Gressa turned toward Strian, fisted a handful of his tunic and yanked until he bent over. The kiss they shared had several people turning away and clearing their throats. Strian grunted as he pulled away. He hefted Gressa over his shoulder and turned away from the group without a word. He carried Gressa until they reached the loch.
Twenty-Three
Strian placed her on her feet, and it was only a heartbeat later that they once more came together in a cataclysmic kiss, both frustrated and needy after so many days of forced abstinence. They tore at one another’s clothing, shedding them in a pile at their feet. Strian pressed Gressa back against a boulder as she tangled her fingers in his hair and held his head as she wanted it while her tongue invaded his mouth. There was little finesse as Gressa wrapped her legs around Strian’s waist, and he thrust into her. Their coupling was rough as fingers bit into flesh and nails raked across skin, each marking the other as possessiveness and love tangled into inextricable need. A voice in Strian’s mind emerged from the fog long enough to warn him that he would hurt Gressa by being so rough with her against a rock, but when he tried to slow and shift them, Gressa’s teeth tugged at his lip and her heels dug into the base of his spine.
Gressa gasped with pleasure that coursed through her each time Strian surged into her. Nothing permeated the cloud she floated upon as she clung to the only man she had ever been with. She knew the Valkyries could claim her now, and she would go to Valhalla without having missed anything by not having more partners. She could not imagine any man could make her feel what Strian did. The hunger for Strian that gnawed at her throughout their voyage, ravaging her each time he was near, now controlled her every move and thought. His breath tickled her ear as his tongue brushed against the whorl of her ear. He nipped then sucked her lobe into the warmth of his mouth, scalding her wherever his lips touched. His whispered words eliciting moans she did not try to stifle.
“Do you have any idea how much I’ve wanted to thrust into you over and over until I can no longer say my name? How many times I nearly took you against the rail of the ship, crew be damned? Gods Gressa, I want to fuck you as much as I want to make love to you. I just want to be bollocks deep in you and hear you scream my name.”
Gressa felt her nipples tighten into painful peaks as his words pushed her closer to the edge.
“Then fuck me, Strian. Don’t hold back. My whole body aches for you. I need you. Show me I’m not alone in how much I need you inside me.”
Gressa’s last words shredded Strian’s final vestiges of control. He could no longer hold back. He would feel guilty later for being so rough, but as Gressa’s moans filled his ears, and her soft chanting for more released his last threads of reason, he plunged his cock into her over and over. Each time he thought he was as deep as he could go, he pushed just a little further. Gressa’s feet pressed against the rock as she lifted her hips to meet each thrust, her nails biting into the flesh of his backside as she held him within her for an extra moment while the muscles of her core contracted around him. Their movements driving one another closer to the brink; the pressure building within them both. Strian saw stars dancing behind his clenched eyelids each time he felt Gressa’s inner muscles tighten around him, holding him deep within her.
“Gressa, let go. I need you to find your release because I can’t hold on much longer. I need to spill, but I refuse to finish until I’ve pleasured you and you scream my name. Fuck, Gressa. Hurry.”
Gressa bit into Strian’s shoulder as she ground her mound against him, the burning ache within her belly giving way to her climax. She moaned as the feel of Strian’s body grinding against hers tipped her over the edge.
“Strian!” she did not care that her scream scared the birds from the trees and was surely heard all the way to the keep.
“Gressa!” Strian’s responding bellow only confirmed to anyone who could hear that they both found their release.
Gressa’s knees cradled Strian’s hips, as they lay panting, Strian’s chest pressing against Gressa’s. Her fingers drew lazy circles over the sweat drenched skin, and Strian continued to press kisses along the column of her neck and behind her ears. They were content to remain joined as they struggled to regain control of their breathing. The physical need satisfied, their emotional need demanded they remain connected as tenderness overtook them.
“I wish it could be only the two of us. At least until our family grows. Then I wish we could live without the demands of others interfering,” Strian murmured as his hand cupped Gressa’s neck and she nuzzled against him.
“You would have us live like hermits? Wouldn’t you miss our friends?” Gressa’s toes ran along the length of Strian’s calf before winding around his leg.
“You forget that I go into the mountains at least once a year for longer than a moon.” Strian felt Gressa suck in air, surprised he knew that she knew. “I figured Freya told you that morning she pulled you off to the side. Your face went so gray, I feared you’d pass out.”
Gressa’s mind flooded with guilt and doubt about her decision to stay in Wales. She had been so sure that it was what was best for their child, that Strian would understand, but once again the harm her absence caused Strian confronted her.
“Stop, Gressa.” Strian pushed up on his forearm to look at her. “I would have stayed with him, too.”
Gressa’s eyes filled with tears as she stroked Strian’s jaw, his beard grown in after days at sea.
“I should have told you that sooner, Gressa. I’m still angry and bitter about the years stolen from us, but I should have said something before I now. I’ve thought about it countless times since you told me your reasons, and I would have done the same thing. Gressa, I think about him all the time now that I know. I can’t stop wondering what he looked like, what he would be like now. He’d be old enough to train with us. I would have already given him his first wooden sword. I want to know if he would have been fair like me or had your dark hair. I can’t stop wanting to get to him faster and being frustrated at having to wait. I want him to know that his father loves him.”
