from Fiske’s bloodied body to face the seeress.
She shakes her head once. “He will remain as a sacrifice. He will not gain entry into Valhalla,” she informs me.
My heart cracks a bit at the sound of that. Fiske wasn’t that nice to me, granted, I only knew him when that bitch possessed him, so I like to think that under other circumstances, maybe he was an alright guy?
The men start busting out the ale, thankfully that wasn’t destroyed by Fiske when he came through on his little rampage, a rampage, I will add that he didn’t even attempt when he was surrounded by an entire army, instead, he picked on two men.
Apparently, the demon was a lazy fucker and a pussy.
Aaric makes his way toward me, after shaking many of his men’s hands, giving them hugs, and taking drinks from their cups with a roar and a cheer.
“Víf,” he rumbles.
Shifting my gaze to the side, I watch as Seeress slips away, toward her own man, dragon, beast, whatever he’s called—her Quest.
“Husband,” I breathe.
He takes a step toward me, blood, guts, paint and dirt are smeared all over him. He reaches toward me, cupping my cheek with his hand. “Have I scared you?” he asks, his voice low and gentle.
“You should,” I whisper.
“But?”
My lips twitch into a small and sad smile. “You could never scare me, Aaric, not when you are doing nothing but protecting your people—protecting me.”
He hums, reaching for me, and wraps his arms around my thighs. I let out a gasp as he picks me up and carries me toward the tent. We aren’t noticed by the men, or if we are, they don’t say anything.
The noise dies down a bit after we’re inside. Aaric lowers me down right in front of the bed. Licking my lips, I look up at him, I don’t know why, but I want him right now. Not only do I want him, I need him.
“I killed my own brother,” he murmurs.
“You killed a demon, Aaric. Fiske was gone long before today.”
He nods his head, lifting his hands and cupping my cheeks. “Gunnar and Hagen, they are gone?”
The words are said like a question, but the way he’s watching me, I know that they are not. Tears fill my eyes again. I nod my head. “Hillevi just told me. I didn’t know what happened, I hid as soon as I heard a commotion.”
He gulps, nodding his head slowly. “You did well, víf,” he exhales. “You saved yourself, you saved our child.”
Lifting my hands, I grip his wrists as I close my eyes slowly, then reopen them. “What happens now?” I ask.
His lips twitch. “Now, I celebrate that I cast the draugr back down to the underworld.”
“Then?” I ask breathlessly as I think about him celebrating, specifically, with me.
He grins. “Then we go on our raid.”
“Can we go home?” I ask. “I need to tell Sylvi about Gunnar.”
He nods his head. “Quest will take you and Runa home. We still need to complete the raid for winter, it approaches. Then, I will come home to you, víf.”
“Okay,” I breathe.
AARIC
Not bothering to unhook the back of her dress, I reach around and grasp the fabric at the back of her neck before I tear it apart. Liv gasps, her eyes widening before her chest starts to rise and fall with her panting breaths.
The dress falls to the ground, her undergarment is next, although this time she doesn’t allow me to rip it apart, instead she quickly tugs it down baring herself for me.
“This will be hard, sváss,” I warn.
“Yes,” she cries as her head falls backward.
“Augas, Liv,” I rasp. She lifts her head, those eyes looking directly into mine, just the way that I like. Lifting my hand, I touch my finger right next to her eye. “Auga,” I explain.
Liv licks her lips, nodding once as I reach down and wrap my hands around the backs of her thighs, picking her up. Without another word, her lips are on mine. I allow her to kiss me just long enough for her tongue to slip inside of my mouth.
Tangling my tongue with hers, I take over the kiss. Her arms wrap around my shoulder as she presses her chest against mine. Her hips move, searching for something more as she grinds them against my hide pants.
“Aaric,” she murmurs against my lips.
I hum. “Release me, víf,” I roughly demand.
Her hands slip between us, her fingers move as she unlaces my hides, then her fingers wrap around my