Kirsty stared out over the relatively smooth waters of the North Sea. Even though it was after ten, the sun had still not fully set this far north. Was it prophetic somehow? When she had left all those months ago, it had been dark almost all day and night. Now at the height of summer it was just the opposite. Almost constant sunlight.
It certainly felt like an omen. Well except for Sven's recovery, which she more than any of them realized might be long and perhaps never complete. But they would deal with that too. Just as they had dealt with so much already. They had weathered life's storms...and now it was sunshine once more.
Of course, she was not naïve enough to believe there would not be more storms to come but with the new resolve and the lessons they had all learned from these, she was confident that they could face those as a family. They would do what it took...whatever it took...and they would come out on the other side of those storms too.
She inhaled deeply, allowing the fresh, cool sea breeze to fill not just her lungs but her soul with its cleansing and healing power. She felt one of the twins move inside her, but before she could place a gentle hand over the tiny foot to calm her, her sister joined in the fray. Both girls dancing and stretching.
Bjorn was at the helm this night. She had never seen him happier. Even she had not fully realized the stress that these past few months in London had placed upon those broad shoulders. Not until she saw the light that dawned in those Kelly-green eyes the moment they had stepped on board of Ægir's Captive.
Captive? She chuckled into the cooling sea breeze. She was not their captive this time. Not as she had been the last time anyway. But these men had certainly captured her heart. Each of them in different ways. But each of them fully and completely. Different, unique but all with the same veracity.
Bjorn...she chuckled as she shook her head. No one would picture a man like that with someone like her. But over these past few months she had come to accept that this man loved her. Just as she was. No diets. No gym. He loved her mind. He loved her heart. And yes, as much as she might sometimes have trouble believing it...he loved her curves too. Running into Greta at the club had proven that.
She smiled as she lifted her face to setting sun, absorbing its final warming rays as the breeze rustled through her hair, whipping it about her face. She would never be model thin like G but that was all right because she was so much smarter than that woman ever had been.
In some weird, warped way she owed her a debt of gratitude. By rejecting the life that Mikael had offered for her runways and shoots, Greta had set the course that had driven them to her...just as surely as Bjorn had set one on this boat that would take them home. No, she was the one that had reaped the harvest. The only truly good fruits that woman had ever sown. Monika, her first daughter, and Mikael were all that she could have ever imagined.
She giggled as she remembered that first night on board this ship. When given the chance, she had chosen Mikael because she had sought an alley in her plans to escape. Oh, Mikael had proven an alley all right. Her rock, the one that she could turn to for comfort, pain, and understanding when Bjorn was battling his jealousy or Sven was...being an ass.
She sighed as her hand softly rubbed the baby mound. Sven. She still was not certain how to handle that one. But she had a new powerful weapon in her arsenal. Æ ælske dæ. I love you. How could she not have known? It was not that different from 'Jeg elsker deg.' But she had always struggled with languages. Her ear simply had not made that all important connection.
No, she might be going back without a solid plan, but the knowledge that Sven too loved her just as his brothers did gave her faith that somehow they too would find a way...over time.
She closed her eyes and lifted her face as a gentle spray of sea water caressed her cheeks. Home. Homdling as Monika had renamed it. The one place in this world that truly felt like that word to her. Though that probably had as much to do with them as it did the place.
"We have unfinished business, lilla gumman," she shivered as Mikael's whisper caressed her cheek.
"Things we need to bury once and for all, my beautiful wife," Bjorn's echoed in the other ear as hands began to soothe, caress, and ignite her body. There seemed much more than four. Everywhere at once somehow as she tried desperately to catch her breath, to make sense of their words.
Mikael had said that her punishment must wait until the babies were born. So what unfinished business could they be talking about burying once and for all?
"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways..." Bjorn licked around the edge of her ear.
"Screw Mama's fancy poetry. These tits are top of my list," whispered Mikael as he ground his hard cock against her hip as if to prove the point. "I can't wait to taste your milk."
But it was Bjorn who moaned into her ear as his hand cupped and squeezed her other breast. "Fuck," was the limit of his poetry skills at the erotic picture that his brother's word seemed to ignite in all their minds.
Kirsty was glad that their bodies bracketed her because she was not certain that she could stand on her own at the moment. And that had nothing to do with getting her sea legs again.