Strian’s voice caught on the last sentence, and he hung his head. Gressa’s cool hands lifted his chin, and she curled up to brush a kiss against the corner of his lips. Her thumbs swiped away the tears that fell from Strian’s misty eyes. She wrapped her arms around his back and nudged him to lie against her again. She stroked his hair as he rested his head against her shoulder.
“I told him every day that you loved him. I had no way of knowing if you had moved on, found another wife and had a family, but I knew that you would have loved our son no matter what. I didn’t want to think about you being with another woman, creating a life with her that we had promised each other, but I knew I was gone too long to expect you to not continue your life. I even sat at his graveside and wondered aloud what your new family would be like. I told him of the brothers and sisters I assumed he had, and how you would have gladly included him as you played with and taught each of them. He knows, Strian. No matter where his spirit rests now, he knows you would have loved him just as much I love him.”
“But you saw him. Were you able to hold him?”
Gressa nodded, unable to force words around the lump in her throat. Strian tilted his head to see Gressa’s face. Tears leaked from her eyes, too. Their shared pain still looking for ways out.
“I did. Strian, he looked so much like you.” Gressa’s hoarse whisper came with a feeling of gravel traveling along her throat.
Strian rolled onto his side and covered her belly with his hand as though he might feel whether a new life already grew inside.
“No child can take the place of our son, but I pray more children will join our family one day.” Strian infused his with tenderness, and Gressa welcomed the love they exchanged. When Strian pulled away, she offered him a watery smile.
“We’ve certainly been trying enough that something should take sooner rather than later.”
Gressa’s smile withered as a look of horr
or crossed Strian’s face. It was not the reaction she had expected when she tried to lighten their mood.
“Do you think you’re already with child?” Strian croaked. “You’re not leaving the boat, Gressa. I’m serious. Once we’re there, you’re staying on the boat. I’m not risking losing you or our child.”
Gressa shook her head, understanding Strian’s protectiveness.
“It’s too soon to know. And I can’t hide just in case something might go wrong. Strian, we both have a duty to fight, and I need to. I need to avenge what Grímr forced me to do and the threats he made against you.”
“But what if you’re carrying already? And if you’re injured again? You could lose another child.”
“And you could die with me left wondering where you are.” Gressa pushed against Strian and sat up. She stormed into the water until it was knee deep before turning around. Strian could see the red staining her cheeks and the cords of her throat straining as she bit out, “You’re not leaving me behind again.”
Gressa continued to wade in as Strian stalked into the water behind her. She did not try to get away when he pulled her to a stop. His chest felt twice as broad as hers when he held her against him. His hand once more resting on her belly.
“Do you think we’ll ever stop being so protective of one another?”
“I pray that we don’t even if it makes life complicated.”
Gressa leaned her head back against Strian’s chest and pulled his other arm around her. She placed his hand over her breast, and she arched as he massaged the flesh. She swayed her hips as she felt him harden. The hand on her belly traveled down to the apex of her thighs, and she widened her stance, granting his entrance.
“Why can’t I get enough of you?” she murmured.
“Because you are as much a drug to me as I am to you.”
“How can my body crave you, feel so empty without you, when we joined only minutes ago?”
“Because we aren’t joined anymore.”
Gressa took Strian’s hand and pulled him back to the shore. Neither spoke another word as Gressa pressed her front against the boulder, lifting one leg and tilting her hips back. Strian slid into her, teasing her as much as himself. She pushed back so that her sheath engulfed his sword, and they were once more a single entity. They rocked together, their movements slow and drawn out. Strian draped his body over hers, lacing their fingers together. Gressa reveled at his much larger form covering hers, his size dominating her while her body controlled his need.
“You’re mine, Gressa.” His possessive words eliciting a moan from her.
“Show me.” She looked back over her shoulder. “Show me, and I’ll do anything you ask.”
Strian’s eyes slid shut, overwhelmed by the feelings Gressa created in him. Her resilience and tenacity to overcome any challenge drew his respect and his pride, but her willingness to concede control to him in moments like this made him feel stronger and more manly than any battle ever had. It was her implicit trust and his conviction to protect it, and to nurture their love that gave him strength.
His fingers found the hidden button that controlled her pleasure. He rubbed slowly and firmly until he felt her urgency grow as she sought release. He pulled his hand away, eliciting a whimper from Gressa. His other hand found her nipple, and he pinched until he knew she felt pain, but the way her hips thrust back told him she also felt pleasure. He released her nipple. Her mewls of need along with the faster rocking of her hips told him she understood the game they played. He once more toyed with her nub, bringing her close to release then pulling away, this time with a shark spank to her backside. They continued this pattern until they both were insensate. When she was certain she could support her own weight, Gressa pushed back from the rock and turned to face him. She dropped to her knees, cupping her breasts around his cock as she sucked his tip. With her eyes closed, Strian watched the happiness at pleasuring him blossom across her face. When he could feel himself leaking onto her tongue and saw his seed on her breast, he lifted her and turned her to face the boulder. He gripped her hips and thrust into her as hard as he could, seating himself to the hilt. He gave her a sharp spank before pinching both her nipple and her nub. She exploded around him, words and curses tumbling from her lips as she demanded more. Strian was only too happy to oblige as his hips continued to pound into her until she once again climaxed and squeezed the seed from his cock.
