Chapter Fourteen
Iris had just finished cleaning the crash rooms – even after ten days of cleaning them, she still wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to what she saw and smelled back there – and was drying her hair after her shower. She slipped into the bathrobe that she and Zoe had bought in a sale at an incredible eighty percent off: it was thick terrycloth, warm and soft against her skin. Every time that she put it on, she felt like she was all wrapped up in a large pair of arms, just snuggled up against a broad chest.
Viking’s arms; Viking’s chest .
Jesus Christ, girl. Stop it. He isn’t interested in you that way .
Oh, sure, he showed up at her door at six every morning and watched her bake and talked to her over coffee before heading over to Blue Dragon Ink. He said goodnight to her every night before switching on the motion sensors that effectively trapped her in her room, away from him. He was friendly and sexy and funny – and she had never wanted anything in her life as much as she wanted him.
And she wouldn’t ever have him. She knew it.
Bang on cue, as if she’d summoned him with her thoughts, he knocked on her bedroom door. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was going on nine o’clock, which was a bit early for Viking to turn on the motion sensors. She hoped that everything was OK, that the Garden hadn’t appeared on Wolf’s radar again. She didn’t trust when Gideon was quiet.
“Come in!” she called, tugging the bathrobe belt more tightly around her waist.
The door opened and there he was, so tall and so achingly gorgeous. He was so near and yet so far from her, and as the days passed, she felt that divide more keenly, more deeply. She had no idea what to do with herself anymore, where to look or how to act or what to say.
“Hey, baby,” Viking said. “You got a minute?”
“For you, I have two.” She waved him to the bed, and she sat in the armchair. “What’s up?”
He shut the door, then sat on her bed and smiled at her, shattering her heart into a million pieces. “I wanted to see how you’re doing.”
Iris blinked. “You mean how I’m – what do you mean? Like, with work?”
“I can see how it’s going with work, Iris. It’s going great. You’re a whirling dervish in the kitchen and with the cleaning, your baked goodies are now in serious demand with customers, and you’re taking in tips now for the food, so your envelope of money must be bursting.”
She nodded and then waited.
“I was thinking more… I wanted to ask you…” Viking screeched to a conversational halt, looked at her uncertainly. “I was wondering how you were doing with… with you. Like how you’re feeling about Gideon and where you see your life going from here.”
“Ah.” Iris looked down at her bare feet. “Well, to be honest with you, I’m feeling –” She broke off, struggling to find the words. How did she feel? And even if she could articulate it, would she be able to say it to Viking?
And then – out of absolutely nowhere – a burst of courage rose in her. It was the same courage that had got her out of and away from Gideon, and which had told her to send that bastard one final message, and that had pushed her to tell Viking one true thing about herself.
Right now, right this minute, it was screaming at her to tell this man the truth about everything. It was saying that she had nothing to lose, not one single thing, and everything to gain. She wouldn’t be with Viking, and it wouldn’t change anything about what Gideon had done, she knew all of that of course – but she’d have been open and honest with him, and when he rejected her again, she’d be strong enough to take it.
I can take anything .
She took a deep breath and called on any better angels that she might still have left. “I – I feel – pathetic.”
“Pathetic?” he echoed.”Why do you feel like that?”
“Oh, God,” she said. “Why don’t I feel like that? The reasons are so many, I don’t even know where to begin.”
“Begin anywhere, baby.”
“Ummmm. OK, well, I was stupid enough to voluntarily get myself held hostage by a cult. I let them drug me into submission for months, and I was a whore for the loser who ran the place, this little tin god who fooled me and then trapped me. I have almost no education – nothing like you, nothing that really counts – and so all I’m good for is cooking and cleaning. I’d say that I’m also good for fucking, but Gideon made it crystal clear that I was lousy at that and never quite made the grade there either.”
She paused, waited to see if Viking was going to speak. But he was looking at her calmly, his eyes so warm and patient, so she took another breath and carried on.
“I screwed up my big escape plan by running smack into the middle of a biker gang who now puts motion sensors outside my bedroom. I’m still cooking and cleaning, at least for money now, but I’m hardly saving lives, or advancing world peace, or doing anything even slightly important. I’m thirty years old and I have no prospects, no goals, no family, no friends. I’m an ex-junkie who wasted pretty much every minute of my life so far, one way or another, and I see nothing in my future that gives me hope that the next thirty years will be any better.”
She stopped.
“What else?” he asked her quietly. “Tell me everything.”
“Well…I’m… I keep comparing myself to Zoe and Vixen and…” She exhaled, hard. “And I feel especially pathetic next to them. I feel small and invisible, totally flat-chested and straight as a board, and that fucking thing on my back –”
She broke off again, trying to hold back her tears now.
