Authors: Christine Edwards
Loud growling rumbles from deep within his sweat-covered chest as I try desperately to focus on his face. His piston-like movements become wild as he continues to plunge into me with unleashed ferocity.
“Vail!” Intense passion laces his shout.
I watch in fascination as his orgasm transforms his features into sheer ecstasy while he releases inside my willing body.
Chest heaving from exertion, Alreck collapses beside me onto the mattress. His sculpted arms wrap around me in an encompassing hold as he nuzzles my hair against his face.
I lie breathless beside him, trying to put myself back together after the mind-bending experience. I wiggle onto my side so I can face him. His demeanor is calm, relaxed.
He pulls back slightly from kissing my neck and asks, “Are you all right? I mean, I didn’t hurt you or scare you, did I?”
I shyly look away, “No, you were perfect. To me you’re just that, perfect. I’ve never met anyone like you, and I know that I never will, Alreck.”
Raising my eyes to meet his once more, he appears shocked by my open confession and lifts my right hand to his face. I watch as he takes his time softly kissing each of my fingers before pressing the back of my hand to his stubbled cheek.
So sweet. This man is so very sweet. I’m nearly lost for him already
.
“Vail, what am I going to do with you?” he whispers to me through the stillness of the bedroom.
“It’s certainly never dull between us, is it Alreck?” I say, my voice quiet so as not to disrupt the serenity that has fallen over us.
“No, baby, it certainly isn’t.”
He lifts up on an elbow and kisses me slowly, lazily.
Between kisses, I ask, “So did this just make things exponentially more complicated between us?”
He ponders my question for a long time and just when I believe that he’s not going to give me an answer, he covers my body once again with his warm one and takes me, slower this time. On his second smooth stroke he finally replies, “It does.”
T
wo hours later, Alreck stretches his long limbs on the side of the bed. “I’d better check on Titan. I’m sure he feels left out.”
“I bet he does, poor guy. By the way, do you have any pancake mix around here? I’m starving.”
Alreck chuckles. “I believe there is Swedish crêpe mix in the kitchen, and bacon in the refrigerator. Knock yourself out, baby.”
“I’ll get straight on it. I’ll even make it a double order for you. After all of the energy we’ve expended, I’ll be lucky to even make it to the kitchen!”
“You’re something else, American.” It’s so nice to see him smile.
“Yeah, need to keep you on your toes. Perhaps I should be naughty more often?”
He watches me in amusement as he fastens his jeans and proceeds to snag his shirt off the floor. He points a sure finger at me. “Watch yourself, woman,” he says with a mischievous gleam in his eye.
***
I’ve just finished turning the bacon over in the pan as he enters. I turn to see him shut the door as a gust of snow sweeps in behind him. Before coming to Norway, I never imagined a place on earth that could receive so much snow. But it’s so lovely it would be odd at this point not to see it blanketing everything in its glistening splendor.
“Is Titan all right?” I ask.
He stomps his thick-soled boots on the mat by the door before looking up. “He’s fine. He lives for this weather, all that thick fur of his. Smells good.”
“I hope you’re hungry because I made plenty.”
He drops his coat casually across the back of a dining chair before coming to stand right in front of me. Will I ever become accustomed to his imposing height? He towers at least a foot over me. I tilt my head up to him and smile as he cups my neck beneath the high bun restraining my hair. He leans down to place a whisper-light kiss on my lips.
“You feel good?”
“Yes.” I answer as my heart beats like a hammer from his touch. “Oh! You have me so distracted with your sexiness that I about burned the bacon!”
Leaning a hip against the granite counter, he grins down at me. “You think I’m sexy then, do you, American?”
Lifting the bacon out of the pan, I turn to raise my eyebrows at him. “Ah, I
did
think you were sexy until you had to go and call me ‘American.’ ”
Reaching over my shoulder to snag a piece of hot bacon, he whispers against my ear, sending a thrill through me. “You know you love it, baby. Come, let me help you set the food on the table. Can I get you a drink?”
“Water will be great. Why doesn’t anybody drink iced tea in this country? What I wouldn’t give for a perfect Harney & Sons peach iced tea!”
