“All hail King Varghoss!”
The cheer had more to it than I thought it would. There was an energy to it, something that made it seem real, earnest. I put a hand to my mouth. Tears came to my eyes. Did they truly want me as a king? Did they truly want me? If that was true, then what was my life? An illusion? I knew it somewhere inside me, that the king, that Fundinn had made it impossible to befriend me, openly respect me even, but I had never let myself believe the opposite, that I might actually be liked. It would have been too heartbreaking to find out it was not true.
The first clap on my back hit me like a thunderbolt. It was Finli.
“I knew you’d fare well in a battle. Knew it.”
Thannen was next, “so what now for me, eh? Captain of the guard? I’ll take captain of your navy, if that’s taken. I kind of like the big ships, now. You’ve done beautifully. This was a real gorgeous, swift fight, if I know anything, and I know a little.”
I was going to choke. Men tapped my shoulders and gripped my upper arms, wrapped their hands warmly around my wrists, and kissed my cheeks. They bowed as they passed.
“Let’s get you inside, brave king, before you weep in front of everyone.”
“There is nothing wrong with feeling so much that tears run,” I told Ulfvaldr, who was pulling me inside, “there is great beauty in this moment.”
“There is, but there is also great mead inside. Let us go.”
At that, I laughed, and followed.
The women, gods bless them, had done an amazing job transforming the castle yard from bloody battleground into a feast. While the men sat around licking their wounds, the women had thrown off the fear of death and proceeded to make the castle a place of celebration. A few children still cried, but most were running between their mothers and elder sisters and aunts legs as they brought roast meat, fresh bread, and harvest fruit to the tables. They lit candles and torches and great fires and strung ribbons from place to place. They had taken down Fundinn’s flag and flown my father’s colors. I looked to the center of it, and there was something I had never seen before. A silver wolf, rampant, stood in the center of it, surrounded by lightning bolts and eyes.
“Ulfvaldr, look.”
“You took your own castle, my King, so they fly your flag.”
“It’s a wolf.”
His brow furrowed, “Once, only a generation ago, our peoples were very close, but that is a story for another night. Your men will want you to recount the battle with them. You must soothe the pride of the losers, and praise the winners. You must show each person favoritism-”
“Is that your advice?”
“It is. Treat each person under you as your favorite, and you will have all but the sourest of men at your every disposal.”
“You speak from experience.”
“I have ruled since I was four and ten, my King. It looks as though there are many things I can teach you.”
He gave me a look up and down as he said this. I flushed through my cheeks. I hurried forward to the feast, that is, until I reached the tables.
One stood on a dais, above the others. At the center, two great seats stood empty. Ulfvaldr saw me hesitate. He took my arm in his and led me forward. When we reached the top of the wooden platform, he led me to my seat and drew it out for me. Before I could sit, I heard a great noise. I looked up. All had stood. None touched food. None touched mead. I raised my arm. They called out.
“Hail King Varghoss!”
I blushed. I sat, and so did they. This had been Fundinn - it had always been Fundinn. I stared out at them. They respected me as though I were one of them.
“You might need a little help to get used to kingship, my friend. Leastways, that’s how it seems. Take this. Drink this. After you’ve had three, make a toast to those who fought for Fundinn. After four, make a toast to those who fought for you. After five, tell everyone how you came across a small army on your way from Wolfholm to the castle.”
I spat out my mead.
“I forgot you don’t know.”
“You can tell me the same as everyone else. I want the full effect. Drink, eat, recover for a moment.”
I did, and let Ulfvaldr’s strokes on my thigh lull me. When he finally said to me, softly, in my ear, “Make a toast to those who fought for you,” I did.
It was amazing, to see the wolves and slave men rejoice at their names being toasted. When I saw the disgruntled faces of the men who had fought for Fundinn, I knew what Ulfvaldr had been talking about. I called for another cup, another toast.