“It’s so – it’s so ugly , Viking. Who would ever – nobody will – you won’t –”
“I won’t what?”
“You won’t ever want to be with me.” The words caught in her throat. “Not ever.”
“Do you want me to be with you?” he asked, but she looked away. “Baby… is that what you want?”
“More than anything,” she said in a rush; if she was going to do this, she was going to go for it, and to hell with the fall-out. “I want to be with you by active, conscious choice , you know? I want to choose to be close to a man, and choose what to do with him. I want to have the freedom to say ‘no’, and to enjoy what I say ‘yes’ to, and not feel bad after. No shame and disgust, no feeling like I sold myself for drugs or approval from a goddamn cult leader. I just want – I want to get into bed with you and feel safe and relaxed about everything that we do there, and I want to know that when I get up out of that bed, you’d still respect me. You’d even like me, but not because we had sex. You’d like me for me , you know? You’d just – you’d want to keep talking to me over coffee while I bake, and you’d still say goodnight, and you’d check on me during the day. And that’s it…that’s how I feel.”
She stopped talking; that was it, that was everything. Now the chips would fall all over the damn place, and she’d find a way to be OK with wherever they ended up.
Viking stared at Iris, stunned and shocked at what she’d just told him. It was a lot to unpack: it was her heart and her fears and her desires all handed to him in one go. He hadn’t expected any of this when he’d come in to check on her, but now she had trusted him with all of those things, and he had to do right by her. He had to be just as open and honest; he had to be as brave.
Here we go. Start with the biggest truth .
“Baby,” he said. “I want to be with you too.”
She looked surprised, then she blushed.“You do?”
“I really do. I have for a while, but I was worried about scaring you.”
“Because of Gideon? What he – what he did?”
“Yes, and not just what I suspected he did to you in bed. That tattoo –” He fought back against the rage that was rising in his chest. “I was so worried that you never wanted anything to do with a man ever again, and I wouldn’t even blame you.”
“I did feel that way,” she confessed. “But then I started talking to you, and getting to know you, and now… now I don’t feel that way. I feel the opposite.”
“So do you think that I could touch you?” Viking asked. “Just touch you, see how you feel when that happens.”
“Yes,” she said quietly. “Yes, please.”
Slowly, he leaned forward, watching her face as he moved towards her. He raised his large hand and touched her cheek, stroking the impossibly pale skin. His fingertips trailed over the curve of her face, tender and slow. “Will you let me do this?”
Her breath caught. “Yes.”
Viking’s eyes sparked at her husky assent. His fingers threaded in her long, loose hair and he gently tugged her closer, until she was all the way forward in the chair.
“And this?” he said. “Can I do this?”
“Yes.”
Still holding her hair between his fingers, Viking lowered his face to hers, ghosting small kisses on her forehead, across her cheeks, along her chin, turning her this way and that to accommodate his mouth. He moved slowly, taking his time, listening to her breathing get deeper and harder at his gentle dominance.
“What about that?” he murmured against her throat, his beard tickling her. “You agree that I can do all of that to you, baby?”
Iris couldn’t answer this time; her voice seemed to have completely stopped functioning. She nodded, praying with everything in her heating-up body that he wouldn’t stop touching her.
Viking lifted his head again, stared into her eyes. He smiled at her clear desire, knowing now for sure that he wasn’t all alone in what he was feeling. She looked scared, though, and he didn’t want that. It was just about the last thing in the world he wanted.
“You want to know what you can do to me ?” he said.
“What?” she stuttered. “What do you mean?”
“Ask me what I agree to.”
She was frozen in place, fighting to get up the courage to do what she really wanted to do – what it looked like Viking wanted, too. But he wasn’t going to take that next step, she saw suddenly. He was going to make sure she was comfortable with this, and the way he could be the most sure would be for her to take things to the next level.
He watched and waited, pushing down on his urge to ravish her mouth with his. No, he’d made the first tentative moves, but she was going to have to make some of her own. He needed to know that she was a part of this, that it wasn’t all just happening to her. That she was making choices with him, not because of him.
When she finally raised her hands to his chest, he almost sighed with relief. Iris’ touch was gentle, shy, and a wave of tenderness for her threatened to wash him away. He sat very still and let her take the lead now.
Iris ran her hands over his muscles, a bit stunned at his obvious and massive physical strength. He was so clearly holding it all back, though, holding it in check. She grew bolder, let her fingers trace the hard curves of his upper arms, his pecs.
“What about this?” she said at last. “Is it fine that I do this?”
“It is,” he said hoarsely.
