by Lexy Timms
"It feels good. Come on." She tried to encourage him as best she could. Never had she had a more awkward moment than the one she faced right now. Walking in on her brother half-naked and taking care of his own needs couldn't compare to this. Why wasn't Luke attacking her? Reaching for her and pawing at her breasts? Why hadn't he touched her anywhere yet?
"It does feel good. It's a little cool, but I guess we're coming up on that time of the year."
She moved toward him as he visibly stiffened. Pausing a foot from him, she reached out and brushed her hands along his chest.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, of course. I'm a little overwhelmed, but I'm good. You're so beautiful." He took her hand and pulled her to him.
Linzi slipped her arms around him and decided to move things along herself. She wanted sleep, and that wasn't in the future until they had made love. Erik would want sex for hours, but something told her that Luke wasn't the same kind of man at all. She slid her hands over the swell of his rear before sliding past the cotton of his underwear. He felt good in her hands and she moaned softly, wanting him to know.
"Oh..." he mumbled before following her lead, his hands stopping on the top of her hips and going no further.
Linzi leaned in and pressed her lips to his chest, dragging them slowly across his skin. He shivered and pulled back, a short laugh leaving him just before she could suck his nipple into the warmth of her mouth. His actions left her feeling raw and agitated.
"That tickles." He smiled down at her, looking like the ten-year-old boy he was acting like.
"Sorry," she whispered and decided in that moment that if he wanted her physically, he was going to have to put forward the effort. It seemed more efficient to just throw herself at him and get it over with, but he wasn't taking the hints and her pride was damaged as it was. She wasn't willing to be told no when their sex wasn't something she was after in the first place. She leaned up and kissed his lips before releasing him and swimming into the middle of the large creek.
He followed her, stopping a little ways away and looked up at the sky. "Did you ever think life would turn out like this?"
"No."
"Yeah, me neither." He chuckled again and she forced a smile.
Hot tendrils of desire for Erik worked through her as she looked around the bank of the water, remembering his scorching demands, his greedy hands. She had never expected to get wrapped up in him and yet from the moment he was able to move, he beckoned her to even try and run. What she wouldn't give to be in his arms in the middle of the water, his hands running over her skin and leaving her panting and needy.
"Hey... you okay?" Luke moved in front of her, stealing the oncoming vision of ecstasy that pressed against her vision. Her memories would be all she might have left to remind her of what passion looked like, how it felt.
"Yeah. I'm ready to go in if you are though."
"Oh sure. Yeah... we can do that."
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Linzi
Linzi held her dress to the front of her, the towel wrapped tightly around her body as she walked back to the house. Luke moved beside her, the tension between them palpable. He had no clue of what he was doing and was scared shitless. If she hadn't been with Erik she would have been a perfect equal to his timidity. But she had... and the thought of going any further with Luke was depressing.
She stopped at the door of the house and looked over her shoulder at him. "Do you want anything to eat or drink?"
"No. I think I'm ready for bed. You want to sleep with me in Kenton's room or would you rather wait?" His brows lifted, making him appear younger than he was.
She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth as if thinking, and not holding back a lashing for being such a pussy about them sleeping together. "You come to my room. I don't like the memories in Kenton's."
Linzi moved into the house and walked languidly down the hall, trying not to think about the last time she had a man in her room. Her virginity was a gift given to a god of lust, his desires untamed, his body primed for such occasions. She glanced back at Luke as her stomach turned again. This so wasn't happening.
Luke moved in front of her, opening her bedroom door and letting her pass before him as he smiled sweetly at her. Where was the man with the passion he had the day he'd slapped her? Where was the fire, that fuel that forced him from infancy into demanding her to be his woman and take his pleasure as her own?
Her body tightened at the thought. She could try and force herself to close her eyes, to let him be Erik, but if he didn't act like the large Viking, it would be moot.
She dropped the towel and tossed her dress toward the far wall before pulling her wet panties from her body. She turned and looked up at Luke as she stood bare before him.
"Bloody hell." He dropped his towel, his underwear clinging to the front of him. Linzi let her eyes move across him as he walked toward her. Luke reached out and touched the side of her face, his eyes moving down her as his body hardened. He wasn't nearly as large as Erik, but that would be a good thing. The pleasure pain Erik provided was good and right, but not something she could imagine sustaining for a lifetime, or perhaps she just told herself that.
"I'm cold," she whispered as he pulled her flush against him, his arms chilled from their walk to the house while still dripping wet.
"Me too. Let's get in the bed and under the covers until we're warm?"
"Sounds good." She pulled from him, crawling into the bed and sliding under the covers. No husky remarks about how good her ass looked, or how he wanted to see more of her. How he would make her beg for him to stop if she teased him again. Nothing but adverted eyes and the soft nervous breathing of her husband to take her attention.
He got in beside her and laid on his back, pulling the covers to his throat and smiling over at her. "Have I told you how pretty you are?"
"Not lately, but you don't need to. I'm content just being me."
