Merewin pursed her lips. She wouldn’t be denied. “Then Dalla and I will leave for Esberg on our own.”
Gamal crossed his arms before him. “Nay, I will not let that happen. Hauk entrusted you to me.”
“So,” Merewin raised her eyebrows in sarcasm, “ye will guard us then, every hour of every day?” She crossed her arms to mimick his stance. Merewin caught a glimpse of red hair along the side of the house.
Dalla no doubt listened. Not much passed the girl’s notice. She had been excited when Merewin proposed the trip when they’d awakened in Hauk’s bed that morning. Now that Merewin had opened her eyes to the similarities she shared with the girl, she understood her better. Merewin had felt, still felt, the same anguish of being forced to leave her dying mother. At least Merewin had been able to say goodbye.
Gamal let out a labored sigh. “Stubborn. Most stubborn woman.” He shook his head and Merewin smelled victory. She contained herself though. This man would dig in his heels if she gloated, she was certain.
“At dawn, then. We go, we say goodbye to the land over Ingun’s corpse, and we return by nightfall. I would not be away from Bera very long.”
Merewin grimaced at the crude mention of Ingun’s corpse and hoped Dalla hadn’t heard Gamal.
Merewin nodded, understanding Gamal’s desire to return home. Aye, Bera was rounding out more and more each time she saw the woman. Merewin stamped down the familiar unease whenever she thought of Bera’s birthing.
She touched Gamal’s arm. “Thank ye.” She smiled. “And ye’ll see,” she whispered too soft for listening ears around the corner. “It will make a difference in our Dalla.”
“Our Dalla?”
Merewin quirked her lips. “Aye,” she nodded, acceptingly. “Our Dalla.”
Gamal looked at Merewin’s hair. “Our Dalla, who knifed off your hair as if you were a sheep to be sheared?”
Merewin ruffled her fingers through her hair. “I think it is rather becoming, much lighter for certain.” She shook her mane. It definitely had more life in it since she’d lost the heavy length. “I like it.”
“It does move,” Gamal paused, his hand in mid air as if to touch, but then he lowered it, his face growing red. He snorted. “We’ll see what Hauk thinks of it.”
At the mention of the Viking’s name, Merewin’s heart picked up speed and her gaze glimpsed the path down to Spring House, but it was vacant. It had only been four weeks since he’d left. How long did missions take anyway?
****
The longboat scraped along the wooden dock, the familiar creaks of the strained wood welcoming him home. Hauk jumped over the gunwale onto the pier, ropes in hand. Several other men jumped over, with lines to secure the boat to the dock. The night was silent, eerily silent. Only the muffled sounds of his men disembarking with their treasure broke the stillness.
Hauk tied off his lines and spoke with two of his men. “I will return in the morning to properly dock the ship. Stay with her overnight.” He handed them several pieces of Pict gold. Normally he would stay with Gamal in Ribe, make repairs and wash down his ship the following day before riding to Spring House. But not tonight, not this journey. Hauk’s steps, fueled by the images he’d seen in the circle, jogged through the night toward his sister’s home.
Hauk stopped at the door. He’d wake Gamal and they’d ride together. A soft neigh came from the fenced yard. Hauk lowered his hand, his mind changing as he walked briskly over to the fence. He wouldn’t wake them, just borrow one of Gamal’s horses to ride home.
Hauk’s knees pressed in on the sleepy horse, urging it into a full run to the edge of the sacred woods. At the border he slowed, searching for the path. The moonless night made the trees nearly impenetrable. The void of blackness sucked at his torchlight allowing only a compressed circle around horse and rider. Hauk followed fairly fresh tracks made by other horses. “Just before nightfall. Gamal?” He tapped the sides of the plodding horse.
Through the darkness, his mind played over the images he’d seen, the warning words of the spirit woman. Dalla holding a knife with a wicked, pain-filled expression. Merewin crying, then furious. Why had he left them? It had seemed easier, an opportunity to escape once again the uncomfortable tension of home. The low branches arched over the path like a cavern beneath the earth. In some spots he had to bend low to pass without catching his head. His hands clenched around the reins, and he concentrated on keeping his control, steering the horse through the heaviness of the darkness.