She smiled, enjoying the game now. She stood up and pulled him to his feet too. Standing on her tiptoes, she moved closer and slid her hands over his broad shoulders. She pulled his face down to hers, flicked her tongue over his lips. “And is that OK?”
His response was a groan and he wrapped his massive arms around her.
“Is that a yes, Viking?”
“Yes,” he growled. “Yes, it is totally OK for you to do that.”
“Can I do more?” she whispered shakily.
“You’d better,” he said. “You’re killing me, baby.”
She lifted herself to him again and this time, he pulled her up, he pulled her right off her feet. Her sweet mouth met his in a soft kiss, a butterfly kiss that knocked the breath out of him. She pulled back a bit and stared up at him. “I hope that works for you.”
“Iris…” Viking took a deep breath. “There’s no rush here, you know. We don’t have to – I mean we won’t do anything that you don’t want.”
“I don’t think that I’m ready to…to do everything.” She peered up at him, looking to see if he was disappointed. “Is that OK?”
“Baby, I’m going to say this again and again, until you hear me and believe me: we only do what you want. No more, no less. It’s your choice, you’re in control. You say yes, you say no, you say stop, you say go.”
“You won’t… I don’t know. You won’t feel frustrated and maybe… maybe like I’m leading you on?”
“No.”
“No? Just no?”
“Just no.” Viking gently set her back on the floor. “We can stop right this second if you tell me that, and I’ll be totally fine with it.”
“No.”
“No?” He cocked his head at her. “We’re not stopping right this second?”
“Nuh-uh.”
“How come?”
“Because right now, we’re going to do something more.”
He stared down at her, loving the heat in those purple eyes. “So what do you have in mind, baby?”
Without a word, holding his gaze, her hands dropped to the belt on her bathrobe. He blinked, astonished and barely breathing, then watched as she slowly untied the belt. Her small, naked breasts peeked out from the gap in the material, then her flat stomach and slim, curvy thighs appeared. She moved her hands up to her shoulders to remove the robe, but he stopped her, holding her two hands in one of his.
“Please let me,” he said, his voice so guttural, he barely recognized it. “Please.”
She dropped her arms to her sides, and he loved the trust that she showed in him. “OK.”
Slowly, gently, he stroked her throat, loving how she arched under his touch. His fingers trailed down the centre of her body, stroked the exposed skin, before finally parting the bathrobe. Delicately, he unpeeled her, unwrapped her, like she was a delectable gift. One that he was going to thoroughly enjoy. The robe fell to the floor.
Iris gasped when cool air hit her nipples, hit her clit, and his whole body went into overdrive at the sound.
“Oh, God, baby.” He lowered his head to her breast, flicked her nipple with his tongue, and she arched again, mutely begging for more. He obliged her by kissing his way over to her second breast, blowing on the pink nub, then sucking on it. “So beautiful .”
“Ah,” she said softly as he nipped between her breasts, licked the tiny red mark that he’d left there. “Viking…”
“Hmmm?”
“Kiss me.”
He moved up her body, took her mouth slowly, languidly. His tongue skimmed the curves of her lips, and when she opened to him, he delved into her sweetness, tasting her. Luxuriating in her, just richly and unaplogetically enjoying her.
When his hand moved down her body again, Iris moaned into his mouth. He smiled, loving how responsive she was to him. It was innocent, somehow, and spontaneous, but also knowing, needy. Iris needed what he was doing to her, what he was giving her, and he swore right there and then to give it until she collapsed into his arms.
When he skimmed her stomach, she trembled; when he slid lower, barely touching her tender folds, she cried out. Right away, Viking moved his free hand into her dark, tumbled hair, dragged her eyes to meet his.
“You good, baby?” he asked, almost harshly. “You with me?”
“Yes,” she panted, seconds away from begging him to just fucking touch her, already. “Oh, God. Yes .”
He smiled again, and this was a smile that she hadn’t seen on that gorgeous face before. She’d seen him playful and sweet, she’d seen him sexy and intense. But this smile? Dear sweet God, it was – hungry . Hungry for her.
His kiss this time was rough, demanding, uncompromising, and she just let it sweep her away. She didn’t want to fight anything that was happening here, definitely didn’t want to stop what was happening. She wanted him. She wanted anything and everything he’d give her.
Viking paused, a part of him still thinking about the tattoo, remembering what she’d said about shame and disgust, about wanting to choose.
“Baby,” he said, his voice barely above a raspy whisper. “Eyes up here again.”
Right away, she gave him that brilliant gaze, and he stroked her cheek, marvelling at the softness of her skin.
“Listen to me,” he said gently. “All I want to do is make you feel good, any way that you’ll let me. But before I do that, I need to know that you’re here with me, here and now. That you want what I’m offering you.”
