“I’m sorry, Lilith. I’ve been sleeping. I didn’t mean to leave you for so long. You look beautiful. The sun is treating you right.”
She tilts her head and takes a step forward. “Say that again?”
“I’ve been sleeping—”
“—Not that. The other thing.”
“The sun is treating you right.”
She looks away from me, and she is deep in thought. Her eyes are glossed over with confusion. “You’ve said that to me before. When? Why does it sound so familiar?”
“Because I always said to you,” I admit and take a step forward, reaching my hand out for hers. Once our fingers touch, all the stress and worry I’ve felt disappears. Memories of us laughing and lying in the meadow rush through my mind. Her walking by me in the village when we were kids, but I couldn’t pay her any mind, so we would lock gazes until we were too far away from one another.
I never have to worry about her never being in my sight again. I’ll never let it happen. Even if she never loves me again, I know she is safe here.
“I said it to you every day, Lilith. I’d whisper it to you when I’d walk by the fruit stands in the village all those years ago, buying my weight in apples just so I could see you. I’d tell you when I’d see you in the meadow. I’d think it when I saw you in the sun, but you were talking to someone, and I couldn’t speak to you, not without alerting everyone what you meant to me.”
“And what did I mean to you, Beowulf?” she asks, taking another step closer to me. The buzzing energy between us gets stronger.
“I think you know the answer to that, Lilith,” I tell her, instead of telling her how madly in love I’ve always been with her. Instead of telling her how it’s always been her.
She seems like she wants to say something, anything, but Leiva interrupts us. “Lilith, you and Sir Wulf should go for a walk. It’s such a beautiful day. Wulf, just bring her back when she starts to feel weak.”
Lilith huffs when Leiva says she is weak. I run my knuckles down her soft cheek, knowing damn well she is anything but weak. “I’d like that if Lilith is up for a quick stroll?”
“I’d like that very much,” she says, a cherry hue tinting her cheeks as she glances away. Something about how she is so bashful with me makes my chest swell up. I want to pound on it like a caveman and roar to the world that it is me who makes her red in the cheeks. Me. No one else.
I hold out my arm, and her much smaller, skinnier one works its way through the crook of my elbow until her fingers wrap around my forearm. I bring my other hand on top of it, so I have a good hold of her. I want to make sure she will be safe. I don’t want her tripping and falling. Goddess, I’d never forgive myself.
With every step I take, I think of how she must be feeling, so I slow my strides to hers, letting her set the pace. It’s silent between us, but it isn’t awkward. If anything, it’s peaceful. I need to hear her voice, though.
“So, how was the castle this morning?” I ask, since I was not there, something I feel horrible about.
“Oh, it was amazing. Leiva brought me stew, bread, and a big cup of buttermilk. It was delicious. I’m starving now, actually. I’ve never been hungrier.”
“That’s good. You are healing. You need all the food you can get.” I come close to asking her to my cabin tonight. I’d hunt for fresh meat and cook it for her over a large, roaring fire. Perhaps a wild boar or deer. I’d get us some mead and she can fall asleep safe in the pile of furs I have.
But I keep the question to myself. Maybe she wouldn’t want to. I am but a stranger to her now. If anything, she may be fearful of me if she and I are alone. I don’t know what she’s been through. It causes pain, unlike anything I’ve ever felt, but in time, I know I will win her trust and love. She will see that she will be happy with me, cared for, and will never have to worry about safety again.
It’s what I hope for more than anything in the world.
“I hear you and your friend Trident are in rough waters,” she comments.
“Who did you hear that from?”
“People don’t think I’m listening when they are near, but they are my only source of entertainment,” she laughs.
“You always were an eavesdropper.”
“I am not!”
I lift a brow, wondering how she can even try to argue that with me.
She rolls her eyes. “Fine. Maybe a little.” Lilith holds her thumb and finger together until there is just the tiniest bit of space between them.
“That’s my Angel. Admitting her wrongs. I love it. I need to note this day, so I remember it forever.”
