by Dena Christy
Nan let go of his hand and turned away from him. She made it across the room and when the weight of his hand came down on her shoulder.
“Don’t I get a say in this,” he asked as he turned her around to face him.
She stared at his chest, knowing that if she looked into his eyes she would be lost, and they would go right back to the way they were. She was prepared to walk away from him. He needed to see that she didn’t want half measures anymore.
“You’ve had your say, Baldr,” she said, her voice hardly above a whisper. “I need to think about what I need, and I need to move on. You’ve created a life for yourself here, and I’m happy for you. But there isn’t a place for me in this new life of yours and I need to find my way.”
His hands came up to cradle her face, and he gently tilted her head back.
“Look at me,” he said and against her better judgement she raised her eyes to meet his. “I’m not ready to let you go. I know I should, that I’m not being fair to you, but I can’t let you go yet.”
“Baldr, I can’t take half measures. Either you’re in this or you’re not.”
“I know,” he said as he leaned closer to her and she could feel his breath fanning against her face. Desire for him rose inside her, and she longed to pull him close. She had to be sure though that he was going to attempt to make this marriage work.
“Don’t do this if you don’t mean it. Don’t say what I want to hear tonight and then go back to your old ways in the morning. I can’t keep doing this if things will not change,” she said.
“Please stay,” he said as he leaned closer, so that only a fraction of air separated his lips from hers. “Just a little longer.”
She knew if she left, he would do nothing more to stop her. This was as close to begging as he would get, and frankly she didn’t want begging. She didn’t expect this to be easy, and she knew they had a rough road ahead of them. She want to know that he wanted her as much as she wanted him.
“What’s it going to be Nan,” he said staying just as close as he was before. “Are you staying or going?”
She took a deep breath, and move the short distance she needed to press her mouth fully on his, her decision made.
Chapter 12
Elation shot through Cadric when she brought her mouth up to his. The feeling of dread that had sat in his stomach like a heavy lead ball since she’d told him she was going slowly dissolved. He realized this was his final chance with her and if he was going to keep her he needed to make her feel a part of his life. He pulled her body closer to his, and the weight of her against him felt so familiar and so right that he wondered how he could have thought he could put her aside.
“I want you,” he said as he pulled back to look down at her. He hoped he wasn’t reading too much into her kiss because he didn’t know if he could let her go now. His body ached for her, and he’d been bereft of her for so long that it was going to be long into the night before he was sated.
“It’s time we had a real marriage again, Baldr,” she said as she threaded her fingers through his hair. It was all he needed to hear. He pulled back, took her by the hand and led her from his office.
The trip to his bedroom took only moments, but felt much longer to him. He hadn’t made love to his wife in a thousand years, and he felt every second of his absence from her. They both needed this, and now he didn’t know why he insisted on holding himself away from her. He didn’t want to keep himself separate from her anymore.
He stopped when they stood by his bed, and she looked up at him, her eyes so full of desire for him that he felt humbled by it. He didn’t deserve the chance she was giving him, and he vowed that he would be worthy of the trust she was placing in him. Her hands came up to cradle his face, and he leaned down to kiss her again, softly at first. He was content to taste her lips again and again until the passion he felt for her bubbled to the surface and kissing no longer satisfied his hunger.
He took a step back from her and lifted his shirt off over his head. Her eyes eagerly devoured his form as she reached for him, putting her hands on the smooth skin of his chest. His breath hissed in through his teeth when she brought her head forward and kissed the middle of his chest and drew her tongue in circles over toward his nipple. He cupped the back of her head and drew her gently away.
“I don’t want this to go to fast, and my control is hanging by a thread,” he growled as he set her away from him. His hands came to the hem of her shirt and he lifted it up over her head. With smooth efficient movements he dispensed with her bra and tossed it aside. She stood before him, her breasts thrusting forward and her nipples stood in stiff peaks as if begging for his touch. He lifted his large, rough hands to her pale, soft skin, and she tilted her head back with a sigh when he caressed and molded her aroused flesh.
“Baldr,” she sighed, and he pulled her flush against him, kissing her with a hunger he’d only ever felt for her. Hearing the sound of his true name on her lips was his undoing, and he crushed her to him as he deepened his kiss. He didn’t think he could hold back much longer as being this close to her tested the limits of his control. Her fingers tunnelled in his hair, and her soft touch slowed him, calmed him so he could pull back a little and catch his breath. He looked down at her, her desire for him evident in the depths of her blue eyes.
“Make love to me, Baldr,” she sighed as he took a step back, undid the long skirt she was wearing and let it puddle around her feet. Her panties followed, and she stood naked in front of him.
“Nan,” he growled when she reached for the button on his jeans. Her hands shook, making a lie out of the calm, cool image she presented. He moved her hands away, and finished the job for her, breathing a sigh of relief when his erection sprung free of the confining denim. Her tiny hand darted out and encircled his engorged flesh, and a growl rumbled in his chest at the intense pleasure her touch gave him.
