Everyone dispersed, though several warriors followed Wolf as he carried her to the longhouse.
“You need not carry me. I can walk and there is no reason for you to miss the feast. My wounds are nothing. I can tend to them myself,” she said, though it wasn’t what she truly wanted. She wanted to stay in the comfort and peace of his arms, though she didn’t understand why.
“I had no intentions of remaining at the feast. I had supper prepared for us at the longhouse so we would have time to talk alone.”
“Why didn’t you tell Ida to have me wait there for you?” she asked.
“And would you have waited?”
“You’re getting to know me.”
“Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about you when it comes to me.”
He didn’t think she knew him. Was he right? She knew about him, but that wasn’t truly knowing him.
“Did he hurt you?” Wolf asked when he placed her on her feet in their bedchamber.
“I got my own punches in,” she said proudly.
“That’s not what I asked,” Wolf said, his dark eyes intent on her.
Raven understood. “He intended to kill me, no more than that. And understand one thing, husband, I would let no man take me by force.”
Wolf’s eyes sparked with fury, his nostrils flared, and an angry growl rumbled in his chest. “I would tear any man’s heart out of his chest if he attempted to do so.”
The sincerity and fierceness of his words stunned her and what he did next stunned her even more. His hand gripped the back of her neck and his lips came down on hers. She responded to his hungry kiss without hesitation, not realizing she needed it just as much as he did. It was a deep, binding kiss drawing them closer together, not in body but in something much deeper that Raven had no explanation for and yet accepted without question. Never had she a wont or felt a need to kiss a man, but she realized she had a wont and need for Wolf’s kisses.
Wolf rested his brow to hers after ending the kiss. “I grow angry at the taste of your blood on my lips. This should not have happened to you. I failed to keep you safe.”
“You didn’t fail,” she assured him. “You reached me just in time.”
“You placate me, wife. I saw the knife in your hand when I yanked him off you. You were about to give him what he deserved.”
“And who then would we have to question?” she asked, her hand going to spread along his neck and jaw, feeling his taut annoyance locked there.
A woman’s hand was a familiar touch to Wolf, but none had affected him the way Raven’s touch did. It sent a spiraling shot of passion racing through him that poked at his heart and his shaft. How could this obstinate, challenging woman do that to him? How was it that he desired her so fiercely that she was forever on his mind? And when he saw the man on top of her, he’d felt a rage like he’d never felt. It had ripped at his gut and twisted at his heart until he thought he’d explode in a fury nothing could stop.
“You can’t die on me, Raven. You committed to this union and I will hold you to your word,” he said and brushed his lips across hers.
The light shiver tingled her senseless. “And I will honor my word, husband.”
He fought against kissing her again, not trusting himself. He had a need for her that he couldn’t explain. It had started with their first kiss and had grown, and kissing her again only ignited that need that had lingered and tormented him.
“Your lips need tending and your bruises deepen,” he said and heard her stomach rumble. “And you are hungry.”
Raven held her tongue, though there were things she was eager to ask him, but she didn’t want to spoil this moment where peace existed between them.
His touch was gentle as he wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, after he sat on the bed beside her. Then he ran his hand down along her neck and across her throat, left slightly bruised from her attacker’s hands. His anger had calmed, though seeing her bruises growing ever deeper wouldn’t let it fully abate. His urge to kill the culprit grew, but first he had to get information from him. And that was something that couldn’t wait.
“I can tell you’re anxious to speak to the culprit who attacked me. So am I. Let’s go.” She stood.
“Can you tell that’s my thought or is it what you would do?” he asked.
“What difference does it make? If you ask me if it’s what I wish to do, I would tell you no. I would prefer we remain here and talk as you had planned for us. But that’s not a wise choice. It is more important the prisoner be questioned.” She shook her head. “It troubles me that the darkness may hold more surprises. The night doesn’t allow those in the battlements to see anyone approach.”