“I need to see, Dragna about putting the herbs we collected in cold storage.”
“Alright,” Dagmar said. “I’m going to rest while you’re gone. Then we’ll see about truly celebrating this Solstice and announcing our engagement and our plan to rule Hail together.”
“Sounds good Your Highness,” Aila chuckled. Dagmar did exactly as he’d said he would and slept for the entire two hours Aila was gone checking on things. When he woke the sense of calm was a little too convincing.
“Aila?” Dagmar called. He sat up, nursing his very sore side and shoulder. By the time he gained his footing, he was sweating up a storm and had to fight not to pass out. He grit his teeth and took his first step toward the door of his tent. Pulling it back, he stepped out into a gloomy day. Wasn’t it just like the winter solstice to be overcast and cloudy without a drop of rain? Looking around he could see anyone walking around, or any sort of celebrations going on. Where the hell was everyone? And why hadn’t Aila come back to check on him? Surely it couldn’t take that long to check with Dragna about the cold storage.
“Aila?” Dagmar called again, raising his voice so she could hear him.
“Dagmar!” came the panicked scream. Dagmar felt that first surge of adrenaline and took off at the best run he could manage without falling over. “Aila!”
“Dag-“
Dagmar rounded the corner near the food tent and stopped in his tracks, nearly falling over as his body adjusted to the speed. There sat Aila and nearly everyone from the village their hands bound. They had gags in their mouth and fury pumped through him like liquid fire.
“Thank you for joining us Dagmar,” a brute of a man said as he stood behind Aila, her dark hair wrapped around his hand. “Your woman here was nice enough to introduce herself. Dagmar watched as the man ran a knife close to Aila’s throat. “We seem to have a misunderstanding between our two peoples. You see, when I settled across the river, I did so knowing that one day I’d need to expand as my people keep multiplying. We simply need more space. You, my friend, have prime space here. It was a space I wanted badly so I had my warriors attack you. You defended yourselves well and then reciprocated that attack. Today however, on the Solstice, we bested your people and would kindly ask that you leave this area behind. You can move wherever you’d like as long as it’s away from here.”
“Are you delusional? We can’t move on the Solstice, in the middle of winter.”
“Oh on the contrary, I think you can. You see, from where I’m standing it is far better to move, even on the Solstice and have your people alive; than it is to refuse and watch them be slaughtered. I can guarantee that the first choice is best. Take your chances resettling somewhere else and take most of your people with you, or my people will simply execute them.”
“Most of my people?” Dagmar asked, his mind blurring with the pain as it lanced through his body, concentrating in his side and shoulder.
“Oh, I forgot to mention that I want this beauty right here for myself. Something tells me she’s quite a feast to behold.”
“Don’t you touch her!” Dagmar growled, but when he stepped forward his knees buckled under the fatigue and pain.
“Oh,” the man laughed. “Forgive me. I forget sometimes that just this morning you were shot three times. Shame really, one more and you’d be dead. We wouldn’t even be having this conversation. Tell you what. Given that it’s the solstice and I’m feeling rather generous, I’ll give you an hour to collect yourself and decide what you’d choose to do.”
“Let them go,” Dagmar said, his teeth gritted to control the pain. “Please.”
“So you’ve decided, excellent,” the man sneered. “Fast action for someone who’s about to pass out. Perhaps you should lie down.”
Dagmar pulled himself against the side of the food tent and watched as one by one, his people were released. His eyes never left Aila’s worried gray ones and Dagmar grinned at the fiery determination under that worry. She was one heck of a woman that Dagmar knew for sure. Inching closer to her, he whispered. “Can you fight?”
Dagmar watched her eyes turn ghostly white as thunder and lightning rippled angrily across the sky. He’d seen her powers at work before, had felt them in his own body, but nothing he’d seen or touched looked like Aila did now. Her hair began to sizzle, as if placed over a high heat and electricity ran over her skin like water.
