Sven bent and kissed her. His fingers found her pulse and he smiled. "God natt och drΓΆm sΓΆtt. We talk imorgon." But for now, he had things he must see to. Even if his body protested, demanded that he join his mate in slumber. If they were to sail, he was needed on deck. Besides they had much to discuss, he and his brothers. It was not every day that they took a captive. A captive bride. Their bride as ancient custom commanded.
Sven dressed quickly. It was easy sine he had never fully undressed during their love making. This first time was about the capture. And quick though it had been it left him hungry to taste all of her rich flavors. But that would have to wait. Now that she was securely on board the boat, they still needed to make their escape. Harbor Masters and customs officers to deal with. And high tide was fast approaching. They could not afford to tarry another day. It would give her a chance to escape.
The whole time he dressed, he had been careful to avoid looking at his bed where she remained bound and so fucking helpless that his cock hardened just at the thought of it. He was not naΓ―ve enough to think that this was going to be easy. He knew better. Modernity was invading upon even their meager existence. Mikael had even tried its way, but that had proven disastrous. No, despite the impediments that they had thought so carefully through, worked so hard and spent good money to overcome, the ancient way was the only way. So after over four decades, Σgir's captive welcomed a new bride to her masters.
Once he was fully dressed right down to his boots and coat, Sven found the packet containing the forged documents they would need...the marriage license and passport that along with his lie to his old friend the harbor master should hopefully ease their departure. He glanced at the woman sleeping in his bed. In slumber she seemed so much younger than she was.
Some tiny morsel of guilt perhaps caused him to loosen the bonds. He was not stupid enough to untie her. Not yet. Once they were safely at sea there would be time for that. Until then, he would simply make her as comfortable as possible and make certain that her circulation was intact. She was his responsibility now. Their responsibility. And the sooner, he and his brothers talked about that the better.
He found Bjorn down the hall in the galley. "What are you doing?" he demanded. There were too many things still to be done before they could sail for his baby brother to be snacking. But the only thing bigger than his brother's appetite was his sense of humor. The kid could always break the tension, make him and Mikael laugh when only a moment before they were ready to kill one another.
His brother looked down at the tray sheepishly and blushed, "I thought maybe she would like something to eat."
Sven nodded, leave it to Bjorn to think of the things that he forgot. "She is asleep for now. And we need to get the hell out of here if this is going to work. So is everything done?"
His brother nodded his lighter blond head and motioned towards the deck, "Mikael is requesting final permission when I left."
Leave it to Mikael to get the job done. His brother really was just as able a seaman and captain as he was. Only an accident of birth had given him the authority that his brother craved. Perhaps that need to be the one in charge was what had motivated Mikael to break with tradition. To grab for something that was totally his own.
Maybe if he had chosen more wisely...with his head and not his heart? But the truth was that Greta was a poor choice from the beginning. A spoilt city girl used to having her way in everything could never adjust to their quiet and isolated way of life. But that was behind them all now. Well, most of it anyway. After three years of mourning and pining for a wife that was never coming back, their mother had finally convinced Mikael to give the old ways a chance.
She had had to work just as hard to convince Sven. He was more than happy to let his brothers do the marrying...in the new way even. As far as he was concerned, he was already married...to Σgir's Captive and the sea was his mistress. Other than that what he wanted from a woman, he could charm from the occasional submissive that he met online or in the clubs or even pay for it when absolutely necessary.
So why then had she gotten under his skin so much over the past three months? Her innocence and completely open curiosity did things to him that his more experienced partners never had. The idea of training her...just for his taste...their tastes...was intriguing.
But all of that would be for nothing and he and his brothers could be in some very real and big trouble if they did not get the ship out of here damned soon. A thousand years ago Vikings stealing brides from the Brits via their long boats might have been common place, but Sven knew that twenty-first century laws called it kidnapping and imposed rather long prison sentences for it. And he had no desire to waste years of his life in jail, let alone allow his brothers to.
"Leave the food. When we are out to sea, you may take it to her," perhaps Bjorn's youth and mirth might be a good way of waking sleeping beauty even. After all, she would be as much his wife and his responsibility as she was his or Mikael's. In time anyway.
That was the beauty of this tradition. How it had come about. Or so legend said. No one is sure exactly when or how, but it had always been the tradition for brothers to take care of the widows and children of any lost at sea. The story was told of one woman who had been captured from a warring tribe centuries ago. She had gone through five brothers. When she saw the last one come home alone from the sea, she had fallen to the ground weeping. "Why? Now I must marry you as well. Why do you not have done with it and merely have me marry you all from the beginning. Perhaps that would have been kinder to my heart than coming to love each of you only to lose you in turn."
When it came time for her sons to marry, she had insisted that was what they do. Capture just one bride. They were gone to sea for much of the year anyway. And since women were often so much more complicated than men, the arrangement often worked out quite well. When a wife would get made at one of them, it was sometimes possible for others to smooth the waters.