Chapter 31 #2
He flinched, then cupped my face. At last, his voice, strained and quiet, came.
“I care about you, Seren Ragnall. More than I should. Not because you’re not worthy but because my life is a threat to yours for reasons you can’t possibly imagine.
And still, I can’t decide what worries me more—the thought of someone using us against each other, or the idea that if the bond is broken, I’ll no longer feel you, hear you … sense you.”
His thumb traced my cheek, his voice barely above a whisper. “You’ve consumed me, Seren, and I fucking can’t stand the thought of you not being a part of me.”
My knees nearly buckled. He’d voiced my own fears and somehow that made them more real.
“What do you want from me, Rykr?” My breath shuddered. “Do you even know? Or am I a mistake you’ll run from the moment you get the chance?”
His jaw tightened, his eyes dark and stormy as they held mine. “You’re not a mistake, Seren. You never will be.”
Before I could respond, his mouth crashed down on mine with a desperation that mirrored my own.
The bond flared to life, an ache that turned to fire as his lips moved against mine.
It wasn’t just a kiss, it was an unraveling, every barrier between us falling away, leaving only the raw truth we couldn’t ignore.
The feeling of his lips, his mouth moving as his breath clashed with my own, was enough to undo me.
I wanted him more than ever.
Needed him.
My soul felt incomplete without him.
I slid my hands behind the nape of his neck, tugging myself up onto my tiptoes so I could reach him better, my lips firm against his.
This.
My pulse beat faster, my eyes closing as I coaxed my lips against his.
His lips parted as he responded to the urging of my kiss. My tongue stroked his, drawing it more deeply into my mouth as one of his strong hands splayed at the small of my back. His other hand slid up to my neck, digging into my hair and holding the base of my head firmly against him. Anchoring me.
In that instant, my need for him grew, the kiss changing from a tender, hungry one to something I knew I couldn’t control or come back from.
My heart slammed into my ribs, an icy shiver traveling through my veins.
The taste of his tongue, the soft caress of his lips, so full and delicious and just as sensual as I’d imagined they’d be, sent a molten ache through me.
I sucked on his lower lip, catching it between my teeth. A low growl rumbled from his chest as he shoved me back against the wall, hard, pinning me there with the iron strength of his hips. The cold metal hilt of his sword pressed into my side.
I fumbled with the sheath, unbuckling it, letting the sword clatter to the dusty wooden floorboards. My fingers found the waistband of his leather kilt as Rykr dragged his lips away from my mouth, trailing down my jaw as he undid the lacing of my vest. I tugged at every buckle and strap I found.
His breath was warm and ragged against my throat. “Solric above,” he growled at last, eyes narrowed, his fingers tugging at the intricate lacing of my vest. “You Viori don’t make this easy, do you?” His voice was rough, his fingers steady despite his frustration.
I teased a smile. “Need some help?”
Rykr’s eyes, molten hot with lust, swept down the curve of my throat. His thumb traced the hollow at my collarbone, then lower still, between the swell of my aching breasts. I wanted his hands on me, teasing, tormenting, exploring. Now.
Without warning, he spun me, pressing me against the cool stone wall. “Impatient?”
The vest dropped at my feet. My shirt followed, then my undergarments. Rough, callused hands slid around my waist, grazing bare skin as his lips brushed against my neck, a whisper of a kiss beneath my earlobe.
“No. Starved.” Hungry for his lips, I turned my face back toward his, catching his lips in a kiss and a tangle of tongues. One of his hands cupped one breast as he pressed me even harder against the wall.
His other hand unclasped the button at my waistband then pushed into the tangle of soft, slick heat between my legs. I groaned, my body bucking in response to his touch. “Gods, Rykr,” I managed, my voice breaking. “Please …”
His fingertips teased me, finding my sensitive, swollen clit and it took all my power to stay upright. “Is this what you want, solwyn?”
“Yes,” I moaned. “More.”
“More, Rykr. I need …”
I couldn’t finish as his hand pushed deeper between my legs, two fingers sliding against the slickness there and pushing deep inside me. “Rykr—”
A strangled cry left my lips, pleasure crashing over me in waves. My knees nearly gave out as I ground back against his hard length, a promise of more to come. “Fuck, yes.”
“You’re so fucking tight.” His fingers slid back, making slow circles that sent the room spinning, every nerve on fire, longing for not just this, but all of him.
A sudden chill seeped into my palms, sharp and biting. My breath caught as the stone beneath my hands shimmered, frost spreading like cracks in glass. I jerked back, my chest heaving, and stared in horror at the ice now encasing the wall.
Rykr lifted his head, the heat of his breath still on my skin.
I covered my breasts and whirled to face him, hoping I wouldn’t find the horrified look on his face. But there it was, unmistakable.
“Seren.” His voice was low, rough. “Does that happen often?” His gaze flicked to the ice, then back to me, the worry in his eyes sharp enough to cut.
“Freezing things accidentally or during sex?” I swallowed hard. “No, never.”
“And if you had been touching me?”
I stared at the whorls of ice along the seams of the wall.
If my hands had been on him instead of the wall …
The thought tore through me, leaving a hollow ache in its wake. The ice could have spread to his skin, to his heart. I could have killed him without even realizing it.
The tingle in my hands this morning.
I didn’t answer his question, dread replacing every bit of lust that had been tearing through me. I snatched my clothes from the floorboards, my cheeks heating as I turned from him to pull them back on. “Something’s wrong with my powers, Rykr,” I whispered, a slight tremble to my voice.
“What do you mean?” Rykr came up beside me, his handsome face dark with worry.
“The spell failing earlier. My inability to control my ice. That’s never happened to me before. My mother taught me how to control the ice when it manifested, and I’ve done it without a problem since I was a child.”
Something flickered in his face, unreadable. “You think it has something to do with Emberstone?”
I trembled. “My powers have always worked fine here. The only thing that’s changed …”
The bond.
It had changed everything. I held his gaze, the bond thrumming between us, a pulse of warmth and unease. The soft press of the seam of his lips into a line told me he’d heard me.
“What can we do, Seren?” Rykr said gently, coming up beside me. He reached for my hand, but I snatched it away, afraid of what I might do. Of what I could have done.
“Let’s go to the temple. We need answers. Now.”
I was tired.
Exhausted.
And as Rykr stepped closer, his face shadowed with concern, I wasn’t sure which frightened me more—losing control again or the fear I’d seen in his eyes.
Fear of me.