When she reached out with her hands and grabbed the man who stood behind her, Dagmar watched the man instantly release her hair and drop to the ground, writhing in pain. Still bound, Aila called lightning from the sky to strike at those who’d hold her people captive. The longboats that sat near their dock splintered and sank to the bottom of the canal.
Dagmar smiled wide as their captors began to back up. With their fearless leader incapacitated, they weren’t as strongly bonded as he’d thought. Looking back at Aila, Dagmar saw he skin glow red like a branding iron and her ropes fell away, burned through where they had touched her wrists.
When she stood up, Dagmar knew that there was no need to worry now as the wind began to howl in its intensity. Dust from the ground created a wall of separation that blinded their captors and pushed them back outside the walls of Hail. Walking up to her, Dagmar didn’t touch her, but spoke loud enough for her to hear him.
“We need to surround them and finish this.” She gave a regal nod of her head and Dagmar quickly grabbed as many men as he could to encircle the now dust covered enemy.
“I was hoping we’d get in on this,” Breslin grinned as Dagmar handed him a sword.
“You and Bregnan both, it seems.”
“I can’t have my brother taking all the glory now can I? What would my wife think?”
“She’s not your wife yet brother,” Breslin grinned. “Maybe she’ll see she picked the wrong brother and I’ll have me two beauties.”
“Ha. Over my dead body,” Bregnan laughed. “She wouldn’t have you, as we all know I’m the prettier one of us.”
“Enough,” Dagmar said, cutting between the twins. “You can bitch at each other later.”
“Let’s do this,” Breslin grinned, hefting his sword.
“Right,” Bregnan said, picking up his battleax.
When Dagmar shouted, as quickly as it had come, the dust disappeared. Dagmar and his men made quick work of killing the men who were left, as they couldn’t seem to figure out who was who among them. It took a few hours, but Dagmar, Bregnan, Breslin, Svenbreck and Duffgus worked to send the bodies to the shore of Dunkerie with a message to their widows, for surely it would be a hard winter for them.
Chapter Three: Warfare
Aila was running before she knew it and found Dagmar’s embrace all the sweeter. He caught her at a run and groaned when her body pressed hard against him. Her mouth fused to his as if her very life depended on it.
“Aila,” Dagmar chuckled. “We need to round up the others and send them off before we can get on with everything here.”
“Right,” she smiled. “I’ll make sure the women and children are safe.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too, Dagmar.”
Aila headed toward the food tent and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw all the women and children of her village safe and sound. “Aila!” a sweet faced girl cried out as she ran to her. “Are we going to die?”
“No, darling.” Aila hugged the girl tight and returned her to her mother. “Thanks to Dagmar and his quick thinking, we will sleep safely tonight.”
A cheer went up as Aila headed over to see Dragna. “My child,” the older woman sighed. “It does my heart good to see you safe and happy.”
“The feeling’s mutual,” Aila said, her voice roughened by tears.
“When will you tell the village about you and Dagmar?”
“When he, Breslin, Svenbreck, and Dufguss get the others rounded up and shipped off. I want none of them here when we tell everyone our happy news.”
“You’ll need a place to lay
your heads once the marriage is done.”
“I’d marry him today, no matter where we sleep,” Aila smiled. “And you know, as the rulers of Hail it wouldn’t serve to have our home done before those of our people.”
“You are a good leader, Aila. You and Dagmar will make right, what those Dunkerie fools have messed up.”
“I hope so,” Aila agreed. “Will you help me by getting Aislin and Asgurda together? We need to decorate, especially if we’re to have a wedding here tonight.”
“Sure I will darling,” Dragna smiled. “But I believe we have three weddings to celebrate as Breslin and Bregnan need to wed their beloveds as well.” Aila watched the old woman, the woman who’d been like a mother to her since her parents died, walk off to find the two women she now considered friends.
***
It was another hour before Dagmar made his way to the food tent. Unlike the somber faces and scared little ones he’d expected to see, every woman and girl in the place seemed to be busy doing something. The tent where most of his people ate their meals was being transformed into a place to have a party.
