by Kate Pearce
She couldn’t keep quiet now, and all he had inside her at the moment were whispered filthy promises.
“Let it out, min elskede. I love the sounds you make. Maybe even enough to let others hear them.”
She froze. He was still making lazy circles around her breasts, and for a minute she thought he didn’t feel her reaction, but then he kissed her neck. “I said maybe. I don’t want to share you.”
“I can’t imagine wanting anyone else in our bed, Reinn.” She twisted her face into his neck, wanting to touch him. She craved his solidity, a reassurance that this was real and forever.
“I feel the same way, min elskede, I promise. But if you ever do…” He rolled his palm over one nipple, then the other. “I’d find a way to make it happen in a way that made us both happy. I know you like to watch.”
She closed her eyes. She hadn’t known that about herself until she’d arrived here, but watching people together from the circle of Reinn’s arms had been one of the most erotic experiences of her life.
“It’s okay,” he whispered. His words and his touch and the memory of all of their love-making from the afternoon all fuelled her desire and she found herself writhing against his hand as he worked his way down her body. The shift fell to the floor, baring the rest of her, and then she was in his arms and he was perching her on the foot of the bed.
She clung to his neck as he spread her legs, her forehead pressed against his shoulder. They watched together as he drizzled oil on his cock.
“I promised to show you how I touch myself,” he said, and she wondered if it was possible to orgasm based on auditory stimulation alone. A tremor wracked her body.
He gripped himself firmly, sliding his hand up and down his swollen shaft. She was captivated by the slick oil and how it highlighted the topography of his skin. Blood vessels skimming under the surface. The subtle fold of his foreskin stretched behind the thick plum head. The dark slit at the very end that she wanted to get her mouth on again.
She slipped her hands away from him, cupping her breasts and pinching her nipples before leaning back on one hand to touch herself the same way he was.
He hissed when her fingers started making a wet, juicy sound as she rubbed her clit faster, and then he leaned into her, reaching past to shove the boxes to the ground.
“I need you,” he ground out.
“The fourth present,” she gasped as he climbed onto the bed, moving her bodily to the middle of the mattress.
“It’s a robe.”
“Nice,” she whispered. “I like—”
He cut off her words with a kiss. She splayed her hands wide on his shoulders as he moved on top of her, loving the play of muscles as he took charge. His weight settled in all the right places as he deepened the kiss, fucking her mouth with his tongue, and she gave herself over to him completely, her limbs loosely twining around his body. She could feel his erection, thick and hard against the top of her mound, and she wanted to beg him for it.
Fuck me, she wanted to say, but he was still kissing her and touching her and that oil was spinning her slowly out of her mind. Her nipples tingled and her sex pulsed, and everywhere in between was hot and primed for whatever he wanted to do with her. To her.
And then he was sliding into her, ever so slowly, and his oil-slicked shaft spread that irresistible, addictive heat from the inside out.
“Reinn,” she whispered against his cheek, her voice stolen by the Viking sex gods, and he gathered her in his arms as he started thrusting, fucking her hard and slow and so thoroughly she thought she might cry.
They’d made love all afternoon, but she already couldn’t remember it feeling like this. So full. So complete. So simple and perfect and yet still impossible to believe this was really happening to her.
He whispered her name in return, then louder, and that triggered the return of her voice. His next thrust had her yelling something incomprehensible, and as he pounded deeper, she wrapped herself harder around him and let loose a chant of appreciation that would definitely make her blush should he remind her of it afterward.
Her orgasm ripped through her, taking them both by surprise.
Reinn held himself deep inside her as she spasmed around him, then slowly licked his way into her mouth, a sensual kiss that told her he wanted her to shatter all over again for him. Oh god, she thought, but then he was moving again and before her first orgasm ebbed, another was looming on the horizon. She felt herself slip toward it and gave in as his movements grew jerkier, more primal. They came together, him grunting into her neck and her screaming his name.
She held him tight, and when he tried to move she protested vocally.
“I’m heavy, min elskede.”
“You sound tired. And you make a wonderful blanket.”
He chuckled. “You won’t think so once the endorphins wear off.”
“Always the scientist, my Viking.” She released him enough for him to roll beside her, then she followed, tucking into his side.
***
Reinn thought Ashleigh had fallen asleep curled against him. They’d lain like that for almost an hour. At some point he’d pressed the button by the head of his bed to turn the lights off, but when the first pale light of dawn cracked over the horizon, his beautiful betrothed rolled onto her back. He tried to resist the urge to palm her bared breast, but when she murmured something about the hot spring bath, he gave in.
“You feel like a soak?” He took a deep, growly breath at the perfect feeling of her nipple against the inside of his hand.
She arched her back. “And more, if you keep that up.”
With a regretful final squeeze, he rolled her toward the far side of the bed. “Come on.”
He slid the floor to ceiling glass panel door open, the cool early summer night a bracing change from the warmth of Ashleigh’s embrace. He clenched his fists at his side, which earned him an appreciative hum. “What?” he turned and held out his hand.