“Iced tea? In this weather? You must be mad.”
“Hey, I could drink iced tea in
any
weather. I’ll have to make you a pitcher one day to show you how awesome it is.”
He drops several ice cubes into a glass. With a smile he says, “I’d like that.”
***
I tidy up the kitchen after our lazy, late brunch and then soak my aching body in a much needed, steaming hot bath. Alreck left two hours ago to hike back down the trail to retrieve his snowmobile before the darkness falls. I told him to be careful, but he assured me that he has cell service and knows the route as if it were his own yard.
My thoughts begin to drift as the soothing water and bubbles encompass me. God, just thinking of him taking me the way he did amps me up all over again. I had yearned for him for so long and now that it’s a physical reality I wonder if I’m becoming an insatiable Alreck addict. My nipples begin to pebble in the warm water as I recall his powerful body taking me to heaven.
I want to do something nice tonight, for all of the trouble I’ve caused. I’m going to attempt a stew with the fresh meat that has appeared inside of the fridge. I assume that it’s venison, but being an animal lover, I try not to think about it too much. I wish I had an English cookbook for a good recipe but I’ll just have to wing it.
I hear the front door shut and I call out, “I’m in here!”
The door is pushed open and he leans on the door-frame. The steam melts the snowflakes on his blue jacket and from the whiskers on his handsome face.
“Aren’t you a vision? I believe I’ll have to join you.”
Oh hell yes!
I watch in eager anticipation as he sheds his clothing in a matter of seconds, dropping everything onto the tiled floor with carefree ease. He steps into the warm water opposite me. Once seated inside the large tub, he grabs hold of my thighs and drags me across the enclosed space, causing a whoosh of bubble-sprinkled water to fly between us.
“Alreck!” I squeak out in girlish delight.
Once I’m up on his broad lap, my hot pussy directly straddling the jutting crown of his proud cock, he claims my mouth at the same time his big body takes mine from beneath. With a single thrust, he slides right inside my body.
“Ah, oh! You feel so unreal.” He’s abnormally big but this time it’s easier to take him. My body is clearly adjusting to his.
He grunts at my praise as I lever up on my knees and take control of the wicked play. I latch onto his beautifully tattooed shoulder with one hand while pulling his hair free from its confines with the other. My brain is having trouble grasping the vision of his magnificent beauty. With his hair falling about his face and shoulders he appears far wilder, even a bit fierce. He grips both of my hips firmly and begins directing my thrusts. My orgasm is bearing down on me with unbelievable speed and my focus blurs.
“Come hard on me, baby. Give it all to me. I want to feel you cum all over my cock,” he grits out through clenched teeth as my index finger snakes down below the bubbles. It takes merely two strokes on my throbbing pink clit before the tension peaks and shatters into a million pieces. I cry out against his lips, riding him desperately through the intense spasms. The pleasure exploding in my brain is so beautiful and overwhelming that I’m having trouble comprehending it.
“Yeah, yeah!
Faen
, Vail!” he yells in his deep voice as he plunges harder, deeper, and his hot cum shoots deep inside me.
I fall forward, gasping against his tattooed chest, and revel in his comforting warmth and the soothing sounds of his strong heartbeat.
I run my fingers lightly across his chest, feeling his surging pulse beneath my fingertips. We are both trying to catch our breath when I ask curiously, “What were you saying to me in Norwegian when you found me out in the snow the other night?”
“
Våkne opp
?”
“Yes, that’s it.”
With a serious expression, he wraps his arms closer around me and kisses my forehead before whispering against my hair, “It means ‘wake up.’ I was pleading with you to wake up, Vail.”
I shudder before pulling back slightly to stare at him. “Thank you, so much.
Tusen takk
, Alreck, for saving me.”
“Shhh. Don’t think of what happened.” Soft strokes through my hair soothe me. “Come, let’s dry off.”
He stands up in the tub and I watch tiny rivulets of water run down his abs. He looks like a vision of a Norse God standing there, naked and wet. After retrieving a towel from the counter, he steps out of the tub and wraps it around his waist. Then he holds a towel open for me and I let him wrap me inside of it. His arms feel so warm, safe.
