He is a foreigner, he is inhuman, and has bitten me in the past.
I am confused and baffled as the seer doesn’t give me any names or details that I need. He purposely leaves it open. I start to frown and overthink about what he has told me, making me paranoid.
The seer gives me one last grin, and he says, picking up his cane from the ground, “Was it really worth it?” He tucks my strand of hair in his pocket before he gives me his back and says, “It was better off not knowing your fate. It doesn’t do you any good.”
I really don’t have anything more to say to him, the breeze from the ocean constantly blowing his robe back and forth and I focus on that, seeming to be in a daze as the blood in my hand begins to harden against my skin.
He begins to walk away once I don’t respond to him, his cane hitting the ground in “thunks.”
“Well, enjoy the rest of your day, dearie.” He giggles as he walks further and further away before finally disappearing into the village, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
Now, what was I supposed to do?
The skies turn dark fast, and once the sun is no longer in the sky, everyone becomes wild within seconds.
People were singing, dancing, feasting, howling, and just plain old acting crazy. If it wasn’t for Noma and Arvid watching everyone, I assume things would be much worse than what it already is.
Today is the day they worship their supposed creator and god alike, Fenrir, and apparently worshipping him is considered dancing around fires and acting completely stupid.
As I glance around at the faces in the crowd, I see some are painted, making themselves purposely look like monsters or devils.
One of the men who pass by me shows his teeth and snaps at my neck jokingly, knowing I am not one of their own. He laughs with his friends and continues walking the other way while saying, “Christian.”
I turn around, glaring at him and his friends, before completely ignoring him and facing forward again.
“Imbecile,” I mutter, walking forward.
Then I see Arvid and Noma who are dressed somewhat differently than normal, their faces covered in what looks like blood. I have no doubt it is real blood...but for all I know it could just be red paint and I am wrong.
They sit in two chairs that are more like thrones out in the open, and I watch as Noma leans forward, painting a child’s face as Arvid sits silently by her side.
His eyes are focused on the crowd, and it isn’t long before he spots me out from the rest. They narrow at me, and I glare back.
I never really understood why he hates me so much. It could be because I puked on him the first time I saw him, but something tells me it isn’t just that.
As my eyes are focused on Arvid’s watchful gaze, I bump right into someone. They stumble back slightly but catch their footing rather quickly.
I panic slightly at the sudden collision, and I pull away from the person. I glance up to find them wearing a deer skull, making my heart nearly leap out of my chest for the second time today.
“Sorry...” I mumble, staring into the eye sockets of the skull to see bright blue eyes smeared in black paint.
An odd decoration for tonight I suppose...the person’s sharp gaze makes me feel uncomfortable.
I also note the long black hair covering the person’s shoulders, reminding me of Frey’s.
The furs decorating the stranger’s shoulders is almost identical to what Frey wears. I can only think they must be hot wearing all that.
“Frey?” I question with uncertainty, finding this man familiar to me. His smell and everything...
The man who I question as Frey ignores me, walking swiftly past me and not responding to my call.
‘It must not have been him….’ I think briefly because of the man’s unfriendliness.
‘Frey wouldn’t ignore me…’ I continue with my thoughts. ‘Unless he is up to no good…’
It makes me wonder, and I turn around seeing the man is already turning a corner, his pace fast.
I too speed up my pace, following the man, trying to keep on his heel out of curiosity.
‘If this man isn’t Frey, what will I do?’ I think as I watch his back.
He takes another corner, this time acting suspicious as he checks over his shoulder before he takes another corner between two houses.
I click my tongue, running towards the last corner the man has taken, only to find that he is gone. My eyes scan everything, searching every little nook and cranny that is in my current view.
Nothing…
I walk forward, and I start to check in between the homes and barns, wondering if the man was hiding from my view.
I can hear the loud voices and music in the distance. It comforts me to know people are close by.
I start to feel chills prickle my skin, a silent warning not to go any further, and I stop myself.
If it was Frey, then he was obviously being a jerk, and why would I want to be around him? I start to walk backward, paying attention to more in front of me than in the back of me.
Then suddenly I am grabbed from behind making me jump, and the person behind me speaks not giving me a chance to scream or act out in violence against them, “Why are you following me, lass?”
“Frey?” I question again, my breath calming. “How come you didn’t reply to me earlier?”
“I was in a hurry,” he replies, letting me go, and I turn around to face him. He’s still wearing that odd attire and everything.
“Hurry for what?” I ask him.
He is silent, and he takes off the deer head, revealing the black paint around his eyes even more. It makes him look creepy, especially with his hair down.
“We’re still hunting, Leif and I,” he finally gives me a reply.
“Oh,” I say, and he stares down at me, not acting like himself today. Usually, he would be off drinking with his people in the mead hall, or God knows what else.
“You’re hunting here? In the village?” I ask, clearly acting suspicious of his behavior now.
“I was cutting through the village. Yes,” he replies.
“I don’t believe you,” I say, “You’re not getting into trouble with let’s say, Adisa, are you?”