Iris smiled, reached up and dragged his mouth down to hers. She kissed him, heard him groan against her mouth, felt his cock harden against her stomach. She was thrilled to find that she wasn’t scared of his arousal, she didn’t want to shrink away from it. She wanted to be closer – as close as she possibly could be.
“I want you,” she said simply. “I want us to both feel good.”
His eyes burst into flame, and she sucked in a breath, knowing that there was no turning back now. And to hell with wanting to turn back. She’d follow this man anywhere that he wanted to take her; she’d take his hand and just follow in a heartbeat.
Taking his time, watching her face, Viking lowered her to the bed, slowly pushed her down on her back. He stretched her out, arranged her so that his eyes could feast on her and worship her elegant lines: the sweet curve of her wrists, her pert breasts and delicate feet.
“Iris?”
“Hmmmm?”
“Can I touch you? Can I make you come?”
At his words, she helplessly arched up off the bed, more turned on than she’d ever been in her life. She was actually on the verge of orgasm, and he’d barely put his hands on her yet.
“Yes. Please, yes.”
Slowly, as if they had all the time in the universe, he moved his hand down her small body, worshipping every curve and groove, murmuring to her how beautiful she was. She watched him move lower, lower still, and when he hovered just below her belly button, he paused.
“Yes?” he said. “Baby, you need to tell me yes.”
“Yes. Oh, God, yes .”
At last, finally , he stroked her aching sex. Slowly, gently. Iris bit her lip to stifle the cry working its way up her throat, and shut her eyes. It was good – it was so damn good. And it was just starting.
His fingers were on her taut bundle of nerves, circling, pressing, rubbing. She dug her head back into the pillow, trying to remember to keep breathing, but it was hard. The waves of pleasure were already starting, already building, and she rotated her hips against his hand, trying to increase the pressure.
“Can I touch you inside?” he whispered against her breasts, his breath teasing her nipples to stiff peaks. He sucked on them, gave them gentle bites. “Touch you deep?”
“Oh, God .” Her whole body gave a spasm at his words, and she knew that once he slipped those thick, gentle fingers inside her, she was a goner. “Please. Yes. Yes .”
“OK, then. Hang on, baby.”
Mindlessly, helplessly, she raised her arms above her head, grabbed the headboard. He grinned at her utter abandon, and his cock throbbed at seeing her this trusting and turned on. Fuck , he wasn’t sure how long he’d be able to hold on to his control, but he was going to give it his best shot. He was determined to make this about her , and he took a deep breath, fought down his arousal.
He gave her pussy lips one last, long stroke, and then he moved one finger to her slick channel. He probed it carefully, moved in an inch, paused. When she whimpered and thrust her hips up, he slid in deeper, waited again. Good God , she was wet, and warm, and tight. She was perfect, and she was all his.
When she opened her eyes and stared up at him, silently begging and pleading, that was when he added a second finger, and slid home. Her whole body jerked in reaction, and both her cry and her eyes were wild.
“Iris,” he murmured as his fingers moved in and out, in a smooth, steady rhythm. “Tell me how it feels.”
“So – so good,” she managed to get out between gasps. “So good . Don’t stop – please don’t stop.”
“No way, baby.” He sped up the pace, went a bit deeper, a bit higher. “We’re both gonna enjoy this.”
His fingers were fucking her now, and Iris was slowly but surely losing her mind. Without even knowing that she was doing it, she planted her feet on the bed, started to thrust and twist her hips. The movements took him deeper than she’d ever thought a man could go with just his hand, and when he turned his wrist and stroked her sweet spot with his fingertips – that little spot hidden so high and deep in her body – she stiffened in shock.
“Baby?” He stilled his hand. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she panted. “I just – you touched – that was – again – more –”
He grinned at her incoherence, since it meant that, sure enough, he’d found what he’d been looking for. Watching her closely, knowing that this was going to be incredible to watch, he pushed again, gently stroked inside. At the same time, he pressed his thumb down on her clit. Stroked and pressed once; twice; three times. And that was when she detonated.
Iris’ orgasm ripped through her body almost violently, and she gripped the headboard so hard, she thought she might actually break it between her hands. The wave of release went on and on, and dimly, she was aware that he was kissing her. Her moans and cries were swallowed by his mouth, and she let herself be washed away by it all, lost in it all: the sensation, and the heat, and the pleasure. And most of all, she let herself get lost in this gentle, rough man… this man who she was starting to realize was a gift.
Viking felt her go limp against him, and he lifted his head to stare down at her. Her sweet face was flushed a glowing pink, and her small breasts were rising and falling in an erratic rhythm as she struggled to catch her breath. He slid his hand from her hair down to her cheek.
“My God, Iris.” He heard the wonder in his own voice. “That was incredible.”
