Claimed by Her Viking Wolf

by Doris O'Connor

  “Pokk, minn kona.”

  “You’re welcome, but you’ll have a scar, and you’re…”

  Her words faltered when he put he ran his fingers up and along her jaw, tracing his thumbs over her lips.

  “Shhh. Talk too much.”

  Her eyes widened at the broken English he uttered, and she scrambled away from him.

  “You can speak English?” she asked. When he shrugged his shoulders in answer, she glared at him. Asger made a pincer movement with his thumb and forefinger.

  “Little,” he said. Kim released the breath she hadn’t been aware of holding. Something about the wicked gleam in his eyes made her think that he could understand more than he was letting on. It meant she had to fight the renewed blush creeping into her face. Really, what was it with the blushing schoolgirl act? Kim was no innocent. Yes, it might have been far too long since she got laid, and this man might be a sex-on-legs Viking freaking hunk, but that didn’t mean she had to act like a whimpering virgin now, did it?

  To regain her equilibrium somewhat, she stepped up to the sink and turned on the water to wash her hands. A shout from behind her, followed by the loud clang that signaled the bench clattering to the floor gave her a moment’s notice before said Viking was next to her. He stared at the flowing water in seeming disbelief, if the expression on his face was anything to go by.

  Asger frowned at her when she laughed and pointed to the tap.

  “Here is where you turn it on and off. Look.” She proceeded to show him, all too aware of his brooding presence. When his large hand closed over hers to mimic her actions she had a hard time drawing air into her lungs. Never before had she had such an instant, visceral reaction to any man. This close to him, his primal masculine scent pulled her under his spell.

  It also brought home how hot he was. Surely, even if he was a shifter he was too hot? Disentangling her fingers from his, she ducked under his arm and stepped away. Asger was too engrossed in turning the water on and off with a small smile to take much notice of her departure, so she allowed herself a moment to watch the almost childlike fascination he showed in learning about his surroundings. Her amusement fled when he stuck his whole head under the stream of water, and then pulling it out again, shook himself like a wet dog. Water droplets flew everywhere. Asger grinned at her screech when several hit her straight in the face.

  It was the way those droplets clung to his hair-roughened skin, however, as they slowly slid down his torso and soaked into the bandage… Damn the bandage.

  Cursing her own ogling and the stupidity of males everywhere, she snatched up a towel and threw it at him.

  “Jesus, men. Use this to dry off. That sink is for washing your hands, not yourself. That’s what a shower is for, you displaced big oaf.”

  Asger caught the towel easily enough and dried off with a small smile. That blasted man was far too aware of the effect he had on her, it seemed. Then again the fact that she couldn’t tear her eyes away from his abs probably was a dead giveaway.

  “Shower?” he asked, and Kim wrenched her gaze back up to his face, and immediately regretted her outburst. She was no nurse, but she recognized eyes glazed over with fever when she saw them.

  “Yes, we use it for washing. I’ll show you later. For now we need to get you into bed.” At his blank expression, she rolled her eyes, held her hand up to bid him to stay and walked off to the living room in search of her dictionary. She should have known he wouldn’t stay put, because the growl behind her when she switched on the lights in her cozy little front room would have made any sane person run for the hills. She moved the TV remote to put down the dictionary she’d pulled out of her bookcase, and the TV roared to life. Great, she must have hit a button to make it—all hell broke loose as the news came on.

  With a speed and strength belying his injuries, Asger pushed her out of the way, swung his sword with a roar of fury, and her nice brand new, treat for herself, flat screen TV was just a mangled, cut in half, smoking, ruin of parts at a dumbstruck looking Viking’s feet. He kicked the pieces of plastic, glass and electrical bits, sheathed his sword, and scratched his beard, as he looked behind the TV stand. Kim couldn’t help it. She laughed. Once she started, she couldn’t stop, because really, it was that or cry. The tears came anyway, as all the events over the last few hours came crashing down around her ears, and her knees gave out. She would have crashed to the floor, had Asger not caught her. Grunting, he sat down with her in his arms on the settee. She couldn’t understand a word he was saying to her, but somehow, the deep, soothing cadence of his voice got through to her anyway. When she finally stopped sniffing and pushed against his chest, he let her go.