“Oh, you’re so dramatic.” She slaps my chest with the back of her hand. It reminds me of the good old days.
I stare at the side of her face, taking in her small button nose and long lashes. She stares ahead, but I know she can feel my penetrating gaze on her.
“What are you staring at?”
“Something utterly annoying,” I jab, knowing the words will set her off. I can’t help it. I love getting her riled up. I’ve missed her. I’ve missed how big her eyes get when she is upset. It’s cute. Adorable, actually.
Even after all these years, after everything that’s happened, she is still Lilith. My Lilith.
“I don’t have the energy to think of something witty to say back to you,” she heaves, slowing our pace even more.
I stop us in our tracks and grab her arms. I’m worried that I may have pushed her too far. She’s sweating, and her face is pale and drawn. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice how fatigued you are getting. I’m so sorry, Angel.”
“I’m my own woman, Beowulf. I know when I need to stop. I can keep going.”
“Absolutely not. We are done.” I lift her into my arms, enjoying the weight of her in my protective hold, and walk back to the castle with her head pressed against my chest.
“You’ve always been such a brute,” she mumbles, and the words take me by surprise.
I glance down to ask her what she is talking about, but she is sound asleep. I pull her tighter to my chest and inhale the sun in her hair.
“Goddess, you have no idea how much I love you,” I whisper so low, I doubt she can even hear me in her dreams.
“Wulf.”
I stop in my tracks and close my eyes, taking a deep breath to calm myself. I have Lilith in my arms, and people are around. I don’t want to wake her or start a fight.
“Trident,” I seethe, clutching Lilith tighter. There used to be a time where I would trust him with anything, but now, I’m not so sure.
“I just want to talk, please.”
“No,” I say it with finality and take a step forward, leaving Trident behind. It isn’t uncommon for everyone to run into each other here since everyone lives so close to the castle, or in it. But only the most trusted warriors live inside where the Lord and Lady live. Lord Grimkael’s asked me a hundred times to move in, but I want my space.
I know I’ll talk to Trident soon, but I want him nowhere near Lilith.
Abram comes running up to me.
“Sir Wulf!” he calls. “I got all that firewood! Should we start training now?”
I look down at Lilith, peacefully asleep in my arms, and then look back at him. “I can’t today. Lilith needs my attention. Go down to the wall and gather up bricks. I want you to carry five hundred of the largest boulders and bricks you can find to help with the construction of the wall. Keep count. Then come find me.”
Abram’s expression sours. “You promised you would train me, Wulf.”
“And I shall. I give you my word. Now go, do as I asked.”
“Yes, sir,” he groans, rubbing his certainly sore arms.
I watch him go off and chuckle to myself. The poor boy doesn’t even realize his training has already begun.
“Ah, Wulf. Glad I caught you,” Lord Grimkael strolls beside me, joining me in a brisk walk back to the castle.
Why am I in such demand lately? I miss the times where people left me th
e fuck alone. Now, I’m almost getting tired of hearing my own damn name, unless it’s off Lilith’s lips. That’s different.
“Lord Grimkael,” I greet, trying to sound enthusiastic, but a wee bit of annoyance comes out. Lilith buries her face deeper in my chest, and my frustration flees. I bury my nose in her hair and kiss the top of her head.
“How is she doing? I’ve spoken to Leiva, and she says in a day or so, Lilith shall be able to leave the medical corridor. I wanted to let you know she is staying in the castle. All I’m concerned about is the room she is staying in is upstairs. All the rooms on the main floor are being worked on. Freaking Jericho and his launching obsession. He launched a bloody fucking tree trunk through the wall, trying out the new catapult. Nearly tore down the entire east wing. Damn fool.”
I toss my head back and laugh, Jericho is such a destructive person. Lord Grimkael found him in the next village over, throwing fireballs into a nearby river. The man is… interesting, to say the least. He is a wrecking ball of dangerous, spontaneous energy. Not many people scare me, but I won’t lie and say he doesn’t make me nervous. He is so reckless all of the time.
