Chapter 5 #2
And just like that, her alarm melted away.
The man was not formidable, he was simply in love with his wife, and worried for her.
Now that she’d had the chance to talk to him, she saw that he was in fact nothing like Steinar.
He was just as blond, strong, and handsome, admittedly, but she could never have mistaken one for the other.
Comparing the two Norsemen would have been like comparing summer clouds to thunder, sunlight to lightening.
Moon was everything Steinar was not, approachable and unsure how to talk to her.
Relief spread through her. She had nothing to fear from this man.
He would never bark at her or look at her as if he wanted her out of his sight.
On the contrary, he seemed struck dumb by gratitude toward her.
Gratitude she wasn’t even sure she deserved.
“Please. There is no need to thank me. I did not exactly save anyone. I only—”
“You were there for Eyja in one of the most important moments of her life. You reassured her, you helped her keep panic at bay, you made sure both she and our baby were safe. It means everything. I would not have had her alone in such a moment. So, thank you.”
She gave a smile. “I am relieved. If you must know, I thought you’d be angry for not dissuading her from going as far as the lake.”
Head thrown back, Moon let out a throaty laugh, and in that moment Cwenthryth understood why Eyja had stopped seeing him as a friend. It would be all too easy to fall under the man’s spell. He truly was dazzling.
“Believe me, I would have been amazed if you had dissuaded the imp from doing anything,” he told her, his lips stretching in a wide grin. “I’ve never been able to do so. To my delight, she is the most stubborn, determined woman I’ve ever seen, and utterly unstoppable when her mind is made up.”
Something in his blue eyes glimmered and Cwenthryth found herself blushing. Without knowing quite why, she had the impression he had just admitted to something very private.
“She was very brave,” she murmured, remembering the woman’s unwavering resolve to do what needed to be done for her child.
Moon sobered in the blink of an eye. “Yes,” he said, his voice gruff.
“I’m not surprised. She is the toughest warrior I know.
The birth of our first daughter was so long, so hard on her, that for a frightful moment I thought she would not make it.
She never gave up, finally bringing Emma into the world despite the difficulty.
It was the most awe-inspiring thing I’d ever seen. After that, we never thought we would…”
He shook his head, and placed a kiss on the little girl’s forehead. There was such love in that gesture that Cwenthryth’s chest constricted. Would she one day see a man kissing a child she had given him with half as much emotion? It seemed unlikely, for who would want her now?
“Well, I’m glad to have been there for her,” she said, pushing the maudlin thought away. “I trust she’s doing well?”
“Yes. She and Emma are napping together.” He didn’t need to add what he thought of the idea of the two of them entwined on the pallet. She saw it in his eyes. Yes, Moon was definitely a man in love and proud of his family.
The sunlight behind her suddenly dimmed and Cwenthryth’s body stiffened of its own accord. The very air seemed to still around her. This time she knew Steinar would be the man looming over her when she turned around.
He appeared in the corner of her eye, his hair tangled by the ride, his beard longer than when he’d left. Her heart skipped a beat. Heavens, but he had never looked better than he did now.
“Moon,” he greeted, completely ignoring her.
“Steinar. You’re back just in time to meet Frida, your new niece. Here.” He nodded at the little girl, who was yawning. “She’s just woken up. Would you like to hold her?”
“Of course,” Steinar answered, already holding out his arms.
Cwenthryth had not expected him to agree so readily.
Nor had she been prepared for the sight of him with the fragile babe cradled in his arms. It was already hard not to melt when he hugged little Rothgar, but this…
This was an even more challenging proposition.
He looked so full of awe, so relaxed, nothing like his usual self.
And then, to her shock, he smiled at the little girl.
She had never seen him smile before, and unsurprisingly, he was transformed by it. In that moment she saw the man he could be if he were happy—and she understood she would never see him in the same way ever again.
“I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect to be greeted with such a lovely surprise. How did it go?” he asked his brother-in-law, his gaze still on the little girl. He seemed utterly fascinated by her. “Better than Emma’s birth, I hope?”
Moon rubbed the back of his neck like a man plagued with worries.
Evidently, despite the assurance that all was well with his wife, his mind was still not at rest and he was still imagining what could have happened.
“Yes, by all accounts, it went well, and much faster, thanks be to the gods. I wasn’t there with Eyja, though.
Cwenthryth was the one who delivered Frida. ”
“Was she?”
The tone was frigid, and when he finally looked at her, all traces of tenderness and awe had vanished. His blue eyes seemed to have gone two shades darker. The babe in his arms started to fuss, perhaps responding to the tension in his body.
“Yes. I don’t know what we would have done without her,” Moon carried on, oblivious to the change in him.