“Aila?”
“She’s getting ready, which is exactly what you should be doing,” Aislin smiled. “Take these and go to the spring bath. You need to clean up.”
“But…”
“No buts,” she smiled. “Tonight you’ll take your wife home. There’s never a better time for a wedding than the Solstice.”
Clearly outnumbered, and thinking his sore body could use a nice bath, Dagmar headed for the spring without another argument. Wife, damn if women couldn’t move like the wind when given a reason they agreed with.
Ten feet from the spring, Dagmar noticed a neatly folded white tunic and the new white ermine boots he’d had made for Aila. “We need to stop meeting like this.”
“Dagmar,” Aila gasped, turning around. She came up out of the water, her lithe body screaming sex at him. “Come. We need to get ready.”
“So I’ve been told,” he grinned. “Does getting ready include taking my soon-to-be wife to bed?”
Her laughter bubbled out so that Dagmar’s libido woke with a hunger he wasn’t sure he could satisfy in his current state. “Tonight you get a pass. You were shot just this morning you know.”
“Doesn’t mean I don’t have a trick or two up my sleeve.”
“You’re not wearing sleeves,” Aila teased. “You need to not be wearing anything right now.”
“Getting naked has never sounded so good.”
Dagmar gladly accepted Aila’s help as she stripped him from his clothes. Instead of tossing them on the bank, however, she stuck them right in the water to wash out the dirt and stains. “I’m not sure the shirt can be saved.”
“Throw it away. I don’t need any reminders of how close I came to losing you.”
“You could never lose me,” Aila grinned. Dagmar grabbed her hand, drawing her closer. He slid his hands over the tight muscles in her back, enjoying the way her wet skin slid under his hands. Hunger swamped him, knowing that Aila would be his forever. “Let me have you tonight, Aila.”
“Shouldn’t we wait until after the ceremony?”
“Why put off until later what we can do right now?”
Again she laughed. “We’re going to be late.”
“The later, the better.” Dagmar took her mouth then, letting her grin wrap warmth around them.
***
His hands knew her so well, Aila thought, as desire whipped through her body. The simplest touch from him could set her whole system yearning. Meeting Dagmar’s need with her own, Aila wrapped her arms around his neck, wincing a little as her injured arm resisted the movement. “Easy,” he whispered and Aila realized that his side and shoulder must be causing him considerable pain.
“Dagmar,” she smiled up into those beautiful baby blues, “We need to approach this differently. Neither of us is in the best condition to do this all the traditional way.”
“What did you have in mind?” If only he’d look at her with those eyes full of desire all the time, Aila thought. Grabbing his hand, she led him to the embankment that sloped down into the spring.
“Lie down won’t you?” He gave her a wry grin but did as she asked. Once he was comfortable, Aila slid down into the warm water, letting it soothe her sore arm. Using her hands, she found the long lines of muscle in his thighs and kneaded it, drawing closer and closer to his large cock. She let her fingers graze its base as her tongue slid over its tip. Dagmar’s first groan of pleasure was hoarse with need.
“Aila,” he whispered. She just kept going, drawing him deeper and deeper into her mouth, letting her warm, wet tongue slide easily over his needy erection. Back and forth she slid over him, turning herself on as much as she did him. She felt his hands in her hair as his hips thrust against her in small motions, his body just as eager as hers, despite their battle wounds.
When he continued to call her name, she finally took a breath and looked up at him. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” he grinned. “I just…there are ways for us to pleasure each other like this.”
“Oh?” she asked, one dark eyebrow rising.
“Yes,” Dagmar replied. Aila watched as she drew in the sand, explaining how he could pleasure her with his own tongue, much like she did for him. Willing to try it, Aila adjusted her body so that her aching pussy was suspended over Dagmar’s mouth.
