Viking's Conquest

by Sky Purington

  She licked her lips as her gaze traveled down his chest to the fur ‘tent’ below. It seems she’d sent the poor guy to bed with blue balls. Something she fully intended to rectify when she skipped tasting everything else she wanted to sample on him and went straight for what she wanted to consume most.

  As it happened, she was pretty damned skilled downstairs too. Something he soon learned when she woke him in the best way a man or dragon could be woken. She spent little time licking and teasing but went straight for what would relieve him fastest. She relaxed her mouth, opened her throat, and took all of him at once.

  When he released a ragged groan of pleasure and roughly dug his hand into her hair, she knew he had never felt it like this. But then, dragon or not, it took a certain level of talent, especially with a man of his girth. Talent she showed him while she held her breath and gave to him as good as he had given to her. Yet as his pleasure grew, she knew he held back. He craved more. Something he had never done. Would never without permission.

  So she gave it to him.

  “Take what you want, dragon,” she said into his mind. “Use me however you need to.”

  She sensed his hesitation, his inner struggle as he fought it, but in the end, he let go, gripped her hair harder and took her mouth, thrusting until he roared and let go. Meanwhile, both she and her inner dragon enjoyed him so much and were so aroused, she was surprised she didn’t shift right there. Which, in retrospect, would have gone very poorly for his human half, dragon teeth and all.

  Nonetheless, Tess took everything he had to offer. She swallowed every last salty drop with relish as he breathed harshly, still thrusting slowly into her mouth, wanting her to consume all of him.

  Tess straddled him when he laid back, his skin sheening and eyes half-mast simmering with his inner dragon. She rested her hands on his chest and rolled her hips, spreading her moisture over his groin. He growled in approval, his cock having no interest in going limp despite just releasing. Instead, it pressed against her in anticipation. She purred with approval as she sank onto him. Digging her nails into his chest, she moaned in pleasure at how deep he went, how much he stretched and filled her.

  “Rokar,” she groaned between clenched teeth, struggling to catch her breath. She adjusted to the feel of him before she slowly rolled her hips. So slowly, his dragon eyes flared not just with lust and approval but impatience.

  Meeting his varied emotions, feeling the same, her vision hazed red. Her need took over, and she rode him the way a man like him should be ridden. Hard, and fast mixed in with just a dash of slow, easy, teasing. He dug his fingers into her hips, steering her as much as she would allow.

  Caught in the lustful power struggle between them, she half cried out, half grunted in need. They fought to get closer before he slammed her onto her back and rode her just as hard. She groaned, whimpering with pleasure as he pinned her wrists above her head with one hand and took her rougher than she’d ever been taken.

  In a way that had her inner dragon humming with approval.

  His lust-ridden gaze swept over her body with flattering appreciation before he locked on her eyes and rode her harder still, daring her to defy him. But she wouldn’t. Ever. Not when he reveled in something he had long been denied.

  Not when she reveled in it just as much.

  She wrapped her legs around him, dug her heels into his ass, and urged him on. Dared him to rip her apart. To find a release he’d never been allowed. In response to the invitation, steam started rising off his skin, and his dragon eyes flared even brighter. Rabid passion built, and sweat soaked their skin. They rolled again, and she was on top.

  Lust had never been so focused. So all-consuming and soul-drenching as their eyes held, and their bodies struggled to get closer, to reach a level of pleasure brought on by their dragons.

  Brought on by their pasts...by their possible future.

  Something about that—their eyes holding, their bodies moving and their souls reconnecting—made them come undone at the same time. When a harsh tremor rocked his body, and he locked up with a roar, she wailed her own release.

  In fact, she released so hard everything spun out of control, including her surroundings.

  Only to leave her astride a different man in a different time and place.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “LOKI’S HEL,” ROKAR exclaimed, staring up at the unusual but beautiful woman sitting on his cock before he stood beside Tess looking down at where they had just lain.

  “That was us...is us,” Tess whispered, wide eyed. She stared at the couple. Though human shaped, they were larger, stronger, more adept to the harsh climate around them.

  To Múspellsheimr.

  As far as he could tell, they were once again in a mirror image of where they’d been before but their dragons’ home world version of it. The willow had long, flaming leaves blowing in a hot wind and the water was now a bubbling lava pool.

  “We do not have much longer,” his former self said to her previous incarnate. “We will have to act soon.”

  “Soon,” her sad eyes lingered on his before she rested her cheek on his chest, “but not yet.”

  “Or not at all,” he said softly, wrapping his arms around her. “We could stay and fight. Possibly have a life together.”

  “What kind of life would it be, though?” She met his eyes. “If we do not act on this, we might never get another chance.”

  Pain lit the eyes of Rokar’s former self. “So much could go wrong.”

  “But so much could go right,” she countered.

  “The risk...” He shook his head. “It is enormous.”

  “But worth it,” she murmured. “Because even if we do not get out, the odds are very good others will.”

  He responded, but they never heard it as their incarnates faded away and they again found themselves beneath the willow, lying just like the other couple had.

  “What did we do?” Tess whispered, her eyes moist when they met his. “Because I’ve got a strong feeling whatever it was set something in motion...and ruined us.”

