Could she do it? Could she actually give herself over to him? She wanted to, even knowing that it was a traitorous thought. He wasn’t a Saxon. He was an enemy to her family, to herself. But he wasn’t. Not really. He’d kept her from harm when she was sure no other Dane would have. He could have pressed his advantage last night when she spent the night in his bed. But he hadn’t even touched her except to hold her against him. Did it make her weak to turn to him now? Nay, she reminded herself that she was making a choice. She took a deep breath and the tension slowly abated.
When she opened her eyes, he stood there, watching her from just inside the doorway. That she hadn’t even felt the cold blast of air he was sure to have let in was a testament to her emotional upheaval. From across the distance, Merewyn could feel the power of his gaze. It was the slightly wild look of the previous night. The look that said he wanted her.
He walked towards her, and she swore she felt each step as a tingle up her spine. Even without his touch, fingers of pleasure spread from her belly down her thighs. He came to a stop just before her and raised his hand to brush a stray lock of hair from her face. The heat of his gaze warmed her lips, the flush spreading across her face and chest as his gaze moved to her own. The unspoken command in his eyes pulled her to her feet.
Eirik leaned down, making her remember the bath when he’d almost kissed her. This time she didn’t turn away, but he stopped when his lips were a breath from her own. Whether it was to give her time to revolt or to give himself time to abstain, she didn’t know. She only knew that suddenly the most important thing in her world was for his lips to finally claim hers. Every beat of her heart throbbed through her in anticipation of it.
‘My lord—’ The words died with the subtle brush of his lips across hers. The caress was light and surprisingly gentle, though it carried the power to ignite a frisson of pleasure in her belly. Her hands went to his arms to steady herself, and she marvelled again at the strength of him and how hard he felt beneath her touch.
As if her movement had given him permission, his hands captured her hips and pulled her flush against him. But then they moved downwards to fill themselves with the flesh of her bottom. He squeezed and pulled her forward so the firm length of his arousal was clearly outlined against her belly.
A thrill of excitement shot through her, and she couldn’t contain her gasp of surprise. When her lips parted, he pressed the advantage and gently sucked her bottom lip into his mouth. The unexpected sensation of his tongue stroking her so intimately made the newly awakened muscles between her thighs clench in anticipation.
She was just warming to the seductive kiss when his mouth abruptly left hers. While her lip was still wet from his tongue, she drew it into her mouth to taste him. Should it excite her so much to have the taste of him in her mouth? She wasn’t sure anymore about should or shouldn’t. He was her Northman. He shouldn’t affect her in any way. But they had moved far past that.
A strong hand came up to twist in her braid and tilt her head back. Their eyes met briefly in a scorching look of control and surrender before his lips crushed hers in a more powerful kiss. This one was a bit more savage as his tongue forced entry to stroke her own. Merewyn was shocked by the strength of her own responsive arousal, and gripped his shoulders tightly to steady herself.
Eirik growled at her acquiescence and tightened his grip on her bottom. His hips moved against her, grinding his hardness into her soft belly. Its obvious size and potential for pain frightened her, but stronger than the fear was the desire it called forth within her. Excitement welled and created a delicious throbbing between her legs. She’d felt an inkling of desire for him that night in the baths and, especially, that night on the cottage floor. But not like now. Now her body swelled and softened in anticipation of opening for him.
He pulled back just far enough to look down at her, though with one hand twisted in her hair and the other on her buttocks, he kept her body imprisoned against his. The intensity in his eyes was almost her undoing. The way he looked at her as if he already knew her intimately. ‘If you intend to deny me, tell me now.’ His voice was hoarse and rough in a way she had never heard it before. Feral. It rasped across her sensitised body so she felt it deep in her core.
‘I want this,’ she whispered.
Triumph flashed in his eyes briefly before they softened and moved down to her lips in a caress she swore she felt. ‘Have you ever had a man before?’