As he rubs me dry, I say, “I’m going to attempt a stew tonight.”
“That sounds good. I’m not much of a cook, so I appreciate anything that you make for us.”
“You’re not planning on sofa slumbering tonight, are you?”
“Nah, Vail, I’m a generous guy so I’ll let you share
my
bed.”
Sassily, I toss out, “Too kind, my big Norwegian, too kind.”
Alreck takes his own towel to his hair and chuckles before replying sarcastically, “Yeah, that’s me, ‘kind.’ And by the way, Vail, it gets me so damn hard when I hear you speak in my language.”
Oh my …
Tw
o more days have passed and it’s safe to say that we’re enjoying each other’s exquisite company. I’m just finishing brushing my teeth when I hear him call out from the living room, “Come on, baby, if we’re not at the docks in Reine by first light Geir will not wait on us. We need to get moving.”
“All right, all right, chill, I’m ready.” I step out of his bathroom and do a spin. “Do you think I’m dressed warm enough for winter fishing?”
I’m already roasting in my winter weather adventure gear consisting of tall winter boots, jeans with sleek black leggings beneath, a cream Nils wool sweater with a cool silver zipper at the neck, and two tight base layers. All of that before I’ve even slipped on my dense Norwegian Parka. It’s a wonder that I can move at all. I’m so buying stock in Helly Hansen!
“You put two layers underneath your wool sweater, yeah?”
“I did.”
“You should be good. He has a small cabin on his boat if the sea air is too much for you. Let’s get going.”
***
Alreck parks his truck near the Reine docks and the big rig draws more than a few stares.
I laugh. “I swear, in California you might get a glance or two if you’re cruising around in a neon green Ferrari, but you would think that people here have never seen a monster truck!”
“Yeah, the unwanted attention used to bother me when I first got it a year ago, but now I don’t even notice. With the cost of petrol here, most choose to drive a compact car, which is completely practical, so something this massive would inevitably draw curious attention. I’m a big guy and I’ve always liked my space so this suits me fine. Let’s go, I see Geir prepping his boat.”
His buddy is a commercial fisherman and has agreed to take us out on a mini-excursion with him today. As we walk down one of the long wooden docks, he checks his phone to read a text. I assume its Mikkel because his brows draw together and his shoulders tighten. I reach for his arm and ask, “Alreck, what is it?”
He stops beside the boat. “It’s Mikkel. He doesn’t like that the guys lost track of the Russians, so he’s on his way up here from Oslo, just in case anything happens.”
“Alreck, oh my God. Could they really be coming for us?”
“Don’t worry, Vail. I won’t let anyone or anything harm you. You’re my girl, all right? There’s no way anyone could find my
rorbu
and, regardless, we’ll be safe at sea. Come, let’s have a nice day together, Vail. I want to see your mad fishing skills, American.”
His girl
. That sounds so wonderful. The threat of danger is pushed from my mind as we climb aboard the boat.
***
“Reel faster!”
What?
I laugh hysterically, tears pricking the corners of my eyes, while trying to turn the reel and bring in the monster at the end of my fishing pole. Alreck has both feet planted behind me and holds me tight around the waist so I don’t topple over into the frigid Norwegian Sea. I’ve seen enough episodes of
River Monsters
to know that creepy-ass beasts most definitely lurk in deep water.
I’m frantic. “Cut it loose! It has to be a shark, it’s pulling so violently. I can’t do it!”
Two thick male chuckles cut through the air as Geir throws out, “I like her, Alreck. She’s a spirited one. Gotta like a girl that doesn’t get sick out at sea. Think she has at least thirty kilos on the end of that line. Be certain to help her out. Not really up for swimming for an American this cold morning, so hold on to her.”
He replies something in Norwegian to his buddy and they both laugh again.
I ask, “What is it? How much is thirty kilos, Alreck?”
“Relax, baby, you got this. It’s a huge cod on the line and Geir thinks it’s close to fifty pounds. Just keep reeling. When your arms wear out I’ll take over.”