  Her gaze fell to the ruined TV, and she gave another shaky laugh.

  “How the fuck am I going to explain that to the insurance company? I was practicing my sword skills and oops, I managed to slice my TV in half?”

  He didn’t answer her, of course, just watched her with a wary expression on his face that screamed his discomfort, but also his concern. Clearly he had no idea what to do with this outburst of hers, and Kim sighed. Why was life never easy?

  ****

  Bile churned in Asger’s gut. He was uncomfortably aware that he was the reason for his mate’s tears, and he had no idea what to do about that. At least she’d stopped crying now, though he’d preferred the tears to the hysterical laughter, which had shaken her small frame.

  His kona had curves in all the right places, and when he was more himself, he would have fun exploring them all, but now was not the time for that. Besides, he felt like shit. His side hurt, and his wolf just wanted to curl up and sleep, to get away from the realities of this new world. He glanced across at the mangled heap of what he’d been sure had been an intruder to her house, and scratched his beard again.

  “That was a telly,” Kim said. She offered him a grim smile, when he looked back at her. Tears still clung to her eyelashes. Asger wanted to kiss those reminders of her misery away, but he sensed she wouldn’t welcome those advances right now. She seemed worried, not about the destruction to her property, but him.

  Sure enough she raised a hand, felt his forehead, and frowned.

  “You’re definitely running a fever.” At his blank expression, she sighed, hopped off his lap, and opened an old and clearly often used book.

  “Here, look.”

  Squinting at the pages that seemed to want to not let him focus on them, he eventually read the word she was pointing at and its Norse translation.

  Fever, and then Medicine.

  Okay then, so she was going to give him something? Sure enough, she thrust the book at him, and held her hands out in the universal gesture of stay put.

  Considering the room was spinning, he had no qualms with that order. He tried to look through the most informative book in his hand, but the letters were swimming in and out of focus, so he gave up with a grunt. He would study this when he was well. It would be good to understand her better, because they sure had a lot to talk about.

  Asger frowned at the two white circle shaped objects she held out to him in the flat of her palm, when she returned. That was strange looking medicine for sure, but he took them off her anyway, swallowed, and promptly grimaced.

  Kim handed him some water, presumably to wash away the foul aftertaste these odd herbs had left behind in his mouth, and he drained the whole lot.

  “Right, let’s get you upstairs into bed. You’re burning up, and need to rest. I’ll make you some chicken soup or something.”

  Asger grunted his acknowledgment, but, in truth, he didn’t have a clue what she just said to him. He dutifully followed her out of the room, however, and up the stairs. It took all of his remaining strength to do so, as whatever she had given him kicked in with a vengeance. He was dimly aware of a small room with a soft bed, before the blessed oblivion of sleep pulled him under.

  How long he was out for this time, he couldn’t determine, but when he eventually opened his eyes, hazy sunshine streamed
through the curtains lining her windows. Asger turned over and winced as his sore side protested that move, but his mind at least was clear. He frowned when he saw that he was naked under the sheets. Cocking his head he listened for movement. Nothing. It seemed his kona had left him to his own devices.

  He’d sensed her presence for most of his fever induced hallucinations. She’d been there, washing him down with cool water, urging him to drink, and eat small sips of a brew that still stood on the bed stand. Judging by the smell it was chicken, which made his stomach rumble, and he grinned. His wolf woke up with a start, pawing and pacing to get free, yet he still couldn’t shift. His beast was there, prowling just under his skin. Asger shook his head and howled his frustration. The mournful sound carried, and if there were any other of his kind around they would hear him. Alas, there was no return call, and he sighed. He truly was alone in this place then, but right now he had more pressing concerns. He needed to piss.