Hauk broke through the tree line at the top of the path leading to Spring House. All lay quiet, dark before him, the smell of hearth smoke revealing life below. Hauk turned to follow the path down when a cracking sound pulled him around in his seat. His sword sang as he drew it. Unfortunately the torch gave away his position, his disadvantage obvious.
“Who waits in my woods?” his voice carried into the darkness. He’d have dropped the light, yet it could catch the leaves on fire. He could also use it as another weapon. Crack! He heard it again, followed by a chattering noise. His head spun just in time to catch sight of the mink hurling through the air from a perch just above the far side of the path.
Merewin’s pet landed behind him on the horse’s hind quarters, its little claws catching at his cloak so it didn’t continue to fly right off. Hauk slammed his sword back into its scabbard and grabbed the reins as the horse leapt forward, neighing, and pawing its front feet wildly.
“Down.” Hauk’s calm voice belied the strain he used in his thighs and his arms to soothe the horse. The mink jumped onto his back and climbed up to his shoulder. Hauk pulled the torch light around to look at the little beast, its black berry eyes staring at him. It tilted its head to the side as if studying him, as if asking him what he was doing there.
“Is there trouble down below? Do you guard the path?”
By the gods, had the little creature just nodded? The mink hopped from his arm, launched itself at a trunk and skittered down to the path leading below. It looked back once as if to see if he followed. Hauk’s heart pounded in his chest. The last time he’d been here staring at his home, it had held death, full to the rafters with pain and death. He took a deep breath against his ghosts. What would he find this time?
“By the gods, let them be safe,” he murmured and tapped the horse into a jog down the winding slope.
Hauk dismounted quietly in the yard, tying Gamal’s horse to a post near the stream. All seemed calm. He tried to catch sight of the little mink as it scurried past the corner of the house after some meal. Apparently its guard shift was over. Hauk tried the door, but it was barred as it should be. He moved around to the back, where the bushes lay thick against the logs to the small inset door. Spring House’s secret door. He’d added it as a precaution but had used it more than once when arriving home late after the house had been barred against the night. There was a delicate lever through a hole that one had to pull just so in order to spring the latch inside.
Hauk worked his finger in the hole and felt for the thin rope pull. “Click,” the lever snapped up and the small door swung inward. Darkness and silence sat heavy in the house. He closed the door and tread quickly through the empty great room, its fire just a glow of embers in the center hearth. He breathed in the darkness, but no herbal fumes hung in the air this time, just the gentle smell of wood smoke. All seemed well. He breathed in again, his senses attuned. The embers stirred to life and a flame rose up to light the room.
The curtains of three additional living spaces were in front of him. His own quarters to the left, Merewin’s small room in the center, and Dalla’s quarters to the right where his parents had slept before. Vivien and Diarf slept in their own out building in times of peace. Hauk grabbed a taper and lit it from the hearth pit. He paused at Merewin’s room. Silence. He moved to Dalla’s curtain and walked through.
Hauk held the taper high. His gaze moved to his daughter’s bed. Empty. Unease tightened in his gut and muscles. The small light flickered over the wal
ls of the empty room. “Dalla.” His voice rang starkly through the stillness. In two strides he was at her pallet, neatly made. He even pushed at the furs to make sure she wasn’t under them. “Dalla, where are you?” Turning on his heel he strode to Merewin’s small room and threw back the curtain. Her pallet too lay neatly made, yet empty.
“By Odin, where is everyone?” He turned back to the great room, firelight shining along the walls. Unmarred walls looked blankly back at him. Had they been taken? Had Merewin run away? His gut tightened with his fists. Dalla? The tightening twisted sharply.
A movement at the back caught his attention. Hauk slid his sword free, moving steadily toward the threat.
“Master?” a woman’s voice called. His heart slammed behind ribs, and he lowered the sword.
“Aye, Vivien,” he answered, wishing it had been Merewin’s voice in the darkness. Although she’d never have called him master.
“You’ve returned? Already?”
“Aye. Where are they?”
“Who?”
“Dalla and Merewin. Their beds are empty.” He held tight to the last threads of his patience. If she didn’t spit out the information soon, he’d bring the thatching down with the beast’s roar that was steadily building.
