This was bad.
Well, I was Seoafin Wilde and this was my adventure so… what the heck?
I quickly untied my belt, yanked off my dress, boots and underwear and dropped them on the rocks by the pool. Pulling my ribbon free from where it held the front of my hair away from my face, I lifted my hands to hold up all my hair as I stepped in and settled myself on a natural seat in the rocks, the water up to my chest. Once there, I started to redo the ribbon holding my hair at the top of my head to hold it clear of the water.
As promised, Frey’s back was turned and he waited until the water settled after I’d moved in to shift around then he sat across the misty pool from me, the water, I could see through the steam, coming up to his ribs.
I secured the ribbon in my hair, dropped my hands and tried to let the water relax me.
This didn’t work partially because I was naked for the first time with my husband but mostly because he called out, “Come here, wife.”
Hells bells. He was definitely trying for third, running straight there and forgetting all about first and second.
“Uh…” I hesitated then water splashed, Frey’s fingers were suddenly wrapped around my wrist and water was flowing around me as he pulled me to him.
Once he got me close enough, his strong arms curled around my waist and he pulled me even closer. Much closer. So much closer, my calves hit rock and I had no choice but to bend my knees and straddle his lap.
Ho boy.
“Frey,” I whispered, my hands going to his chest as his hands moved up my back, pulling me closer, imprisoning my arms between us and I started to deep breathe.
One of his arms locked around the middle of my back, the other hand drifted up my neck, fingers gliding in my hair as he pulled my face closer to his.
“Relax, my wee Finnie,” he murmured and, just for your information, he’d started to call me his “wee Finnie” the day after the elves came calling and that was on my long list of things I liked about Frey too because I thought it was really sweet. “You know I’ll be gentle,” he finished, speaking as gently as I knew he could be.
“Yes,” I whispered as my eyes dropped to his mouth, a mouth that was coming closer.
“And you know you’ll like it.” He kept murmuring and he wasn’t wrong about that either.
So, I breathed, “Yes,” right before his mouth touched mine and he kissed me.
Yep, he wasn’t wrong. I liked it. Sweet, slow, deep but gentle, his hands moving on me through the water, slick, soothing, light and the only semi-invasive move was when his thumb trailed up the side of my breast tantalizingly, making me want something not slow, gentle, light or non-invasive but the opposite of all those.
My hands slid up and around his shoulders, the fingers of one hand gliding into his hair, the other arm wrapping tight as I pressed my chest into his and kissed him back.
Yeah, oh yeah, I definitely liked this.
He broke our kiss but didn’t take his lips from me, trailing them down my cheek, they worked my neck and ear, making the skin tingle, making me highly conscious of the power of his body surrounding me, the heat of the water, the slick of our skin, all of it nice, way nice. The best.
Okay, I’d give him third base. Hell, he could slide into home and I knew I’d love every freaking minute of it.
And that was exactly why I turned my mouth to his ear and whispered, “I like being here with you, Frey.”
His arms tightened around me, pressing me deep into his hard body but his head went back and his lazy, heated eyes found mine.
“This pleases me, Finnie,” he replied quietly and I smiled at him, dipping my head closer, he slid his nose along mine something else he did frequently that I put on my why I like him list before I quit making it. Then he again pulled back so I lifted up. One of his hands started roaming my back while the other one slid up my neck to cup my jaw and he went on, “It pleases me but do you not miss your Winter Palace in Fyngaard?”
No. I did not miss my Winter Palace in Fyngaard. Mostly because I had no idea what my Winter Palace was, or what Fyngaard was for that matter though, truth be told, I was intrigued but nowhere on his earth or mine at that moment would be better than those springs in that frozen forest with Frey.
“I –”
His thumb swept my cheek. “And your parents?”
I stared down at him as my heart jumped.
“I do miss my parents,” I whispered the God’s honest truth and watched his eyes go soft.