“Come to bed, husband,” she said as she let him go to move to the center of his bed and lay before him. His eyes drank in the sight of her golden hair and pale skin glowing against the dark blue of his bedspread. He was paralyzed for a moment, and his chest hurt to look at how beautiful she was in her nudity. He must have been mad to have left her all those years ago.
“Baldr,” she said as she raised her hand toward him, and that small action released him from his stupor and he took her hand. He came down beside her on the bed and leaned up on his elbow. He brushed the hair away from her face and kissed her tenderly.
Her arms reached up and encircled his neck as she gave herself wholly over to his kiss. He kissed her for long moments, revelling in the sweetness of her mouth, and the taste of her tongue against his. He moved his mouth away from her to trail kisses over her chin and down her neck. His tongue reached out and tasted her warm skin as he made his way to her breasts. He took one in his mouth, suckling the hardened nipple as she arched her back, her fingers spearing through his hair as she pressed him closer to her. He smiled against her flesh as he remembered how he used to drive her wild for hours using only his mouth.
He gave the other breast the attention it deserved as his body hardened further at the sound of the soft breathy moans coming from her. Her breast slipped out of his mouth and she tilted her head up to look at him. He winked at her as he kissed the flesh of her belly and she bit her lip as he made his way down past her navel. She parted her legs for him as she swallowed hard, and he stroked his fingers over the slick flesh at the apex of her thighs. The flesh of her thighs trembled as her breath came a little faster.
“Kiss me,” she said.
“As you wish,” he said and he bent his head to do her bidding. He played with the sweet slick flesh between her thighs with his mouth and tongue until he could hear and feel her pleasure building to its peak. He tongued her with the exact amount of pressure she needed, giving her exactly what it took to take her over the edge and he was rewarded for his diligence when she cried out his name as she orgasmed.
He moved up a little
and rested his head on the skin of her stomach, giving her a minute to catch her breath. He kissed her skin and her belly quivered. He moved up her body until his face was level with hers. She pressed her mouth against him as he slid inside her, her slick warm flesh cradling him. He felt like he was coming home after a long journey, and in a way he was. Their separation had been too long, and as her legs came up to encircle his waist, he was humbled that she was willing to share herself with him again.
He pulled out slightly and thrust back inside her, his eyes closing as the pleasure of making love to her beautiful body nearly overwhelmed him. He and Nan had never had a problem in the bedroom, and even after centuries of separation, their bodies were still made for each other.
They moved together, as each remembered the other’s rhythm, and it wasn’t long before their passion for each other burned out of control. Her nails dug into his back, and Cadric’s breath hissed in through his teeth as his thrust grew harder and faster. He couldn’t get enough of her and wanted to be like this with her forever. Her cries of ecstasy sent him over the edge, and he poured himself into her with each pulse of his orgasm. He buried his face in her neck, her name a whisper on his lips as the tension they had built so beautifully leached out of him and he lay boneless against her.
After several moments, he rolled to his side and pulled her against him. He looked at her and pressed his lips against her forehead. Her heavily sated eyes lifted toward his and she gave him a soft smile. They lay like that for several minutes and for the first time in a long time, Cadric felt calm and at peace. He didn’t fool himself into thinking that the feeling would last forever, but as he pulled the blankets over them and held his wife’s body close, he was content to enjoy it as long as it lasted.
Nan stirred in bed as morning light seeped through the sheer curtains on the bedroom window. She opened her eyes and looked over at her sleeping husband. Baldr’s face always looked much younger when he was asleep, and there was a slight smile peaking at the edges of his mouth. She brushed a lock of hair away from his face and he mumbled in his sleep.
She put her head on his shoulder, content to enjoy this quiet moment with him for as long as it lasted. She didn’t fool herself into thinking that by making love with him that it had solved all their problems. She was still hiding a big secret from him and hadn’t quite figured out how to tell him yet. She knew she would have to eventually, but for now she wanted to enjoy her husband while he was still ignorant of the depths of her sin against him. She was certain that Baldr would see it as a betrayal although she hadn’t considered it that when she’d impulsively freed Loki. She hadn’t known that Baldr had built a life for himself here, and she could now see how much the members of the Order meant to him. His work here gave him purpose that he’d never had in Asgard. She could see why he wouldn’t want to give it up.
“It’s too early to have such a serious look on your face,” her husband said beside her, his voice gravelly with sleep. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said as she forced her face into a smooth expression, and leaned forward to kiss him.
He avoided her mouth and looked deeply into her eyes. “You don’t regret last night, do you?”
“No,” she said as she reached up to caress his face. Her mind raced to think of something suitable to say to him, something that wouldn’t sound like a lie, but was not what she was thinking about. “I wanted you last night, and I don’t regret a moment of it. I’m just worried that I must go back to Asgard, and I know you can’t come with me. You have a life here, and I can see how important it is to you.”
“How much time do you have?” he asked as his brows drew together and he turned fully toward her.
“I have time yet,” she said.
“We should make the most of your time here, then. Don’t worry about going back right now. A lot can happen in a short amount of time,” he said as he pulled her to him.
