Laughing in turn, she stood up and followed him into the hut that was soon to be hers as well. Gytha was ready to embrace all aspects of her new life. Like Eadhild, she intended to wear a Norse dress for their wedding on Friday. Caedmon was even now working on the brooches that would be his present to her. She had already started to learn Norse. Haakon insisted she had a talent for it. She wasn’t sure but she loved seeing the pleasure gleaming in his eyes when she said anything. His most intense lessons were given in bed, as he’d warned her. He had already taught her all the parts of the body and quite a few naughty acts.
She would have to surprise him later by doing a thorough revision.
“Here.”
He closed the door behind him and gestured at the table he had cleared of bowls and food. In the middle were four dice. Wooden dice, very obviously new and unused. Suspicion stirred inside Gytha.
“Was that what you were doing with the branch the other day?”
The day she had knocked on his door, causing him to cut himself with the saw. The day they had declared their love to one another. The day they had made love with such passion. The most wonderful day of her life.
“Yes. I thought it was time you owned some decent dice.”
Warmth spread through her, not because of what he had said, but because of what it meant. He had started work on the dicebeforeshe had come visit him, at a time when he had no idea of her feelings for him.
“Are you telling me that if I had waited another few days before coming to you, you would have come to me?”
Despair had motivated her visit. She had been so certain that if she didn’t go to him, she would never see him again…and now she was being told he would have come two or three days later to give her the dice.
“Yes. I was going mad with the need to see you and I couldn’t think of any excuse to justify a visit, so I thought?—”
“Justify! You didn’t need an excuse to come see me,” Gytha cried out. “I didn’t have one when I came.”
“I know. But as we’ve already established, I’m less brave than you, for all my size. Anyway, I knew I could not give you another pair of earrings. And this time I wanted to give you something I had done myself. So I thought to replace the sorry dice we used that night we played at your house.” His voice became a purr and his eyes started to sparkle. “You seem to have a special ability for seeing the magic in objects, so perhaps you’ll be able to see the magic and the love I put in these.”
Oh, she could already see it, in the care he had taken to smooth the surface, in every exquisite detail he’d carved. These were more than dice, they were veritable works of art, and she couldn’t wait to start using them.
“Sit,” she ordered, gesturing at the stool. “It’s time to play.”
He ignored the order. Instead he drew her into his arms and started nuzzling at her throat. “Shall we make this game more interesting, Saxon? Some stake might make for more satisfying ending.”
“What do you mean?” She could barely talk, with his mouth brushing against the sensitive skin of her neck.Hals, she reminded herself, one of the parts of her body she loved the most for Haakon to stroke.
“The winner can have his way with the loser. The loser will have to allow everything he suggests.”
“He? No prize for guessing who you think will win.” And if those were the stakes, she would be a fool to refuse him—or to try to win. Losing would be too delicious.
“If I lose, it will be the other way around, of course. You can have your way with me. And I promise to submit.”
Gytha afforded a smile. It seemed that she was guaranteed to win either way.
Even better.
“Very well. Let’s play,” she murmured, closing her fist over the beautiful dice.
EPILOGUE
FOUR MONTHS LATER
“I’m with child.”
Gytha gasped and took Eadhild’s hand in hers. “You are?”
“Yes.” Her friend blushed as joy lit up her face. “I’m so happy! I was starting to be suspicious so I went to see Cwenthryth yesterday afternoon and she confirmed I was right.”
Oh, so now Gytha understood why Steinar’s wife had seemed amused this morning, when she’d told her she was carrying Haakon’s child. She had told her friend the day before she was with child as well and was enjoying the idea of the two of them sharing their news. It really seemed as if the two of them were destined to have mirror lives here in the Norsemen village.
She fell into Eadhild’s arms, happy beyond words. “I’m so pleased for you.”