She took it, stepping outside with a shiver. “You’re a beautiful man. I love it when you flex all your muscles like that.”
“I didn’t flex anything. It’s just cold out here.” He patted her on the bottom as she stepped toward the small pool fed by the natural spring under his property. “Get in there.”
She climbed up, pausing to look back at him. With her long, willowy limbs, balanced delicately on the rock edge of the pool, she looked just like Rán. He admitted as much and she laughed. “The sea witch?”
He grunted, and climbed in, pulling her down onto his lap in the warm mineral-infused water. “I was thinking more about how she was the mother of nine daughters.”
She smiled and arched her head back, dipping it into the water before sliding back against his body. “Is that your plan for me? Fill me with babies, make me forget my dreams of soaring through the stars?”
His arms tightened around her. “We have spaceships. I’ll never hold you back from your dreams.”
She shook her head. “I had it wrong, Reinn. My dreams weren’t of space adventures, plural. My dream was at the end of a space adventure. This is right where I want to be.”
“There will be backlash.”
She shrugged. “And we’ll survive it. I’m two light-years away from where the drama will mostly be anyway. Everyone here doesn’t find this nearly as scandalous as the FedNat brass will.”
Like their fancy ships couldn’t get here a hell of a lot faster than that if they wanted to. “I worry.”
“How can you worry with a sunrise like that?” She turned his face gently and pressed her cheek against his. “We’re going to be just fine.”
“When you arrived, I was so worried. That this whole mission was a disaster waiting to happen. And inside…I haven’t felt this alive in a long time. Alive, but at peace, too.” He squeezed her hips. “I’ll move mountains to keep you, Ashleigh.”
“You won’t need to, my Viking, but that’s really sweet.”
He wanted to protest that he wasn’t sweet, but t
hen she was kissing him and grinding in his lap, and it didn’t matter anymore.
EPILOGUE
Nine months later
“Is it weird to be packing up your uniform for good?”
“Nope.” Ashleigh leaned over the table and poured more mead into Navena’s mug. Her friend had just returned to Midgard, this time for a social visit.
After the initial three month mission, most of the FedNat cells had rotated out. Ashleigh’s team had left, but she’d stayed. The last six months she’d served as a liaison officer for the overall mission, working mostly in the city, travelling around her new home planet as needed. She was as much a diplomat for Midgard as Earth in the talks as the two worlds forged a tighter connection.
A connection that would hopefully grow even stronger once they announced she was with child. Reinn was still in the city, talking to a security team. They’d told his parents that morning. Ashleigh had escaped with Navena after breakfast, and they were now at the farm. It had been a mild winter, and already things were greening up nicely around them.
She had a weaving lesson later, but for now, they could stay cuddled up in front of the fire. She picked up her cup of lacveena tea and breathed in deeply.
“Oh, that reminds me, I brought you some Earth ginger. It’s freeze-dried, and needs to be quarantined and scanned, but they should release it to you in a few days.”
“How did you know I’d need it?” Ashleigh rolled her eyes. “Never mind, I don’t want to know.”
Ever since the wedding, which had been quiet and private, the Earth media had been announcing a pregnancy every week. Now that it was really true, they’d probably lose their minds. Luckily her husband had more sway over his father than either of them had ever thought, and with a single request, a serious arms-length media ban had been put in place around Ashleigh. At least on Midgard.
And that was part of the reason for her giving up her commission. The other lay just outside her large picture window.
“You really love it out here, don’t you?” Her friend cuddled closer and Ashleigh looped her arm around Navena’s shoulders.
“I do. You’ll have to visit whenever you get a chance.”
“Is your mother coming for the birth?”
Ashleigh winced. “I haven’t told her yet. I will. Tonight. Reinn will be here for dinner and we’ll set up a data link. I’ll send it as a recorded message, though, I don’t want to hear her opinion on how I’m throwing away my career.”
“It’s nature’s way that children rebel against their parents. Go their own path.” Navena winked. “I should know, I’m the middle of five kids, and I don’t think I’ll ever procreate. You can have the babies for me.”
Ashleigh rubbed her still flat tummy. “Okay. Because I think I’m already addicted to them.”
“Ew, honey. But okay, whatever floats your boat.”
***
Reinn took the train north so he could read. He needed a bit of space and processing time after everything that had been discussed. He was seriously disturbed by the thought of his wife and children being spied on by invisible satellites. So much for their farm being a private sanctuary.
He didn’t want to be vibrating with rage when he got home, so he poured himself into a report on sustainable hydroponics.
It didn’t work.
When he got off the train, Aldric was waiting with his horse. His second must have checked in with someone in the city.
“Tak,” he muttered his thanks.
“Velkomst.” Aldric raised his eyebrows. “One would think you’d be happier to see your beautiful wife.”
“Keep your eyes to yourself.” Reinn surprised them both with the growl. He didn’t share his wife, but he’d always been proud of the appreciative looks she got from friends and admirers.
Now he wanted everyone to leave them alone.