The first time Dagmar’s tongue touched her, the thrill that swept through her had her hips flexing in need. Hungry for their mutual pleasure, Aila brought her wet mouth back to him, using a mixture of short and long strokes of her tongue and lips to tease him. Aila added the length of her hand to him, pushing and pulling the smooth skin of his cock as she went down on him. The fact that he was willing to give as well as he got was another layer of love they shared.
***
Dagmar had never known a woman so on fire before. He’d had his fair share, something that intrigued him about a woman like Aila. She was beautiful on an enormous scale and yet she’d never given herself to anyone but him. It was hard to believe it was a simple consequence of her love for him all these years. Even when she professed such, as a man who’d been with plenty of women, Dagmar had a hard time believing it. Still, knowing her beauty he couldn’t see how she wouldn’t have had the opportunity to sow her wild oats just like any other man or woman.
It bothered him that her parents weren’t here to give their blessing. His own weren’t either for that matter, but as an unmarried woman, to have no one give her away wasn’t looked upon positively. Thankfully their people looked upon both of them with a certain amount of admiration. With them ruling as a couple, and eventually a family, with a rightful line to the throne, hopefully neither he nor Aila would suffer.
“Your mind is wandering.”
“Sorry,” Dagmar smiled. He met her pretty eyes upside down and winked at her. Using his fingers, Dagmar dragged her back under as desire flashed in her eyes. He gave his tongue a break and drove her higher with the skill of his fingers. Even as he did, she brought that incredible mouth down on him again. The warm wetness drove him crazy as her strokes became a mind blurring rhythm that he met with his fingers. Needing to satisfy her, Dagmar brought his warm tongue back to her, pressing into the hot folds of her swollen pussy. Her needy slit opened to him, inviting him deeper as he took her with the cool slide of his hungry tongue.
Over and over again, Dagmar tasted her, running from the bottom of her swollen folds to the small nub of pleasure that spiked lusty heat through her body and made her hips jerk tight against him. “Let go darling,” he pleaded. Her body was strung so tight Dagmar wasn’t sure he’d take her over. Reigning in is control, he held on, despite everything in his body wanting to explode.
Her moans grew louder as Dagmar kept up his rhythm to match hers. He slid his wet tongue into her hot snatch one last time as she came with a hard jerk of her hips over him. Withdrawing, Dagmar felt his own orgasm slam through him as
Aila pulled back. She moved off of him quickly and dove into the warm water. When she came up Dagmar was startled to see her retching over the opposite side of the hot spring.
“Are you alright?” he asked, making his way slowly toward her.
“I’m fine,” she smiled. “Just a bit off in my stomach is all. Maybe I’ll see if Ragnic has anything I can take for it.”
***
Aila dressed in her white tunic and leggings, practically purring when she slipped her feet into the warm ermine skinned boots, Dagmar had given her. He hadn’t said they were for their betrothal, but she’d always think of it when she slid her feet into them.
“Thank you for these,” she said, helping Dagmar back to his tent. She’d taken hers down the week before, storing it in the corner of Dagmar’s until they had their home built. Knowing her people, Aila could venture a guess that they’d want to build them a mini castle. She had a mind to let them given the way she was feeling.
“When I knew I wanted to ask you to marry me, I hunted them down the day I got pissed at you and went hunting with Svenbreck and Duffguss. I have to hand it to those men. They’ve proved themselves to be useful assets to our people.”
“You’ve proven yourself to be a trustworthy leader as well,” she smiled. Aila helped him lie down on his bedroll and said she’d return to check on him after she visited with Ragnic.
“We’ll have it right as rain for the celebration tonight.”
“Good,” he grinned. “I’ve a mind to dance with my wife.”
“Fiance,” she chuckled. “We’re not married yet.”
“A mere technicality at this point love,” Dagmar chuckled when she scowled at him.
“I’ll be back in an hour or so.”
“Go get some medicine and let me rest woman.”
***
Ragnic was all too happy to see Aila when she knocked on his home. With an expanded area for seeing patients, Ragnic had never seemed so happy.
Desired By The Cowboy (Love In Collin's Ranch 2) Page 35