The edge to his voice made her mute. All she could do was point, wide-eyed. Hauk turned, ready to insist that he’d checked in their rooms, but she didn’t point to either. The servant pointed to his quarters.
She swallowed hard. “They have been sleeping in your bed.”
Hauk looked back. “They?”
“Dalla and Merewin.”
Had Vivien gone daft? When he’d left, Dalla hated Merewin, would barely look at her, let alone sleep next to her.
Vivien nodded. “Since the big,” she flapped her hands around, speechless for a moment. “Big battle.”
“Battle?” he kept his roar low. Images of men with swords flashed against his mind.
“Between the two of them.”
Hauk breathed deeply and rubbed a dirt-stained hand against his head. “Between Merewin and Dalla.”
“Aye, it was fierce.”
He scrubbed at his face, pushing away the tightness in his forehead. “Who won?”
Vivien shrugged her shoulders and smiled timidly. “Mayhap both?”
Hauk stared at the grinning woman for a moment. Perhaps insanity had scrambled her thoughts while he was away. Turning, Hauk strode across the dark room and into his chamber. The burning taper he held showed one lump in the middle of his large bed, under the furs. He walked without sound up to the edge. On closer inspection, two distinct shapes comprised the lump, enfolded together.
He brought the taper around to the other side, illuminating their peaceful faces. A glimpse of little-girl remained in Dalla’s relaxed expression and Hauk’s heart squeezed. He remembered the carefree child that had hugged easily and laughed with all the wonder of the world, the child before the plague.
Hauk’s gazed roamed over to Merewin and she turned gently onto her other side, back against Dalla’s. He moved around to see Merewin’s lovely features, also relaxed. The flame light accented smooth cheekbones and the perfect slope of her nose. Her lips parted, and Hauk stopped breathing when the tip of her tongue stroked the edge of bottom lip. Her breathing increased and Hauk saw the flicker of her eyes behind lids. To slip behind those lids, to view her dreams, now that would be magick. He watched.
“Aye, Hauk,” she murmured, voice husky with sleep or something else. Hauk froze, his eyebrow raising. She dreamt of him? The thin line of a grin relaxed his face. He turned on silent feet and strode back out the curtained door. He eyed the flimsy wool covering the arched doorway. He’d have to replace it with solid oak very soon.
Vivien jumped at his quick entrance.
“I must bathe.” He grabbed a thin bar of the mint-scented soap Vivien made and headed for the barred door. He’d been at sea for the last week. The last thing he wanted to do was crawl into bed smelling of sea slime and fish.
“It’s freezing out there,” she called.
Hauk snorted at the cold. Perhaps a dip in the stream that ran before Spring House would cool the fire Merewin’s simple words had sparked. Her husky voice, relaxed features, hair spilled across the down filled headrest. Her hair? There had been something different about it. Icy pinpricks shot along his skin on contact with the mountain water and all other thoughts left as he rubbed the layers of grime from his body.
Hauk shook shoulder length hair, sending the fresh spray of water about in the main room. No Vivien, she must have returned to her sleep. A fresh cloth draped his hips, leaving the rest of his body bare. He tied the cloth in a knot and traipsed back to his room. They hadn’t moved. Merewin seemed to have slipped into a quieter slumber.
Hauk picked up Dalla gently and carried her back to her quarters. Although the room was dark, he found her pallet and tucked her under the furs. She turned several times in the bed, but soon her even breathing told him she was still asleep.
Finally. Hauk walked back to his own bed. Merewin lay there, in the center, smelling of warm sweet spice and woman. He bent down and inhaled. Aye, that was the scent that had haunted his dreams. Lifting back the furs, he crawled into the space still warm from Dalla, his own body quickly adding to the heat.
His body sank into the familiar pallet, collapsing it and causing Merewin to roll toward him. Her body collided softly with his. She murmured but didn’t open her eyes. Instead she rubbed her face into his bare chest and sighed.