“To the people who fought for Fundinn, wrong though he may have been. To your bravery, and your loyalty. You are exemplary men who looked the death god in the face and gave no quarter until your king surrendered. I can only hope for so much loyalty.”
When one man shouted, “Aye and you shall have it!” I raised my hand again, “and to the loud among us! They keep us from sitting on our asses.”
That drew much laughter.
“The story I have to tell is too sad,” I said to Ulfvaldr, “of the men I brought to fight for me. They have lost everything.”
“Have they not gained everything? You do men a disservice when you do not tell their story,” he said, “find the light parts, and bring them out, like a good polish on metal. Make the story shine.”
I tried my best, telling of Fundinn’s betrayal, my capture, the way the slave men jumped at the chance to take the ship back.
“What of the slavers?” Ulfvaldr asked.
I shrugged, “We gave them to the men returning to their villages.”
I sat to hoots and shouts from the slave men and the wolves. Fundinn’s people seemed somewhere between unnerved and amused. It was a good story, but it was disturbing to hear of a man selling his stepson. My limbs were warm and loose from the mead, but my body ached from the battle on the ship, from climbing walls, and charging spearmen.
I looked to my right. Ulfvaldr looked only at me.
“It is time the king went to bed,” I said and stood, “Goodnight! Feast as long as you like, or as long as you are able, whichever comes first.”
That comment made Finli squirt mead out his nose. I left the table and headed toward the castle. I hesitated as I passed Fundinn’s old chambers. I would claim them another time. I put my hand on my door and heard footsteps behind me. I had expected Ulfvaldr to follow, but knowing he was there sent a thrill up my spine.
He put a hand on my shoulder and his lips on the back of my neck. His breath was hot and sweet. His beard prickled my skin as he drew his lips over my flesh. He pushed the door open, and with it, pushed me inside. His hands were gentle but firm as he took me forward to the bed. I turned to face him. He swept my legs out from under me and we were swimming in a sea of furs.
My body buzzed with the effects of the mead. His hands traced patterns over my flesh. He lifted my shirt over my head. I tugged at the furs around his shoulders. He cast them off. I ran my hands over his hard abdominal muscles, his brazen pecs, and let my eyes feast on his tattoos. The blue and green inks were perfect. Wolves and men, bears and eagles, mysterious shapes and ancient runes danced across his tan flesh. He unlaced my pants and snaked a hand down.
He wrapped his hand around my cock and stroked.
“Agh! Ulfvaldr!” I cried out before his lips on mine stifled my cries.
His mouth tasted of honey. He ground his hips on my leg. I could feel his hardness through his leathers. It was fully erect, harder than I had ever felt him. He kept stroking me. I moaned and tried to tell him to stop, I did not want to finish so soon, but his kisses continued. He devoured my mouth and rubbed my cock savagely. I reached a hand down to slow him, but he grabbed my wrist and pinned it above my head. I panted and moaned in his embrace. I could not hold back any longer.
“Please…” I moaned into his mouth.
He pulled away from my lips and looked down at me with a darkness in his eyes, “You’re going to come, and then you’re going to come as many times as I would l
ike you to, my king,” he whispered.
Ulfvaldr’s words took me to the edge. My body flooded with warmth. My stomach clenched. His hand kept going, spurring me on. My orgasms came in a flood of heat. My seed spilled over his hand and onto my chest. He pumped me until I cried out. Then he let me go. I lay there panting. I watched him lick my seed from his hand.
“Delicious,” he said, “but a mess.”
He pulled my leggings away and bent his head to my thighs. He lapped at my spilled seed with his tongue, cleaning up every bit, inch by inch. I moaned as his tongue lavished my inner thighs. His lips met my balls. My hips bucked. I was so sensitive. He put his hands on my hips and held me down.
“Like I said, my king, out there, you give orders, but in here, you obey. Now still yourself.”