  “I don’t know.” He tucked her by his side and covered them with a fur. “But I agree, it was...life-altering.”

  “Whatever it was ties in with everything,” she said. “But she...I seemed different during that encounter than the other times.” Her eyes met his. “There’s no way I mated with Skáld. How could I have when I looked at you like that? When we felt so strongly?”

  “I think we did what we had to do.” In fact, he was convinced of it. “To achieve this great goal we had. One that had the elves and demons alike helping us. One that your ancestor thought worthy enough to resurrect all of our souls many years later.”

  “The bastard,” she whispered. “Why not just be straight about everything from the start? Then we rally and fight knowing what we’re fighting.”

  “Because strong warriors needed to be created,” he reminded. “Fated mates needed to be found.” He ran his finger along her jaw. “You and your sisters had to come together with us Sigdirs to gain the strength we need to defeat Skáld and his minions.”

  “A dragon still living a world away,” she said. “One who has the benefit of not being dead like Níðhöggr. Who won one war already.”

  “He may have all those benefits, but that hasn’t won him this war yet,” Rokar said. “Each time our kin comes together, we grow stronger and learn more.” He tilted her chin until her eyes met his. “Now I am marked with the First Blade, and we are on the brink of a transition...”

  He trailed off, realizing they truly were in more ways than one.

  “The Burn of Transition,” Tess said softly. She sat up and looked at him. “That’s happening to us now but on a smaller scale, isn’t it?” Her eyes grew a little wider as she put it together as fast as he did. “That’s why we’re so damn hot all the time.”

  He nodded and eyed the pre-dawn sky. “We need to talk to Leviathan to make sure he left nothing out...to see if he can make sense of
this.”

  “I agree.”

  When they stood, she gestured that he turn so she could eye his back. “The dragon tat is the same,” she reported. “The Blade has more color though.”

  “That does not surprise me.” He met her eyes as they dressed, his dragon suddenly certain of one thing. “I think in our circumstance, the blade is a key to something.”

  She blinked several times, her dragon eyes flaring before she nodded. “I think you’re right and I don’t know why.”

  “We will know soon, though.” He was positive of it as he reeled her close before they started back. He didn’t want their evening together to end quite yet. Just a few moments longer. He could tell by the flare of her pupils that she felt the same or as it happened, more.

  “I feel what our former incarnates just felt,” she murmured as he wrapped his hand under her hair and around the back of her slender neck. “Like we’re running out of time.”

  “Because our past lives are influencing us,” he said. “Not because we are in this life.” Then he said more than intended. More than he imagined himself capable of. “We have time...I want more time with you...”

  Like most of his kin, he would have scoffed at the idea of feeling this strongly for a woman so quickly, but he did. Much quicker, in fact, than he had for his wife when they first met. Or should he say differently? Because though he had wanted Helga, he needed Tess, craving her with an intensity that seemed to grow by the moment.

  He wanted her around him always, near him at every opportunity, spreading her legs for him every other breath. The way he hungered for her was beyond words, beyond time. Not just his human side but his dragon half was greedy for her in a way that made it hard to think. To imagine a future without her in it. Without her by his side.

  When her dragon eyes flared, he wasn’t sure if it was because of his thoughts or his building desire. Lust that should have been slaked by now, but pounded through his cock, demanding to be satisfied.

  “We need answers...” she reminded, her voice hoarse with need as he backed her up against the tree.

  “And we’ll get them,” he growled, certain he wouldn’t last long he was so eager for her.

  A chant later, their clothes were gone again, her legs were wrapped around him, and he thrust deep. Her body trembled as she released a long, chest-deep growl of satisfaction when he protected her from the bark and rode her slow and easy. Then he took her harder, enjoying the way she struggled to keep her eyes open.

  As her lust built, she clawed at him, urging him to bring her to peak. To bring her the same sort of powerful release she had enjoyed before. So he did seconds later when they let go at once. In fact, like it had been in the cave, he slid to his knees, he released so hard.

  He realized he was making up for lost time. He’d never been allowed to unleash his lust like this. Now he couldn’t get enough. Something she seemed to understand when she breathed harshly and nodded, responding to a concern he hadn’t voiced.

  “It’s okay,” she panted. “I can take it...love it...”

  When he pulled back enough to meet her dewy eyes, a soft smile curled her lips.

  “Unleash with me all you want, sweetheart,” she whispered.

  “It seems I have little choice.” He cupped her cheek. “I cannot stop myself.”

  He kissed her, soft at first then deeper before he forced himself to pull away. “We need to get back. We have the rest of our lives to...”

  He stopped mid-sentence, shocked by how assuming he had become. More than that, how disheartened he’d be if she turned from him in the end. How painful it would be if she left. But then there was a risk in her staying too. Being a dragon didn’t make her invincible. She and any children they might have could die just as easily as Helga and his son had.

  “You’re right,” she said softly, her eyes lingering on him before she looked away. “We should get back.”