As she pressed her body fully against his, she noticed that he hadn’t mentioned her staying with him on a more permanent basis. A small kernel of disappointment curled in her stomach, and she pushed it aside. They were rebuilding what they’d once had, and she couldn’t fault him for wanting to take things one day at a time.
Her disappointment soon disappeared under the magical touch of her husband’s hands and mouth. He brought her to a swift orgasm in the dawn’s early light and soon joined her. In the aftermath of their love, with her head against his chest, the smooth beat of his heart assured her that somehow they would find their way, together.
Chapter 13
Cadric’s eyes slowly drifted open, and a lazy smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. His body had the content, relaxed feeling that only a night of passion could bring. He rolled over onto his side, and pulled Nan’s warm, curvaceous body to his. She fit so well against him, and he buried his face in the back of her neck, inhaling her familiar scent. That familiarity sent happiness through him, and he closed his eyes for a moment as he rested his cheek against the silk of her hair. She murmured in her sleep but did not waken. Her body may be as familiar to him as his own, but she was different now from the woman he’d married so long ago. The Nan he’d married in Asgard would never have dreamed of standing up to him as she had last night.
Telling him goodbye was the best thing she could have done to kick his ass into taking their marriage seriously. It would not have worked better if she’d planned it, but he didn’t think that she’d woken up the day before with a plot to get him to pay attention. He’d seen the defeat in her eyes, heard it in her voice, when she’d told him she was going back to Asgard. It had sent panic through him, and he hadn’t been able to let her go. He’d meant what he’d said to her, that he wanted to make his marriage work. She’d been patient enough with him already, and he would not have blamed her if she had cut her losses. His arm tightened around her waist, and she murmured in protest. He loosened his hold so as not to wake her. If he wanted her to stay, he needed to let her into his life. She wouldn’t settle for anything less than that.
Blowing out a breath, he let go of her and rolled over onto his back. He glanced at the clock on his side of the bed, more out of habit than out of any real desire to leave the warm nest they’d created for themselves in his bed. Shock jolted through him for a second when he saw it was past noon. Under normal circumstances he would have been at work hours ago. His body had woken up at his normal time, but her warm flesh had tempted him so much that going to work hadn’t crossed his mind. All he’d thought of was having her again.
The Order and the problems facing him at headquarters seemed so distant at the moment, and a small frisson of alarm sparked at the back of his mind. Nothing had taken his focus away from his job since he’d started, but one night in her arms had wiped out a thousand years of honed focus like it had never existed. The Order had been the furthest thing from his mind the moment he had kissed her last night, and it was only now, after he’d sated them both, twice, that thoughts of his work crept in again.
She rolled over and slid her arm over his chest. Her head came to rest on his shoulder, and she raised sleepy eyes to him. He drew her close to him, the warm heavy weight of her breasts pressed against him driving all thoughts of getting out of bed from his head.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked, and his hold tightened on her for a second as he pressed his lips to the top of her head. He could tell her anything, and she would believe him. He knew she harbored resentment of his work with the Order, and it would easy to say he was thinking about anything other than work when she’d rolled over. If he was going to take the steps needed to repairing their marriage then he needed to let her in and be honest with her.
“I was thinking that I’m never this late for work,” he said, and kissed her lips to soften the disappointment he saw leaping into her eyes. “You want me to let you in, and I’m trying. I want to be honest with you, and before you woke I was thinking exactly that.”
“Are you planning to go in tod
ay?” she asked as her hand made lazy circles on his chest. He put his hand on hers, stilling her movements. If she continued caressing him he wouldn’t be able to make coherent conversation. “Can’t you take a day off?”
Cadric couldn’t remember the last time he’d taken a day off, it never usually occurred to him to do so. His devotion to the Order could be classified as an obsession, and he realized now that he’d used the Order as a placeholder in his life. It had replaced everything he’d given up when he’d left Asgard and taken on an unhealthy place in his life. Perhaps a day away would help clear the cobwebs and help him get some distance from the problems plaguing him. And he had to admit that he wanted to spend the day with her. Although she’d been with him for most of the time she’d been here, he hadn’t taken the opportunity to be with her in the sense that all his focus was on her. It was something they both needed.
His decision must have shown on his face, for she drew his face to hers and kissed him on the mouth. He hugged her close, and kissed her deeply. His staff was competent, and Hadria was more than capable of handling anything that came her way. Besides, they had all his numbers if there was an emergency, and could contact him if need be. Staying home would make his wife happy, and he realized that he’d been lax in making her happy since she’d arrived. He pulled back from her and smoothed her hair away from her face.
“What do you want to do?” he asked, hoping she planned to push him over onto his back and have her way with him.
“I want you to show me your property,” she said as she drew back from him a little. Disappointment flashed through him for a second that she wasn’t dying to jump his bones, but he shoved the feeling aside. Today was going to be about her, and if she wanted to explore, then that’s what they’d do. “I haven’t seen it all, but I like what I’ve seen so far, well except for…”
