Chapter 14
Darkness clung to the corners of the chamber, but the woman astraddle his groin glowed in the light of the lamp like a being aflame.
Lust boiled through his veins. For a moment, he imagined tossing her off, dragging her to her knees, and mounting her from behind, rutting like a stallion claiming his mate.
But Brandr had given her the reins. He couldn’t jerk them away from her now without losing whatever small amount of trust he’d gained.
Her green eyes met his as she rubbed herself along his shaft. He writhed beneath her, desperate for her to take him in, equally as desperate not to beg for her to.
“Now?” The word escaped his lips without his conscious volition.
She leaned down and kissed him, strafing his chest with her taut nipples. “Not yet.”
She slid down onto his thighs. He half sat up and reached for her, but she straight-armed him.
“Not yet, I said.” She pushed his hand away gently. “You promised to lie still until I say different. Remember? Shall it be said your oath is no good?”
“No, Katla,” he said through clenched teeth as he settled back into the mattress. She’d not corrected him once, even though he’d used her name several times. It was a small victory. “My word is all I have, all any man has. You know I’ll keep it.”
“I’m very glad to hear it,” she said as she moved up and settled her naked rump on his groin.
His balls tightened. The tip of him protruded between her legs, and she massaged the bit of rough skin just beneath the head with her thumb. He broke out in a cold sweat, biting his lip to keep from spilling his seed onto his own belly. She leaned forward and kissed his lips hard.
The agony of needing to be inside her pushed coherent thought from his mind.
“What will you do if I give you permission to move?”
“I’ll…ah…I…” He couldn’t make his tongue form words. “I’ll…”
Wet and slick, she slid over the length of him, luxuriating in her own arousal. “Move, Brandr.”
His hips rose to meet her. His breath hissed over his teeth when she teased him with her soft, wet entrance, but she didn’t let him slip in.
She cupped her breasts, arched her back, and let her head fall back. He’d never seen anything more beautiful.
He ran his hands up her thighs and spread the lips of her sex, then thumbed her most sensitive spot.
She groaned.
He grimaced in satisfaction. His aching erection made a true smile impossible.
“Now?”
“Ja, now.”
She took him in hand and guided him in. Katla moved slowly, obviously reveling in the power of engulfing him, consuming him. Her velvet insides molded around him, conforming to his length and girth as if she’d been fashioned especially to fit him.
He touched her as she moved, pushing her toward the pinnacle.
Her first spasm began.
Brandr went off like an arrowshot inside her, their releases in tandem.
She milked him with her contractions until he was spent.
Her inner walls clenched once more, and then she collapsed bonelessly on his chest.
He stroked her hair, glad she’d made no move to sever their joining before it was unavoidable. Her breathing slowly returned to normal. He felt her cheek lift in a smile against his breastbone.
He’d made her happy. Warmth flooded his chest. As far as accomplishments went, pleasing Katla the Black was as fine a thing as a commendation for conspicuous valor from the Byzantine emperor himself.
Then very softly, there came a small, ladylike snore.
“You’re welcome, princess,” he said as he pressed a kiss on her tousled crown. He waved a hand to snuff out the lamp without disturbing her.
Then he closed his eyes. He needed to take his rest when he could. With any luck at all, she’d wake in a couple hours, ready for another ride.
***
“Sister, a word in your ear.”
Katla stopped and waited for Finn on the path leading to the barn. Her best milk cow was calving. The black, small-horned beast had added three heifers and a bull calf to Katla’s herd over the years, all of them healthy and sound.
Since a person’s wealth was measured in stock as often as in coin, it was a happy occasion whenever a calf was birthed. While this particular cow had never had a difficult delivery before, Katla always tried to be near in case she had to tie a rope around the calf’s legs and help it out.
“What do you want, Finn?”
“Well, I wanted to talk to you about…that is…I see you’ve given Ulfson new clothes.”
“Hardly new.”
In the distance, a cow lowed in distress. She turned and set off toward the barn at a quick pace. Finn fell into step with her.
“The tunic and trousers belonged to Father—no, don’t give me that look,” she said, not slowing her determined stride. “They’re so old no one else would want them.”
“But how could you give a thrall Father’s things?”
“He’d want them used. You know how he was. He never let anything go to waste,” Katla said with conviction. “Besides, weren’t you the one who told me I needed to find clothes that fit Brandr? It’s a stroke of luck that Father was a large fellow too.”
“Brandr,” Finn repeated. “You call him Brandr now.”
Katla rounded on him, fists at her waist. “That’s the man’s name, isn’t it? What’s really bothering you, Finn?”