“Well, I can talk to Leiva and see if Lilith can stay with me. She seems to be at the point where I can care for her if need be. She doesn’t have to stay in the medical wing.”
“Do you think that’s a good idea? Considering she doesn’t remember you?”
I look down at her face, peaceful with a slight smile, and push her hair back. “She remembers me. Maybe not in her mind, but in her heart, she does.” I know because I see it when I say certain things or when she says certain things.
“I hope you are right. You have my blessing for her to stay with you. Ask Leiva.”
“That tiny woman scares the life out of me sometimes. She reminds me of my mother.”
“She reminds all of us of our mothers,” Lord Grimkael grumbles. “That woman lays down the hammer. I don’t envy you, Wulf.” He slaps my back, nearly making me stumble with Lilith in my arms. It isn’t easy making me lose my footing, but he can.
“Thanks for the support,” I pause at the foot of the steps at the castle. Now that the idea of her staying with me is lodged in my mind and her breath is puffing against my neck as she sleeps, I don’t want to let her out of my arms. I don’t want to give her back to Leiva.
“I know that look. Don’t do that, Wulf. If you are ever injured and need stitches or worse, Leiva isn’t the woman you want to piss off.”
With those parting words, he climbs up the steps ahead of me and pounds up the winding staircase inside where his Lady awaits him in their chambers.
Lord Grimkael is right. If I am ever in medical need, Leiva can either let me die or save me. I do not want to piss her off. Sighing, I drag my feet up the stairs, nodding to Erik, who is still on post by the door. I take a left and carry my Angel to her bed, but I don’t put her down. Not wanting her out of my arms yet, I walk down the hall and see Leiva in her cave. That’s what I call it. It’s a dark room with candles placed strategically in the middle of all the flat surfaces to provide the perfect amount of light.
Leiva is there, crushing herbs and spices to make her secret paste. It does wonders on cuts and deep wounds. It’s saved my skin a hundred times.
“Leiva.” My voice rumbling causes Lilith to stir.
“Beowulf,” Lilith sighs on a fractured breath as she exhales, nestling her cheek against my heart.
Oh, I’m here, Angel. I’m right here.
Leiva places the wooden bowl aside and wipes her hands on her apron. “Sir Wulf? Is she okay?” Leiva rushes over to my side and place her hand against Lilith’s forehead.
“She’s fine. She pushed herself too hard. She’s asleep.”
“Oh, good. You can lay her down on the bed next to where she was. I must wash her blankets.” I’m always so surprised with Leiva because she is young, around my age, with big blue eyes and light copper hair. But she has an air about her that is old like she has lived a thousand lives. Hell, perhaps she has.
I clear my throat and shuffle my weight on each leg.
“Out with it, you big brute.” She doesn’t even look up at me as she goes back to making her paste. How does she know I’m still here? “You’re blocking my natural light, Wulf,” she huffs, reading my own mind. The woman truly does terrify me.
“Right, sorry, Leiva.” I step to the side to let the sun through, keeping Lilith’s head against my chest, so the piercing rays don’t fall over her face and wake her. “I was hoping Lilith could come home with me. I can take care of her there.”
She stops crushing the plants into the mixture and brings her calculating gaze to mine. “I don’t know. She must eat soon. Can you handle feeding her? Bathing her? Well, she might be able to bathe herself now. She needs this paste on her wounds. I’ve been putting it on her back too, and some of the scars have gotten better.”
I step forward and bow slightly. “I shall do whatever it takes. Whatever. It. Takes.” I punctuate each word, so I hope she hears how serious I am. I’ll take a blood oath. I’ll do whatever she needs to prove to her I can take care of my angel.
“Fine. One slip-up and she comes back here.”
I nearly run out of the door. I must be quick before Leiva changes her mind. “Wulf!” she yells, and I slide to a stop, my shoulders sagging. She taps my shoulder, and begrudgingly, I turn around.