“As you know, the Bitter Gales is in two weeks time. What you don’t know is I have business I must see to after that. Today, you spend packing your trunks, I’ll load them and tomorrow morning, first thing, we’ll be away. You can spend two weeks at the Winter Palace with your parents, we’ll attend the Gales and then I’ll show you my ship.”
My heart jumped again then it started skipping.
The Winter Palace, the Bitter Gales (whatever that was but whatever it was sounded cool), my parents and his ship.
I’d just hit the mother lode!
Or, more accurately, my husband just offered it to me.
“Really?” I asked.
“Really, my wee Finnie,” he whispered, his arm wrapping around me and giving me a squeeze.
Then something he said struck me and I felt my excitement start to fade. “You said I could spend two weeks with my parents. Are you going away again before the Gales?”
He stared into my eyes, his soft and warm, and his thumb slid over my bottom lip, “No, wee one; I’ll be staying with you at your Palace.”
My heart started skipping again and it was definitely not playing it cool, not that a girl, no matter how good she could play it, could ever play it cool, naked, straddling a naked man in a hot springs, but, still, I couldn’t contain my smile.
My husband smiled back and that was so good, I decided that playing it cool was for idiots.
Then it occurred to me that he was probably talking about wherever it was we’d been married which meant I’d probably get to go back to that awesome room with all the beautiful carving and that armchair I wanted to try out. And if it was a Palace, it had to have a library which meant more books and more learning about this world. Not to mention, a new town (and a definitely bigger one) to explore.
And lastly, seeing my parents again.
And all of this made me melt into my big, handsome, so-not-scary-it-was-not-funny husband and whisper, “Thank you, Frey.”
His hand at my jaw slid back and up into my hair and he pulled my mouth down to his for a hard, sweet, deep, but short, kiss.
Only when he let me go did he whisper back, “You’re welcome, Finnie.”
Oh yeah, it was official. I liked him. A whole lot.
“Now climb off me, wife, soap up and dry off so I can do the same, we can get back and you can pack. The sooner you get done, the sooner we can get to town so you can bid farewell to your friends.”
Okay, one could say even though I was relaxed and happy, pressed naked to my naked husband, I wasn’t all fired up to “soap up” in front of him.
But the minute I slid off his lap, whispering, “All righty then,” his body slid down deeper in the water and he lounged back against the rocks at the same time lifting the bathing cloth so it covered his face.
He looked like a man relaxing in a hot spring. Or, to be more precise, a really freaking gorgeous guy relaxing in a hot spring.
But what he was was a kind man giving me privacy to bathe when he knew it would embarrass me to have him watch.
Yeah, oh heck yeah, I really liked my husband.
I soaped up and told him I was done by pressing the cake to his chest. He took it, his head coming up as he pulled the bathing cloth away. Then he turned his back and he soaped up while I rushed out of the water, drying off quickly and getting dressed.
I heard the water surge as he got out when I was smoothing my woolen stockings up my thighs. I had my boots on and was turning to him when he tossed the wet towel over his swe
ater-clad shoulder and I saw he was fully dressed.
He gave me a sweet smile, hooked me around my neck and pulled me into his side so I slid my arm around his waist and moved with him as I stayed pressed to his long body.
And that was how we walked home through the glittering, frozen forest.
We didn’t say anything, we didn’t need to and our silence was content.
But I wasn’t content.
No, I was happy in my winter wonderland adventure where you could understand animals and they had elves and hot guys who were awesome and I was on my way back to my Winter Palace, Fyngaard and, best of all, my parents, then after that to his ship and even more adventure.
And my hot guy husband was the one who was giving all that to me.
Oh yeah, in Valentine’s line of happiness from bliss to contentment I was not even close to the contentment side of the line.
I was smack in the middle of happy.
Chapter Eleven
The Measure of a Man
I leaned forward, grinning, and pulled the pile of coin to me. Then I settled myself back in my husband’s lap, grabbed my horn of ale and took a big drink.