His tongue found its way to my shaft. I wrapped my hand through the back of his hair and ground my ass into the furs. When his lips found their way to the still-swollen tip of my cock, I bit into the furs next to my head and screamed. He sucked my half-hard cock into his mouth. I could hardly see. I thrashed beneath him and became only the feeling of Ulfvaldr’s mouth on me.
Chapter 15
Ulfvaldr
The prince cub, no, the king quivered under me. His scent said he was spent, but his moans told me otherwise. There was still far to go before he was completely ruined beneath my touch, and that is what I intended to do to him. I swallowed his cock down into my throat, lavishing it with my tongue and tasting his skin, his salt, and his needy juices.
With each stroke, his cock grew just a little harder. I held his hips down and sucked without mercy. The way his eyes rolled back in his head told me he was out of his mind. There was nothing more seductive than taking a bright man’s mind and filling it with so much lust that he lost all sense.
He tried to escape my tongue, but I held his hips down on the bed. His struggle was delicious. I loved to watch his muscles strain beneath his pale skin. His cock grew harder, just hard enough. I toyed with his balls and increased my rhythm.
“Aaaaugh!” His wordless cry filled me with desire.
I wanted to pound him, make him scream. I wanted to hear him beg for more. I wanted to pour my seed into him, but I could wait a little longer. I groaned into his cock.
He trembled. His cock twitched. He came in my mouth, a hot spurt of sweet seed. I kept sucking, milking him.
“Please, Ulfvaldr, no more!” He finally found his words.
I gave him one last lap and let his cock go. He looked at me, his chest rising and falling with ragged breaths. His eyes were bleary. I stood and dropped away the remainder of my clothing. His eyes fell to my cock. I was hard, throbbing, and I was going to take what was mine.
He knew it. The air filled with the scent of his anticipation, and his fear. I dragged Varghoss by his hips to the end of the bed and flipped him over. When I spread his legs, I felt the wolf in me rise. My fangs came out. I traced the lines of his back and his buttock with a claw. I knew I had to hold back, to keep myself from savaging him, but the taste of his seed in my throat and the way this king looked, supplicating himself on the bed in front of me, made me unsure if I could do anything less than take him completely.
Chapter 16
Varghoss
I clutched at the furs as he spread my legs. His hands wound their way up my inner thighs, kneading me further open. His fingers found their way to my cheeks. I hissed at the scratch of claws and felt him reposition his hands so that he was no longer scratching me. He pulled me apart and put his hips to my ass.
I felt the heat of his member as he pushed it between my cheeks. He thrust up and down between my buttocks, mimicking what he would do inside my hole.
I groaned and pulled the furs toward me. He pushed up against me. I writhed and squirmed. My depleted cock dripped precum, though it was spent and only half hard. I wanted to have him inside me, but I feared it.
“If you have oil in this room, now is the time to tell me, my king.”
Ulfvaldr’s words were ragged, wolfish. His thrusts became less and less tame. I knew he would tear me apart. I pointed to a candle that on a table near the bed.
“It is of animal fat, not bees wax.”
He removed himself from me and took the candle. I watched him stride to the fire. He knelt in front of it and drew a half burning piece of kindling out. He lit the wick and returned to me. He stood behind me. I twisted to look at him, but with a growl, he took my hair in his hand and pressed my face down into the furs.
“You will await your fate,” he said.
The way his words fell from his lips made my stomach quiver. My body filled with longing. He traced a hand down the small of my back and then between my cheeks again. He ran a finger around the rim of my hole. It made me tingle and pucker in response. He bent down over me. I felt the prickle of his beard as he nipped at my skin. He withdrew.
Something hot spattered on my cheeks.
“Owooooh!” I moaned and tried to turn around.
His hand found the back of my head again and pushed me down.
“Enjoy it, my pet,” he crooned and dripped hot tallow onto my backside. He removed his hand from my head and began to smear the melted oil around my cheeks. He dripped more down and rubbed it in my crevice until his hand flew threw it, slick and smooth. He withdrew it.
