The Toll (40 page)

The last thing I wanted to talk about
at this moment was what happened, and I’d love nothing more than to
forget.

“
No. Now. We’re doing this
now.” My mind was a bit of a jumble, only one thing I found
imperative right this moment, and frustratingly so. Everything else
could wait.

Licking his lips, he cleared his
throat roughly and forged ahead, as if I hadn’t even spoken. “We
dinna have ta-”

Taking his hand in mine, I brought it
back to my aching sex, leaning in and up enough to nip him on the
chin.

Jerking back, he grunted, but his eyes
flashed a deep orange, a low toned groan rumbling out of him.
Without another word, I took his lips roughly, our teeth knocking
as I pressed my advance. His fingers picked up where they’d left
off, moving in time with mine as I reached for him, running my
fingers soothingly over the head of his cock, smoothing up and down
his length loosely in a light tease.

“
Now. Ah. Now,” I whimpered
against Troll’s thick, full lips, clawing at him in my desperation.
“I need you now!” The heat raging through me, the very core of my
being lit up, aching from the inside out, was driving me
mad.

“
Now, ye say?” Pausing
intentionally, eyelids lowered over blazing orange eyes, his
nostrils flared and he inhaled deeply. Heartbeat kicking up a notch
as it thumped wildly, his chest pressed to my breasts, he nipped my
lips.

“
Stop teasing
me.”

“
Who’s teasin’?” Holding
himself perfectly still again, his thumb grazed my clit
slowly—
oh, so slowly—
as a deep, throaty growl crept up his throat.

Grrr. He’s playing with
me!

“
NOW!” Plastering my lips
back to his, I shoved his hands away, nudging him until he rolled
to his back. Not wasting any time, I climbed right on, gripping his
chest as I aligned us perfectly.

“
Feisty wench,” he
muttered, but pleasure lit his features. “Ride me, sweet. Yes, like
tha’.” Eyes about to roll back in his head as I ran my wet folds
over and over the underside of his shaft, scalding him with the
throbbing heat building inside of me as I rode him steadily, he
groaned out my name.

Pulling back, I smirked and crawled
down his thighs, a rush of feminine power pulsing through me as he
leaned forward, glancing down curiously. Grinning wickedly, I took
the head of his shaft into my mouth before he could
protest.

Sweet and salty, my own essence
mingling with his, I swirled my tongue around the crown
experimentally, tasting my own juices as well as my mate’s,
ignoring the shocked bark he let out, along with his hands,
grasping at me, desperately trying to drag me back up his
chest.

“
No... ah, nugget, this
isna ‘bout me... an’ it’s,” he moaned, thighs twitching beneath me
as he thrashed about on the bed. “This isna a dream. I... I...
You...I canna...”

That gave me a moment’s
pause, and I frowned, mouth suctioned around him tight.
Really
? Felt kind of
like a dream to me—
a very good
one—
and I planned on making some new
memories to replace all the bad ones—
if
he’d just quit squirming—
very
soon.

Tightening my lips around his cock, I
took another inch of him into my hot, wet mouth, and then another,
until I finally felt him hit the back of my throat.

“
Nugget...” Back arching,
teeth gritted, he tried to pull back, hissing, his huge chest
heaving with the effort. Not willing to let go, I dug my nails in
and held on tight.

“
We canna... what happened
ta ye... ye dinna...” panting heavily, he let out a sigh of relief
when I blinked a few times, swallowed convulsively, his shaft
twitching at the action, and slowly let him slide out of my
mouth.

“
This isn’t real. It’s
not.”
I’d be tearing you apart if it
was.
Anger typically cools a bit when the
mind boggling sex dreams take over. Pure proof that this is most
definitely a figment of my frazzled brain’s imagination.

No...

Leaning closer, my brows
pulled down, scrunching into a frown while I mulled that over. It
gave me a moment of pause, but I shook it off
.

This is something
different, and yet not. It’s like all the ones before—the dream
visions
. It’s a test or something—another
odd lesson, or some strange way to make a point.

What? I didn’t know, but the aching in
my loins prompted me not to question it.