Hauk’s body turned rigid and he groaned inwardly as Merewin’s knee rose up to rub against his growing erection. He could just make out the top of her head in the dim light of the taper he’d thrown into the barren fire pit across the room. Hmmm, what to do? Hauk lay rigid, his conscience fighting with his base needs. Merewin was his, his thrall by law. He’d claimed her openly, twice. By Odin, the woman was in his bed! What could she expect?
Hauk pulled the furs back down her shoulder, exposing her upper arm and the swell of her breasts straining against the thin fabric of the sleeping gown. He ran one finger down the soft under skin of her arm. It must have tickled because she jerked, rolling away onto her back. Hauk held his breath, would she wake? Nay, she didn’t. He watched the even rise and fall of breasts, her perfectly shaped breasts laid bare save for a film of white fabric lying tight along the twin peaks. Her lips parted again and he waited for the tip of her tongue to slip out, but it didn’t. She rolled again so that her back was to him and he moved closer.
Merewin wiggled in the soft pallet, pushing her backside out and unwittingly into his groin. Hauk groaned out loud and wrapped his arm over hers. He buried his face in the back of her fragrant hair. Her hair seemed looser, fuller. He ran his fingers through it, letting it slip against his face. Different, something was different.
“Hauk,” Merewin moaned softly and he dropped her hair.
“Aye, Merewin.” He rolled her name in his mouth, tasting the syllables, anticipating other delicacies on his tongue. She didn’t answer and he realized her breath had become rapid again. Another dream of him. Hauk pressed himself against the curve of her back and stoked the slight womanly roundness of her stomach, his fingers trailing down across her woman’s mons with each stroke.
Merewin responded in her sleep by pressing back against him, a natural rhythm began to grind into his palm. He groaned again, realizing that his conscience had lost the battle. He draped her hair to the side and ran his lips across her naked nape. She shivered in response and pushed backwards against him.
He had to wake her. She needed to be awake for this.
Edging back he rolled her toward him until she lay once again on her back. Hauk brushed hair from her face and leaned down to gently kiss her parted lips. Merewin moaned in sleep induced abandon, clinging, deepening. Hauk dove into the kiss, reveling in the response. After all, she was dreaming of him. It wasn’t as if he was doing anything she didn’t want him to do.
As the ki
ss slanted, Merewin’s eyes fluttered open. Hauk felt the shift into consciousness, a slight drawing back, a stiffening. “Hauk?” her lovely arched eyebrows drew together. He reached up to rub the lines with his thumb.
“I’ve returned.”
She relaxed at his words. “This is a dream.”
“Nay.” He coaxed her hand to lay flat against his chest. “I am here. I took Dalla to her room.”
Merewin glanced around, studying the dark space, then back to his face. “Ye are really here,” she whispered, breath shallow.
Hauk wrapped his hand in her hair. “Aye, I’m here, and so are you. We will finish what we started. Now.” He directed her face towards his and she fell against him.
Lost in a warm cave of soft furs and body heat, Hauk wrapped Merewin with his legs, his arms. The darkness muted the shapes around them, making him only aware of the feel of full curves against his hard body. Merewin’s kiss became wild almost instantly. Her hands cupped the sides of his face as if to prevent a retreat. But he had no intention of pulling back.
The heat under the furs grew and Hauk threw back the covers. Grabbing the end of the gown twisted around Merewin’s legs, he tugged it upward and off. The infinitesimal light of the taper grew, the thin flick of fire catching the fuel left in the pit. Firelight sprang up exposing the milky hue of her nude body, her luscious breasts, and curls at the V of her legs. In one motion he ripped the cloth from around his waist, leaving him naked.
Merewin shivered and he gathered her back into his arms, raising the furs. “I will warm you,” he whispered against a lovely little ear as she rolled into his chest. Her hands flitted across his hot skin, touching, outlining, exploring flesh. When she reached to grab a hold of his erection, he caught her wrist.
Eyes, dark in the orange glow, stared up at him. Hauk barely recognized his rough voice. “Once we,” he paused, looking for words. “Once you touch me, I won’t be able to stop.” He offered a way out and willed her silently not to take it, for it would take all his strength and discipline to draw away from her now. But Hauk knew that once she touched him, he would lose that control. There would be no going back.
Magick (The Dragonfly Chronicles Book 2) Page 18