The Viking Wants Forever (22 page)

The blood ran cold through Eirik’s veins. “Brotherly duty? Your responsibility for me ended when our father died and you threw us out of his keep.”

“Water under the bridge.” Haakon waved his hand as if the indiscretion was nothing more than cleaning house. “I am here because it is time for you to take a wife.”

Eirik averted his gaze as he thought about that fateful day when his heart had been broken by Oona’s betrayal. He waited for the customary anger...but it never came. Instead his thoughts drifted to the dark beauty locked in his spare bedchamber. She would be furious over her new jail, and he was looking forward to the encounter with quickening expectation, and he resolved to cut this evening short. His royal guest be damned.

“I have no need of a wife.”
Or at least one that was not Reese.

“Still sore over Oona?” Eirik tightened his grip on his tankard less it ended up embedded in his brother’s skull.

“Would it make you happy to know that she’s lost all the meat on her bones and soured worse than milk?” Haakon waited for a reaction, not getting one he continued, “So, I am here to make up for Oona. I have found you another bride. The fairest in the entire realm.”

“I. Have. No. Need. For. A. Wife.” He enunciated every word slowly so Haakon would not misinterpret his resolve.

“I have a need for you to take a wife.” Losing all manner of good humor, his voice had taken on a hard edge. “Despite your aversion to marriage, it is the purpose of my visit. I would not visit this sty for any other reason.”

Eirik gripped his tankard so tightly, his knuckles blanched white.

“I am looking to unify my lands into one. There are rumors that mongrel Ivar Larson of
Sør-Trøndelag
is gathering an army to unseat me. If I unite you with his only daughter, it will shut him up, and the rest of the
Trønders
will fall in line.”

Eirik gritted his teeth. He’d never been one for court intrigue, especially when it involved him.

“Ivar’s daughter is of marriageable age. She’s very beautiful with black hair and eyes the color of heather.”

Eirik stiffened. “You assumed I might be agreeable to this match because she resembles Oona?”

“I thought no such thing,” Haakon protested. “As your king, I
knew
you would be agreeable. But since Ivar’s daughter resembles Oona, I mentioned it only because the alliance might be more palpable.”

Eirik ignored his brother’s veiled threat. “What will happen if I refuse?”

Haakon sat back with a protracted sigh. “You certainly inherited our father’s stubbornness.”

“Make that two of us,” Eirik gritted out.

Haakon plopped his chin in his hand and considered him for several moments. “What will happen if you refuse? Of course, you will no longer be under my protection. And, I will seize everything you own as my right. And I mean
everything
.”

K
nees tucked beneath her, Reece sat on the floor next to the bed. Ever since nightfall she’d preoccupied herself with counting the stars visible through the window, and before that the clouds. Phee had come and gone with her evening meal, she’d eaten none of it. She’d lost her appetite the moment Eirik locked the door behind.

Her temporary confinement had contributed substantially to her discontent, but it wasn’t the only reason she’d dined on nothing but her fingernails all day. The true culprit? The arrival of Eirik’s brother. In one fell swoop, Haakon’s sudden appearance could undermine her campaign. How could she get back the black tourmaline with him gone?

Deep in her thoughts, she didn’t hear Eirik enter the chamber.

“Why are you not snuggled beneath the furs?” He’d crossed the room and sat down on the bed, his knee touching her shoulder. “Missing our bed?”

Reese tipped her head back to look at him. As per his usual habit before bedtime, he’d bound his hair on top of his head in a messy, but very sexy man bun. Vulnerable to his innate ability to turn her on, she felt her pulse quicken. “I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to count the stars instead.”

“Then I should join you.” To her surprise he slid from the bed and settled next to her. “I think I will be unable to sleep as well,” he muttered, as he took her hand and threaded his fingers with hers.

Anxiety bubbled to the surface. “Your brother brought bad news?”

“It depends on the person. You might be overjoyed. I, on the other hand, am living on borrowed time.”

Borrowed time?
Mind racing to all manner of torture and punishment, Reese hit the ceiling. “You’re talking in riddles!” She yanked her hand from his, and attempted to stand. A hand on her shoulder, and a slight nudge, planted her in his lap. She screeched when he wrapped his arms around her.