"I thought you were putting Monika to sleep," she asked as she turned and kissed Mikael.
He smiled, "Mission accomplished." He shook his head with a serious frown, "She is so different since we got on the boat..."
"You noticed too? It could be that the seas and rocking of the waves provide the vestibular stimulation...."
She began but could not finish as Bjorn rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger. She sucked in a deep breath at the intensity of the sensation. Her nipples were most definitely more sensitive. "And I thought you were driving the boat?"
The solid blow to her right butt check brought a gentle peal of laughter, "You do not 'drive' boats, woman," he answered with one of those smiles that showed his dimples to their greatest advantage. She caressed his face tenderly. Yes, the stress of those months in 'civilization' were already draining from her husband.
"Tonight, we are going to put all those doubts and insecurities of yours to rest once and for all, our sexy, loving, gorgeous wife," he smiled.
She shook her head, but stifled the girlish giggle. Her husbands might be a bit late with this one. Never had she felt as comfortable...as desirable...as beautiful...in her skin as she did sandwiched between these two amazing men. And certainly, never so loved. But she was not telling them that. Not and spoil this fun they had planned.
"Then maybe we should take this somewhere more private?" She teased as she kissed each in turn and took their hands, leading them towards the stairs.
***
Mikael smiled as he obliged his wife as she pulled them both through the ship towards the captain's cabin where it had all began. It was not just his daughter or brother that had changed from the moment they stepped on board the ship. Their wife had too.
He rifled through the half a dozen languages he knew searching for the right word...inhalt, contenu, vrede, paz, and all their English variation. None seemed to quite cover the woman who stood before them. Contented. At peace. Confident. Whole.
He was certain her pregnancy had at least something to do with it. At trite as it sounded, Kirsty truly did glow. Her fair skin shone with health. Her cheeks were the perfect ruddy rose that no cosmetic could match. And those always full lips begged...
With a gentle tug to her hand, he drew them to a halt just outside the privacy they sought. He drew her against him as he softly brushed hair back from her face. He loved the way that her top teeth chewed her bottom lip nervously and how large those green eyes got as they stared up at him.
He could almost feel the tension and need strumming through her ripe body. It had been hell last night with her pressed between them in that too tiny bed. This one was no better but at least they would be free to lovingly explore every centimeter of their wife's body together. It was not a pleasure they had shared since the night these little girls were conceived. And though they were still one brother short, he was certain that somehow he and Bjorn could manage. For now at least.
"This time you enter this cabin as our wife, not our captive. Do you do so of your own freewill, lilla gumman?" He held her gaze and his breath as the moisture clouded those green fields. The muscles in her throat constricted, moving up and down as she swallowed.
She nodded her head slowly, but still he restrained her. A simple nod would not suffice this time. The path that lie ahead would not be easy. He better than any of them knew that. He was after all the one who had borne the brunt of their mother's travails as she struggled to truly accept her fate.
Could Kirsty do so more easily? He certainly hoped so. He knew that he and Bjorn would do all in their power to make her load as light as possible. But he had learned the hard way that relationships took both people trying. In their case, everyone. After what Kirsty had revealed, he was even more confident now that Sven too would come around. But she was the cornerstone.
It was not chance that had lead their mother's to adopt the Norwegian name Petrine. The rock. After her trials in the fire, she had like her mythological Phoenix emerged from the ashes of Rachel as just that. He was not fooled though. He knew that was a choice, her decision.
And he was forcing it upon their wife now as he waited for the words that might determine their fate. He held his breath and prayed to every god in Asgard, but especially to her...Freyja. The goddess of love, fertility...and battle.
Their life would always be a war against Njörd and Rán to eke out an existence from their seas. It was the history of their family and why only a true shieldmaiden of Freyja would do as the bride. He knew that Bjorn had chosen well, better than he or Sven would have.
The only question was...did she? Did Kirsty understand her power now? And was she ready to stand into it? He waited.
*** Kirsty felt the knot tighten in her throat as surely as if it were one of their hands. She fought back tears at the enormity of his words. 'Their wife.' But it went so much deeper than that. So much more to it than that simple four-letter word could express.
She chuckled that Mikael's thoughts had so closely mirrored her earlier ones. Had she ever truly been their captive? All those weeks of messages and challenges that they had shared. That spark which ran up her arm the moment that Sven had touched her elbow and drew her through that turnstile.