"I know, and it's what draws me to you." He turned over on his side, brushing the back of his fingers along her cheek. "Some of the other boys used to talk about being with some of the wilder girls, but I decided I wanted to save myself. You know... for marriage."
"That’s good.” Why were they having this conversation on their wedding night? “Sometimes things don't work out the way you plan." Linzi shrugged, unsure of what to do or say with him. Nothing felt natural or right, everything contrived and planned.
"Oh! I didn't mean it like that. I know what happened with you. You were taken advantage of. I get it." His fingertips moved down her shoulder, tracing her tattoo as he looked from it back up to her. "Can I move onto you?"
"What?" She tried like hell not to let her words sound as agitated as she felt, but didn't succeed in pulling it off too well.
"Never mind." He moved the sheet and got on top of her, his underwear still on and soaking wet.
"Luke. Take off your underclothes. You'll get the bed wet."
He moved back out of the bed and pulled them off, his back to her. He slipped back into the covers without ever showing her the front of him. She closed her eyes and prayed like hell that the darkness of the room would hide her disdain.
She opened her legs as he moved to rest on top of her again. His breathing was heavy and shaking.
"Forgive me, Linzi. I'm new to this. I just want to do everything right."
"Don't apologize. I understand. It's just me and you're not performing. Come here and let what happens naturally between us as husband and wife happen. There is no need to force anything."
"I know, but you've been with a man before. I just want to measure up."
She reached up as depression rose in her chest. She wasn't going to survive this night, much less this life. Her fingers slipped into his hair as she pulled him toward her, his body pressing firmly to hers as he grunted against her mouth.
It felt good to be close to someone, to feel the softness of his skin against hers, the warmth of his body offering itself to her. He stayed board sti
ff, his lips even hard and pliable, nothing like the kisses from even earlier in the day.
She licked her lips and captured his face. "Luke. Roll onto your back and let me make love to you. This doesn't have to be anything other than blissful."
"Yes," he whispered and moved off of her, his knee slipping and plowing into her crotch. She yelped and he moved over quickly, horror on his face.
"Oh hell! I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" He reached to touch her shoulder and she steeled herself as she sat up. Anger burned deep inside of her at the life she'd been handed. This joke of a man trying to make love to her would have been perfect had she not been laid open by lust incarnate.
"I'm fine," she bit out and got out of the bed, her groin aching from the beating it took. She walked to the candles and blew them out, not caring what he thought about her nakedness or the room being plunged into darkness. Sex was expected and if she had to see him for another moment, trying to figure out how to create passion that didn't exist, she might scream.
"I'm sorry, Linzi." His voice pushed past her anger and her angst and left her feeling like a bitch – a needy whore who would never be satisfied with love over lust. She fought back tears, not willing to walk down that path just yet.
"It's okay." She moved the covers and got back into the bed, moving to lay on top of him. "Touch me. I'm yours, Luke. Run your hands down my back. Cup my arse and squeeze it. Lick my breasts and bite my flesh. Whatever you want..." Her growing belly pressed against his thin stomach. She tried to ignore it and just let his touch warm something—anything—inside of her.
"Shite," he whispered as she sat up, opening her legs to press the warmth of her body against his hardness. He groaned softly, his hands still on the bed beside him.
Linzi bit her tongue until the pain in her mouth numbed the deep thud of despair in her heart. She took his hands and slid them up her ribs to cup her large breasts, forcing his fingers to brush over her nipples and then again.
"Like this. Just do this and I'll do the rest?" She leaned down and kissed him softly, her mind making him the only lover she wanted beneath her.
Arching her hips, she found the top of him and pressed back, his body sliding into hers with staunch tension. It had been so long since she was with Erik that she had forgotten how good it felt to share passion.
"Oh yeah," she whispered and reached for his hands again. He was panting softly, his hands cupping his own chest as he stared at her wide-eyed. She pressed his hands to her hips. "Hold me tightly and dig your nails into my flesh. Please?"
He nodded and clamped down on her hips as she began to rock.
"Oh shite. Oh shite. I don't know how long I can last." Luke panted and held on tightly as Linzi closed her eyes and pressed her hands to his firm chest. She didn't need long with Erik on her mind. It wouldn't take but a few minutes and her body would explode.
Erik's hand was in her hair, pulling back as he gripped her ass with his free hand so tightly that she screamed. He worked her fast and furiously, the slapping of their bodies driving her mad. His deep voice rolled over her.
"That's it, lass. Take it. Whatever you need from me, demand it of me, Linzi."
He sat and pressed his lips to her neck, his teeth pressing into her soft flesh as she felt the world come undone. The handsome Viking laying back and lifting his hips to give her as much as she might be able to handle.
She leaned forward and whispered as the image faded. "I'm so close. Give me more. Lift your hips, baby. Fook me right..."
"Stop, please... Linzi, stop, lass," Luke begged softly, his groans broken and painful sounding.
She paused, letting her own need for ecstasy stop as her blood cooled. "Are you okay?"
