“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 wa
s 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.
“I can’t believe how amazing this home is,” he gushed, ushering Aila back to a private room.
“I’m so glad you’re happy with it.”
“It’s completely changed the way I see my patients. They’re friends of course, but with all the new little ones we’re adding I feel an obligation to keep people’s medical issues private, if you know what I mean.”
“I do,” she smiled. “Speaking of, I was wondering if you had something for an upset stomach. I’ve been super sensitive the last couple days.”
Ragnic asked her a series of questions that made her chuckle. “And why would any of that matter?”
“Because my dear,” Ragnic smiled. “I don’t think you’re sick or suffering from any abnormal ailment. I’m much more inclined to think that our soon to be ruler is with child.”
“With child…” Aila said, letting her voice trail off. “I’m having a baby?”
“It’ll take a little more time to be sure, but the symptoms you’ve described sound very much like a baby on the way. Let me be the first of many to congratulate you.”
“Thank you,” she said, still blown away by the news. “Do you know when the baby…when the baby will come?”
“Well, all babies come in their own time, but it’ll take about nine months or so. I’d say sometime the fall equinox should be about right.”
Aila could scarcely imagine carrying a baby, Dagmar’s baby, for the better part of the next year. What would Dagmar say? Suddenly the future she found to be so certain, was anything but. “I need to go Ragnic, thank you. Oh! How long should these symptoms last?”
“The nausea and tiredness should be over within the next nine weeks or so. Then you should feel right as rain for three months. The last three the fatigue will come back with a vengeance as your body prepares for bringing your little one into the world.”
“Great, thanks.”
She hurried back to Dagmar, being careful not to jostle him too much as she laid down beside him. “That was fast,” he said, his voice gravelly with sleep.
“Long enough for you to rest. I’m glad, apparently we’re both in need of sleep,” Aila said with a yawn.
“You’re tired?”
“It’s just a symptom of the baby I’m carrying.” Aila waited for Dagmar to catch on and giggled when his pretty blue eyes went huge.
“A baby?”
“Our baby,” she smiled hugely. She put his hand over her womb and felt a whole new wave of love for him when he gently caressed her.
“When?”
“Ragnic said sometime around the fall equinox.”
“A baby, our baby.” Aila understood the way Dagmar was feeling. She was quite astonished as well. In less than two hours she’d become Mrs. Dagmar Stalson. Aila Dagny Stalson and she was already carrying their baby.
***
Dagmar waited for Aila as Dragna, her surrogate mother, walked her toward him. He took her hand and pulled her closer as Gustaff, the village mystic, performed their ceremony.
“Welcome people of Hail,” he started. “Thank you for gathering here tonight to celebrate the union of Aila Dagney Forsberg and Dagmar Alan Stalson. They ask you all to be witnesses to their mutual and forever lasting love.”
The ceremony itself lasted mere minutes, but the celebration of their wedding, along with Breslin and Bregnan’s nuptials, and the celebration of the Solstice together, lasted well into the morning hours. Just as the sun began to rise on the eastern horizon, Dagmar tucked Aila close to him and stood on the platform where they made major announcements. “Thank you so much for joining us in the celebration of our wedding and the winter Solstice, truly a wonderful time to wed.
“It has come to our attention as well that Aila is carrying our child-“ Dagmar had to stop as the waves of cheering and applause swept over them. “We are ecstatic to be expecting our first baby around the fall equinox of the coming year and hope that this is a sign of great things to come.”
The cheering and applause came again as Aila and Dagmar’s people congratulated them on their nuptials and soon coming baby. “I knew it when I saw you this mor
ning,” Dragna gushed, giving Aila an intense hug. “Grow well sweet baby. See me for some herbs to settle your stomach.”
Aila promised she would as soon as they got settled and took some sleep. She walked easily with Dagmar toward their tent, meeting Breslin and Bregnan on the way with their wives in tow. “Congratulations,” the two brothers said together.
“Thank you,” Dagmar said, shaking his friend’s hands. “Imagine, all three of us married and settled down all on the same day.”
“Scary isn’t it?” Bregnan laughed. He got a light punch in the arm from his pretty wife. “Just wait until our wives are expecting. We may have to go hunting overnight just to remember that we’re men.”
“Definitely,” Dagmar chuckled. “Right now I’m going to go sleep until I feel human again.”
“Sleep, right.” Breslin chuckled, earning his own punch in his side.
“You two don’t stop, your women are going to beat you senseless.” Dagmar and Aila headed on after saying farewell with a promise to see them later that morning. “How are you feeling?”
“I feel alright,” Aila smiled. “I’d feel better if my husband made love to me.”
“Already?” Dagmar asked, surprised at her desire.
“I feel, different. I can’t explain it, but somehow, knowing that I’m carrying our baby endears me to you in a way I wasn’t before I knew. I love you Dagmar, I have since I was eight years old, but somehow I love you even more knowing I’m having your baby.”
“I love you too, Aila,” Dagmar said, smiling and pulling her close. I wanted to tell you that you looked wonderful tonight.”
“Thank you,” she smiled. He watched as she stripped off her tunic, exposing her milky, white breasts, their pink tips begging for his touch. Her leggings came next and Dagmar found an easy ache for her that seemed as natural as breathing. “Do you want me?”
He chuckled as she came toward him. He’d always marveled at her dark, arrow straight hair and its contrast against her pearly skin. “I can’t put into words how much I want you, Aila. Suddenly though the thought of touching you scares me.”
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