Merewyn flushed anew and attempted to look away, though his fingers tightened in her braid to hold her still. ‘Nay.’
‘I don’t want to hurt you, but it’s unavoidable. I’ll be as gentle as I can.’
She wasn’t completely ignorant of the sexual act. She knew to expect pain the first time, but Sempa had explained that there could be so much more than pain. Merewyn had always been sceptical of that, but now Eirik’s touches promised that, as well. So it wasn’t in ignorance that she moved her hands up his shoulders to tangle her fingers in the silky length of the golden hair at his neck. It wasn’t in ignorance that she pulled herself tight against him to press against the hard, aroused length of him. She did that with the desire of a woman who wanted to know his touch.
‘I know, but I trust you.’
Chapter Seventeen
She shouldn’t trust him. His hands had begun to tremble with the effort of holding himself back from her. If she had any idea of the man he really was, the man who wanted to push her down on to the bench, spread her legs and ravish her until his lust was sated, she wouldn’t trust him at all.
Eirik released her completely from his grip to deny himself the temptation. It would be so easy to overpower her, but he refused to give in to that desire and become what he most feared. He wouldn’t hurt her any more than was necessary. If she’d already had a man, it might have been possible to have her experience no pain at all, but that thought brought with it a possessiveness he still wasn’t used to feeling in regards to her. Just the thought of her with another man was enough to enrage him.
He could go slowly for her and give her some pleasure. She’d responded so unexpectedly to his touch the night before that he wanted to see her do it again. ‘I want to touch you again.’ He slowly brought his hand up so that his thumb stroked the tip of her breast through her clothing. ‘Here. Will you undress?’
The blush already staining her cheeks darkened. ‘But it’s not dark.’
‘I want to see you. With the light.’
He expected her to shy away again and decline, but she surprised him when the corner of her mouth tipped up and she challenged him, ‘Will you undress?’ He didn’t miss the way her appraising gaze dipped to his chest.
He hadn’t expected to like the fact that she was interested in his body, but her request pleased him. He took a step back, and with slow, deliberate movements, unfastened his belt and pulled the tunic off over his head. The undershirt followed, and when her eyes widened in obvious appreciation, he couldn’t deny the swell of pride he felt at her assessment. Her breathing quickened and he realised that she drew just as much pleasure from looking at him as he did from the sight of her own body. Eirik knew that he was attractive to women. It wasn’t unusual for women to watch while the men sparred, often shirtless. But he particularly liked that she enjoyed the look of him. He liked that he pleased her.
‘Now you,’ he prompted.
‘What about the rest?’
He laughed then, a hoarse rumble of sound he barely recognised, when her wide-eyed gaze dropped to the length of him surging within the confines of his trousers. She was curious, and the knowledge hardened him even more, if that was possible. ‘Not yet.’
Her lips parted in what he was sure would be an argument, so he closed the distance between them and stopped her protest with a quick brush of his lips against hers. ‘Later. I want to see you.’
She nodded and gave him a shy smile as
she turned her back to fumble with the brooches. He almost smiled at the unnecessary modesty. After all, she was disrobing so that he could see her. But he allowed her the indulgence and fisted his hands at his sides to keep from helping, though the urge to take over was nearly overpowering.
When the apron dress fell to the floor, his breathing became shallow, but it stopped altogether for a moment when she pulled her underdress off over her head and held it to her chest. She stepped out of the puddle of the dress at her feet and looked over her shoulder at him, clearly uncertain of herself. But there was no reason for her reticence. She was beautiful. The creamy skin and delicate curvature of her back was more alluring than he’d anticipated. It wasn’t supposed to be so attractive.
But hers was. She shivered when his fingertips travelled the length of the indentation of her spine to its end at the waist of her leggings. The elegant curve of her lower back fascinated him, so he spent extra time there, letting his fingertips stroke over her. Her skin was like satin. Both of his hands flattened against her and moved in massaging strokes up and down the length of her back.
