by Marian Tee
Oh.
He was hard. That part of him was extremely, gulp-inducing, breathtakingly hard. But he didn’t give my mind a chance to dwell on it, not when his lips had reclaimed mine. Varthan kissed me hard, deeper than he had the first time our lips touched. His tongue was aggressive and possessive in the way it swept into my mouth, its tip caressing every inch.
He sucked on my tongue, shocking me because it was unexpected. But soon enough the shock was replaced by excitement and passion, and the more he sucked on my tongue the more I forgot about everything but him. Tentatively, I tried sucking on his tongue, too, and I was rewarded by his groan. The sound made me melt, my body sinking into him, my hands creeping up to grip his shoulders.
A part of me knew this wasn’t right. There were too many unanswered questions between us. Was he really attracted to me or was it something inevitable because I was his so-called chosen skat? And what about me? Did I really like him? Was this only infatuation or was it the beginning of something more?
I wanted to ask him that. I really wanted to, but all those questions vanished the moment he pulled me even closer to him, cupping one breast at the same time.
I moaned long and loud against his mouth, the sound swallowed by his kiss. I forgot the fact that we were in a public place, that there were hundreds of people around us, and that I had never done this before – that I was not the type to do this at all.
The feel of his hand cupping my breast was…incredible. The movements of his hand were so simple, squeezing, fondling, kneading, but somehow those movements were more than enough to make my body tremble with uncontrollable passion.
And when his fingers found the pointed tip of my breast, tweaking it before pulling hard, I bucked against his body, that one touch making me want to take off all my clothes because I wanted us to be skin to skin.
“Varthan,” I whispered.
He stopped kissing me.
I opened my eyes slowly. “Varthan?” Had I done something wrong? Had I stupidly said my feelings out loud – whatever they were – without being aware of it?
His eyes locked on mine. “They’re here.”
Chapter Nine
There was no time to think.
One moment I was in the throes of passion, the next moment I was in the throes of fear. Screams and terrified cries ravaged the club as a squad of men burst inside from the exit door and released a series of shots in the air.
“Varth---aaah!” I found myself almost tumbling out of the booth as something under me swelled. When I looked at him, I almost gagged, the shock of seeing – and, well, smelling – Varthan’s zombie form still something I hadn’t yet fully adjusted to.
“HOLD ON TO ME.”
I did so quickly, trying not to be too obvious with the way I wrinkled my nose and did my best to breathe through my mouth. As I settled on him from the front, like he preferred, my eyes came into contact with one of the gunmen.
Evil stared back at me.
Shit.
They really were goblins.
And then he threw a dagger at us.
“Varthan, behind you!” I screamed.
He turned around with astounding speed, fast enough to catch the dagger and strong enough to reverse its direction with a twist. It caught its target and the goblin fell to the ground, the knife stuck in his forehead.
Varthan turned away again and ran towards the other side of the wall. I felt him raise his hand.
There was one heavy pounding sound, like a giant hammer hitting the wall. When I looked around, I caught sight of a huge portion of the wall falling away, giving us an exit. Varthan slipped through it.
“Hold tightly!”
I wrapped my arms more tightly around his neck, doing my best to ignore the scales and bumps that scraped against my skin.
And then we were running, Varthan heading to the darkened streets of the city, away from prying eyes. But still many caught sight of us and I quickly hid my face on his shoulder, not wanting a single camera to capture my face. As long as nobody could see me, nobody would recognize Varthan and no one would believe there really were zombies – or goblins.
“Why are they after us?” I demanded as he continued running.
“They must have found a use for your powers.”
“Like what? Make me rob a bank?”
Instead of answering, Varthan suddenly stopped running and made a right turn. “Quick.” He lowered me to my feet and when I turned around, I realized why. He had found a hiding place for me.
With another heavy pounding of his fists, the thin metal gates fell to the ground, revealing an armored truck with the label of a private security company printed on its sides. Varthan opened the back and helped me up. “Stay here.”
“But I don’t want---”
“I can’t fight if I am worrying about you.” He slammed the door shut on my face.
Not on your life. I took out my phone from my pocket, using its flashlight function to check the contents of the armored truck. There was a tire jack lying on the floor and I snatched it.
Then I kicked the door open.
Varthan and the horde of goblins turned towards me almost in synchrony.
With a battle cry, I launched myself at my enemies.
It was time to put my so-called powers to use.
The goblins scattered away from my reach, making me feel triumphant for a second. Ha! Who’s their mama now? They all obviously knew I could make their worst nightmares come to life.
