“Everything that belongs to me!” he said passionately and then his eyes looked guarded. “Are you trying to leave me?”
“What! No, why must you always think that I will leave you?” But Freya had a suspicion of where his fear came from. He had already been left by a woman and it had scarred him deeply. If she left him too, it would leave an even bigger scar.
“I don´t let just anyone in,” he said, his voice raw and she suddenly felt like crying. “Ice may be hard but it´s not immune to shattering. If you´re going to be with me then I need you to be so completely. I need to know I can rely on that you won´t betray me.”
“I would never,” Freya said, her lips trembling. “But it needs to go both ways. You can´t keep being this suspicious because maybe then I really will try to escape.”
A dangerous expression turned up Wolf´s face, his features twisting. “Then maybe I should spare you the effort. Let you know that you cannot escape anyway?” he said and something in his voice, an adoring menace, made her shiver.
“Why not?” she asked even though she already knew the answer.
Wolf´s teeth glimmered in the dark, making him look both sensuous and dangerous.
“The frost will keep you here,” he answered. “I will keep you here.”
If he had looked at her like that before, she might have been afraid but now she trusted him. Knew that he always had her best interest at heart but she still didn´t think a king should order around his queen.
“As the queen don´t you think I should be able to make my own decisions?”
Her words seemed to catch him off guard and his jaw slackened. The hard expression on his face disappeared, replaced by a rawness that felt both enrapturing and treacherous.
“Is that how you see yourself, then? You have accepted that you are part of Ice Falls?”
Part of me, a voice whispered somewhere, catching Freya´s attention. It sounded like it had come from the frost. She looked to see if Wolf had heard but she couldn´t tell.
“Yes.”
His eyes eased and he pulled her in between his legs, gently taking her face in his hand. “That pleases me,” he said. “More than you will ever know.”
He stroked his thumb over her cheek and she leaned into his touch. “I will choose to believe you,” he said. “I will choose to believe that you´re not keeping secrets from me.”
She had a feeling that he wanted to tell her something, tell her that he loved her and yet he held back, as if he feared that she wouldn´t say the words back. But Freya would and she did love him, so much more than he thought. “That is all I ask,” Freya said.
Chapter Fourteen
When Freya woke up, after yet another nightmare she was annoyed not to find herself immersed in Wolf´s strong arms. Bothered by this fact, she lifted her head and saw that he was busy putting his armor on, draping the fur over his shoulders and putting on his gloves. There was a serious, methodical expression on his face but when she stirred in bed, his eyes warmed.
“Good morning,” he said. “I was just about to wake you.” He looked so commanding and ruthless that Freya felt herself go wet in a second. She couldn´t help but to rub her thighs together and Wolf noticed, a self-satisfied grin spreading across his face.
“Come back to bed,” Freya said and he took a step forward, almost as if he´d been pulled by a string, unable to stop himself but then he shook his head.
“Don´t tempt me, god,” he said in a rough voice.
“But it’s so much fun when I do,” Freya purred.
She stretched her arms over her head so that Wolf got a full view of her breast which he seemed to more than appreciate. She was still wearing that diamond necklace he had made her and she sensed that he liked seeing it on her as much as she liked wearing it.
“Where are you going that is so important that you can´t spare me some attention?”
“Trust me, there´s nothing I´d rather do.” He walked over to her, his fur dragging in the floor behind him. “But I need to speak with Dorian the Dark about the new information on Wryfell.”
The notion perked Freya up.
“Can I come too?” Freya asked. “I´ve never seen The Dark One.”
Dorian was a Draugar. Draugar´s were beings that kept to themselves in the mountains of the Third Realm and were so mysterious that few other immortals had seen them. They preferred moving around at night and had powers so horrifying, that most immortals avoided even mentioning them.
“No,” Wolf said sharply and a lick of jealousy lit up his eyes. “Being in the presence of a Draugar is unsettling. And they don´t appreciate attention. Not that Dorian would notice if a female looked at him.”
Freya was surprised by this. “You mean he likes other males?”
Wolf shrugged.
“I don´t know what he likes. I´ve never seen him with a female in my life.” He stalked over to her. “I want you to be good and stay here and wait in anticipation, until I return.” His eyes played over her face, taking in every inch as if it nourished him.
“Anticipation?” Freya asked, scowling and Wolf nodded. He grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her a deep kiss. Her hands tangled in his hair and she moaned into his mouth.
“Just let me come with you,” she tried breathlessly but he wouldn´t let himself be convinced.
“I would be more comfortable knowing that you are here. These are dangerous times and it is safer if you stay.”
“All right, I´ll do as you want but just this once,” Freya teased but then an image of Swarogs´s face hiding between the birch trees crossed her vison and she took a harsher grip around Wolf´s arms. It would be all right. It couldn´t have been Swarog´s face she´d seen and