‘You enjoy my touch,’ he mused when she closed her eyes and her head fell forward. She muttered an affirmation, so he kept stroking until the need to see more of her took over and he pulled her into his arms. Her back fit nicely against his chest.
She didn’t fight or tense when his hands came around her waist and slipped under the cover of the wadded-up linen to cup her breasts. When he squeezed gently and tugged the hardened peaks between his thumbs and forefingers, her head fell back to his shoulder. He couldn’t see her nipples, but her parted lips were pink and inviting, so he took them instead and dipped his tongue inside to sample her sweetness.
One of her hands moved to his nape to hold him close for the kiss. Eirik took advantage and tugged the underdress away from her. The moment it pulled away, he broke the kiss to look down at her. He was struck anew by her beauty. The creamy mounds of her breasts filled his palms nicely, and the taut peaks seemed to strain towards his fingers, begging to be plucked again. He obliged them and watched as her eyes closed in bliss from his ministrations and her breasts seemed to grow fuller in his palms. She arched against him, pressing her luscious bottom against him. By the gods, he wanted her. He didn’t know if he could hold out as long as he’d intended.
* * *
Never in all of her life had Merewyn known that this feeling was possible. She’d never expected to feel like this: drunk on his touch, her body heavy and languid with the pleasure of it. The entire universe had centred to the surges of energy that rippled through her when he tugged her nipples. Except it widened slightly when he moved and his hot mouth touched her neck. He was tasting her, savouring her if the sounds coming from his throat were any indication, and then he bit the tender lobe of her ear, making her shudder with a pleasure she felt deep within her molten core.
‘More, I need more of you,’ he whispered.
She had no intention of denying him more of anything that felt so good. Her fingers threaded in his hair and her eyes closed in anticipation as his hand moved down her stomach to disappear inside her leggings. His fingers parted her and slid down to find her centre—she jolted in surprise when one dipped inside. But then she forgot to be self-conscious, forgot everything but the way he made her ache as his finger moved in soft circles as he explored her. She bit her lip to stifle a groan when his thick finger pushed inside her as far as it could go.
‘I want to hear the sounds you make. Don’t quell them.’
His finger retreated just to push farther inside and she did as he asked, letting a soft cry pass her lips. When he coupled the repeated movement with a tug on her nipple, she cried out louder, her voice filling the house.
‘These have to go.’ His voice was harsh against her ear as he withdrew abruptly, leaving her mourning the absence of his touch. His hands had gone to the waist of her leggings and he was pushing them down her hips and then her thighs, before she could collect herself. ‘Lie on the bed,’ he ordered after he’d helped her step out of them.
She paused as the enormity of what was happening washed over her. It was one thing to think about it, to imagine it, to want it, but quite another to expose herself to him with nothing between them.
‘You’re perfect in every way.’ His fingertips brushed her cheekbone, an action she was coming to love, and he leaned close to kiss her lips and murmur against them, ‘It pleases me to look at you. Let me look at you.’
She kissed him, reminding herself that he wanted to please her, too. Breaking the kiss, she turned and sat on the bed, her heart pounding in her chest as she pushed herself to lie down as he’d asked. When she gathered the courage to look at him, he was studying her with the heavy-lidded gaze of a man in the deep stages of arousal, as though he wanted to devour her. She had no idea how she knew that, except that instinct had taken over and her body answered that look with an intense response that left her shifting restlessly for fulfilment.
She took a deep breath of anticipation when he moved to join her on the bed. He settled so close to her that she could feel the heat of his body and moved towards it. His gaze was still almost reverently exploring her, but she wanted his touch again and reached for his hand to bring it back to her. It was all the prompting he needed to begin exploring her again. This time his mouth followed his fingers. Her breasts, her ribs, her stomach all received the same lingering attention. But when he began to move farther down, she tensed and would have sat up had he not put a hand on her shoulder.