“For – me – too,” she panted. “Oh – my – God …”
Viking laughed, dropped his lips to hers in a fast kiss. Her eyes flickered open, and he saw nothing but female satisfaction staring back at him. Yeah, she had come , come like he’d dreamt about her coming, and he was already ready to do it all again. Many, many times.
For now, though, he wrapped his arms around her still-quivering body, rolled her on to her side. He cradled her against his chest, waited for her to calm. And in a funny way, he liked this part almost as much as the actual climax: having her so soft and relaxed against him was almost as good as having her shaking and crying out under his touch.
Almost . Pretty damn close.
When she’d recovered, he pulled back to gaze at her. “OK?”
“Oh, Jesus.” She mouthed a kiss to his chest. “ So OK.”
“Ready for more?”
She started. “More?”
“Mmm-hmmm.” Making sure that she was watching him, he raised his fingers to his mouth, sucked her sweetness off them with a low moan. She gasped, wondering if she’d ever been hotter than she was right this second. “I want to taste you.”
“Oh,” she squeaked. “I –”
“You good with me doing that, baby?” he asked, holding her close. “Or is that too much?”
Iris bit her lip, struggling with herself. The truth was that she’d never really liked oral sex. She’d never been able to fully relax when a man was down there, and even though she knew it was probably mind-blowing for most women, for her it had always been just pleasant. And it wasn’t something that Gideon had ever done, of course: he’d told all the women-servants that it was dirty. Though apparently having his dick in multiple women’s mouths was pure and desirable.
Well, if there was any man who’d show her the secret joys of oral sex, she’d bet that it was Viking. So she took a deep breath, opened her mouth.
“I’ve never really enjoyed that,” she said, opting for honesty. “But – I want to try with you.”
“You sure? We don’t have to, you know.” His smile was hungry again as he contemplated her flushed body. “I’m happy to use my fingers again… I know you enjoyed that.”
“I just – I’ve never really relaxed enough to… to enjoy it.” She blushed, wondering if she sounded like an idiot. “Maybe we can – take it slow?”
“Slow it is, baby.” He kissed her, and she was surprised to taste herself on his tongue. It was sweet, tangy, earthy, and she found the mix of him and her intoxicating. “You ready?”
She nodded, already sure that this was going to be amazing.
He kissed his way down her body, taking his time, letting her get used to his mouth and beard all over her skin. He moved lower, lower, and when he planted hot, slow kisses on her inner thighs, Iris started to tingle.
After a few seconds of these teasing kisses and slow licks up and down her body, her hands reached for him, started to push his head down to her pussy, and he smiled. Yeah, he’d been waiting for her to give him a sign that she was ready for more… and what better sign than Iris directing him for her own pleasure? He let her guide him to her sex, let her lift her hips to his mouth.
“Viking,” she groaned. “Do it. Please… please… do it. Now.”
Without a word, he gently used his thumbs to open her to his gaze.
Holy Lord. So. Damn. Beautiful.
Her clit peeked out from between her glistening lower lips, begging for his tongue, for his mouth. He leaned in, inhaled deeply, loving her scent. Loving everything about this woman.
Iris squirmed. She thought that she’d be embarrassed at having a man kneeling between her splayed thighs, holding her open and just staring at her, breathing her in… but she wasn’t. Viking so clearly appreciated what he saw, and that ramped her own arousal up and beyond anything she’d ever experienced before. She was exposed in every single way possible – and she was loving it.
“Ready, baby?’ he said now, his voice guttural.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Good,” he said, and then his mouth was on her.
Iris’ scream took her aback: never in her life had she screamed with pleasure. Not once, not with anyone. But Viking blew all her expectations right out of the water, broke every single rule that she’d ever known. And suddenly, she knew that she was going to understand real, true physical pleasure with a man.
At last.
Helpless to it, she gyrated against his mouth, stroking herself against him, loving the added friction of his beard on her most sensitive flesh. When he slid his hands under her ass and lifted her, she let him. And when he licked the whole length of her pussy, drinking up every drop of her honeyed need, she wrapped her legs around his neck, pulling him close, as close as she could get him.
“Viking.” She was going to beg now, and damned if she wasn’t usually fine with doing that. “I need more.”
“And you’ll get it.” He tongued her little button, held her hips in place as she jumped. “But I thought you wanted to take it slow.”
“Fuck taking it slow,” she gritted out. “I want it fast.”
“Yeah?” Torturously slowly, he took her clit between his lips, rubbed and sucked, then flicked it with his tongue. “You sure about that?”
“ Yes ,” she hissed, done playing now. “You’re going to kill me.”
“Maybe.” He licked circles around her clit now, almost touching it, but not quite. “Just a little bit.”