His eyes narrow at me and he tosses the deer skull on the ground, and he replies to me, his voice soft but irritated, “No...Why would you even care if I was?”
“Because look what happened to Leif,” I state. “I don’t want the same thing happening to you.”
“I doubt you care for my wellbeing,” he says, getting closer to me, making me back up into a wall. “You probably care more for his.”
I get reminded of the seer’s words as he corners me. Was he that man he spoke of? That horrible man who thinks he owns me?
I test him, and I say, “I do. I care for Adisa, but I sometimes worry about you too.”
“You care for him in what way?” he asks, still close to me.
I lie, and I say after some time passes, “I love him.”
His eyes reflect no emotion, and he is frozen like time itself has stopped for him.
“You love him?” he questions in disbelief.
“Yes.” I continue with my lie.
He grows even closer to me where our lips are nearly touching, “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure,” I mumble, my breathing hitching slightly.
I can feel each breath he takes fan out against my lips, making my heart pound.
He still remains in the same position, his eyes looking into mine before they shift down to my lips and it is then I see how long his lashes are.
“Because to me...it smells like you are aroused right now,” he mutters, his eyes shifting back up to stare into my eyes to confirm what he has thought.
I tense slightly and I say, my cheeks heating, “Then you must be wrong.”
“I’m usually right about this sort of thing,” he mutters more, and he asks me, “Then why aren’t you pushing me away?”
I am caught off guard by hi
s question. I go to act out on what he has said, and I put my hands on his shoulders to push him away, only for him to press his lips firmly to mine, closing the space in between us.
He steals my breath, and his lips are warm. Upon being kissed, I feel my heart speed up, my face and body flushing with heat.
Instead of pushing him away like I should, I grip on to his clothing, and I shut my eyes, enjoying the sensation of being kissed.
This was my very first kiss…
‘If he is the monster who thinks he owns me...then I am in trouble,’ I think to myself as he presses his body into mine, trying to get even closer. ‘Because I don’t want to pull away from him right now…’
My grip gets looser on him, and I get lost within our kiss, that primal instinct between man and woman surfacing like Adisa has spoken about in the past.
You don’t think, you just act, and that is exactly what I am doing.
Seems I am in for some trouble.
Chapter 19
Run With The Wolves
He is rough with even his kisses, but what do I expect from a brute like him?
He deepens the kiss after he switches angles, trying to get the most comfortable and he makes sure to pin me, not letting go until he gets his fill of my lips.
I don’t mind the press of his body against mine so he can continue giving me such delightful kisses. I never thought I’d find myself yearning like the ladies of the court for a man to lay kisses upon my lips. How wrong of me to think them foolish when I was just a child.
He breathes heavily through his nose as his tongue brushes against mine, sending jolts of lightening borne straight from the Gods through my very being. I too find it hard to breathe; I never thought I’d find the motion difficult, a couple of times snorting through my nose, though I was learning quick.
Who would have thought kissing felt this good…enough to spark pleasure with the littlest of movements and flick of someone’s tongue or I suppose Frey could just be considered a good kisser?
I moan softly into his mouth, which is embarrassing, but I need to voice my pleasure. It feels too good not to. I also secretly want him to know that his touch makes me feel that way without saying it in words. I push my tongue against his. I want more of this feeling, one that was beginning to spiral out of control.
He tastes slightly of ale, which isn’t bad. He probably had a little before his small adventure this morning, enough for me to taste it upon my tongue. He groans in return, his tongue still entwined with mine and I can feel the heat radiating off his body in waves.
He then separates slightly from me, making me reopen my eyes to see him. He breaks the thin line of saliva stringing between our lips before he leans down and begins to kiss my neck.
My fingers curl into his shoulders, and I tilt my head up, this too feeling just as nice. Everything he is doing feels pleasant.
Why can’t he just do nice things like this? Pleasurable things? Maybe I wouldn’t be such a brat if I knew kisses from him felt so enjoyable. It stirred such pleasant feelings from my heart.
My chest heaves up and down and I try to get air into my lungs. It’s like I have forgotten how to breathe altogether while Frey’s breath comes out in even pants.
As his lips busily travel down my neck, he pulls down...no, yanks the collar of my dress, kissing the old bite mark on my neck that he had given me so long ago. It was a bite so painful I had passed out, but the memory is foggy. Though currently, I want more bites there. I shouldn’t, but I do.
The soft bites speed up my heart and heat my body. He grazes his teeth across my flesh more, causing me to shiver and for goosebumps to prickle my skin, making him nip even more knowing how I delighted in this skinship.
Eventually, my hands travel from his shoulders to around his neck. He then proceeds to suckle on my flesh after nipping at it several times.
Each suck of my abused and scarred flesh drowns me with loud thundering, as if Thor is beating his drums in place of my heart.
He pulls away after kissing up my neck and bites the mark once more, and he asks me huskily while kissing my jaw, “Do you want to have sex?”