There was a sound of air whipping into a circle from behind, distracting me. I turned just in time to see someone angling to capture me as he tossed a chain towards my direction.
Oh, shit!
I forgot about that part.
I tried to move away even though I knew I was moving too slowly. But nothing happened, with Varthan easily catching hold of the chain and using it to yank the goblin towards him before smashing his giant fist against the goblin’s face.
“Yeah!”
Varthan growled at me.
I shrunk a little at the fury underlining his roar. “I just wanted to help!”
“GO!”
“No!” I shook my head stubbornly. “We’ll do this together!”
Before Varthan could say anything, I was running towards the goblins again. This time, Varthan and I found a rhythm as we fought against our opponents. I ran towards them, forcing them to run into dead-ended places until they had no choice but to face the nightmares I brought with me. Varthan guarded me from behind, making sure to slash and smash anyone who tried to capture me.
By the time it was over, we were both breathing heavily, a dozen goblin bodies littering the ground.
I turned to Varthan to tell him we did a good job, but the smile brimming on my lips was wiped away by the fury on Varthan’s face in zombie form.
I quickly backed away as he stomped towards me.
“YOU RISKED YOUR LIFE!”
“I had to!”
“NO! YOU DID NOT!”
His giant zombie body shook with rage, the smell of decomposing flesh becoming even more pungent.
It was hard to stand my ground when he looked like he was close to eating me, but I lifted my chin and didn’t look away.
“I am the only one meant to protect you---”
“Bullshit!”
He roared.
I roared back, admittedly not as ferociously as he did but I gave it my best.
“WHY WOULD YOU DO SUCH A STUPID THING?”
“BECAUSE I THINK I’M BEGINNING TO FALL FOR YOU!”
Oooooooooooooh…shit.
Did I just say that?
****
“You really will not talk to me?” Varthan asked the moment I came out of the shower wearing the baggiest pair of pajamas I could find in my closet. I had no desire to look sexy or cute right now.
“You’re one to talk,” I muttered under my breath as I sat on my side of the bed, sticking as closely to the edge as possible. He hadn’t said a word after my stup
id confession either.
When he didn’t say anything – again – I couldn’t help sneaking a look.
But what I saw made me wish I hadn’t peeked in the first place.
Varthan didn’t have a shirt on, leaving his chest entirely bare. His legs were completely covered by the silken sheet of the bed, making it impossible for me to tell if he was just as naked underneath.
“Why aren’t you dressed?” I demanded, still not looking at him.
“This is how I sleep.”
“Well, it’s not appropriate since I’m sleeping here, too!”
Silence.
I felt utterly defensive. “And don’t you dare say it’s appropriate just because I said what I said!”
“I didn’t even say anything,” he pointed out.
“You were thinking it.”
“Your powers now include being a clairvoyant?”
“Shut up!” I threw a pillow at him.
He caught it handily, and in the next moment, he also hauled me close. In one twist, he had me lying underneath him, breathing hard as I felt his body’s weight settle on top of me. I had my answer, too.
“You’re naked!” It was a gasp, scream, and whimper in one.
“And you…confuse me.” It came out accusing, as if I was at fault.
“I confuse you?”
“You almost let another man kiss you.”
“You made me feel like I was no different from all the other skat you had sex with.”
He flinched. “I am sorry for that.”
A moment of silence passed, followed by another and another, and each moment only added to the tension crackling in the air. I said slowly, unevenly, “I still don’t understand the relationship between Draugar and skat, but…I don’t think it’s the reason why…”
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Was I really going to say this?
I took a deep breath, and with my eyes still closed, I whispered, “I just don’t think it’s because you’re my Draugar warrior and I’m your chosen skat that I feel…something…for you.”
He didn’t answer. And when I was about to lose hope of him ever answering, Varthan said slowly, “I am a Viking, woman.”
Aaaaand?
I opened my eyes when he didn’t speak again. His face was hard, his eyes dark with a disturbing mix of emotions. “Varthan?” I whispered.
“I am not supposed to feel things like this. I was raised to claim a woman because it was my right. And when I became a Draugar, it had been tradition for the skat to seek the possession of her Draugar. None of them had ever thought of marrying me.”
“Why?”
“Because I was only good enough to be their lover. They did not want a companion for life who was capable of turning into something so horrifying.”
Bitch, I thought, my heart aching for Varthan. Bitches, they all were!