“You do not attempt to console me in my time of need?” he asked, nuzzling the sensitive skin just below her ear.

“I’ll give you a black eye if you don’t tell me why your brother is here.”

Not the least bit threatened by the fist thrust beneath his nose, he pressed ardent kisses down the column of her throat, then back up again. “Fair Reese, have a care and take pity on my poor soul.”

Reese opened her mouth to tell him where he could shove his soul, but the words were smothered by a toe-curling kiss. Incapable of stopping what had begun, they both knew she’d lost the battle the minute he’d touched her, she looped her arms around his neck as he lifted her from the floor.

Keeping his mouth firmly fixed over hers, Eirik gently placed her on the bed. And then he was beside her, braced on an elbow, his other hand free to explore, take liberties. Like touching the tips of her nipples visible beneath the delicate linen of her nightgown. And with only a few caresses her body was reduced to an eager sexual vessel where every licentious cell, all nerve endings and every fiber of her being narrowed to a finite focus. Him.

When his fingers slipped between her thighs, her breath caught in her throat, the stabbing pleasure mind-boggling in its intensity. Still, it wasn’t enough for Reese. She needed full-body contact. Twisting around, she arched into him.

“We’re wearing too many clothes,” Reese chafed.

He leaned away from her, and the heat in his smoldering blue gaze, mesmerized her.

“Then fix it.”

Eager to unwrap her prize, eyes locked with his, she grasped the edge of his tunic. Chuckling, he rolled on top of her, so she could pull it off. Not stopping there, Reese went to work on his braies. Once the rawhide laces were undone, she grunted...tugged...grunted some more...until the buttery soft leggings were partway down his muscular thighs. As he moved to discard them, Reese yanked her nightgown over her head and flung it across the room.

“Finally,” she breathed, relishing in his body heat as he gathered her close. Their bodies confirmed perfectly to the other, and she spoke to him with hers, her hands running over his powerful shoulders and back, her legs entwining with his. 

Cradling his weight with his elbows, he gazed down at her. Inch by slow inch he filled her. Reese bit down on her bottom lip as she stretched to accommodate him. With deliberate care, he withdrew to the tip, and then plunged forward, just as unhurriedly, to the hilt.

“Eirik,” she gasped, a naked appeal for more. His measured strokes and his fluid penetration and withdrawal was an earth-shattering conundrum. One moment he was tearing her down, the next building her back up. Reese was in over her head. She’d grown so accustomed to his aggressive style of lovemaking, and practically ached for his hard-hitting strokes, she found herself ill-prepared for this, his gentleness, and it was a shock to her senses. His restraint oddly erotic.

As his cock slid in and out of her, Reese moaned in exquisite response, her testimony to his being an expert at enslaving her, taming her to his will. She should’ve taken him to task for locking her in this room, but with one touch, she’d buckled.

And it felt good, oh so good! In a mindless delirium, she scored her nails down his back. Her hips stirred restlessly, impatiently meeting his every thrust.

Reese felt the first orgasmic flutter. Moaning, her hands bunched the bed furs beneath her. She bit her lip to squelch a cry of pleasure, but cried out when he bit her left breast.

“
Nei
. When you peak, I want to hear you cry my name.” He bent his head and nipped the other breast.

“Eirik!” Her climax a delirious coming, a turbulent outpouring, convulsed her body and stirred her soul. A short time later, he joined her, making her body a willing receptacle for his hot seed.  

Breathing harshly, he sprawled next to her. As soon as his back hit the mattress, she planted herself across his chest. She felt like she could stay like this forever.

“So you are not angry with me?” he asked.

“I am furious.”

He cut his eyes at her. “Do you always smile when you are furious?”

“Only with you.”

His heartbeat unquestionably steady beneath her palm, Reese tried to discern from his expression what he was thinking. He seemed to be studying her face for the very same reason.

“I am sorry.”

Reese’s smile broadened. “You should be. Cooped up here all day by myself, I almost lost my mind,” she exaggerated. Her brief incarceration had been punctuated with periodical visits from Phee and Magdal. Alone, she stared out the window and counted clouds. When that became unbearable, she messed around with a pair of whalebone needles and a ball of yarn she found on the window seat.