The little girl’s writhing became a moan, then a cry. Yes, definitely tension here.
“Take her back to her mother,” Steinar said, handing Frida to her father. “I think she’s hungry.”
Moon didn’t need to be told twice. Placing his daughter’s well-being before anything else, he nodded his goodbyes and strode away.
Cwenthryth found herself alone with a glowering Steinar.
Dear Lord, what had happened to him during the last few days?
He’d not been best pleased to see her irrupt into his life the other day, and she could understand that, given the circumstances, but he was now looking at her as he would to an enemy.
She didn’t know what to make of it, or how to respond. Perhaps fleeing would be the best option, if the most cowardly. She turned her face to the chicken coop.
“I still have to feed the chickens, so I’d better—”
A hand closed around her wrist, stopping her retreat. “The chickens can wait. I can’t.”
Oh. Cwenthryth was sure she should panic at the way he was restraining her, not melt.
She was sure she should tremble at the growl in his voice, not go all warm inside.
But the problem was, the hold on her wrist felt sensual rather than menacing, and his words were rather suggestive.
He’d made it sound as if he couldn’t wait to take her to bed after his prologued absence.
So she did melt, and she did go all warm inside.
“What is it?” she asked, heart thumping hard.
Silence met her question. He was still holding her, his fingers warm against her skin. Then finally, he spoke.
“My, you didn’t waste your time while I was away, have you?
You’ve already started to make yourself indispensable to my sons, now you helped my sister give birth to my niece and earned my brother-in-law’s eternal gratitude…
What else?” He sounded angry and bitter all at once.
Dangerous. “Whom will you try to ensnare next? My mother? My brothers? I should warn you before you start, it will be in vain. I will not let you stay here permanently, no matter how hard you try to sway me.”
“I’m not trying to sway you, I haven’t tried to ensnare anyone!
” Cwenthryth cried out, snatching her wrist from his hold.
From the way she easily managed it, she understood he’d not really wanted to keep her captive.
She would never have freed herself if he had, he was just too strong.
“I just happened to be with Eyja when her waters broke. And I have no intention of staying here permanently. I only came here because I had to hide, as I told you. I never meant to—”
“Hide. Oh yes. Let me see. You had to hide from the man you live with, did you not? Remind me, which one is it? The father who is already dead or the brother? Certainly not the lover you’ve never had.”
Cwenthryth recoiled. He knew her father was dead? He knew about Godfrid? He knew she’d never been with a man of her choosing? But how? And why did it make him so angry?
“How… You…” She was too shocked to formulate her question.
“On my way back from Astrid’s parents I stopped in town. I learned some interesting things about you there.”
“Such as?” Lord, but there were so many horrid things he could have been told. Cwenthryth was now really worried. Who had he spoken to?
“The only man living in your house is your brother, and people who’ve known you all your life are convinced that you’ve never even been with a man.
Not quite the story you’ve given me, as I’m sure you will agree.
” Blue eyes glittered. “So I think you can understand my displeasure at being made a fool out of.”
Well, yes, if that was what he’d been told, she did indeed understand.
He would think her the worst liar and manipulator.
His attitude made sense now. He’d gone to town with the express purpose of finding out more about her and he’d been told a different story to the one she’d given him.
This was why he was looking at her like an enemy.
He’d made some enquiries about her because he didn’t believe her.
And, unfortunately, what he’d heard had only confirmed his opinion of her.
He was convinced she was lying to carve herself a place in his home, in his life.
To add to the problem, the first thing he’d been told upon coming back to the village was that she had been of assistance to his sister.
Had he been in a more accommodating mood, he would have seen that there was no way she could have planned it that way, but Steinar had already made up his mind about her being intent on taking advantage of him.
He would not change his opinion about her now.
Tears sprang to her eyes.
“You don’t need to be displeased because I am telling you the truth. You just don’t want to hear it.”
“I have heard it, thank you, from someone who, unlike you, had no reason to lie to me. Or do you deny that your father is dead?”
“No. He is dead.” Her chest tightened when she remembered his last moments, the awful emptiness crushing her when she’d understood he really was gone and she was on her own.
At least the poor man had not suffered, slipping away peacefully in his sleep.
The only one to suffer was her, who was left behind.
“And isn’t the only other person living in your house your brother? Where is the dangerous lover you told me about, I might wonder?”
“It’s… It’s not that simple. Will you let me explain?”
“I think I’ve heard all I needed to hear, thank you.”
How had she hoped he would say yes? Steinar just stared at her, stony eyed. He didn’t care about her explanations, she was no one to him. He had already dismissed her from his life.
“I’m going to see Magnus, the blacksmith, about a commission. When I come back, I want you to be gone.”