“I admit you scared the hell out of me at the start and you still do, but I don’t…I won’t ever hold it against you. It’s what let you save me from being killed and I’ll always remember that.”
He slowly shook his head, his lilac eyes darkening even more. “But they were right. It is not my place to be your companion. You are human. I am not.”
I looked away. “If that’s your way of not being able to admit to me that you don’t find me desirable---” He moved over me, something hard brushed against my core, and I stopped.
“Desiring you has never been the problem, woman.”
I swallowed. “Then…does that mean you want me and like me, but you just don’t think it’s possible for you to…love me?”
Varthan said flatly, “I do not believe in love.”
I almost protested, but I remembered Elsine’s words and it made me stop. He was a stubborn man who would never admit his feelings willingly. If I wanted him to stop pretending to be blind about what’s between us, I had to figure out a way to force his hand. That – and make him fall in love with me even more.
Clearing my throat, feeling my face go red, I said, “I’ve changed my mind.”
He stiffened and to my confusion, I saw his face whiten completely. “Just like that, skat?” he asked hoarsely.
“Uhh, yes---”
His hand suddenly gripped my hair and his lips were on mine the next second, ravaging them completely. “Just like that and you will forget about me?” he growled. “You think you will be able to find another man who can make you feel the way I do?” His other hand gripped my breast, squeezing hard, causing my nipple to prick against the cottony fabric of my pajamas.
His touch was making me disoriented and I had a hard time understanding what he was saying. “Varthan.”
“I am not someone you can so easily set aside,” Varthan said between clenched teeth just before he tore my pajama top open and threw the fabric away. I gasped.
Oh my God. What had gotten into him?
I didn’t have any bra under my pajama top, leaving my breasts completely bare to his eyes. “Varthan---”
He bent his head and took one nipple into his mouth in answer.
I nearly jumped off the bed, unable to believe the sheer beauty of the agonizing pleasure of Varthan taking my nipple into his mouth, suckling on it hungrily, its noise only adding to its tormenting delight.
My hands swept over his shoulders before moving up to his hair and gripping it tightly.
Varthan moved to my other breast, squeezing and playing with it before he started suckling on my nipple again.
“Varthan!”
“I will not let you cast me out of your life. You are mine, woman, and will always be so. I no longer care what you think or say.” He tore the other half of my pajamas away, throwing it on the floor.
I immediately tried to squeeze my legs closed, uncomfortable of being only in my panties and nothing else, but Varthan didn’t let me. His hands were demanding as he pushed my legs wide open. He nuzzled his way down, clamping his hands hard on my thighs to prevent me from wriggling away from his devastating touch.
The closer he got to my most private part, the louder my cries were. I really, really hoped he had soundproofed this room. If I ever learned Pepper could hear me cry out from the other room, I was going to die.
“Please.”
He used his teeth to pull my panties down. With one quick strong tear, the panties were ripped apart, the scraps of lace pushed out of the way and then his head was down there, his breath tickling the sensitive skin.
His hands went to the edges of my folds, pulling them wide open, stretching me beyond what I could normally do.
“Varthan-------aaaaaaaaaaah.”
He started licking me, the tip of his tongue beginning at the edge of my clitoris then moving all the way down to where the lines disappeared into the back. He did this repeatedly, his tongue moving faster and more roughly.
I jerked, twisted, and turned. I was near to doing gymnastic routines in an effort to get closer and farther from his hungry tongue. When he lifted his mouth, I started to breathe a little more, only to have his mouth back down again, this time pulling my clitoris into his mouth.
I screamed. It deserved the loudest scream possible, the way he so beautifully tormented that tiny pleasure nub of flesh, and I gave it all I got, my body shuddering with such immense force it made my eyes roll back.
Something inside my body started to spread, liquid heat that had me tensing as I felt myself swelling and reaching out.
“Varthan,” I whimpered.
Fingers digging into my inner thighs, Varthan responded by sucking hard on my clitoris.
I screamed as pleasure burst from my core like the most sensual fireworks, and I could only clutch Varthan’s shoulders as I came violently, my body almost thrashing with the force of my climax.
Before I could catch my breath, Varthan was pushing my thighs wide open, settling himself between my legs. The head of his cock, already slippery wet with pre-cum, nudged against my entrance.
He started to push.
“Aaa
h.” The fullness of him stunned me, and I suddenly lost all strength in my body, allowing my legs to fall flat against the bed and giving Varthan the ease to slide his cock into me more quickly.
“Ooooh.”
Varthan locked eyes with me just before he thrust all the way in.
