Fantasyland 01 Wildest Dreams (18 page)

Her eyes locked with his, hope flared before
she hid it and then she whispered breathlessly, “You like me as I
am?”

By the g
ods, he’d been a bastard.

Then again, in his defense, he did not
know she was who she was and
all
that she was.

“Yes, Finnie,” he replied gently.

She pulled in a breath he felt as her chest
contracted against his.

Then she said, “Well, I’m with you. I like
myself alive and breathing and not burned to a cinder so I promise
to blow out the candles next time.”

He pulled her close enough to touch her
mouth to his then loosened his grip to allow her to move back an
inch.

Then he muttered, “Good.”

Then he used his hand at her neck and his
other arm around her to settle her at his side, cheek to his
shoulder and ordered, “Cradle my thigh.”

He felt her body still even as her hand
drifted to rest on his chest. “What?” she asked.

“I wish to sleep and do it with you curled
into me as you did last night. Cradle my thigh.”

She hesitated.

Then she whispered, “Sleep?”

Frey felt his mouth twitch as he looked at
the firelight flickering on the ceiling. At the same time he gave
his bride a squeeze.

She’d enjoyed what they shared earlier, very
much, and wished to have his mouth back, his hands and likely
more.

He liked that she wished this and he would
give it to her.

But after he gave her a few more meals in
order for her to be comfortable with her new husband.

“Yes, wife, sleep,” he gave her another
squeeze. “Your husband is weary,” he lied for he would be dead
before he’d be weary, lying with her next to him not having taken
her at least once. “Now, do as you’re told and cradle my
thigh.”

She hesitated again. Then she lifted her
thigh and rested it on his, her weight settling into his side.

However she did this muttering, “Apparently,
Raiders are bossy.”

That earned Finnie another squeeze and a,
“Bossy?”

“
Domineering. Dictatorial. Imperious.
Commanding.
Bossy.
” The
chuckle that caused was both audible and physical and Frey knew she
heard it when she grumbled, “I wasn’t being funny.”

“
No,” Frey replied after he contained his
mirth, “but you
were
talking and
I told you to sleep.”

Her body tightened then it relaxed with a
sigh.

Then she muttered, “Whatever.”

“You’re still talking, Finnie,” he
noted.

Her body gave a small jolt but her mouth
didn’t make a sound.

Frey grinned at the ceiling again.

Then he lay in his bed with his wife and he
did this deciding he would take her home to see her parents very
soon.

After sharing a few more meals with her,
he’d be certain to see to that.

He knew she slept when her weight settled
into him, curling deeper, her arm wrapping around him, holding
close for a moment as if tucking him into her body before she
relaxed and gave him her weight.

Then, Frey Drakkar fell asleep.

Jumping from First Base to Third

Three days later…

I stood in the kitchen, frozen, staring at
Penelope sitting on the kitchen floor by the door.

Then she did what she’d done only moments
before, opened her mouth and meowed but in my head, I heard, “Let
me out.”

Clear as day. I heard the words, “Let me
out.”

But out of my cat’s mouth, I heard,
“Meow.”

In all the time I had her, she didn’t make a
mew. She just purred.

Now she’d meowed twice and twice I’d heard
it like I understood it in my head.

I stayed frozen and staring and she did it
again.

“
Meee…
ow
,” which I heard as scary, freaky, cat-can-talk-to-you,
getting
really
impatient, “Let me
out!
”

I dropped the dish cloth and ran straight
out the backdoor Frey had walked out not five minutes ago.

Then I kept running straight to the hot
spring where he’d told me he was going to bathe.

And I kept going as fast as my booted feet
would carry me, freaked
way
the
hell
out
. The hot
spring wasn’t far but it wasn’t a two second walk around the side
of the house either and I ran hell bent for leather all the way
there.

Frey heard me crashing through the trees
toward him, I knew this because he had his sweater off, his
breeches on and was pulling
on
his
boots which meant he’d already taken them off.

I ran straight into his arms without slowing
and his body rocked back a foot on impact but his arms locked
around me as he asked urgently, “What’s given you a fright,
Finnie?”

I was sucking in breath and I pulled back
a bit to wheeze, hand pressed into my chest (like that would help)
and then I forced out, “Penelo… Pen… the cat… my cat…” I pulled in
a deep breath the pushed out, “I know… this is going… to sound…
nuts… but I think… my cat… is
possessed.
”

I stared up at him to assess his reaction to
this dire news as he gazed down at me, brows knit.

“Possessed?” he asked.

“
Possessed!
” I cried. “By Satan, demons, pure evil, I
don’t know! She said, ‘meow’ and in my head I heard, ‘let me out’
and I know,” I shook my head and waved my hand between us, “I know,
Frey, that sounds utterly
unhinged
but I kid you not, that is
exactly
what I heard not once, not twice but,” I leaned
into him, grabbed onto both of his biceps and got up on my toes,
“
three
times
. I’ve had that cat
for nearly a month and not a peep, not the barest
mew
and now
this!
Maybe there’s evil in this world…” Oh shit! “I
mean, uh… this forest. Maybe people come here to devil worship or
hatchet men live out there!” I swung an arm out to the trees then
back to slap my hand on his chest. “Or maybe
the ghost
of a murdering hatchet man who killed
dozens of villagers before they caught him and strung him up lives
out there and he’s pissed and he’s possessing
my cat!
”

Frey’s face got that look I was getting
used to, like a weird sort of understanding (of what I did
not
know and never really did but
at that moment I did
not
care because my fat, ginger cat was possessed by the ghost
of a murdering hatchet man) and he said softly, “Finnie, take a
breath and calm yourself.”