  Glancing out of the window showed there to be plenty of opportunity outside, but something niggled at him. His kona had mentioned something about somewhere to wash. It stood to reason if she had a room in the house designed for that, she would also have somewhere to take care of that side.

  With a frown at the bandage still wrapped around his middle, he trotted out of the room, and out onto the landing. Two more doors led off it. The first one turned out to be another bed chamber, and his mood instantly lifted when he scented his mate. Her bed was piled high with cushions, and more of those smooth sheets she’d used to cover him up with. Feminine utensils were held on a table with a big set of some sort of reflective material, and he scowled at the view of himself.

  Tracing his steps back he pushed open the last door, and grinned. That looked more like it. There was another oblong contraption with a shiny long object protruding over it. It looked similar to what she had in her cooking area. Sure enough, when he turned the shiny buttons water gushed out. That sure beat dragging the water out of the well, like they did at his homestead.

  A pang of homesickness assaulted him from nowhere. He let it out through another howl that he knew would remain unanswered. The faint smell of urine, only detectable thanks to his shifter senses led him to what looked like a bowl with a seat. Asger scratched his beard in wonder. When he pressed the shiny lever water rushed through it, and he shook his head. Guess that’s where folks in this land relieved themselves, so he did just that.

  Having washed his hands under the mysterious inside well, the other, just as odd, see-through enclosure called him. It had the same shiny things as the sink. Sure enough, when he turned them on water cascaded down. It took some fiddling, but eventually he got the temperature just right. Asger stepped under this inside waterfall with a sigh of contentment. The soggy bandage irritated. After a moment’s hesitation he yanked it off, pleased to see that his injury, while still an angry red, was finally starting to heal. His kona might be cross with him, but he didn’t need that restriction around him anymore. The sound of what could only be a car approaching, made him stop and listen. A door opened and shut, and her scent wafted up the stairs. It made his wolf whine and his mouth water. Clutching one of the oblong pieces of material, he used it to dry himself, before he ambled to the top of the stairs. His kona’s reaction to seeing him naked did not disappoint. She dropped the crinkly satchels she had been holding onto and stared, before she caught herself, and ran toward the back of the house.

  Asger grinned, wrapped that material around himself, and went after her. Time to not only get some answers, but to also make her his.

  Chapter Four

  Kim stuck her overheated face into the freezer, and tried to control her breathing. Jeez, the man was huge, and … well … huge. She rolled her eyes at her thought processes, and pretended to be studying the frozen sausages when she heard him approach. Of course he would come down. Judging by the bare feet and legs she could see from this angle, he was still naked, damn him.

  Not that he could be anything else, because she’d thrown his clothes out after the leggings had shrunk in the wash. Guess they were hand wash only, which would make sense, really. She should have anticipated that, and oh, lord.

  I’m rambling in my head now. Man up and face him. He was naked when you undressed him for pity’s sake.

  With a wry grin at her jumbled thoughts, Kim straightened, shut the door and looked at him. Amusement made his dark eyes crinkle up at the corner. Her breath stalled to a halt when he raised his arms to tie the still wet mass of his brown hair back. It made his biceps flex and his abs ripple, and Kim let her pent-up breath out in one fell swoosh when she saw he’d covered up with the towel. However, she could still see the long imprint of his cock, and she squeezed her thighs together to help relieve some of that ache between her legs.

  Unconscious as he had been he was a magnificent sight, but seemingly back to full health, hot and wet from the shower still … damn it. It was every erotic dream she’d ever had rolled into one mouth-watering temptation right in front of her. And it didn’t help one little bit that every dream she’d had over the last two days had involved the hunk now standing in front of her. Him and Kim in a heap of sweaty entangled limbs, to be precise.

  “You’re awake,” she finally said. Kim wanted the ground to swallow her up, when his smile deepened. “I mean, of course, you’re awake, you’re standing there, after all … oh, dammit.”