‘Right now?’ I think to myself internally, panicking about his question.
Do I want to have sex with Frey when I’m not married to him?
My heart clenches in my chest, and one of his hands touches my rear through my dress. Everything is moving too fast, but I don’t find my voice to tell him “no.” I want to go through with it, but at the same time, I don’t.
I go to open my mouth to at least tell him something, not wanting to look dumb and say nothing, but we are interrupted by a “pshhh” sound.
I quickly turn my head towards the direction of the sound to see Arvid leaning against a wall and pissing against a house.
My eyes widen as he glances over, sneering at us, and he says while still urinating, “Keep it in your pants, Frey. She is on one of her fertile days, I can smell it from across the village. It burns my nose—shit, and piss smell better. I also don’t want a bunch of halflings running around here. At least fuck her when she is barren.”
Frey looks shocked at first to see his drunk father; however, that shocked face turns into a sneer almost instantly.
Frey then snarls, sounding aggressive and irritated, “Get the fuck outta here, you drunken old prick! Go piss somewhere else.”
His father is silent, choosing not to reply, and he takes his time finishing up. After what seems like a long while I no longer hear the sound of him peeing.
Arvid continues to ignore him and I glance over again seeing him moving his…up and down before pulling up his pants in one quick and swift motion. “After you fuck her and get it out of your system, put her back where you found her and pick out a nice Danish girl like your brother.”
Arvid glares at me, spitting on the ground, his eyes full of hatred. “She isn’t even pretty or anything worthwhile. You will regret ever sleeping with her. Let me warn you, boy.”
“Just get the fuck outta here,” Frey snarls again, his voice raised and getting a growl to it in warning that things won’t be pretty if he doesn’t leave.
Arvid then wanders off not scolding Frey for disrespecting him. As for me, every ounce of pleasure I was feeling moments ago is gone and ruined by one single interruption.
“Damn bastard did that on purpose,” Frey grumbles in disgust. “I know he did...”
Everything I just did hits me and I push away from Frey in embarrassment. I hastily start walking away, and I hear Frey complain behind me, “Hey, where are you going lass?! We haven’t done anything yet.”
I don’t respond to him, quickly walking away, and I hear him grumble things behind me. What? I don’t know and don’t want to know.
I am thankful that he is not following after me, getting the hint I want to be left alone, probably.
I feel my cheeks heat up more and more, and eventually, I get far enough away where I press myself against a home and catch my breath.
‘What have I done?’ I think. ‘I just let him kiss me...and I enjoyed it. The worst is I had thought about having premarital sex with him...’
‘Get it out of your system and be rid of her,’ Arvid had said. Maybe that would happen to me if I let Frey do just that, without marriage binding him to me...Where did the thought of marrying Frey come from? I am so confused...
I put my head against the house looking up at the dark sky and sighing, and now I will never be left alone by Frey. He is going to bother me for the rest of my days...but at least it isn’t horrible.
I never even found out what he was originally up to. He looked as if he was in a bad mood earlier. His eyes were chilling, and it felt like he was in one of those moods where he wanted to kill somebody.
‘Probably going to bother Adisa wherever he may be,’ I answer subconsciously to myself. Hopefully, I stopped whatever was going to happen.
I see another person wandering around with a deer head on, this one having red hair and seeming to be
a woman.
I raise my eyebrows as they quickly disappear from my view and it is then I wonder if they are playing some weird game with one another on this very special “holiday.”
I don’t question it any further, as I will get my answers tomorrow probably when this entire festival is over. They seem serious about whatever they may be doing.
I attempt at calming myself down, and I straighten my back from the wall I was leaning against, going back towards the crowded area full of drunken idiots.
My mind keeps drifting back to the moment we shared no matter how much I try and take my mind off of it. I don’t know whether that was a mistake. If it was, it sure felt like a nice one...at the moment anyway.
Frey’s lips weren’t soft but cracked, and even though he looked pretty clean-shaven, I could still feel some pricks of facial hair against my own skin.
I rub at my lips and then my neck where he had kissed not too long ago, my skin still warm from the events.
As I go back to the place where I started, I see Noma alone in her chair with her legs crossed. Arvid had yet to return to his seat next to her.
When Noma sees me, she smiles, and before long she waves me over to talk to her.
I want to sigh, for once wanting to be left alone and go back to the house and think about what I have done.
I try to act normal, and I walk towards her wanting to hear what she has to say.
“You don’t have anything on your face, Ellie. You don’t fit in with the crowd. Sit, let me paint your face,” she says, patting the chair as she stands up.
I do what she wants me to, all the while looking for Arvid in the crowd and wishing she’d hurry up and get the face paint over with before he comes back to his seat, since it would be awkward seeing him right after what happened.
I fidget slightly in the chair before I bring my eyes back to Noma.
She grabs the bowl full of red paint, and takes the brush and brings it to my face while saying, “I don’t want to cover too much of your pretty little face. It would be a shame to mask it.”
Wolves Among Danes Page 19
