“Maybe you best bugger off to your time then and find a woman that would put up with that treatment, because it sure as fuck won’t be me.”
The words were brave, but her increased scent and her rapid breathing gave her away. She might act all outraged, but she was also wet for him. While his wolf was all for leaping across the table and making her his, Asger held back. He needed her willing surrender for them to get back to his time. He’d found out that much in the ancient texts, even if the exact how-tos still eluded him. Besides, the women they had taken in before had found their way to his time, and not the other way round. The thought that he might never make it back to his village sat heavily in his gut, and made him tread with caution.
Kimberly glowered at him when he didn’t respond to her outburst. He took a deep draft of what seemed to pass for ale in this century.
“While we’re getting some things straight, that was my boss on the phone. I’m going into work tomorrow. There’s a big party booked, and they need tour guides. I’ll be gone for most of the day, so that’ll give you plenty of time to figure out how to get back to your time, so we can all return to normal around these parts.”
“Are you so eager to see me gone, kona?” he asked.
Kim tensed. Instead of answering him, she scooped up their plates, and dumped them into the sink. The sounds of running water confirmed her intention to dismiss him. It made Asger’s wolf snarl. It was just as well he couldn’t shift in this time, because his volatile animal wanted to kill. Preferably whatever male was taking his mate away from him. Asger reined his beast back in with some difficulty. Kimberly tensed when he came up behind her, dumped the cutlery and glasses he’d carried across into the soapy water she’d run in the sink, and then pulled her sharply back against him by grasping her hips.
Kimberly gasped when he lifted her off her feet, and ground his cock into her ass cheeks. Her knuckles turned white, grasping the sink for support. A shuddery exhale left her, when he nuzzled into her neck, pulled her intoxicating scent deep into his lungs. Asger gave into the instinct driving him and bit down lightly on the fragrant skin. Kim groaned and stiffened, but the action calmed his beast.
“Please, don’t,” she whispered. Asger reluctantly released her, after licking the spot where he left a barely visible half-moon indent of his teeth. It would have to do, until he could claim her properly. To not do so was out of the question. A small part of him would die if he didn’t have this woman. She was destined to be with him. That much was clear from the texts he perused and the prophecies he’d received before he’d made this unexpected journey through time and space to find himself not only on a different continent, but also in the future. He slowly put her back on her feet. Crossing his arms over his chest, he rested against the counter top as she made short work of washing their dishes. She glanced at him briefly, and he smiled as she washed the same plate over and over with a frown pulling her eyebrows together.
“Who is this Richard to you?” he finally asked.
Kim groaned under her breath and putting the plate on the drainer, let the water out of the sink, before she flicked him another glance.
“He’s my boss, that’s all, not that it’s any of your business.”
Mimicking him, she crossed her arms over her chest, too. Asger couldn’t tear his gaze away from the way the action pushed her breasts up and out. Through the thin cover of her light jumper he could clearly make out the shape and size of them. Her already hard nipples firmed further under his quiet perusal. It made him grow even harder, and his mouth watered with the need to taste the ever increasing wetness he scented between her legs.
“Eyes up here, warrior.”
Asger wrenched his gaze back up to her face at those breathy words. Kim swallowed nervously, when he swung away from the counter. Putting his hands either side of her hips, he leaned in until their mouths were a mere whisper away from each other.
“Just your boss?” he asked. He knew his voice held the deep growl of his wolf.
His kona flinched, and her heart rate kicked up, as he held himself perfectly still, crowding her in, drinking in the scent of aroused woman, laced with fear and annoyance. He didn’t want her to be frightened of him, but he couldn’t rein in his wolf either.
“That’s none of your business,” she said. Kim tried to push him away. His wolf growled a warning at that. Kim closed her eyes and shook her head, even as her body instinctively molded against him, while her hands fisted in his t-shirt.
“It is, minn kona,” he said. Asger pulled back slightly to study her face. Flushed and trembling, she made him want to take care of her, to never let her go.
“I’m not yours,” she said. When she opened her eyes, the shimmer of tears he caught before she blinked them away, made him release her. She hugged herself, looking so utterly miserable, Asger wanted to break something. “I can’t be. You have to go back, and my life is here. You don’t belong in this time.”
Asger grumbled his agreement with that assessment, and she offered him a sad smile.
“So, there’s no point in…” She waved her hand to encompass the two of them, and shook her head again. “In us, this … I won’t sleep with you, and then have you disappear, and I can’t come with you, because—”
“What if you could?” Her eyes grew wide when he interrupted her. Asger rushed on to explain. “My village, my pack, we’re different. We always have been. The night before I arrived here, I visited our ancient one. He gave me a prophecy … I would travel through space and time to meet my válað, my destiny.” He smiled grimly at her gasp in response. “I did not believe him. It had been many years since one such as you traveled to us. Yet, the next day I found myself here. One minute I was fighting the neighboring clan, the next I woke up injured in these strange lands. Then I scented you…” He let his words trail off and left the rest unsaid.
“I can’t be … I mean, there are others, like me, I mean in your time? How?” she asked and worried her bottom lip with her teeth. She stilled when he growled at her. Asger used his thumb to pull the exposed flesh away from danger.