“
I can’t calm myself when my
ginger cat is possessed by a murderer!
” I shrieked and I swear, I swear
to God,
Frey looked like he was trying
really hard not to laugh before he spoke again and I
knew
he was trying hard to quell his
laughter when his voice trembled with it.

“
Wife,
as you know,
” his face got closer to mine, “women can
understand cats, deer, rabbits, mice, small birds and other such
animals.”

I blinked at him as my body locked in
shock.

Frey spoke on. “And men can understand
horses, snakes, hawks, falcons, other
birds of prey and predatory or animals used in
work or war, for instance, wolves and ox.”

I blinked again.

“Apparently, considering you’ll jump at any
indication that Penelope has the merest whim, you didn’t move fast
enough and she felt the need to tell you she wished to go outside.
Since she actually had to tell you rather than you stuffing her
full of chicken and fish before she got the least hungry and
gathering her close to nuzzle before she even knew she wished a
cuddle and moving to let her out, or in, before she shifted her
great bulk fully toward the door, she hasn’t had to share her
desires. If you were busy or not paying attention, she would do so.
I’m sure you’ve heard the call of a variety of animals.”

I kept blinking.

So Frey finished, “Perhaps, out here in the
forest where animals do not near the house due to our activity,
you’ve forgotten since you haven’t heard it in some time.”

“Right,” I whispered, “I’d forgotten.”

His mouth twitched then he muttered, “That’s
what I thought.”

My gaze on his mouth unfocused as this news
hit me.

Holy freaking
moly!
They had
elves
and animals
talked
to you in
this world.

That was just… plain… freaking… cool!

“
Now are you all right or do you wish for
me to find a witch who will scour the forest for traces of ghosts
and expunge them?” Frey asked and now he was smiling so I
knew
he thought I was highly
comical.

That was when
my
brows knit (though, I kinda wanted to hear about
witches who could expunge ghosts).

“I’m glad to see my cat scaring the
beejeezus out of me causes you such mirth, husband,” I snapped.

His arms gave me a squeeze and his mouth
moved to kiss my forehead.

Once he’d done that, his lips still against
my skin, he muttered, “You cause me much mirth frequently,
wife.”

I blinked at his throat as his words caused
my heart to flutter and he let me go and moved away.

Then what he said next caused my belly to
drop and my heart to clench.

“Since you’re here, disrobe and join me in
the spring.”

I stared at him as he pulled his boots off
and I tried to get my heart started again, and, I might add, my
lungs working because panic had filled me.

The last three days with Frey had been good.
So good, I’d added so many things onto my list of why I liked him,
I quit bothering to add them.

I just liked him.

First, he laughed at my jokes.

Second, he had a really fantastic laugh.

Third, he smiled or grinned at me,
like
loads.
It was
like he was a whole different person. He still wasn’t exactly Mr.
Conversation but in the last three days he’d said not one thing
that pissed me off or freaked me out.

Fourth, he was the kind of guy who was
busy a lot, had his own things to do and he did them. He was in the
stable or shed quite a bit when we weren’t in town. But even so,
when he was with you, he was
with you.
You had his attention and his concentration and you had
these in a nice way. He didn’t lie when he said he liked to see my
mouth move, he listened to me talk and although he didn’t pour
forth bountiful information, he answered questions about the elves,
himself, his travels and all sorts of stuff and he was a really
interesting guy. In fact, he was
way
more informative than any of the books Sjofn had left for
me, telling me stuff about my Mom and Dad (of this world) in a way
that was nice, like he was sharing memories with me though he
couldn’t know they weren’t my memories and that he was giving me
insight into my parents. And it was cool to know that, although
they seemed off with me, they were well-loved by their people, they
were known to be a love match even though their marriage was
arranged like Frey and mine, they were both respected not only by
their citizens but by rulers of other lands and Frey held my father
in high regard considering he thought he was intelligent and a fair
and just monarch.

Fifth, he wasn’t a great kisser, he was
a
great
kisser
and I knew this
because he kissed me lots, during the day (everything from lip
brushes to quick, deep wet ones to mini-make-out-sessions) and
we
totally
made out
in bed every night. He never let it get hot and heavy (okay, so it
got heated and the petting was relatively heavy and
very
nice but not out-of-control).
Then, he’d stop, hold me, stroke me and chat with me quietly for
awhile until I was relaxed and drowsy then he’d order me to cradle
his thigh and go to sleep.

In other words, if we were in my world, Frey
would totally be in there and I wouldn’t make him wait the couple
of weeks of dates my personal philosophy dictated happen prior to
serious hanky panky that involved the exchange of bodily fluids.
Then again, when I started seeing a guy I didn’t fall asleep in bed
with him every night and make him breakfast, lunch and dinner when
we weren’t in town having dinner at a pub, where Frey had taken me
last night so I could have a break from the stove, that was.

I’d figured out on day two what he was doing
and what I’d figured out made me like him even more (and,
incidentally, that was when I stopped making my mental list).

And what that was was that he saw I was
nervous that first night, I told him straight out he and his size
scared me and he was being cool about taking some time to let me
get to know him and get used to him before we got down to the nitty
gritty of marriage business.

And, by the by, on top of all that, he
seemed to like me too. And, since I’d decided I liked him, I
really
liked that.

So now, I had to admit, I was stunned he
wanted me to get naked and get in a hot spring with him. That was
like jumping from first base to third without even buying a girl
dinner.