Bride of the Sea (The Prophecy of Sisters #2) - Hayley Faiman Page 0,60

the land and my people.

I cannot let my people suffer just because I feel my bride is too old to bear the children I desire. I cannot let my lands ruin because I do not believe in love. And I cannot cause her to distrust me and send her in a spiraling magical catastrophe that she has no way of controlling.

Gathering one of the furs from the bed, I wrap it around her body. Pulling my hides back on, I tie the sides loosely as I slip back into my boots. She sees me dressing and slips her own shoes on. Holding out my hand, I wait for her to slip her palm inside.

Instead of blindly following me, like she did in front of my people, this time she hesitantly looks from my hand to my eyes, then back to my hand before she shifts her gaze back to meet my own.

“Where are we going, Aaric?”

My lips twitch into a small smile. “Somewhere I have never taken another woman. I want to show you my world, Liv.”

It is all the explanation that she needs. Liv slides her hand in my waiting palm and without a word, I lead her toward the back of my room. She doesn’t know it, nobody does, but I have an escape door just in case something happens to the húsgørd.

Finding the hidden latch, I reach for it and pop the door open. It’s small, we both have to duck and I barely fit through it, but if something were to ever happen, I do want her to be able to find a way out of here.

Once we make our way out of the door, I stand up straight and turn to her. “If something ever happens to me and you need to escape, this is the way you will go. Nobody knows of its existence, just me and now you.”

She looks up at me, her eyes wide and full of what I can only describe as, wonderment. “An escape route, nice,” she whispers.

My lips twitch into a smile, my hand still wrapped around hers firmly. Tugging her behind me, I guide her through the woods. I could take her to my cabin, but I’m not ready for that yet.

That would require a level of trust that only my closest men have.

One day, I hope that she will be as trusted as my men.

She tugs the fur around her shoulders tighter as I guide her through the forest area. It isn’t a long walk, just half a mile or so until we reach the isolated area that I come to when I need to think and be away from the rest of the world and their prying eyes.

Liv gasps behind me. I don’t look forward, instead, I look back at her. I’ve seen what she’s looking at and I want to watch her expressions as she experiences it for the first time. Her lips are parted in awe, her green eyes glittering as she takes in the world around us, my world.

“Aaric,” she gasps.

“This is my place. The only place where I feel truly at peace, fagr.”

If I could take her right here on the edge of this cliff, I would, but the rocks are too sharp and it would assuredly hurt one or both of us in the process. There are some natural rock steps to the side, and though the sand isn’t any less painful, it is much softer.

Guiding her down the rock steps, I hold her hand tightly as we step carefully, until we are walking on the pink sand. Without uttering a single word, I guide her under the cliff’s edge, into the half cave that is naturally carved out of the rock.

“If ever something happens to me and you must use the hidden door of our room, this is where you should come to hide until the threat is gone,” I instruct.

“I will, Aaric.”

“This is where I will come to retrieve you if something ever happens to the húsgørd.”

“Aaric,” she calls out from behind me.

Turning around, my mouth goes dry at the sight of her. She has her fur laid out on the sand, her undergarment dress is neatly folded into a pile and placed on top of her shoes, and she is completely bared to me.

“Liv,” I rasp.

She sinks to her knees on the fur, then lifts her hand and holds it out to me. “Come to me, Aaric. Let’s forget the hurts of the past and make a new