Ædwen seated Ellan and their son, Aksel, on the bench in the longship, as Stefan pushed them away from the shore. They had travelled along the coast for a week or so now and were finally heading inland, along the river back towards Wintancaester. Their adventure of a lifetime was over and they would be home before nightfall.
This time together as a family had been special, whiling away their days on undiscovered beaches, fishing, seal-spotting and swimming in the ocean. They had seen so much, laughed so much, but she was ready to get her babies home. She had missed being away from all their friends and family and she had missed her nights alone with Stefan in their bed.
‘Tell me the story again, Father. The one about the angel.’ Ellan giggled as Stefan began to row the oars. He grinned and started to relay his favourite tale. The one about how he’d travelled from another island across the sea to come here and, when he’d washed up on these shores, he’d been met by a guardian angel, smiling down on him.
Ædwen didn’t think she’d ever tire of hearing that tale, for it had such a happy ending.
She couldn’t believe she had been blessed with a healthy son, as well as Ellan. Stefan had given her all that she’d dreamed of and more. But she wondered what he would think if she told him she wanted one more.
He had been overjoyed when her belly had swelled with Aksel. A devoted husband and always a wonderful father. He had lovingly pressed his ear up to her swollen stomach, listening for any sounds of a heartbeat, waiting for the little kick of a protruding foot. And his son looked like him. Aksel had his dark hair, his smile and his beautiful blue eyes.
Stefan had been talking about getting a new ink design on his skin, to represent his son, and she’d said they should look into it together when they got back to Wintancaester.
As they drew closer to the city, she could see the new roof of the monastery had been finished and it looked magnificent. Better than ever before. She felt as if everything that had been wrong had been put right.
They had sent a messenger ahead and, when they eventually pulled up on the banks of the river, there was a welcome party to greet them. They scrambled out of the boat to excitedly reunite with Ædwen’s mother, Ethelred, Sister Margaret and Kendra, and everyone embraced each other. ‘The King has prepared a huge feast for your return tonight,’ they announced.
Later, when they had filled their stomachs and drunk their fill of wine, sitting around talking with their King and Queen, and everyone they cared about in the world, the children playing, running around in the Grand Hall, Ædwen felt content, in a way she never had before.
As she leaned back into Stefan’s shoulder, he placed his arm around her, tugging her close.
‘Do you think anyone will miss us if we head back to our room?’
Ædwen raised an eyebrow. ‘Whatever for?’
He groaned. ‘I need you. Badly.’
And she knew she couldn’t deny him. She had never been able to.
‘It’s just as well I asked Sister Margaret to look after the children for us tonight then.’ She smiled.
‘I told you, you were an angel,’ he said.
And when he finally carried her upstairs to his bed, deftly removing her clothes, soaring inside her, he whispered over and again, ‘Ædwen, you’re my heaven.’
At some point, they must have fallen asleep, as the next time Stefan woke, Ædwen was tugging at his shoulder and he dragged open his eyes to see her rearing over him, kissing him, flicking her tongue over the swirls of ink on his chest.
‘Again?’ he asked, grinning. ‘Ædwen, you’re insatiable.’ He was weary from their long night of lovemaking, and yet he still felt the stirrings of desire in his groin. How did she do that? She had always made him feel this way. He could never, ever get enough of her.
She writhed against him, taking him in her hand, sending all his blood to his groin, and he groaned. ‘What are you doing to me?’
‘Is now a good time to tell you a secret?’ she said, her lips curling upwards suggestively.
‘I thought we didn’t have secrets,’ he told her.
‘That’s why I’m going to share it with you.’
‘Go on then,’ he said, as her lips stole lower, over his stomach, and his breath hitched.
‘I want another baby, Stefan. I can’t have enough of them. They’re just so perfect. Like you.’
His eyebrows shot up. ‘You want another?’ he asked, surprised. ‘Already?’
‘Yes,’ she said, moving lower still.
And he grinned, laughing. ‘All right, Ædwen.’
He would give her the world if she asked.
In one swift movement, he pulled her up, ruthlessly rolled her over on to her stomach, spreading her legs wide with his own, stretching her arms out above their heads, as she wildly grappled with the furs. It was a total surrender, her sprawled out beneath him, whimpering, waiting for the pleasure she knew he would bestow upon her. And he surged inside her from behind, hard, completely and utterly impaling her with his big body. There was nothing between them, just skin pressed against skin. And he stormed her body, willing to leave another legacy inside her, the very essence of him behind. Ædwen was the only woman he’d ever want to create a child with. The only woman he trusted enough with his heart and his secrets. And as he heard her muffled, orgasmic screams against the furs, taking him with her over the edge, he knew he would always be her everything, as she was his. His heaven and his home.
If you enjoyed this story,
why not check out one of
Sarah Rodi’s other great reads?
The Viking and the Runaway Empress
Chosen as the Warrior’s Wife
in ‘Convenient Vows with a Viking’
Second Chance with His Viking Wife
Claimed by the Viking Chief
One Night with Her Viking Warrior
Keep reading for an excerpt from Accidental Courtship with the Earl by Samantha Hastings.