[SIC] When the anger gets flueled [Thora]

As much as she enjoys laying beside Ubbe, their bodies pressed together and his fingers skimming lightly over her skin, she knows they can't stay like this forever. She wants to, though. To just stay like this and forget everything else in the world. To forget about the situation that brought Ubbe to her house in the first place. How can that be as important as pressing her lips to Ubbe's chest, feeling his fingers tangle in her hair? She only wishes it were that simple, that nothing else in the world mattered besides this, besides him. It's easy to forget about everything else, though, when Ubbe presses her back into the bed, his mouth slow and sweet against hers, and nothing else matters. She doesn't want that kiss to end, and she closes her eyes and sighs contentedly when Ubbe snuggles his nose into the crook of her neck and kisses her there. Nothing has ever felt so easy and so sweet before, and certainly she's never felt so safe. Thora's never felt such overwhelming tenderness before, and she isn't quite sure how to deal with it besides pressing a kiss to the side of his head, her fingers stroking along the back of his neck and down behind his broad shoulders.

She notes that Ubbe stretches his arm out so she can disentangle from him a bit easier, and her heart jumps into her throat. He would never keep her against her will, she understands that about him but she has very little experience with tenderness and respect in these types of situations. She raises her eyebrows at his remark, and she shoots him a small, suggestive smile. "You" just stopped me." Thora feels his eyes on her as she moves around, and she can't help but make her movements slower, letting his eyes linger on her before she pulls on his shirt with a devious little smirk. She laughs when he tells her she isn't distracting at all as she's rolling up the sleeves, and his playful, lazy grin sends a wave of heat over her body. She winks at him but doesn't answer. She can feel his eyes on her like a physical touch as she walks into the other room, and she makes sure to shake her hips wickedly in his direction as she walks away. She grabs the food and water and comes back into the room. She watches as he pushes himself into a seated position, and the sight of him sitting on her bed is so beautiful she simply stares at him as she hands him the cup.

She takes a bite of the smoked meat and runs her fingers over the broken shield hanging on the wall, as if she can draw strength from it, or remind herself how strong she is. When she asks him what next, the uncertainty plain on her face, she wasn't expecting him to grab her hand and pull her into his lap. His touch is safe and comforting, his hand slowly trailing around the back of her neck, and she rests her cheek against his chest for a moment. When he asks her what she wants she pulls back to look at him, considering his question, but she keeps listening as he continues. She tilts her head, thinking, her bright green eyes locked onto his calm blue ones, and she remembers the wildness in his eyes from just moments before. She watches as he dips his head and takes a bite of the meat in her hand, and as he chews she holds the meat up so he won't have to duck down so far if he wants another bite. His hands gently squeeze her hip, and the smile she gives him is soft and a little shy as she answers him. "What if I want all of that?" She pauses and leans forward to kiss the corner of his lips. She trails her lips along his cheek to his ear, and whispers to him. "I want to be by your side at every victory and every defeat. I want to tease you and hunt you and have you hunt me, and I want to sleep with you and lay beside you." She pauses to press a kiss below his ear, then buries her face into the crook of his neck as she continues. "By the gods, Ubbe, I think I love you." And as she says it, her face nestled against his neck, she feels the truth of it deep in her bones.

In that moment laying there with Ubbe, pressed together and gentle hands trailing over each other's skin, there are two fears that motivate her to leave the bed even though she doesn't want to. The more irrational one is that Bjorn--even though he left in the middle of the night--is going to burst through the door and tear them apart. That this time, he isn't going to surrender his ax to her. But she's able to convince herself that isn't going to happen. The second fear, though, is one that nags, and it's the reason she finally leaves the bed. There's some voice in her head that tells her she's an idiot, that Ubbe has wanted her body from the beginning, and that now that he's had it, he's going to leave her behind and move on to the next woman. They've been hunting each other since the beginning, playing a game, and now that he's caught her, will he simply leave? One look into his eyes, though, the way he presses her into the bed and kisses her so sweetly, is enough to mostly silence that fear. But the memory of it drives her from the bed, drives her to pull his shirt on with a devious little smirk. She wants him to know she's still his for the catching.

She giggles when she says he isn't feeling guilty, and slowly drags her bright eyes over his body, stretched out in her bed. "Good. You can stop me anytime you want." She grabs the food and water and re-enters the room, contemplates the shattered shield on the wall as she takes a few bites, and asks the question that's been bothering her. She's hoping that by admitting the fear, it will lessen its hold on her. Or she'll find out her fear is true, and she can deal with that as long as he's honest. And it's Ubbe, Thora trusts him and knows he will be honest with her. She feels comfortable showing him that little bit of vulnerability, and she knows he won't think her weak for it. She allows Ubbe to pull her into his lap and immediately she feels safe, and she nuzzles her head against his chest and knows he won't do anything to hurt her. She feels his nose against her hair, feels the kiss he plants against her head after she speaks, and she knows talking to him about this was the right decision.

She closes her eyes when he whispers to her, then opens them again when he gently lifts her chin to look in her eyes. His finger is trailing against her cheekbone and she leans into that gentle touch, answering his soft smile with one of her own. He pulls her forehead against his and whispers that she's safe, and when he says that he loves her too, all she can do is smile. His head tilts and his lips press against hers, and she opens her mouth against his and kisses him back. She breaks away to breathe eventually, resting her forehead against his again, and runs her fingers gently through his beard and back against his head to cup the back of his neck. "Well it turns out I only wanted to go hunting so I could scare all your deer away again." She tells him softly, giggling, then presses forward so her nose is touching his. "And you will never scare me away, Ubbe. If the gods test us, we'll simply face it together." She shrugs, grinning at him as if it's really that simple. And in that moment, it is. She leans her head forward to kiss him again, thinking that she'll never get tired of tasting him. One hand snakes around to rub against his back.