“Only Odin knows how.”
She nodded, and he could almost see the wheels turning in her head.
“Do they ever go back?” She blanched when he shook his head.
“Neinn, minn kona.”
“So, does that mean you can’t go back either?” He winced as her voice rose in her agitation. Asger shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t know. The texts don’t say, at least not yet. I will have to study them further.”
A reluctant smile kicked up the corners of his mouth when she gave him a shove and frowned at him.
“Well, then, what are you waiting for? You have to find out, and I have to go to bed anyway…” Heat rose in her cheeks, when he adjusted his dick at the erotic images that instantly bombarded his brain at the thought of her in a bed. He knew just what she would look like asleep. He’d watched her often enough, when his restless animal needed to shift and couldn’t. Being close to her was the only thing that calmed his wolf down.
“Alone,” she added, and he laughed.
“Bed notches, I get it. Though I’m still not entirely sure what that has to do with me sinking my cock into your cunt.”
Kimberly made a strangled sound at the back of her throat while she stepped away from him. He matched her retreat easily enough. When the wall stopped her, he pounced. Catching her gasp in his mouth he claimed her lips, like he wanted to claim her body. His wolf strutted when she gave in immediately and opened to the insistent strokes of his tongue. Asger grunted his approval as her flavor exploded on his taste buds. He took the kiss deeper, devouring her, making her his. The very real need to brand her in some way consumed him. When he was finally forced to release her to draw much needed oxygen into his lungs, they both gulped for air. It only served to further drive this woman’s scent into his very soul, and he knew his beast had never been closer to erupting out of his skin then right now.
“Run, and remember you’re mine. If that boss of yours lays a finger on you tomorrow, I’ll kill him—slowly.”
With one last look at his face, Kimberly took off as though the hounds of hell were after her. Asger smiled grimly when he heard her lock her door. There was a scraping sound as though she had dragged something in front of it, and he shook his head. Did she really think that would stop him?
The urge to go after her was almost too much to bear, but, instead, he forced himself back to the abandoned ledger. The answers he sought had to be in there.
Chapter Six
“And then I stripped them naked and fucked them six ways from Sunday while tied to the tree. Never did have such fun with tourists.”
Kimberly made a noncommittal sound as she slid into the passenger seat of Richard’s Land Rover. His amused laugh did make her wonder what exactly he’d just said. Something about tourists…
“Yes, well, they weren’t a bad bunch, I reckon,” she said. In truth they hadn’t been. At least hers had been somewhat competent walkers, so the day had flown by. Out in the open, Kim had managed to almost forget about her stern faced Viking waiting for her at home. Her stomach clenched, and she wiped her clammy hands on her jeans, as she recalled his growled threat of the night before. He didn’t really mean that, did he?
Kim had successfully avoided him this morning. After a night’s worth of tossing and turning, she’d hightailed it out of her cottage while Asger had been in the shower. She’d met an astonished looking Richard at the bottom of her lane.
She hadn’t wanted to risk Asger and Rich meeting, because Richard was a hugger—always had been—and she could just imagine what the uber-possessive Asger would make of that. Not that the blasted Viking had any right to that possessive streak. She couldn’t be his destiny. What they shared was just a healthy dose of lust, that’s all. Kim had managed to keep thoughts of Asger and their situation at bay during the laughter filled breakfast she’d shared with Rich. For the most part anyway. If she seemed distant, she knew he would put it down to her being in the middle of a story. Too keep him appeased, she’d told him of her idea of a time traveling Viking clan. Richard had come up with some interesting plot twists that would work well, if this was just a story. Little did he know that she had been talking of herself. That she was even now wondering how on earth she was going to keep Rich away from Asger. He would insist on walking her right up to her cottage, especially as it was getting late, and….
“So, you fucked some tourists, too, then, did you, my sweet? Didn’t think you had it in you.” Richard’s amused voice shook her out of her internal musings. Finally, the words registered.
“You what?” she asked. Her father’s friend laughed as he started the car.
“Ah, back with me I see. What on earth is going on with you, girl? You’re as jumpy as a cat on a hot tin roof, and even more distracted than you were this morning. Tell me the truth now. There is more to your behavior than just being caught up in a story, isn’t there?”
It was on the tip of her tongue to deny it, when Richard grasped her chin, forcing her to look at him. It was the concern in his lined face that did her in, and she blinked back tears. She couldn’t lie to him.
“Jesus, girl, you’re getting me worried here. You haven’t cried since we lost your father. What in all that is holy is going on? You better tell me all, and if you think I’m taking you back to that cottage, when you’re this upset, then you’ve got another think coming. You’re coming home with me, where Susan can fuss over you. It’s been ages since you came over for dinner, after all—”
“No, you can’t.” His eyebrows rose as she interrupted him. Kim hurried on to explain. “I mean, thanks, but there’s no need. I’ll come and visit Susan soon, but I’ve got to get home. You need to drop me off at the bottom of my lane, because … well…”
Kim flinched when Richard crunched the gears, before he pulled up abruptly by the side of the road. The car that had been following theirs, swerved to avoid them. The driver stood on his horn and flipped them the finger. Richard ignored them, and Kim hunched in on herself, when Richard glared at her.