“Viking…”
Her next words were knocked clean out of her chest as he took her with his mouth. His tongue was inside her now, where his fingers had been just moments before, and her body welcomed him back in. God, he’d just been there, he’d just left – and she’d missed him. It felt like she’d been empty and yearning for years, not minutes.
He filled her. He completed her. He helped her to be whole.
Shit. I’m so, so dead where this man is concerned.
Viking’s movements were speeding up, and she just let it happen. He alternated between thrusting his tongue deep and hard, and gently stroking her clit. Over and over, he repeated the motions, and her whole body started to shake with the need to go over the edge.
He denied it to her, though. He kept her right there, so damn close, but not close enough. Teasing her, tantalizing her, showing her that he controlled her orgasm, and that she was going to come only when he decided that she would.
Frantic now, almost crazed, Iris gripped his hair, held his mouth right where she needed it the most.
“ Please ,” she cried, in a voice that sounded nothing at all like her own. “Please, please, please…”
Taking pity on her at last – and dangerously close to coming himself – he relented. With his lips, Viking clamped down on her swollen, throbbing clit, and slid two fingers inside her at the same time. He reached for the spot that had driven her insane just five minutes before, found it, pushed hard, even as he worked her button without mercy.
Iris reared up, her whole body coming up and off the bed, her toes curling. And when she came, it was the single most explosive climax that she’d ever known. It was an all-over orgasm, a total-body release. Her tiny bud pulsed against his wicked tongue; her tight inner walls clenched around his fingers; her whole body vibrated and rippled under him.
It was pure, unadulterated pleasure… and it went on forever.
When it finally started to fade and recede, Iris opened her eyes. The room was spinning, and she slammed them shut again, wondering if she was going to pass out. Leave it to Viking to make her come so hard, she was dizzy. Yeah, the man was dangerous to her. Mostly to her heart, of course, but also to her body and her mind. He was dangerous and he was addictive, and she needed him again. Already.
Carefully, he withdrew his fingers, sliding out of her silken sheath easily. He lifted himself up and over her shaking body, careful not to crush her under his weight, gave her a tender kiss on her forehead.
“Easy, baby.” He held Iris loosely, waiting for her to open her eyes so he could check her. “Shhhh, now. I got you.”
She buried her face in his chest, held on for what seemed like dear life. He stroked her hair, felt her calm under his ministrations. When she finally gazed up at him, his heart swelled: she looked amazing . So beautiful, and sated, and glowing. He wanted to be the only man who ever made her look this way, and he felt a crunch of regret in his chest that he probably wasn’t going to be. Iris would leave as soon as she made her money, and he’d be left here wanting her, missing her.
Pushing away his pettiness with a herculean effort, Viking kissed her nose. “You good?”
“Unnnhhh,” she groaned. “Mmmmmm.”
“Can’t talk?”
“Nuuuhhh.”
“Awesome.” He kissed her again, jealous and possessive of her in this blissed-out state, and fuck being the bigger man about any of it. “That means you enjoyed yourself.”
“Mmmm-hmmmm.”
“Yes?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “Thank you.”
“Oh, Christ, Iris. Thank you . I’ve never loved anything more, I promise you.”
She sighed, and he tucked her head under his chin, and just held on. A few minutes passed, and he wondered if she’d fallen asleep, but then she spoke.
“Viking?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“Can I – is it OK if I –” She shifted a bit, clearly uncomfortable. “Can I touch you too? Taste you?”
His heart literally stopped dead in his chest. “You mean –”
“Yes.” Her hand drifted down his body, over his t-shirt, stroked him through his jeans. “Here.”
“Holy crap,” he breathed. “Iris… you don’t have to –”
“I want to.” She hesitated, choosing her next words carefully. “I want to try, with you. For you.”
Her words smashed through the haze of his arousal, and he tipped her chin up. He saw fear and uncertainty in her eyes, and he knew why. He was sure –sure with everything that he had – that she’d been violently forced to go down on that fuck Gideon. Forced to suck him until he came in her mouth, maybe on her face, and his whole body went tense with anger and disgust. If she was scared of and disgusted by this, he wouldn’t be the slightest bit shocked.
“You don’t have to,” he repeated, trying to keep his voice level. “I promise, it’s OK.”
“Can I try?” she asked. “You won’t be… disappointed? Gideon always told me that I was – that I was bad at it.”
“Never,” Viking rasped, hating that her self-confidence had been so shattered by those cult monsters. “Never, ever , Iris. Not with you.”
“So… can we try?”
He smiled, held her eyes, pulled off his t-shirt, rolled on to his back. Moving slowly, he stretched out and then tucked his hands under his pillow, showing her that she was in control here.
