Page 15 of Viking Warriors: Vol. 1-3
“Long ago,” he murmured, seeing a cloud pass over my face.
He took my palm and kissed it.
When he looked at me again, his eyes held that intensity I knew well.
I let my tunic and belt fall, stepping from them, and into the bath.
He guided my hand, still slick with suds, to his cock and, as I climbed across his lap, my cunt found him. He slid inside me as an eel will enter its pit, finding its true home, its place of safety.
I pulled his hair from his face, holding it behind as I lowered my mouth to his, meeting his lips, soft and yielding. He tasted of the honey the children had taken to the Northmen, spooning it into their mouths, squealing in half-pretended fear as those grizzled warriors had opened wide for more.
I rocked against him, my Eirik, now subdued, my breasts brushing his chest as I rose and fell, nipples taut with desire. His hands rested lightly upon my hips, his eyes taking in the undulations of my body.
It was I who kissed him, I who chose the rhythm of our coupling. My voice rose and tumbled in gasps and moans, pleasure coursing through me, not once, but in repeating, spiralling ripples, one crashing into the next, like waves building and retreating on the shore.
13
The Northmen took nothing more from us, asking only for food for the journey, and to fill their flasks with weak ale. Gudmund, Hagen, Ivar, Jerrik, Olaf, Sigurd. I knew their names now.
I sat with my grandmother, holding her hand, whispering to her of all that had happened. Her eyes grew wide, but she did not interrupt me.
How could I leave her, when I knew that she would not be long in this world? If I left, I would never see her again. I knew our village women would care for her; she was respected in a way that I could never be. My heart ached, however, at making my farewell, and I was suffused with shame at forgoing my duty to her.
Her tears came, but she insisted that I was to find my happiness with her blessing, wherever that lay.
“You’re a good girl, Elswyth. He’ll be fortunate to have you. And God will keep you safe, wherever you go.”
I wondered if she were right, if God would accompany me, going as I was to a people who didn’t even believe in him.
* * *
Helka came to find me, seeking out my answer. I reiterated that I would be no slave. If I returned with them, it would be of my own free will.
“I’ll be your sister. You’ll never be alone.” Her promise warmed me. However, I was irked at her next declaration. “I’ve only to look into your eyes to know your heart’s decision.”
It seemed that I was unable to hide my feelings. Although I knew her to be right, it provoked me to hear her speak as if the choice had already been made.
“And what if I choose to follow my head,” I answered, “I grew up here. These are the people I know, not yours.” I only half-believed it. I’d never felt at ease here. I’d always been searching for something.
“Just as day follows night, and spring follows winter, our lives move from one state to another, sweeping away what is old, what has been outgrown,” said Helka.
“And what do you see, when you look at me?” I ventured.
“You are water,” said Helka. “You may take any form you desire. You can be the rain, or the lake, or the sea, or you may be water in a cup, if you wish it so.”
I waited, in the pre-dawn darkness, by the boats, watching them make ready by the thin moon. True to their word, no woman had been molested since their return, and none was now taken against her will. Only one other joined me. Faline stood, refusing to meet my gaze, her eyes on the men loading the vessel. Whether she was there for Eirik I couldn’t say. Perhaps some other man had taken her fancy. There were many who were handsome, and strong, many who would make fine husbands. Faline was a beauty. She would find her way.
I watched her splash through the water, before being pulled up, into the belly of the dragon boat.
The dawn was not far off when Eirik came to me. My feet had not yet committed to whatever lay ahead.
He spoke with the same seriousness as he had in explaining the markings on his body.
“My name, my blood, my honour, I will give to my children, and all those who come after. Just as I have inherited these things from my father, and those before him.”
He took my hands, and I knew he spoke as honestly as he was able.
“Elswyth, I have lain with many women, and will lay with many more, but I ask you to keep my bed every night, to give me your body, for the bearing of my children.”