“Now, listen here, young lady. Susan and I consider you the daughter we never had, so if you think for one minute that I’m going to let this go, after the way you’ve been acting and what you just said, you better think again. What’s wrong? And do not try and fob me off. I’ve known you since knee high. I know when you’re lying. What or who is waiting for you back at the cottage, and do I need to get the shotgun out of my boot when I drop you off?”
“No, you can’t. He’ll kill you. He—”
Kim slammed her hand over her mouth to stop herself from saying anymore, but the damage was done. Richard’s stare grew formidable. He wordlessly put the car back into gear and drove. The fact that she had to strain to hear his reply over the sound of the engine confirmed how utterly furious he was. Richard rarely showed his anger, but when he did, it was with quiet, deadly intent, just like he was doing now.
“You have until we get to your house to tell me what the fuck is going on and who you’re afraid of, so you best start talking,”
He glanced at her, and his expression softened slightly when he saw her reaction.
“Whatever mess you got into, we can sort it, girl. You know I always have your back, so—”
“I’m not in a mess.” He narrowed his eyes, when she interrupted him. Richard smiled as though to encourage her to explain, before he turned his attention back to the road.
“Oh, you’ll think I’m insane, but that story I’m writing…” Kim took a deep breath in. When Richard reached across to squeeze her arm, she blurted out the truth.
“It’s not a story. You see, Lisa insisted we go on this camping trip, to impress her new boyfriend. While that didn’t work too well, because they left after just one night, I found Asger, or rather he found me, and…”
Kim continued to spill the whole unbelievable tale in a tumble of words. On the one hand it felt good to tell someone, unbelievably freeing, in fact, but, on the other hand, she couldn’t help but worry what Uncle Richard would make of this. She inwardly grimaced at falling back onto the childhood endearment she had bestowed on him, even if she only did so in her head, but he was too quiet and thoughtful. By the time they reached the bottom of her lane, she’d filled him on everything. Richard slowed down, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’m so glad you’re seeing this my way. I’ll get out here, so—”
“No!” Richard’s sharp denial made Kim jump. She threw him a worried glance when he put his hand over hers to stop her from disengaging her seatbelt.
“I’m going to meet this Asger of yours, and I’m going to make sure you’re okay. No, don’t even think about interrupting me. I can tell he’s important to you, from the way you talk about him.” Again he shook his head at her, when she made to interrupt him. “Kim, sweetheart, you can fool yourself if it makes you feel better, but you can’t fool me.”
He grinned at her sharp intake of breath. Richard proceeded to slowly drive up her lane.
“In fact, I think you and this Asger ought to come to dinner tonight. I’ll ring Susan, though I’m sure she won’t mind, because she always cooks far too much anyway. She’ll be fascinated by that ledger you mentioned. You never know she might help him figure out how to get back.”
Kim stopped listening and screwing her eyes shut, shook her head with an impending sense of doom. This was so not going to end well.
Sure enough when Richard pulled up outside her little cottage, the front door flew open. A furious looking Asger stood in the open doorway. Head raised, nostrils flaring he scented the air. Kim couldn’t move a muscle as his softly glowing gaze pinned her in place.
Richard whistled under his breath. Asger’s gaze darted to him when he opened the door of the Land Rover.
****
Parts of him wanted to leap across and tear that fucker’s throat out for daring to touch his mate. She’d been cr
ying. He could still scent the salt of her tears, overshadowed as it was by the waves of worry that poured off of her small frame. Worry for this male.
The human, who now advanced toward him, held his head high. His confidence spoke of his advanced years as much as the deep laughter lines on his face, and the streaks of grey at his temples. This man seemed to be silently assessing him, and his wolf growled low in his throat.
It was a warning, as much as a sign of respect for the older man. One sniff of the man’s scent had been all it had taken to reassure his animal. This man was mated to another female. Her scent intermingled with his. While he had feelings for Asger’s kona, Asger could only sense the need to protect. If his scent wasn’t so different Asger would have thought this was his kona’s father. His tense muscles unfurled, and he dipped his head in greeting, when the other man stopped inches in front of him, offered him a fleeting smile, and then held out his hand.
“You must be Asger. My name is Richard, and if you harm one hair on my girl’s body, you’ll regret it.”
Asger’s wolf growled in warning, but this Richard ignored him, and smiled.
“It’s customary in this time to shake a man’s hand when it’s held out to you, you know.” After a moment’s hesitation Asger allowed the older man to grasp his hand in a firm handshake.
Kim’s gasp behind Richard made him look over the shorter man’s head and smile, before he turned his attention back to the man studying him.
“Asger, son of Liufr.” He withdrew his hand and raised an eyebrow at a still worried looking Kim.
“You should have told me this boss of yours was…” He smiled as he let his gaze run all over the other man again. “Old.”
Richard laughed, but Kim bristled in outrage.
“How dare you. Richard isn’t old, and if I told you once I told you a thousand times, my relationships with other men are none of your business, so now that you two have met, perhaps … umph.”
Claimed by Her Viking Wolf Page 5