‘I want to see you here.’ His free hand had moved down to rest between her hips, resting just over the mound between her thighs.
Automatically, she shook her head. ‘No one ever has.’
He smiled, a knowing smile tinged with amusement, but somehow filled with tenderness. ‘And no one else ever will. Open for me.’
She didn’t resist when he moved partially over her and urged her knees apart with his thigh. But when he pushed them farther apart to make room to kneel between them, she closed her eyes; in part because she couldn’t believe he would look upon her in that way, in part because she couldn’t believe how much it pleased her that he wanted to. It wasn’t a surprise when he touched her there but she jumped anyway, before giving into the languid pleasure of his caress.
When he suddenly pulled away from her, she felt bereft, greedy for more of him. But his hands had gone to his trousers, and he pushed them down his hips and then kicked them away as he climbed back over her. His arousal stood thick and firm against his belly, but she only got a glimpse before he was resting over her and nudging at her entrance.
‘I don’t want to hurt you.’ The tension in his arms as he held his weight off her made him tremble slightly.
‘I know.’ She wrapped her hands around his shoulders to pull him close. ‘I know, but I want this. I want you, Eirik.’
He groaned in surrender and dropped his forehead to rest against hers as he pushed into her. She had anticipated the incredible fullness and the tight, burning pain, but the reality was so much more than she could have imagined. There was just too much of him. She bucked to shift him away, but he kept coming, the press of him hard and insistent.
‘You’re so tight,’ he groaned. ‘I never thought— Nay, don’t move.’ His hand went to her hip to hold her still. ‘It feels too good.’
How could it feel so good to him while she simply felt...impaled for lack of a better word? Her nails bit into his shoulders and she cried out as he pressed forward the last few inches, until he was finally seated completely within her. The touches, the kisses, the throbbing were lies. She felt betrayed by the lot of them. They had led her to allow this, then fled the moment she had. How had she wanted this? Even her thighs ached where they were awkwardly stretched around his own.
‘My lord?’
‘Hmm...’ He wasn’t listening. He was kissing
her neck, the abrasive rasp of his beard prickling the tender skin and giving her goose bumps. Then he pulled back his hips and pressed forward again in a shallow thrust that brought with it a strange pleasurable sensation.
She must have made some sound, a gasp of some kind, because he did it again. His breath came harsh against her ear, exciting her. Coupled with the gentle movement of his hips, that part of her began to throb again, and she could feel herself softening around his invasion. She couldn’t help but move. When he withdrew again, she inadvertently arched into him, seeking more of that tender pleasure. He growled, a purely masculine sound of conquest, and drove his full length into her. It was more than she’d expected, and while the movement brought back some of the initial discomfort, it brought with it so much more.
He barely gave her time to question the amazing sensation before it was there again. His manhood dragging across some hidden place within her as his hips pumped relentlessly against her. Unrecognisable sounds of pleasure were coming from her throat as she arched, unable to do anything other than accept him as he drove them higher towards something she couldn’t identify. She simply held on as he took them there, her body quickening in time to his rhythm, and then he cried out harshly near her ear and she was filled with a liquid warmth before he lay replete above her.
She held him tight against her, unwilling to relinquish him after the amazing wonder their bodies had created together. Aye, the pain had been there as Sempa had promised, but a magic had been created. Something she had never thought was possible and was already imagining exploring again. How much better could it be without the pain of her maidenhead to mar the pleasure?
* * *
Eirik closed his eyes and buried his face into that soft place between her neck and shoulder, breathing in her scent. She smelled incredible, delicate like flowers, but with the undertone of a woman’s salt that made him half-rigid with wanting her again. Her cry of pain still echoed in his head, reminding him of just how harshly he had used her. It had happened exactly as he’d feared. He’d lost control and taken her too roughly. He recoiled from the darkness within him that had demanded he take her and was urging him to do it again.
Enslaved by the Viking Page 13
