Re: Hedeby: Lagertha/Ragnar
There were other ways in which he wanted to touch her, but the man she claimed as her husband lay dead by her hand, and she had been loyal to him since she had taken him as a husband. Ragnar had not pushed for more in the dawn when he had felt her at his side after her night in the world that was not theirs. He did not push now, besides the slow brush of his thumb over her bicep.
The anger began to bleed from her muscles, a slow ease of tension that he had witnessed many times. Sometimes within their own home, sometimes between the trees, sometimes even on one of their ships as she went from battle to traveler. He had seen her in battle madness, where there was no slaking the desire for blood, but that was not now. This was too little blood spilled and it had not quenched that space within her that all warriors had.
He understood.
He did not press.
"He did not deserve you." Simple, bold, as his hand dropped from her arm, his gaze meeting hers evenly. "Nor I. But if I said that I was displeased, I would be lying."