I shriek, “A fifty pound mutant fish from the deep? No way! You take it!”
They both find my terror hilarious as Alreck finally grasps the rod with one hand and places his other hand over mine to finish reeling the beast in the rest of the way. As it comes up alongside the forty-foot boat, it looks ugly, massive and daunting.
“You are so not bringing
that
in here with us.” The creature is almost as long as my armspan!
“Of course I am, baby. That cod is dinner tonight.” I back away into a safe far corner and watch curiously as Geir and Alreck haul the giant fish on board.
***
We’ve just finished a dinner of the cod we caught. It’s safe to say that the creepy fish tasted far better than he looked. We pan seared two large fillets with lemon butter and ate it with a chopped salad and extra buttery mashed potatoes—my secret recipe.
After
his third helping, Alreck nearly licked the pan clean.
His phone sits on the table between and lights up with a new text. Before I ask, he says, “It’s Mikkel. He should be here by dawn if not sooner. I’ll speak with him once he arrives and we will figure out how to get you back to your routine, whether it’s here or in the States. All right?”
Even after everything we’ve been through, and my many escape attempts, the idea of leaving Alreck’s side is painful. I don’t want to dwell on the possibility of our time together coming to an end, so I decide to enjoy the time we have left. With Mikkel arriving, there won’t be much in the way of privacy.
“The dinner was wonderful, Vail. I’m beginning to think that everything you cook is mouthwatering. Let’s move over to the sofa. I’ll bring our glasses.”
“That sounds lovely.”
I’ve just refilled our glasses with a French merlot I insisted we pick up in Reine. He indulged me by trying some this evening. I’ve come to learn that he’s strictly a beer and liquor man. Gee, who would have thought?
He pulls me down onto his lap with my legs stretched out onto the gray fabric of the sofa.
“Tell me about the man you shot.”
I freeze in his arms and whisper, “I never should have said anything. Only my mom knows about it.”
He kisses my neck. “I’d like to hear about it, if you’re willing to tell me.”
I sigh and take a sip of wine, trying to find strength in the liquid. “She told the police that
she
shot him. That animal gave her countless concussions and fractures, all documented in hospital records, so it was a pretty open and shut case of self-defense. One of the female officers who testified at the trial had come before when the neighbors called. She knew what a monster he was, but mom would never press charges. I think that’s why they didn’t ask her for too many details. They figured she just snapped.”
“Why didn’t she leave him?”
“That’s a good question. She doesn’t like to bring it up now, which is understandable, but once she confessed to me that he threatened to have me taken away from her. He could never have done that, of course, but I think he was such an imposing force in her life that it really terrified her, the thought of losing me. He would be so mean, so utterly cruel, and then turn right around and reel her in with endless sweetness. He was sick. I swore to myself after seeing her go through everything that I would only be with a man who would protect me, a strong man with a kind heart.”
“I see now why being here was so hard for you. I should have told you sooner, but like I said, we thought it was best if you didn’t know. When dealing with ruthless criminals like these, the less you know about them the better.” He pauses and takes my hands in his. “So long as we’re together, Vail, nothing bad will touch you. Do you believe me?”
I turn to look up into his sincere eyes. “Yes, I believe you.”
Softly, he says, “I’m sorry I was so hard on you. Before, I mean.”
“It’s all right. Everything happens for a reason.” I know that he means it. I’m certain that the phrase ‘I’m sorry’ very rarely crosses his lips.
We sit together enjoying the fire for a long while. As the wine glass touches my lips and the luscious, berry-tinged liquid rolls over my tongue, Alreck pins me with a hot stare.
“I want you to go into the bedroom and put on that black lace thing again. Nothing else. Bring the
dyne
from the bed, along with one of your headbands and come back out here to me. You have five minutes.”
His tone is dominant and serious. My eyes flare with desire. I want him, want
this
with a fevered passion. I delicately set the wine glass on the wooden stand, still caught in his stare.
“All right,” I whisper, nearly breathless with anticipation.