“
In the dream realm,
Mid-Realm nugget, but it’s real. Been here enough to know
that.”

“
Where is here, then,
exactly?” I inquired dubiously.

“
Fer ye or me?” he asked
carefully.

“
Uhm, me.” We’d start there
and then, uhm, go from there. Not that I entirely believed it, mind
you. “No... wait. You.”

Blinking up at me slowly as I hovered
over him, he rumbled. “Be in me own bed... Under.” He muttered the
last part reluctantly, watching my reaction closely.

Brow furrowing slightly in confusion,
I didn’t understand, his thick grey hands latching onto my hips,
holding onto me tight, as if to keep me in place.

“
You’re under your bed?”
Face scrunching in confusion, I squirmed, prominent parts of my
person, waiting for a mouthy troll to tend them, made their demands
known.

“
No. Under.”

Scowling down at him as my nipples
tightened to hard, needy buds, angled straight for him pointedly as
they swung pendulously with every heavy breath I took.

“
Troll... I don’t have time
for your games.”
I need him, damn
it!

“
No’ playin’ games, woman.
Under.
Under Under Hill.”

Which just led to more
befuddling confusion.
Under a hill?
My sex still throbbed, dripping with proof of my
unspent passion, making me want to lash out or jump his ass,
talking be damned.
Who cares about fucking
hills?!
But, despite the flash of heat
rushing through me, momentarily ruled by my body’s rampant sexual
state, a niggle of sensibility was starting to trickle
in.

“
Then what was the point of
all the other stuff before...? If only to send me to you in the
end? No.” With quick, jerking motions, I shook my head, long orange
hair haloing around me in a fluffy, frizzled cloud. “It’s another
weird dream. A dream-dream. It’s meant to tell me something, erm,
or something. They felt real too, they did.” Face pinching, a
shudder rippled across my frame at the memory of the first
one.
I’d died in his arms, for our
love.
Instinctively, my hands tightened on
his chest and I tensed.

Troll, scowling up at me, was clearly
growing frustrated. “What kinda dreams?” A guarded look entered his
flashing orange eyes, a shuttered expression washing over his
blunt, harsh features.

Peering down at him worriedly, I bit
my lip and readjusted myself atop him, wiggling my hips to get him
to release me.

“
Doesn’t matter.” Grunting,
I managed to nudge the head of his swollen shaft against my soaked
sex. “Now let go so we can get this over with. The bad always comes
after the good.”
Or, in some cases, bad, a
smidgeon of good, more bad, and then so bad it’s disastrous.
“Hopefully, this time I won’t...” Pausing, I saw
Troll’s expression, and the fact that it looked like he’d suddenly
stopped breathing, he was so still, and stopped myself. I didn’t
think it would help the, uh, mood, any.

“
Ye won’t what?” Troll
grumbled slowly, his hands loosening as they shook ever so
slightly.

Haunted was the only way I could
describe the sudden flash of emotion, the look of stark panic
crossing his stern face.

Glancing around quickly and clearing
my throat, I shot a hand out flippantly. “Oh? What? I don’t know.
Forgot, I guess.”

As he continued to stare up at me, not
believing a word, a frisson of fear crossing his features quite
briefly, he shook my hips a little, none too gently, prompting me
to finish. I wasn’t about to tell him, so, I clamped my lips shut
and just shook my head.

This seemed to anger him, more than
usual, and he growled fiercely, “So... it’s ta be tha’ way,
then?”

Still silent, I tried to
give him an innocent look, as if truly befuddled. Anger suffusing
him, radiating off of him in waves, it was obvious he didn’t buy
it. I didn’t know why I was so surprised by that
fact
—stupid me—
but there it is.

“
Not makin’ much sense ta
me, an’ I’ll no’ be havin’ liars in me bed, dafty. Not real, ye
say? Tell me nothin’, huh? Maybe ye be needin’ some proof, then.”
With a snarl, Troll rolled us over, looming over me as he spread my
legs wide, lowering himself quickly and efficiently, diving right
for my sweet spot hungrily, thick forearms supporting my knees as
he held my thighs open wide for his sensual attack. Lapping me
hungrily, I cried out, his tongue pressing into my slit, thrusting
in, thick and long.