  She had caught those thoughts, but he wasn’t sure what to make of her response other than he’d seen the same flash of concern in her eyes. Though he tried to discover more, her mind was hazy to his, which was a first but to be expected considering what he’d just been thinking about. Thoughts that surely came this quickly because their previous life tied into their budding relationship, moving them faster than either was ready for.

  Or so he kept telling himself as they dressed and headed back without speaking. Yet he wanted to talk. Say something to erase the wariness in her eyes and churning in his soul. He longed to push past their history and find more. Take the next step. Discover something he had no idea he’d been waiting for until now.

  As it turned out, when they returned, Leviathan sat in front of the fire alone. If he wasn't mistaken, the Ancient had been waiting for them.

  Tess frowned and looked around. “Where is everyone?”

  “Here and there,” Leviathan said. “Halla and Pierce vanished back to the Fortress a while ago. Magnus is with his men. Vigdis and Soren are restless and wandering. Kenzie and Eirik are enjoying themselves as much as you two just were.”

  Tess snorted and sat. “You don’t miss a thing, eh?”

  “Not in this place.” Leviathan shook his head. “It would be unwise.”

  “No doubt.” Tess frowned. “So should we assume Halla and Pierce were whisked back to the Fortress by the same force that seems to enjoy playing chess with everyone lately?”

  Leviathan nodded. “And I think we all know who part of that force is.”

  “The Great Serpent,” Rokar said, stating the obvious. He narrowed his eyes, sensing Leviathan had more answers for them. “But Níðhöggr is not entirely behind all the oddities, is he? That’s why you were waiting for us to return.”

  “Yes, like you, I realize what’s happening.” Leviathan looked between them. “That the Burn of Transition has been affecting you all along but on a smaller scale than what originally brought our ancestors here.”

  Tess cocked her head. “And how is it you figured that out at the same time as us?”

  “My guess is because I’m far more closely related to the original Ancients,” Leviathan said. “As you two grow closer, things become clearer, the influence of the Transition more obvious.”

  Rokar’s brows shot up as he took Leviathan’s meaning. “You think that our kin being pulled back and forth to this location is part of it.”

  “Yes,” the Ancient said. “Much like the rift Eirik and Kenzie dealt with between Múspellsheimr and Helheim, the Burn of Transition is not just fluctuating your reality and those around you but giving you glimpses into the past...transitioning you from then to now in a sense.”

  “You’re right,” Tess whispered her eyes on the fire. “It's been doing it all along, even manipulating our personalities, coaxing us back to where we needed to be.”

  She seemed to sense something moments before Rokar. Seconds later, his back warmed.

  When her eyes went to him in alarm, he assured her it was okay then showed her, knowing the tattoos were unchanged. “It doesn’t hurt right now but feels...more soothing than painful.”

  “Soothing?” Tess said. “Interesting but good I suppose.”

  Leviathan nodded. “Yes, because the Blade represents the Transition which after the pain vanished did, in fact, soothe a great many souls.”

  “Because they were no longer in Múspellsheimr but on Midgard,” Rokar said. “No longer caught in a violent world.”

  “But still infected,” Tess whispered. “Still capable of love.”

  Leviathan nodded. “Something Skáld would have never allowed to flourish.”

  “No,” he agreed, his eyes suddenly ensnared by something wondrous in the distance. “The ash is completely afire now.”

  Relief flashed in Tess’s eyes. “I’m glad you see it too.” She blinked several times when the next leg of their journey evidently became clear. “It’s time to head in that direction...it’s time to go to the tree.”

  “Yes,” Soren agreed, appearing nearby, hi
s eyes wary as though he didn’t want to say what tumbled out of his mouth next. “Before Ava gives herself to the beast once and for all.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “WHAT DO YOU mean?” Tess exclaimed. She came to her feet and frowned at Soren. “I thought Ava was safe in the future with Tiernan?”

  “She’s not safe anywhere.” Soren raked a hand through his hair and shook his head. “She’s not safe until this is all over. Until we’re free of this prophecy.”

  When Tess frowned at Rokar in confusion, he only shook his head.

  “He begins down his own path soon,” came Vigdis’s eerie voice. She entered the clearing, her eyes black with Ancient Matter again. “One he can only walk with your help.”

  Tess felt the truth of that so hard it rocked her. “Rokar and I...”

  She trailed off when a sense of urgency pressed in on her.

  “Yes, child.” Vigdis’s gaze was both sad and challenging. “Without you and your mate, Soren and Ava will never find their way, and if they do not, no one will.” Her eyes went between Tess and Rokar, her words daunting considering what they had discussed earlier. “You are the key to the beginning.”

  Not the Blade but them? Or was it all one and the same?

  “The key to the rise of the dragon,” Tess whispered. She tried to hold on to what that meant, but it eluded her, staying just beyond reach, locked in a memory that teased her. “Within the flame...beyond the tree...”

  “Beyond the tree,” Níðhöggr echoed before Vigdis coughed and dispelled the Ancient Matter.

  “We must go,” Magnus said, appearing out of the woodland.

  Tess nodded, not surprised the sorcerer felt the same urgency.

  “We need to find Kenzie and Eirik,” she barely got out before they returned, alarmed as they scanned the area.

  “Where is he?” Eirik asked. “And why is he here?”