"My lovely and beloved Athelstan," Ragnar says, "likes me inside him far too much for this to ever have come up; and as Viking men are very touchy on that subject, he probably never thought to ask. But mainly it is, I think, because he'd never even let me out if there was a way to keep me inside."

He grins, leaning in to kiss Athelstan deeply.

"As I love being within him, to be fair. But I'm curious, of course I am, and would try everything at least once."