“I do not trust Haakon.” There was bitterness in his voice. “One look at you and he would want you, desire you as much as I do. And there would be nothing I could do because you belong to me.” 

In an effort to remain calm, Reese ran her fingers through the light dusting of hair on his chest. “What if I didn’t belong to you?”

“A freed woman has no protection but she can come and go as she pleases.” He gathered her close. “You have no such worries. I will always be your protector.”

“Lucky me.”

His blue eyes flared, and Reese smiled ever so sweetly.

“I will show you how lucky you are,” he growled, and then rolled her beneath him.

*****

R
eese uncoiled herself from the bed and stretched her arms overhead. Last night, Eirik had shown her how lucky she was and then some. He didn’t leave off until she’d collapsed after her seventh orgasm.

Thinking of him, she turned back toward the bed and found it empty. She glanced around the room and located her nightgown on the floor but his clothes were gone. Curious, yet already knowing the outcome, Reese walked over to the chamber door and tested the lock. Sure enough it was bolted.

Discouraged, Reese began to pace. The Viking would never willingly free her. Her family tree included slaves, but accepting her fate would never sit right with her.

“Working up an appetite ‘afore you break your fast?”

Reese spun around to face Magdal standing in the doorway with a breakfast tray.

“A very big appetite,” she admitted. After last night, she could probably eat an entire larder of food.

“Well you’ll be happy to see what I have for you.” Magdal set the tray on a nearby table. “The
jarl
himself fixed your trencher.”

Interest piqued, Reese walked over. Sweet meats, salted fish, cheese, and fresh baked bread filled the tray. “He picked all of this?” she mumbled around a slice of rye bread.

“Every single morsel.” Magdal confirmed. “Well I need to get back to my chores. I need to churn a new batch of butter before dinner. I will come back after I’m done with a snack and possibly Phee.”

The other woman turned about and started for the door. Reese stopped her.

“Magdal, do not lock the door.”

“No...no...no...no...no...no.” Shaking her head emphatically, Magdal pivoted around. “Do not involve me in your mischief. The jarl would gut me if I allowed you to leave this room.”

Before she could escape, Reese hurried over and grasped the other woman’s hand. “Do you want your child born a slave?”

Magdal glanced at her belly. “How does my keeping the door unlocked have to do with my child?”

“If my plan doesn’t work, the less you know the better.”

Her evasiveness didn’t sit right with Magdal. Cutting a hasty retreat, she made a beeline for the door, grumbling testily with each step. “How can you expect me to help, if you willingly withhold information? The
jarl
will gut me for my complacency!” At the door she turned to glower. “Slave or freeman, I want my child to be born.”

“I’m just trying to protect you,” Reese implored. “If caught, all you could swear to is that you forgot to lock the door behind you.”

Magdal seemed to measure her words, and then she was gone.

Still hopeful, Reese walked over and tested the door. It was locked.

*****

“M
agdal told me you’ve gone mad.”

Reese sat in a shallow, makeshift bathtub while Phee poured water over her shoulders. She hadn’t seen the other side of the room in two days but at least Eirik saw to her basic comforts, like a warm bath.

“I’m not crazy. The opportunity had presented itself to set us all free and I decided to take it.”

Phee set the empty bucket, then hefted another. “And this wonderful opportunity?”

“Haakon.”

Beset by a fit of giggles, Phee’s aim was slightly off as the majority of the water splattered onto the floor. “So you think since you bewitched a couple of Vikings, you can seduce a king?”

Reese grimaced. When put like that, her plan did sound stupid. “They come from the same tree, so I assumed they would have shared interests.”

Phee snorted. “The
jarl
is nothing like the king. And for that you should be thanking all the gods in heaven. Haakon is an arsehole. He’s loud, demanding and cuts people to the quick. Just this morning, he brought Lady Brita to tears.”

“What goes around comes around.” Reese would have paid a month’s salary to see that wart on a frog’s ass cry.

“No. Tis cruel how he’s badgered her and Thoren all week.”

“Thoren as well? He’s just a boy.” A bully with a sword at times, but still a harmless child.