shook her head. ‘Not just that… I…’ She struggled to find the words. ‘You saved Astra as if she were your own daughter.’
His jaw tightened and his green eyes were bright with emotion. ‘It is my duty to protect you…and Astra is my heir.’ He shook his head, as if in denial. ‘No…more than that. She is your daughter. That makes her special to me.’
Skadi’s heart filled almost to bursting. She did not deserve such devotion, had never received it from anyone but her father before. If he was deceiving her, then he was a greater liar than even Loki, the god of mischief himself.
‘I believe you,’ she said finally, not daring to say more, but willing to at least show her feelings for him in action if nothing else. ‘That is why I want to care for you. Now, get in, before it gets cold.’
Agnar smiled at her censure and began to untie his trousers. Skadi quickly busied herself with choosing the right soap for him, not daring to watch him strip in case it made her climb in after him.
She rejected the soaps Heimdall used to use, tossing those aside and vowing to give those to Vali instead.
When she heard the soft splash of water she turned to face him with her chosen soap in hand, a little breathless when she took in the sight of him. He filled the large tub so much that the water threatened to spill over the side. His body glistened from the water and steam.
She swallowed, wondering how she would manage this task without succumbing to her own desires.
‘You will get water all over your dress if you wash me yourself,’ said Agnar, gesturing at the elaborate blue-and-white gown, which was trimmed in silk and fur. ‘Give it to me.’
He held out his hand for the soap and she noticed once again the sore flesh of his palms. The sight strengthened her resolve.
Shaking her head, she thumped the soap down on the table and began to shed her clothes.
It was slightly easier as there were more laces and the clasps of her brooches held up the apron straps.
She’d picked it for practical reasons, hoping Agnar might take it off her later.
It seemed she had beaten him to it.
Unfortunately.
‘There!’ she declared, picking up the soap again when she was down to nothing more than her shift.
She took her time wetting and soaping his long hair, and then worked the combs through it, apologising when the teeth snagged occasionally on a knot.
When it was smoothly combed through, she added some nettle-and-rosemary oil that she used on her own hair and smoothed it into the ends.
Smiling with satisfaction when her work was done.
It had taken a long time, but she thought the curtain of midnight hair was beautiful and she would have hated him to cut it off.
She moved around the bath to face Agnar, who cracked open his eyes to stare at her with a sultry look.
‘Satisfied?’
She nodded, her body tightening with anticipation at his husky voice. ‘Now I need to wash your body.’
She moved forward, taking a cloth from the table and soaping it up before wiping it across his chest and arms. He leaned forward and she obediently rubbed at his back. ‘You are enjoying this a little too much!’ she teased.
He sank into the water without warning, splashing her with a waterfall over the side of the bath. She didn’t bother jumping out of the way, she was already soaking wet.
When he raised up again, she tapped him on the head with a comb. ‘You just rinsed off the oil I put on your hair! It is expensive! What a waste!’
He turned his head and upper body to look at her, his eyes lowering slowly until they were staring at her chest. She followed his gaze, and gasped when she realised her breast and nipples were heavily outlined by the water.
Tugging at the shift, she then smacked him with the comb again, immediately regretting it when he winced. She was meant to be caring for him! ‘Oh, sorry!’
‘Don’t apologise,’ rumbled Agnar with a chuckle. ‘The pain distracts me from your see-through shift.’
She gasped in outrage again, but then he pulled her towards the bath. She squealed and stopped him from dragging her in by grabbing the sides. ‘No! I was meant to be caring for you. I had a plan to wash and dry you—’
Agnar laughed, but he released her, and she stepped aside, smoothing back her hair with a flustered sigh.
Her composure was short lived, however, because he rose from the water like a god and stared down at her, his raven hair falling forward over his broad shoulders.
His body shimmered in the light from the brazier and torches like a bronze statue.
Between his powerfully thick thighs his staff was erect and ready.
Skadi’s throat bobbed with nerves and she watched with barely contained excitement as he stepped out of the bath.
‘I should get a linen,’ she said, although she made no move to reach for the several folded and waiting only a few feet away.
‘I have never seen you fully naked,’ he said with a tilt of his head, as if the thought had just occurred to him.
He cupped one of her breasts with his hand, brushing a thumb over her nipple, and causing a river of need to rush through her.
He smiled, ‘Not even now…you are always only half-revealed to me.’
Her chest tightened with an unexpected longing.
She had to admit that she had hidden her feelings for him.
Showing her lust, only to shy away from him straight after.
She had grown to love him, this man who had stormed into her life and forced her hand.
But she still couldn’t voice her feelings, because he didn’t either.
Did he feel the same? Or was she just imagining it, wishing for a dream that was no more real than magic.
She untied the knot at her neck and slipped the shift from her shoulders, baring herself to him, physically at least. ‘Is this better?’ she asked, hoping he wouldn’t notice the stretch marks on her skin, or the softening around her belly that had come after childbirth.
To her relief Agnar didn’t seem to care, he wrapped her in his arms and kissed her like a man starving for touch.
Their tongues danced and she ran her hands through his silky wet hair, desperate for the mindless pleasure he could give her.
She didn’t want to worry about the future disappointments or the threat of war.
She wanted to feel alive, cherished and loved, all of the overwhelming emotions she felt in Agnar’s embrace.
He lifted her and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her to the bed, his manhood rubbing flat against her in ways that made her moan and pant against his lips as he kissed her thoroughly.
He lowered them to the bed, their wet bodies clinging to the sheets and each other as they slid against one another.
He trailed a hand down her body and she felt the callouses of his burns. She gripped his wrist to stop him, ‘Not with your poor hands.’
He laughed. ‘My poor hands are fine!’
She shrugged. ‘I want you to use your mouth and tongue instead…would you deny me?’
His face sobered. ‘I could never deny you.’
She arched her back, hoping it would tempt him, and it did. His mouth latched on to her nipple and gently sucked. She squirmed beneath him, hot pleasure coursing through her veins.
She clung to him, revelling in the heat and strength of his body.
He shifted, trailing kisses down her body, and she opened her legs for him, her breath held tight with anticipation.
The first touch of his lips and tongue made her moan with joyous relief.
He kissed her between her legs until she couldn’t bear it any longer, and her heels dug into the mattress as her spine arched.
‘Agnar,’ she groaned and she could tell he was also on the edge of shattering by the wild look in his eyes. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he raised up and positioned himself at her entrance.
But when he entered her, he did so slowly, easing into her with a sigh of satisfaction, as if he were revelling in the feel of her. Then he lowered his weight, being sure to slide in and out of her and let her feel every inch of his body moving against hers as he did so.
She clung to him, face to face, naked and exposed. Holding on to him with all her strength as they moved together as one.
When their climax came it was joyous and natural. They held one another tightly breathing the same air, satisfied and blissfully happy.