“Yeah,” he said, husky and low. “Yeah, we can.”
She exhaled in relief. “Alright.”
He lifted his head. “Iris?”
She looked at him, silent.
“You change your mind, you stop. It’s OK. I won’t be mad, and I won’t force you to carry on. You get me?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“You really get me?” he insisted. “This is your choice. You don’t want to do this, you say so.”
“I will. I promise.”
He searched her entire body for a lie, but saw nothing. A bit more relaxed now, he lowered his head back to the pillow, nailed his eyes on her face.
“Up here, baby,” he ordered her. “Kiss me.”
She came without hesitation, gave him her mouth. He kept his hands under the pillow, kept his lips soft. He wanted her to set the pace here – and that started with a kiss.
As she moved her lips over his, he felt her confidence grow. Shy and slow, her hands started to glide over his upper body, and he was astounded at just how good her touch felt.
It occurred to him that while he’d had his hands – and now his mouth – all over her delectable little body, she’d barely touched his. So he just lay back, gave her the space and time that she needed to play, and to get comfortable.
Iris couldn’t believe that she finally had her hands on the man. That this hard, muscular body was hers to stroke, nibble, lick, kiss. She didn’t know where to begin, really, but she was damn well going to begin. This man was a bearded warrior fantasy-come-to-life, and he was at her mercy.
She wasn’t sure how she ended up running her tongue over the tattoos on his upper arms and chest, but he seemed to like it as much as she did, so she kept going. She traced the curve of his pecs, then flicked his nipples. He arched a bit at that, and gave a low groan.
“Iris…”
“Hmmm?”
“Again.”
She smiled, then did as he asked. She saw the muscles in his arms flex and strain, and she knew that he was fighting to keep his hands in place. The sight of his voluntary helplessness did something to her – something dark and powerful. It made her feel… naughty. Sexy.
Powerful.
With renewed confidence, she started to lick her way down his body, running her tongue over every curve, every indentation. When she reached that sexy ‘v’ just above the waistband of his jeans, she turned all of her attention to worshipping it. As far as Iris was concerned, there was nothing hotter on a man’s body – and she was going to enjoy this. But there was too much clothing in her way.
“Take these off,” she ordered him, pulling at his jeans. “ Now .”
“Well, yes ma’am,” Viking said smartly. He sat up and unzipped and unbuttoned, then lifted his hips off the bed as he tugged the jeans down and off. She kicked them to the floor, then just sat and looked at the delectable man that was all stretched out in front of her, hands back under the pillow, muscles taut and smooth. He was like a Roman gladiator statue brought to life, almost a perfect work of art. She’d never been an art-lover, but she was open to new things now.
She ran her tongue up and down the deep groove on his left hip, kissed her way across his stomach, licked the right one. Viking’s breath was harsh now, and his erection tented his boxers away from his body. She took her time, though, letting her hot breath gently travel over his hardness through the thin material.
Meanwhile, Viking was in hell. Or maybe in heaven. He couldn’t decide, and he kept changing his mind back and forth. She was the sexiest woman that he’d ever had in bed, so having her kiss him like this was like touching a tiny piece of heaven.
However, the woman was also a master tease, a marvel of sweet seduction. She knew what she was doing to him, and she so clearly loved driving him crazy. So Iris was also a she-devil straight out of hell… and Viking was seconds away from begging her to stop.
Or maybe he was seconds away from begging her to never stop.
It was a toss-up, really.
When she tugged his boxers down and off, he gave a strangled groan, fisted the pillow in his hands. Dear sweet God , what this woman was doing to him should be illegal, and she hadn’t even gotten her mouth anywhere near his cock yet. He hoped he’d be able to last longer than a minute. If he could do that , then he’d believe in miracles.
She immediately tested his resolve by running that hot little tongue up and down his entire length, making damn sure to pause at the tip and lick the pearly liquid that appeared with every pass. The urge to touch her was nearly overwhelming now, but he kicked it down, hard. She needed to know that she was safe with him – and that started with him being a man of his word.
Being a man of his word sucked right this minute, though.
Iris was astonished how much she was enjoying doing this for Viking. She’d been prepared to do it to please him, to make him feel good… but she hadn’t been prepared to like it. But she did like it. No, scratch that. She loved it.
She loved hearing him groan as she kissed him; loved feeling his muscles tense and jump under her fingertips and lips; loved tasting his salty-sweet pre-cum. Most of all, she loved feeling so free with a man’s body. Free to just enjoy it, without guilt, or shame, or fear.
He was starting to shake and writhe under her now, so she paused, waited for him to glance down at her. When he did, she shot him a little grin, and she watched his eyes darken.
