Wolf shook his head. “I doubt the man you loved didn’t kiss you. Now go to bed.”
She could correct him, tell him the truth, but she didn’t think he’d believe her. Besides, she was tired of defending herself. Let him think what he would. She shivered and hugged herself, rubbing her arms.
Seeing her tremble, he thought on what Gorm had told him about how often she shivered or how she would mention the cold.
“You’re cold more often than not. Why is that?” he asked curious, knowing this region had its fair share of cold winters and that most of the people had adapted. Why not her?
“The first winter on my own was a difficult one. If it hadn’t been for—” She stopped abruptly.
“The man you loved?” Wolf snapped, thinking she had shared more than kisses with the man and feeling the fool for thinking it could be otherwise.
“Get in bed,” Wolf ordered, pointing to the bed.
She wasn’t about to argue since a deep shiver had taken hold of her. She eagerly slipped under the covers, hoping warmth would chase the chill and the horrid memories. But the shivers didn’t stop and without the distraction of talking with her husband, the pain in her arm made itself known. Between the pain and the cold, she remained restless until she thought she had no other choice than to plead for her husband’s warmth. She turned her head to find him standing beside the bed.
“Are you in pain?” he asked.
“I’ve suffered worse.”
“That’s not what I asked,” he snapped. “Are you in pain?”
“A bit of pain but more cold,” she admitted, seeing his determination to get an answer and though his rebuke had been curt, it also held concern.
She was relieved when he slipped beneath the blanket. She told herself it was warmth she needed from him, nothing more, but she knew his arms would also bring a sense of comfort and she longed to feel that more than anything.
He eased his arm under her shoulders and lifted her gently to move her to lie against him.
Raven shivered as the heat of his body began to seep into her. And when he turned wrapping himself around her, his leg going over hers and his arms easing carefully around her so as not to disturb her wound, she sighed not only from the heat that embraced her, but from the comfort that seeped into her.
“Thank you for sharing your warmth,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder.
“You need only ask if you want something from me, Raven. If I can give it to you, I will.”
“A good thing for a wife to know,” Raven said, feeling sleep sneak up on her.
“And will you do the same for me—give me what I ask?”
Her words echoed his. “If I can, I will.”
“Good, then when Iver returns from tracking the culprit you will bring him to me so together we can hear what he has learned.”
“You have a sharp eye, husband,” she said and yawned while reminding herself to tell her men to be more vigilant around him.
“Something you would do well to remember,” he cautioned.
“Believe me, I will,” she said as her eyes closed and sleep claimed her.
Not so Wolf. Though he felt a strange satisfaction holding his wife in his arms and keeping her warm, sleep eluded him. He couldn’t stop thinking about the man she had loved. He could see and hear, when she spoke about him, how much she not only loved him, but admired him. Why that should annoy him, he didn’t know, but it did. He supposed with her now being his wife, and belonging to him, he didn’t want to think of her ever having belonged to another. Yet she continued to claim she hadn’t known any man intimately. He couldn’t believe that possible after hearing that this man continued to live in her heart.
He admonished himself for lingering on a matter that made no difference to his present situation. It should not matter to him at all. But for some reason it did.
The kiss.
He hadn’t expected to enjoy kissing her so much. Hadn’t expected to get lost in the kiss as much as he had. Hadn’t expected to feel something stir deep inside him that he’d never felt before with any woman. Strange. Compelling. Enticing. He wasn’t sure how he’d describe it since it left him with a deep desire for more and he knew he’d explore it again.
At the moment though, he had something more important that needed his attention.
Finding the man who had attempted to kill his wife.
“My wife is all right, Greta?” Wolf asked when he entered the common room, alarmed that she had requested to see him.
“She does well, my lord. Her arm continues to heal and she wisely follows Wren’s instructions. Wren is pleased with how well it has healed in only a week’s time and feels the scar will be the only reminder of the incident.”