Strian slid his hands along her body and arms until they interlaced their fingers again, and he dropped kisses on her shoulder. With his body draped over her, only her legs and fingers were visible. Strian paused, sensing they were not alone. His eyes scanned their surroundings as he tried not to alert Gressa to his concern.
“Who’s there?” her voice barely loud enough for him to hear.
“I don’t know,” he exhaled. He would not move until her was sure there was no danger to Gressa, his body shielding her from anyone’s sight or their weapon.
Gressa looked around, too, as best as her position pinned against the rock allowed.
“There,” she murmured as she squeezed his fingers and adjusted them to point to their left. “Betje.”
Strian began to pull away, thinking Betje posed little harm, but the threats she hissed at him as he forced her onto Tyra’s longboat came back to him. He had underestimated her as Gressa predicted. The venom of her words had shocked him as she stepped across the plank joining his boat to Tyra’s. She had threatened to kill Gressa, to rip any unborn babe from Gressa’s womb, and to trick him into coupling with her while Gressa watched. Now he saw the calculating look on the woman’s face as she continued to stare at the couple. Strian leaned close to Gressa’s face so they could whisper.
“She watched us,” Gressa whispered. “I wonder for how long.”
“Too long,” Strian hissed.
“Now what? Do we just wait her out?”
“I’m not moving and making you a target.”
“And I’m not remaining here forever waiting for her to tire of spying on us.”
Gressa pushed Strian from her, her body unhappy as he slid from her and causing her to moan. She slipped from beneath him and stood gloriously naked before the woman who coveted her husband.
“I know you saw everything,” Gressa called out. “You can’t believe he wants you or anyone else after what you saw, what you heard. Leave now, and we will pretend like we never saw you.”
“You have an answer for everything, Sami,” Betje called back. “But he cannot be everywhere at once. He can’t watch you every second during battle, not if you want him to live. No one wants you alive, but everyone wants you dead. If it’s not a Welshman, then it’ll be one of Grímr’s men. If not one of them, then a Norseman, or woman, will do it. You don’t belong with us, Sami. You won’t breed with our men and bring your filth into our village, our tribe. But I will bear your man’s child one day, and you will be dead and unable to stop me.”
“Dead women don’t fuck.” Gressa called back as Betje turned away.
Betje whipped around with a knife in her hand, but Gressa had expected it and was quicker. She had already snatched a knife from the pile of clothes. As Betje raised her arm, Gressa released the blade, hurtling it toward her newest nemesis. It embedded in the other woman’s throat, and Betje collapsed with a soft gurgle and sightless eyes.
Twenty-Four
Gressa stared for a long moment at Betje’s body before looking back at Strian, shaking her head.
“They’ll never accept me. Your warning carries no weight.” Gressa began pulling her clothes back on.
“That’s not true. Betje had more reason than most to be hateful, even if she should have directed that hate at me. The rest of the tribe isn’t like her.”
Gressa felt her temper rising as she looked at Strian. She saw the concern in his eyes while she heard his conviction in his voice, but she knew he was being naïve. She shook her head.
“You are but the jarl’s son’s friend. You are neither the j
arl nor his heir. Your words don’t carry any real weight. You can’t change the mind of people who have hated my people. Betje is just the first.”
“Your people? I thought I was your people.” Strian dragged his tunic over his head.
“Apparently not. I seem to be more than only half Sami to our tribe.”
“She doesn’t speak for everyone.”
“No. Just those who aren’t your friends. Which is everyone else in the tribe.”
“My friends? So now they aren’t yours? Your family?”
Gressa pushed hair from her eyes as she finished dressing.
“Strian, what are you and the others going to do? Put your lives on hold to be my nursemaid? Go with me everywhere, never leave me alone, because it’s not safe for me? That’s too much to ask. And it’s ridiculous.”
“Then I keep you alive long enough to get to Wales, and we make our home there, just as we talked about.”
Gressa clamped her mouth shut. She knew they would only go around in circles since they were both right in their own way. Instead she looked at Betje.
“What about her?”
“She threatened you. You were well within your rights. If the Mackays want to offer her one of their Christian burials they can, otherwise, she can remain where she lies. It doesn’t matter one way or another because Valhalla doesn’t await her.”
“And what do we say to Ivar?”
“He’ll be the first to understand. He knows the wrongs he’s done us both. He knows the error he made in trying to bind me to that hateful bitch. It won’t come as a surprise since he’s seen Betje try to seduce me since you returned.”
Strian wanted to pull the boot from his mouth once the words were out.
“Just how many times was that? Just what happened between you two those few times you said you were alone?” Gressa demanded.
Strian (Viking Glory Book 4) Page 18