He pressed his lips together as if now that he had her full attention, he wasn’t sure how to proceed. He seemed preoccupied with his own boot tips.
“Speak your mind, or I’ll go on about my business.”
He looked at her directly then, his pale blue eyes filled with concern. “One suitor just left us. Another is due here this evening. Do you think it’s wise for you to take a thrall to your bed while you’re being courted?”
“You have no right to ask me that,” she said, stalking away in a huff.
Finn followed.
“Was your bed cold last night?” she demanded.
“No, but that’s not the point.” Finn raked a hand through his hair. “I’m not the one looking to marry.”
Neither was she, but she’d made the bargain with her brothers. One way or another, she’d have to see it through.
“I’m of age. I’m no man’s wife at present. What passes in my bedchamber is my business.” She stopped long enough to poke the center of her brother’s chest to emphasize her point. “Mine alone.”
“But, Katla, he’s a thrall.”
“Wasn’t Inga a thrall when Osvald took her to his bed?” she asked.
Even though Inga had been freed later, the taint of the iron collar would follow her throughout her life.
“That’s different.”
“No, it’s not.” Katla kicked a rock down the path ahead of them in frustration. “Why should a woman’s pleasure be any different than a man’s?”
She knew what he was really trying to get at. A thrall was a pariah in their world. An iron collar was cause for derision and scorn. While no one would question a man’s right to make use of a female one for bed sport, a woman who submitted to a male thrall might be seen to be demeaning herself.
Of course, Brandr probably would argue that Katla hadn’t been all that submissive. They came together like a pair of wolves last night.
Three times.
Her lips quirked in a private smile.
“Have you considered that in your bed, Ulfson might forget his place?” Finn asked, stopping as they neared the growing woodpile. “He might think himself your equal. Or even your superior.”
“Don’t trouble yourself on that score,” Katla said, waving away his objections. She’d reduced the man to quivering need. Of course, Brandr had returned the favor, but she’d definitely had the upper hand as she rode him. “I make sure he knows who’s the slave and who is master.”
“Good,” Finn said. Then he chuckled. “You intended to humble the man. I guess there’s no better place for that than the bedchamber, come to think of it. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t doing something foolish.”
“Like what?”
“Like imagining you had—oh, I don’t know, tender feelings for the man.”
Katla sighed. Tender feelings. If having her insides coil in knots that defied untangling every time she saw the man counted, then yes, she was having very tender feelings. It fair stole her breath away just to think on Brandr Ulfson.
But that didn’t mean she must be ruled by her feelings. Sentiment didn’t fill the granary or milk the cows. It wouldn’t see her people in warm cloaks come winter.
Still, she couldn’t let Finn know how closely he’d struck to the mark.
“In all my life, brother, have you ever known me to have a tender feeling?”
Finn’s shoulders lifted in a quick shrug. “You have me there, sister.”
“Then stop fretting like an old woman,” she said, fisting her hands at her waist. “Brandr Ulfson is my thrall. Nothing more. I may do what I wish with my own, and no one dares gainsay me. That’s all there is to it.”
Finn breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m glad to hear it, but I can’t imagine your next husband will allow you to keep him. What will you do with Ulfson once you marry?”
“I’m not even betrothed yet. I’ve met only one possible suitor, and you promised me a choice from three.
” Katla’s head snapped around in the direction of the barn.
The cow was bawling loudly, in obvious agony.
She sprinted off in that direction, calling over her shoulder to Finn.
“As far as what I’ll do with Brandr Ulfson once I marry… we’ll take that ship when it sails.”
“I’ll give you a hand with that cow.” Finn loped after her. “You need to be ready for Otto Sturlson this evening. We can’t have you greeting him with dung on your shoes.”
***
Brandr straightened on the other side of the woodpile. Cold rage burned in his chest. Katla’s words skewered him as deeply as a Saracen’s blade.
Have you ever known me to have a tender feeling?
After all the things he and Katla had done with each other, he still meant nothing to her. She was as heartless as one of the great white bears that roamed the far North. Ferocious and pitiless, the predators fed on anything that moved.
As Katla had fed on him.
Brandr Ulfson is my thrall. Nothing more.
She had that right. There’d certainly be no more.
A man could stand only so much, and he’d reached his limit. He’d bridled himself. He’d let her take the lead, something he’d never even remotely considered doing with a woman before. He’d sought to peel away her protective layers to find the vulnerable soul beneath.
Now he knew there was nothing there.
Thrall or not, he’d be damned if he’d ever come to her bed again.