I felt a finger, dripping with oil, meet the entrance to my hole. He worked the oil around the puckering muscle. I was no longer sore from the last time he took me, but the sight of his girth made me at once nervous. He pushed a hot, slick finger into my entrance.
“Aah!”
I could hear his breathing growing heavier. He slid the finger into me, swirling it around inside my hole. He drew it out and pushed in again. Then again, this time, with globs of hot oil dripped onto it. When his finger slid in and out of me with ease, I felt him press a second in.
I squirmed on his fingers. He pulled them open. My hole stretched, obeying his touch in spite of me. He pushed a third finger in.
“Ulfvaldr, ooh!” I moaned.
I heard him hiss through his teeth. He began to fuck me with his fingers, sliding them in and out of my hole. He dripped hot tallow onto my hole and in between my cheeks until it was dripping down my thighs and onto the bed.
He withdrew his fingers with a slick pop. I felt my hole grow empty and cold. My cock was hard again and aching. It was still raw with pleasure. He grabbed my hips and pressed me into the furs, rubbing my cock into the bedding. I gasped as I spilled droplets of desire into the furs below.
Ulfvaldr pushed his cock between my cheeks and started to fuck them again. It slid between them, slickened with oil. My hole was empty, my body calling out for him. Ulfvaldr ground into my backside and made as though he would never enter me. He let out a satisfied groan, as though this was all he needed.
“Please…” I whispered.
“What say you, my king?”
“Please take me,” I groaned.
“As you wish,” he said and I could hear the grin spread across his face.
He yanked my hips back and spread open my cheeks. Before I could cry out, he had pushed past my entrance and was inside me up to the hilt. My hole flashed with pain. I turned to look at him.
Ulfvaldr, covered in tattoos, muscles tensed, veins standing out on his arms and teeth bared was looking at me like he was going to eat me.
He did not make me turn around as he stared into my eyes and snapped his hips.
I screamed.
He bucked into me again, harder this time. I tried to move, to ease the feeling, but he held me fast against his him. He controlled this moment. There was no doubt. He looked down at me and thrust into me again, so hard his balls slapped against mine,
“Please!” I cried.
“You cannot have it both ways, my pet,” he said sliding his knee onto the bed beneath me and lifting me higher in the air. My toes scrambled for purchase on the floor. He pulled me backward onto him and pushed forward, stretching me deep insi
de. I let out a long, low moan.
He pulled out and slammed back in and did not stop this time. Each thrust came like thunder. He built up a rhythm, each plunge coming immediately after the last. The pain faded to pleasure that made me unable to speak. I could only cry out and tear at the furs. I had no balance. My body moved according to his whims.
When I thought I could take no more, he suddenly stopped. He pulled out of me, his hard cock springing up after leaving my hole. He sat on the bed and leaned against the headboard, looking every bit the wolf king, regal, imposing, ferocious. He cocked his head forward.
“Let us see how you ride. Come here.”
I crawled forward. I was enthralled with his shining, oiled cock. My body was shaking with longing. I wanted more.
He pulled me forward and spread my legs so I was straddling him, my hole hovering just above his cock. He looked at me. I put my hands on his chest and began to lower myself slowly onto him. His eyes raked over my flesh and over my cock. I flushed. It felt dirty to show so much desire.
He let me slide him slowly inside of me. When I let my legs relax, I sat the rest of the way. I gasped with how sitting on him filled me more deeply than before. He rolled his hips and looked at me with fire in his eyes.
“Go on,” he ran his wolf claws down my thighs.
I moved up then down, slowly raising and lowering myself onto his cock.
“You’re going to have to do better than that, Varghoss, he growled. Take it like a warrior.”
I bit my lip and bounced on him harder, feeling his cock pound my inner walls. He bucked his hips once. I screamed. He hit the bundle of nerves inside me and my vision went blinding white. I recovered, sitting on him and panting.
Claw and Crown Bundle: A Gay Viking Historical Fantasy Shifter Romance Series Page 8