“Oh, wipe the sadness off your face. You need the paste.” She hands me a big jar of bright green goo. “You’re a goner. The mighty Beowulf, stricken by the arrow of love.” She cups my face as a mother would do and smiles softly. “I’m happy for you. It’s good to see you loving someone over killing them.” Her cold hands pat my face before turning around and shuffling away.
I readjust my hold on Lilith and move her up my chest a bit more until her head is laying on my shoulder. Goddess, I never thought in a million years I’d have this chance again, and I’m not going to let it go to waste.
No one shall stand in my way. Once she loves me because she will, I’ll ask her to run away with me if the kingdom becomes too much and turns against us. We don’t need anything here. We only need us. We only ever needed us.
She shall never want for anything as long as I live and breathe. We’ll be happy. She’ll be round with my children, giving me beautiful and strong sons and daughters. Warriors and Ladies. They will be strong like me and kind like their mother.
And even if I must fight, I shall always return home to her. We will still make love and kiss each other goodnight. We will tell each other what we mean to one another.
Because if anything were to happen to either of us, I want to be able to say I kissed the love of my life one last time; told her I loved her one last time.
Because I’ve learned that no one ever truly knows when the last time will be.
Chapter Eleven
Lilith
I nestle into the soft fur and moan at how soft and plush it is as it rubs against my skin. I do not remember my bed feeling this good. Sighing, I reach behind me to grab another blanket and pull it over me, only for it to be an arm. A big, massive, hairy arm.
My eyes widen, and I scramble to the side, a loud screech leaving my mouth.
“What? What is it? What’s wrong?” Beowulf bolts forward, sword in hand, and looks around the room for any signs of a threat. His hair is messy, mused by sleep, and early morning. His eyes, blue as ever, are still glassy and full of exhaustion. He turns to me, and the fatigue I just saw in him disappears. He is alert, ready to defend me.
“Are you hurt?” he asks.
I place my hand against my chest and feel my heart racing. “Just surprised. I didn’t expect to wake up here with you next to me.” My cheeks heat when my eyes lower and see that he has his shirt off. His pecs curve and swell from the muscle defining his chest. Dark hair covers his entire torso, but it isn’t thick, and it gets thinner over his abs until it is a narrow path beneath his pants. I swallow, placing my hand against my neck wh
en a sudden warmth flares between my thighs. Squeezing my legs together, I turn away from him and hope he doesn’t notice.
The blade hitting the floor lets me know he has lowered his weapon. Something about him being so vigilant and protective does something to my body. Heats it. Makes it yearn for something I’ve never felt before. I try and look away, but I can’t stop looking at his abs and how carved out they are. His hips… he has the perfect V disappearing down his pants, leading to—what probably is—the mightiest cock a man could have.
My mouth goes dry.
I’ve never seen a man’s privates before. I swallow hard when I think about how big Beowulf’s must be since he is big everywhere else.
“Lilith? What’s going on?” His fingers caress my chin and lift my head. “Look at me, Angel.”
I don’t know when I must have shut my eyes, but when I open them and do as he says, he is close, so close, and it robs my breath from my lungs. I have to trail my eyes up his body to meet his questioning stare. It only makes the burning in my veins for him worse because now I can see freckles on his skin and how his nipples are a light pink and not a red like I imagined them to be.
“I’m fine,” I rasp, scooting back again to put some space between us. “What am I doing here?” I look around the small cabin to distract myself from his half-naked presence. It’s so hard not to look. I want to look. I need to look.
I won’t.
But I really want to.
So I do. My resolve crumbles, and temptation gets the best of me. He stretches his arms above his head and groans, his muscles shifting in the low evening light. My eyes nearly roll to the back of my head hearing that sound. It’s easy to imagine him moaning in my ear while he—
“This is your house?” I croak quickly, interrupting my own thoughts before I get an image in my head that I can’t get out.
Who am I kidding? It’s too late for that. I’m a lost cause.
Beowulf's Claim (Viking Warriors Book 3) Page 8