"I'm sorry, Linzi. I couldn't hold it anymore. I tried to wait, but you're just too good." He reached up and took her face into one hand, pulling her flush against him as he kissed her closed-mouthed and shifted his hips, pulling out of her. She returned the kiss and moved off of him, her heart racing, her body screaming for release and yet it would have none.
She picked up a towel from the floor and handed it to him as she stood in shock. There were no words for the emotions that rolled through her, the realization of a new life, one that left her silently crying hot tears into her pillow for the rest of the night.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Erik
Eleven Months Later
The last year had been hell. Too many conversations in stuffy counsel rooms and not nearly enough blood spilled. Erik paced in front of the large ornate painting of his father when he was King. The great hall sat empty, the people all gathered in the dining hall for a celebration of the fall harvest. Winter was coming early and there were only a few more months to sail overseas without the promise of eminent death.
Now was the time to make his move. He had mulled it over and over in his mind, his sleep tainted with nightmares of the life he left behind, his days wasted on frivolous living.
How many women had he had in his bed, trying to find her again? Surely her spirit lived in another, her fight and aggression, but no. He had only succeeded in breaking a hundred hearts, his own cold and useless. He had thought she would diminish from his thoughts in time. It had been wishful thinking.
"Why does the King of our great land keep from his people? You should be at the center of this celebration."
Erik turned at the sound of his mother’s voice, pausing and crossing his arms over his chest. His hair had grown back out and he kept a beard on his face to hide his appeal. He wasn't interested in undo attention and his mother was already on his case far too much about finding a wife and bringing the sound of small feet back to the castle.
No woman would do but Linzi.
"I'm not interested in getting fatter and spending another moment with a room full of tarts that don't interest me." He straightened his shoulders, his days of making the woman happy having come to an end.
"You're angry with me."
"I’m not. I'm telling you that you have a few days left before I get on a ship and head back to my life."
"Your life is here." His mother's voice rose as she walked toward him. She was viciously strong and he could see why his father fell madly in love with her. She was very much like his Linzi. Beautiful and brave, fierce and loyal.
He walked toward her, taking her face in his hands and he lifted her chin to look at him. "Mother. I love you with my whole heart. I left everything in that foreign country over a year and a half ago. I haven't slept a good night since then and food has no flavor. The women I've taken to my bed leave me angry and unsated. I came here because of my love for you. No other reason. I am not loyal to this country or this crown. I’m a lousy king.” He paused as tears filled his mother's eyes. "I fought father's war because I wanted to honor him in all that I did. I have never been this man you've created me to be. I am a soldier and I want more than anything to be a husband and a father. I'm leaving on Friday with my ship that sails to Britain."
"And this is your final decision?" his mother asked, tears dripping down her beautiful face and onto his fingers.
"It is. I pray that you find love and that another in our line will step up and lead this great country, but it cannot be me. I'm dying here. I know of one place and in one woman's arms that I will find myself."
"Is she beautiful?"
"Majestic," he whispered, pulling his mom into a tight hug. "She reminds me so much of you and she deserves better than me, but I pray to the gods of Valhalla that she’ll accept me back into her life."
His mother pulled back and brushed the front of his shirt with her fingers as she shook slightly. "Well, she would be an idiot not to. You're handsome and strong, brave and kind. Everything your father was and wanted you to be."
“She might not take me back. She may have found another.”
“I would highly doubt that.” She smiled through her tears.
"You're not terse with me?"
"No. I love you as my son and where duty is most important to
me, the news of your passing set me free from the chains that bind me to this place. Your father's youngest brother, Edward, is coming to visit later this week. I will give him the news."
"He is next in line?"
"Marcus would have been as the son of your father's middle brother, but now that he is dead too, it will pass to Edward. He’s a smart man, strong in battle and not a coward. He’ll make a good king."
"And what of you? Come with me. I'll build us a place in the countryside. You'll love Linzi, mother." He hadn’t said her name in so long out loud, it felt foreign. He moved back, careful to keep one hand on his mother's shoulder.
"No. My place is here. I’ll go to the cottage in the countryside on the northern part of the coast. Your father built it years ago and we used to visit all the time when you were young. Do you recall it?"
Erik laughed, the memories flooding him as he breathed in change. "I do. Will you be safe there?"
"Yes.” She waved her hand. “These guards follow me wherever I go. There are several servants here in the castle that will retire with me. Do not trouble yourself over me. Start to make preparations for your journey and if ever you can... return to me with your… your… woman?"
"You sound as if you knew this was coming, mother."
"I've realized when you returned that you were not the same. I thought time and duty would bring the Erik I once knew. You’ve lost yourself and I think the only way to find you again is to return to the Highlands. I’ve been waiting for you to make the decision and then step up and be the man your father would have been most proud of you being." She reached out and touched the side of his face. "How many men will you take with you?"
"Only those to aid in sailing the ship. And they will return once they are ready. My men are home and most of them are married now. I'll not split up another family. The fighting has all but ceased in England and the portions of the Highlands that belong to us now are under proper care. I have helped to usher in peace, a peace that I hope Edward will continue to foster."