“
Ah!” Head tossed back,
neck arched, I gasped when he growled into my succulent flesh,
burying his face between my nether lips, the sound vibrating
against my pleasure spot.

Pausing, he slowed suddenly, growling
at the taste of my honey, licking his lips hungrily as he snapped,
“This feel like a dream ta ye?”

Before I could even utter a word, he
was back, face buried deep between my ample thighs, lapping at my
folds, stabbing my cunt with his thick, fat tongue, thumb strumming
my swollen pearl. Soon enough, and faster than I’d ever imagined, I
found myself twitching in the beginnings of a climax. I was on the
verge of a screaming orgasm when he jerked back.

Stopping suddenly to roll over, chest
heaving as he stared up at the ceiling, erection hard and
throbbing, pointing towards the sky, he looked to me, expression
unreadable, and muttered, “Sleepin’ now, me fiery
beauty?”

Lips pursed, eyes narrowed, I glared
at him. “I’ve been fooled before.” My hand sliced through the air,
tremulous as my fingers shook. I ignored its trembling in favor of
glaring at him, along with my racing heart. “This proves nothing.
Even in dreams, you’ve always been a bastard.”

Fingers reaching out hesitantly, he
leaned in and surprised me, brushing a thick strand of frizzy,
bedraggled, orange hair aside, nuzzling the side of my
temple.

“
I’ll never understand
you,” I stuttered, shocked at his sudden show of affection, unable
to contain the deep sigh that slipped past my lips as he let out a
happy rumble, rattling around in his thick chest. “Call you an
asshole you and you want to cuddle.”

“
Bastard,” he muttered, a
small smile playing at his lips.

“
What?” Trying to keep my
senses about me, I was failing miserably.
He’s just too close, and I can’t seem to think straight when
he’s doing—gah—that.

Pausing, his tongue darted out again,
tasting the sweat beading my flesh. “Ye said bastard, nugget, no’
asshole.”

“
Oh. Well, that
too.”

A small, amused chuckle slipped past
his lips. “An asshole, am I?”

“
Yes.” Voice clear and
precise, I didn’t hesitate, then added, “A really big
one.”

Shoulders shaking, he snorted into my
nape. “Where’d ye pick up such a vile tongue, woman,
eh?”

“
A curmudgeonly old troll.
Ever met one?” I mocked, deadpan.

“
Mmm.” There was a long
pause after that, and I could feel him squeezing his eyes shut
tight. The silence stretched on and I could feel his jaw clenching,
body tensing, teeth gritting hard. “We need ta talk, nugget,
there’s...” he slowly gritted out the words, hands fisting around
me tight. After a few deep breaths, he froze, jerked, and sniffed
at my cheek, inhaling deeply before working his way down to the
crook of my shoulder.

“
Hey, what are you...
Oh!!
Ah!”

Burying his nose in my armpit, I
squealed, swatting at him as he snuffled and sniffed my ticklish
spot, my sharp cries deepening as I bellowed at him to get out of
there.

Shrieking and slapping at his head, he
ignored me and yanked my arm up, dragging me across his massive
chest.

Tongue whipping out, he licked along
the underside, then just below the crease of my breast, and I
thought I might lose my bladder.

“
This is indecent... you-
Eww!”

As troll caught a long whiff of my
skin, he grumbled, “Where are ye, nugget?” Pulling back, he
growled. “I said where are ye?” Tone sharp and gruff, his eyes
flashed orange and black.

Flopping back on the bed, I gripped my
aching stomach muscles, wondering at his strange behavior. “What do
you mean?”

Giving my shoulder a none-too-gentle
push, he barked, “I mean, where are ye sleepin’?”

“
Not in a field, I can tell
you that much. Why?” I muttered, rearing back as a deep, angry
growl rumbled up in his chest, rolling out of him like some kind of
angry, feral animal ready to kill. Reaching up without thought, I
soothed a hand over his wide brow, willing the deep creases to
ease.