I move across the living room to the bedroom we now share. I dig into my bag and pull out the black silk nightie and smile. Once I strip down and have it on, I reach into my purse for a little Tocca Colette perfume. Mmm, so delicate, feminine and warm … I hope he appreciates it. The clock is ticking and I rush to find my Asian print, black and red silk headband. A shiver goes through me as I imagine what he could have in mind.
I nab the down comforter on my way out and race back into the living room, trying my best to seem coy, aloof. He watches me closely, his eyes roaming over my body.
“Spread the
dyne
out on the floor directly in front of the windows.”
Purr … Yes!
I swiftly complete the task and turn back to find him slowly stalking me. He tugs on his leather belt, opening it fully and exposing the five buttons of his worn Levis. He shoves them down without thought, right before yanking off his fitted navy blue Ford Truck tee.
I take an involuntary step forward, wanting to cover him like dripping honey.
“Don’t move, girl.” His voice is deeper, guttural now.
I freeze and watch him head toward the fireplace, where he throws three fat logs onto the already healthy blaze. Clad only in black boxer briefs, he looks surreal, dangerous, and hedonistic. I’m salivating for him and whatever naughtiness he’s ready to bring out of me tonight. He stops in front of me, our toes touching. I tilt my chin way up so I can search his painfully beautiful features. Without breaking our gaze, he reaches for the black band of his underwear and pushes them off his lean hips. As they fall to his calves, he shifts and kicks them across the wood floor. His gorgeous shaft strains before him in all of its sculpted glory.
“Hand me the hair tie, baby.”
Without looking, I hand it out to him.
“Turn around.”
I pivot like a ballerina on my toes and fall into place in front of him, facing the wide window. The Nordlys, in full view, are a rich blue and lime green tonight. I see a flash of the headband coming down from above as it covers my eyes. He ties it gently behind my head before grasping my shoulders and turning me around. Two thumbs snake under the straps of my black nightie and I feel it fall off my frame and pool at my bare feet.
He runs his callused hands down my arms and clasps my fingers in his far larger ones. A firm tug sends the message for me to kneel before him. I can smell him in front of me, all male, distinct and clean. Fingers lightly caress my cheek, passing on to flow through my hair. He brings me forward, closer to him, with guidance from his palm against my bare neck.
“Open your lips for me.”
Yes!
My lips part and I feel aroused by the fact that he’s watching me. I can’t wait to take him, make him moan. As I’m pulled forward, I feel the broad head brush against my soft lips. I open wide to let him know I’m eager. As the crown passes over my tongue, I delicately close my lips around him in a lover’s caress and give a simultaneous suck and lick. He tastes so male and perfect.
One palm rests on the top of my head, slowing me. “Easy, baby.”
I still my tongue, pleased with myself so far. He pushes his wide cock into my mouth once again and I tilt my head back, eager to take as much of him as possible. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the entire length of him will never make it. Once he’s seated deeply inside my throat, I hear a distinctly male purr of appreciation.
He begins moving, slowly at first but always deliberate, thorough. Both hands are clasping my head now, directing my movements. One of my hands grips his hard ass while the other slips under his cock to find his smooth hanging balls. I massage and roll them gently as the thrusting increases, growing far harsher, nearly frantic.
Without warning, a low growl cuts through the room. He pulls away from me with a warm palm remaining against my left shoulder to keep me from falling forward. His breathing is ragged.
I smile.
“
Fuck
, woman,
damn
. So good. That mouth of yours is unbelievable, baby.”
My lips turn up. “Thank you. I aim to please.”
“I want you to turn around and go down onto your forearms, cheek against the
dyne
. Do it for me now.” Dominance and anticipation thread his silky voice.
My pussy is pulsing already, wet and so very needy for his touch, his thrusts, his everything. I feel the hair from his thighs tickling against the back of my legs. He runs both palms roughly over my ass, stopping to squeeze it harshly. My arm hairs stand at attention as a delicious shiver zings through my kneeling frame. His hands are gone and a lone finger snakes between my pussy lips from behind as he begins to expertly rub and pleasure me. All nerve endings are on full alert and I moan loudly at the wonderful sensation. He’s like a master musician and I’m his favorite instrument. He plays me
that
well.