“You ready?” she asked him, her fingers busy stroking his steely length, caressing his balls.
“Fuck, uhhhhhh ,” he responded, and she understood him. After all, she’d just been speaking in monosyllabic grunts fifteen minutes earlier. “Iris… baby…”
She gave him one last, soft kiss on his crown, then she opened her mouth, moved down him in one smooth, constant glide. She reached his root, gave a gentle suck, slid up again, swirled her tongue around his head. Then did it again, and again.
Viking cried out, a sound that was torn from the darkest depths of his heart. Fuck , the woman was incredible at this, no matter what that absolute prick Gideon had said, and he fought to keep his lower body on the bed. It was impossible though; it was like holding back the ocean. It was too big, too much, too intense. It was undeniable, and it was not going to allow itself to be denied. He had to move.
Gently, slowly, trying so damn hard to not scare her, he lifted himself as she slid down his cock, meeting her sweet mouth, then he lowered his hips to the mattress as she pulled back. She didn’t mind his participation at all, and thank Christ for that, because in about ten seconds, he was about to have the strongest orgasm of his life.
With a drawn-out moan, he raised his head. “Iris, I’m gonna come…”
She felt him lengthen and thicken in her mouth, and she pulled back and off. Her hand took over now, pumping him, stroking him, and Viking knew that the end wasn’t just near. It was here .
“Oh, fuck,” he managed to say, just before he lost all control. “Iris… Iris… God , Iris…”
She watched as he came, his seed shooting out and hitting her chest. The pulsing heat warmed her from the outside in, and she slid his cock between her small breasts, enveloping him in her softness. He cried out again, an inarticulate sound of almost-pain, and shuddered as she moved him up and down, coaxing every last drop from him.
Viking’s brain took a while to function again. She’d short-circuited it, he was damn sure about that , and he just floated on a hazy cloud of pure bliss for a minute. When she released him and crawled up his body, that was when he opened his eyes again, finally loosened his death-grip on the pillow.
He pulled her up to his mouth, kissed her with every good, shining thing that he had. He wanted her to feel all those things that he just couldn’t say, wouldn’t say; he wanted her to feel them all the way to her toes.
Iris was shaken at the intensity of the kiss, but she fell into it all the same. Over and over, Viking kissed her, kissed her until she was almost breathless. Only then did he pull back, run his fingers through her tumbled hair.
“That? Was amazing, baby.” He touched between her breasts, felt his own release sticky on her skin. “You OK?”
“I’m great. I loved every second of it.”
“That makes two of us. Believe me.”
She lowered her head to his shoulder, sighed a bit. “I’m sorry, though.”
“Sorry?” His chest was still heaving, and his words came out on puffs of breath. “For what ?”
“Because I didn’t – because I pulled away. I know men like it when they come in a woman’s mouth.”
“ No .” There was that bossy, harsh tone again, the one that the most female, feminine part of her she responded to every single time. “Never, ever apologize to me for anything that we do in bed. You hear me, Iris? Never.”
“OK,” she whispered.
“I’m serious, now.” He forced her eyes up to his, not letting it go until he was sure that she fucking got this. “This bed is a place for me to love you, for you to love me. It’s not a place for fear, or shame, or apologies. It’s a good place, baby, a safe place. A place where you never say sorry for anything that happens or doesn’t happen in it.”
She felt tears starting, and he saw them. Right away, he sat up.
“What?” he said. “Did I scare you?”
“No.” She shook her head, her smile pure and beautiful. “Not at all.”
He wiped the tears from her cheeks. “So what are these?”
“Happiness. Release. Relief.” She paused. “I really – I loved it all, Viking. I’ve never been so relaxed in bed with anyone. I feel like… like every single thing that happened here today was something that I chose . Something that I’d choose again.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes.”
Viking nodded, accepting that answer, knowing that it was the truth. “Me too, Iris. I’d choose it all again. In a goddamn heartbeat .”
“When?” she said.
“When what?”
“When will you choose it again?”
“ Argh ,” he groaned. “Jesus Christ, woman. Gimme a minute to recover. You damn near blew my head off.”
“Which one?” she asked with that sassy little grin that he adored.
He flipped her back down to the bed now, mindful of his strength, her small body. He saw the spark of arousal in those beautiful eyes, felt the way that she went slack and soft under his hands.
“You’re snarky, you know that?” he said. “Got a mouth on you.”
She did that heart-stopping grin thing again. “Yeah. And don’t you love what I do with it?”
He growled then, wanting her to stop with the sexy talk, at least for the time being. He needed her to shut her up, so he did it the only way that he could thing of – which was also the best way.
He kissed her smart little mouth. Then he kissed her somewhere else, for a long, long time.