  She turned her back on temptation and grabbing one of the carrier bags, turned back ‘round and thrust the thing at him.

  At his curious expression she rushed on to explain. “I bought you some clothes. You know modern ones. I guessed your sizes, so I hope they fit, and…”

  Her voice trailed off when he dropped the towel, and pulled out the clothing she’d bought him.

  “I don’t mean for you to do it here, go upstairs or sommat or—”

  “Why?” That one word uttered in that deep growl of his was all it took for her to take leave of her senses completely, so she stood and gaped up at him.

  “Why what?” She somehow managed to squeak that question, as he stepped so close that his scent engulfed her. Clean, male musk, with that enticing hint of danger, and wild animal. The barely functioning side of her brain did wish she had a pen to write that down. She would have to use that description in her next story. In fact she was pretty sure she had used something like that, never once believing that it would be so accurate.

  “Only a body,” he said, winked at her—winked for pity’s sake—before he made a big show of studying the set of boxer briefs she’d bought him.

  When he looked at them, scratched his beard, then tried to put one on his head, Kim finally found her sense of humor at the hilarity of all this.

  A giggle escaped. Asger smiled at her, when she took the underwear off of him, and held it up to her own groin.

  “You wear this over your…” She glanced at his semi erect cock, wrenched her gaze back up to his face and cursed her propensity for blushing. She was an erotic writer for pity’s sake, yet, just like she couldn’t get through a reading without turning the color of beetroot, it seemed she couldn’t bring herself to say the word out loud in front of him either. So she simply waved in the general direction of his genitalia, hoping he would get the drift.

  Asger smirked. There was a definitely devilish gleam in his eyes, when he ran his gaze slowly over her body until he reached her groin where she was still clutching the damn boxers as though her life depended on it.

  “You wear them under your clothes.” She threw the things at him when he reached out to her. Asger laughed, making her wonder if he hadn’t known that all along, and was just having fun at her expense. She turned away from him, but she still had a perfect view of his taut ass as he made short work of pulling on the boxers. After a moment’s hesitation the jeans, and the t-shirt followed, and she turned back round again. Not that the view of him clothed in modern clothing was any better. The distressed jeans hugged his muscular thighs, lovingly outlined the imprin
t of his cock, and hung low on his hips. The shirt strained against his biceps, and Kim had to remind herself to breathe.

  Yeah, she hadn’t thought this out very well. She should have bought him clothes three times too big. Maybe then he wouldn’t look so damn edible.

  When he gave a little bow and winked at her again, she laughed.

  “Well, I’m glad they fit. Are you hungry?” she asked and he rubbed his rock hard abs and smiled.

  “Yes, minn kona.”

  The way he said that—jeez, she had to get away from him, or she’d take her hand off cutting the vegetables.

  “Good,” she said. “I’ve bought enough food to feed an army, so why don’t you sit down in the other room, and … erm … I don’t know, study that dictionary.” She pointed to it on the kitchen table, and Asger nodded.

  Much to her dismay he didn’t leave the kitchen, however. Instead he plonked his far too delectable ass on her kitchen bench and started to read.

  Kim realized with a start that she could listen to him read for hours, which was exactly what she ended up doing. They fell into somewhat of a predictable pattern over the next few days, in so far that Asger spent every waking moment in that dictionary. He seemed determined to master the English language, and she found herself telling him the meaning of umpteen things around the house. In truth he astonished her with the relative ease in which her very own Viking warrior adapted to the twenty-first century. Then again, hadn’t that made his kin such formidable warriors? The ability to adapt and think on their feet?

  At least he had stopped destroying her electrical equipment. He still looked at the microwave as though some demon was inside it, and the radio had freaked him out, too, but he hadn’t run his sword through them. Kim was rather relieved to see that he left it in his room most of the time now, after he’d almost drawn it on the poor postman when he’d knocked on the door, to deliver a box of her latest paperbacks.