“I’m certain our Winter Princess deals from the bottom of the deck,” Laurel grumbled then his eyes shot around me to Frey who was one-handing the cards, his long fingers expertly sorting them into a pile while his other arm stayed wrapped around me and Laurel clarified hurriedly, “No offense, Drakkar.”
“Why would I be offended when it is clear my bride cheats?” Frey noted and I whipped my head around to glare at him.
We were in town, currently at the pub, having come into town for Frey to send a messenger off to my parents to tell them we would be heading back and would return to Fyngaard in less than three days time.
He’d also taken me around so I could visit with the people I’d come to know, let them know we were leaving and give them my good-byes. This kind of sucked because good-byes always kind of sucked. But also, since I liked them, they liked me, they were surprised we were going, disappointed I was going and told me they would be glad when we returned, it sucked more because I didn’t know if I would.
Then we’d gone to the pub, eaten a dinner of bowls of thick, rich, tasty beef stroganoff that had an abundance of flavorful, succulent mushrooms and was served on a bed of herbed noodles that was not only delicious but also I was happy I didn’t have to slave away at an iron, wood-burning stove in order to put in front of us.
And now we were drinking ale with Laurel, Ulysses, Frederick and two of Frey’s huge, well-built men, Thaddeus and Ruben. All of these men had wandered in while Frey and I were enjoying an after dinner ale and all of whom had been invited to join us at our table.
Thaddeus was younger than Frey, my guess, by at least five years, maybe more (not that I knew how old Frey was, I figured that was something the other Sjofn would know and I hadn’t figured out how to cleverly ascertain this information without out and out asking). Thaddeus was slightly less tall than Frey and Ruben and powerfully built but he didn’t have the bulk of either man. He had blond hair, blue eyes and was really cute in a boy next door kinda gone wrong sort of way. Ruben was Frey’s age, maybe slightly younger, or perhaps slightly older, I couldn’t really tell (Frey’s natural air of authority was putting me off, he seemed older but looked younger) and he was a mountain of chocolate muscle with friendly, black eyes and an easy grin.
And, to fit us all around the table, considering Frey, Thaddeus and Ruben would have trouble just the three of them fitting their big bulk and long legs around a table, necessitated me sitting in my husband’s lap.
Or, at least, this was what Frey told me.
I did not quibble because I didn’t mind. I was working on my fourth horn of ale, the beer in that world was strong and flavorful, Frey was right when he said I fit in his lap (I did, perfectly), it was comfortable, his body was warm against mine and I was having the time of my life, playing cards, gabbing and gaming with my friends and my husband’s.
Until, of course, right then.
“I do not cheat!” I snapped.
“Wife, you’ve taken the last three hands, lost one and took the two before,” Frey spoke the truth; I’d been having totally awesome luck all night. “I should point out, my wee one, that if you’re going to cheat, you shouldn’t make it so obvious by winning every hand. People will suspect,” he finished helpfully.
“I am not cheating,” I returned heatedly.
And, really, I wasn’t! I didn’t even know how.
Frey grinned, obviously not only oblivious to cold and heat but also oblivious to heat directed at him from me.
“She deals from the bottom of the deck, I, too, am certain,” Thaddeus put in, his tone teasing, his eyes, I saw when mine shot to him, smiling. “I have not seen it, but I’ve lost enough coin to her I know it to be true.”
“Well, I haven’t dealt every hand, have I, Thaddeus?” I asked.
“Perhaps she hides cards in her cleavage?” Ruben suggested, brows raised, eyes twinkling.
That did it.
Clearly, I was being ganged up on.
I gave Ruben a squinty look then called loudly, “Lindy!” and craned my neck to find my friend.
“Yes, Princess Finnie,” Lindy called back from somewhere behind Frey.
I twisted my torso to him but peered around his frame and shouted at Lindy, “Six horns of beer here, fill them to the rim. I’ll be making a point by dumping them over heads once they get here and I want to be certain my point is well made!”
I yelled this across the room and Lindy grinned at me then shook her head and put some horns on the table she was at giving the appearance she thought I was kidding when I was not.