“Of course.” Aldic waited until they were underway before trying again. “Feel like beating the shit out of me with a sword later?”
Reinn let out an honest-to-goodness belly laugh. Yes, that sounded perfect. “Consider the challenge accepted.”
Aldric stared straight ahead for a minute, his face as placid as that of his horse. “You know I was kidding about the part where you win, right?”
“We’ll see about that.”
It was an easy twenty minute ride to the farm. When they arrived, Aldric took both horses to the barn without being asked. He was a good second, even if he needed to keep his eyes to himself.
He found Ashleigh in the kitchen, and she barely had a chance to put down the knife she’d been chopping vegetables with before he swept her into his arms. “I’ve missed you,” he said after kissing her more than a few times.
Navena laughed from a stool at the table a few feet away. He nodded gruffly in her direction.
“It’s been nine hours, my Viking. We regularly don’t see each other for a few days in a row.” Ashleigh patted his cheek. “What’s gotten into you?”
“That’s changing soon, right?”
“Depends. Are you going to insist on shuttling me back and forth to the city as I get heavy with your child?”
“Yes.” Well, it was honest, if not smart. “No?”
She shook her head. “I love you, Reinn. How’d the security meeting go?”
“Ah, you know.”
“Yes, I do. I realize I’m now a trophy wife and a diplomatic pawn, but until a few months ago I was a liaison officer of some merit. So…how’d the meeting go?”
He grimaced. “There’s debate over creating a no-fly space over our farm.”
She laughed. “For real? Oh my. That doesn’t sound like a great use of resources.”
“I don’t care about that.”
“I do. And of course you do. All this nonsense will die down. And if they get a few images of me and the baby, so be it. Maybe we can cut that off by inviting reporters here on our terms. And raise some funds for flying hospitals while we’re at it.”
On the far side of the room, Aldric opened the side door. His normally passive face got a curious look on it when he spied Navena at the table. He nodded at Ashleigh, then wandered in and looked around awkwardly.
“Hey there, Viking man,” Navena said easily.
Ashleigh bit back a smile. “Aldric, would you stay for dinner?”
“Uhhh…” His second glanced at the other guest, then at the floor. “Maybe.”
Reinn wasn’t sure if he was helping, but he waded in anyway. “Aldric and I were going to spar a bit, should we wait until after dinner?”
Navena’s eyes lit up. “Swords? Can I play?”
Aldric turned pink. “Errr.”
Ashleigh grinned. “Go on. Don’t hurt him,” she added, pointing her finger at Navena.
Aldric shot him a panicked I can’t spar with an Earth woman look, but Reinn wanted a few minutes alone with his wife. He shrugged and watched as the other man haplessly followed Navena outside.
“Do you want to chop?” Ashleigh asked him innocently as soon as the door banged behind them.
He shook his head.
“Slice the meat?”
He grinned and pulled her close. “Nope.”
“Set the table—Oooh!”
“I’m never going to tire of picking you up and tossing you on the nearest flat surface, woman.”
She wiggled on the countertop and splayed her legs, inviting him to nestle in closer to her body. “That’s how it should be, my Viking.”
THE END
Want more sexy second chance romances?
If you liked Midgard, try my Wardham series. There’s an excerpt from What Once Was Perfect on the next page, and it’s available for FREE at most retailers right now.
I have a mailing list that I use to give readers a heads-up about new releases and big sales. If you sign up, you’ll also be given an opportunity to read new releases before they hit stores!
SIGN UP FOR ZOE’S MAILING LIST HERE: http://eepurl.com/yIdq1
MORE FRO
M CRYSTAL JORDAN
Zoe York lives in London, Ontario with her young family. She is the NYT and USA Today bestelling author of Fall Out, published in the SEALs of Summer military romance superbundle, and the acclaimed Wardham and Pine Harbour series. She’s currently chugging Americanos, wiping sticky fingers, and dreaming of heroes in and out of uniform.
Zoe loves connecting with readers on social media:
Facebook | Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Tumblr | Pinterest
Other Books by Zoe York
THE WARDHAM SERIES
Between Then and Now
What Once Was Perfect
Where Their Hearts Collide
When They Weren’t Looking
Beyond Love and Hate
No Time Like Forever
PINE HARBOUR
Love in a Small Town
Love in a Snow Storm (coming November 2014)
SEALS UNDONE
Fall Out
Fall Hard (coming November 2014 in the SEALs of Winter boxed set)
Enjoy the following excerpt from What Once Was Perfect:
THEY sat like that for almost an hour. At one point, Kyle was convinced that she had fallen asleep, but he didn’t want to risk losing the moment, and he couldn’t see her face without shifting. Her head was tucked under his chin, and he didn’t mind, because her hair smelled amazing, an intoxicating blend of honey and some kind of fruit. Thank god her ass was perched high on his thigh and her legs were bent over his other arm, because in the space beneath he had developed a brutal erection. He couldn’t remember ever being this turned on by cuddling before, except maybe in those first few weeks of dating when they were still working on rounding all the bases.
