Page 146 of Ironling
Everyone was just where they should be.
Aislinn was running her hands all over her man’s fine chest when he finally pulled back. Those gentle brown eyes opened, his gaze so tender it nearly made her squirm.
“Good morning, my mate,” he murmured.
“Good morning, husband-to-be.”
That earned her a grin, his eyes crinkling and that devastating dimple appearing in his cheek.
He lifted his big hand to draw her hair back from her face, and he cupped her cheek for a long while, holding her gaze and sharing breath. Aislinn knew he wished to say something, but she didn’t rush him, content to lay in his arms.
When he finally asked, his brows drawn low with worry, it nearly broke Aislinn’s heart. “Are you sure?” he whispered. “Outside this room…not everyone will welcome us.”
“I’m not afraid,” she whispered back. “Those who dislike it will learn to accept us or hold their tongues. I’m sure of you, Hakon. Unless you…”
Her stomach swooped to think that he might have second thoughts. Romantic gestures and pillow talk were all one thing, but living beside her, an Eirean heiress, was entirely another.It wasn’t a life suited to many, and it would present many challenges.
He dispelled her fears quickly, shaking his head. “Naught will separate me from you now.” Pulling her hand up his chest, he placed it above the steady drum of his heart. “The bond has taken—I’m yours for always, past the gods calling us home. I just wanted to know that you’re sure.”
“More than sure.”
His answering smile was small but more magnificent for it. People might mistake him for unassuming, that his quiet nature meant a quiet mind or mild spirit. Just the opposite. Aislinn saw just how brightly his inner fire burned, a hot core of iron that could bend but not break.
They would forge a life for themselves, the two of them.
“I love you, my darling,” she murmured against his lips, happy tears welling against her lashes.
“Ach,vinya,you start the day by spoiling me.” Pulling her atop him, his hands caressed every curve as his mouth claimed hers. “There aren’t words enough to say how much I love you,” he told her between kisses, “nor for how glorious, how brilliant, how—”
The door to the solar opened. Wülf bounded up from his bed by the fire, barking.
Aislinn slid back into the blankets as Brenna bustled into the bedchamber, her eyes rounding with shock to see Hakon.
“Abed together?” she admonished. “You aren’t even married yet.”
Holding the blankets to her chest, Aislinn sat up, frowning.
Arm folded above him and hand beneath his head, the picture of male repose, Hakon was quicker with his rebuke. “We’re bonded in the orcish way,” he told Brenna calmly.
“We aren’t in orcish territory, andyou,” Brenna pointed an accusing finger at Aislinn, “aren’t an orcess.”
No, she wasn’t. What Aislinn was, was spitting mad. Embarrassment colored her cheeks, but she refused to feel guilty or ashamed for being caught with her own betrothed. She and Hakon had lain together dozens of times now, and it was on the tip of her tongue to lash Brenna with that fact.
Throwing her arms up in exasperation, Brenna proceeded to one of the armoires to fetch Aislinn clothes.
“If you insist on doing this, you should at least do it right,” Brenna lectured as she pulled underthings from a drawer. “Households aren’t combined untilafterthe marriage.”
“I only have two trunks. It will be easy to combine households.”
Brenna scowled over her shoulder at Hakon for his joke, but he only grinned.
Drawing a long breath, Aislinn placed a hand on his arm.
Enough.
“Brenna, you cannot come barging in without knocking anymore. This is my room, my refuge, and now it’s Hakon’s, too. You must announce yourself like anyone else.”
That got the chatelain’s attention. Turning round to face the bed, Brenna frowned incredulously at Aislinn.