“I didn’t say you were cheating, your grace,” Frederick pointed out and I turned back around.
“Nor did I,” Ulysses stated, smiling at me.
“Okay, well, this is true so you two can drink your horns when they come,” I allowed.
“Obliged,” Frederick muttered, grinning at Frey.
Then I felt Frey’s lips at my ear where I heard him whisper, “Pour a horn of ale over my head, wee wife, I’ll be forced to go back to the springs and it won’t be me who’ll be soaping it off.”
When he was done, I turned my head, caught his eye and asked, “Are you trying to talk me out of pouring ale on you, husband?” Then I leaned in close and shared on a grin, “Because if you are, you’re failing.”
He smiled, it was lazy and heated and I felt it in a variety of places, all of them good.
I smiled back.
Then, noting my short-lived pique was way over, Frey unwrapped his arm from around me and leaned toward the table to shuffle the cards. I took another sip of ale and caught Thaddeus’s eyes on me, or, from what it seemed, me and Frey. When he noticed my gaze, I smiled at him even though he looked pensive in his study of us. When he saw my smile, his thoughtful look disappeared, he resumed his usual cheerful one and he lifted his chin slightly to me and winked.
I had long since decided that Thaddeus was a good guy. So was Ruben. They were funny and their gentle ribbing was cute, in a brotherly way and I’d never had a brother so I liked it. In fact, I liked them. And I was glad to know them before I got on a ship with them. It would be good to know more than Frey when I started that part of my adventure.
Once he’d dealt the cards, Frey sat back with his new hand and I set my horn on the table and reached out to collect mine.
I twisted my body so Frey nor Ruben, who sat on my other side, could see mine as I turned the cards to face me, fanning them out in one hand and lifting the other to arrange them as I needed. I’d moved two cards before what I had in my hand registered.
Then I stared at it.
We were playing tuble and in my hand I had a two of diamonds, a three of stars, a four of moons, a five of daggers, a sorceress card and a ghost card, the highest hand you could be dealt. It was akin to a royal flush and like a royal flush, virtually impossible to be
dealt one on the first round of cards.
I looked at my hand then I looked at my husband’s profile to see his attention seemed devoted to his own but I knew he was completely and totally full of it.
I also knew he was one hell of a cheat.
Therefore, I burst out laughing, slapped the cards on the table and fell forward so my forehead was on my cards. I kept laughing so hard my body was shaking with it and I added my fist banging on the table for good measure.
“How much ale has she had?” I heard Thaddeus mutter and I shot up straight and turned over my hand for all to see then twisted to my husband.
“You,” I poked him in the chest, “are the cheat!” I declared, still giggling into Frey’s smiling face.
It was then, Frey informed me, “You should probably know, my wee Finnie, that Ruben, Thaddeus, Frederick and Ulysses have been dealing you excessively good hands on purpose. The only one not essentially giving you his coin is Laurel.”
My eyes got wide and I swung around to look at the men at the table.
“No,” I whispered, Thaddeus winked at me again, Ruben grinned slowly and Frederick and Ulysses were smiling flat out.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” Laurel asked, pushing slightly back in his chair and looking around at the men, his expression disgruntled at being left out.
“Because you’re unskilled at stacking a deck, Laurel.” Ulysses pointed out. “The last time you tried, Gerard broke your arm.”
“Yes, well, that was cheating to win coin for me, this is different and our Winter Princess obviously would never notice,” Laurel returned.
“She’d notice when you dropped the cards on the floor or pulled them out of your cuff, just like everyone notices when you drop the cards on the floor or pull them out of your cuff,” Frederick stated then looked at me. “He’s very bad at trickery, your grace.”
Laurel’s torso shot back in clear affront, his mouth opening to deliver his retort but I got there before him.
“I should hope so and you all should be ashamed,” I declared only to see slow blinks and eyebrow raises all around, all filled with mild shock, even Laurel.