Chapter 21
CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE
Icer
“Are you sure, baby?” I ask, my tone gentle and concerned, hoping she won’t withdraw from me if I follow through on what she’s asking. The vulnerability in her eyes makes me want to be certain, to hold her close and protect what’s unfolding between us.
She looks up at me, her gaze steady and unwavering.
“I’m sure. I’m ready. My body is singing for you, Viking.
Tell me you can feel it.” Her words are confident, and there’s an undeniable, lustful connection igniting between us.
It’s scorching hot. I pull her back into my chest and begin nibbling on her neck like a starved man needing a snack.
This spot between her shoulder blade and nape has always intrigued me.
It calls to me like a siren luring a sailor to the depths of the sea.
Like an alpha wolf wanting to claim his mate so no other man can try and take her away.
The moan that escapes her has my dick going from stiff to rock hard. Mine, my inner beast snarls. Too bad I’m nothing but a measly human because I’d like to mark her, brand her, insert my scent into her veins like the shifters of lore do.
I huskily breathe her name, “Letti,” my voice rough with longing. Unable to hold back, I press my hips forward, the denim of my jeans rubbing against her backside. She reacts instantly, shifting and pushing her body back into me, her curves perfectly molding into the crevice of my hips.
Even in this heated moment, I pause, this isn’t only about me, I need to be thinking with a clearer head. This is about her mental state and well-being, not about the way my damn dick is aching to slide inside of her.
“Make sure this is what you want, baby,” I tell her, my tone soft.
“I don’t want to do anything that’ll trigger you.
” The air between us is heavy with carnal anticipation, it’s dynamic, but respect for her remains at the forefront of my every move and action, making sure she feels safe and in control.
Because at the end of the day, that’s what matters the most. Her. Always her.
With pure determination, she looks me in the eyes and says, “I swear I’m ready, Viking. This time, my mind isn’t going to ruin the moment between us. I want you. I love you. I need you.”
Her words carry the weight of her past struggles, but she also has a renewed strength, one full of hope for the future—our future. Her confession’s more than mere words, it’s a heartfelt admission of desire, affection, and necessity.
“Fuck, baby, if this doesn’t prove your strength, I’m not sure what does,” I rasp, foreign emotions clogging my throat. My goddess is putting herself in a vulnerable position and placing her trust in me without reservation. She undoes me like no other woman ever has.
Our eyes once again meet through the mirror as I lift my hand and brush it beneath the hem of her T-shirt. When she gives me a nod of approval, I let it glide upward and cup her unbound breasts.
“No bra?” I ask, wondering why I hadn’t noticed that before now.
“It’s restricting and the reason I wear a cami underneath my tops when I’m at home,” she informs me with an impish twinkle in her eye. She knows that she’s pulled the wool over my eyes because it keeps her constrained enough that it never registered that she wasn’t wearing a bra.
“All this time you’ve been teasing me and I never realized it.
That’s a shame. I’m disappointed in myself,” I admit, digging my nose into her skin and breathing in her natural fragrance, embedding it in my nostrils so she’s the only thing I smell.
“That’s something I should’ve definitely picked up on seeing as I notice everything about you. ”
“You should also be noticing that my nipples are hard, begging for your attention,” she purrs, her eyes drooping. “Touch me, please.”
“You need relief, baby girl?”
“Yes,” she hisses, her body humming for me.
“Where, baby? Where do you need me to touch you?” I ask, wanting her to know she’s in charge.
I want her to direct me, even if it’s just this once until her confidence in us grows.
She trusts me, I know she does, but I need her to remember that no matter what we’re doing.
Most importantly, I need this to be ingrained into her psyche when we’re sharing something so intimate.
There can never be any doubts between us during times like this.
“Everywhere, Viking. I need you to touch me everywhere,” she whines, but it’s not an unattractive, child-like one, it’s a womanly one that proves how much she needs her man to meet her cravings. “My entire body aches for you.”
Sliding my hands upward, I remove her top, leaving her bare to our gazes, the mirror a backdrop to what’s going on. “Look at you, Letti,” I instruct, my eyes catching her in the mirror. “Look at how responsive your body is to my touch.”
Goosebumps have pebbled across her exposed skin and her nipples are perky and alert, despite the minimal touch I’ve given them.
A light flush covers her chest and I can see the pulse in her neck as it steadily increases.
A look of wonder crosses her face, and the level of trust and intimacy between us grows even though we’re literally still standing up and both of us are mostly dressed.
“Icer,” she murmurs, her eyes now glassy as she finally grasps what it is I see when I look at her. A warrior. A survivor. A goddess.
My goddess.
A moan passes her lips as she watches my hands caress each breast, my thumbs rubbing across her nipples. “So fucking responsive,” I whisper against the nape of her neck as I nuzzle that spot behind her ear that makes her shiver.
“Only for you,” she murmurs. I can feel the full body tremble and for a moment, I worry I’ve pushed her too far until she turns in my arms and says, “Now, Viking, take me to bed and make me wholly yours.”
“As you wish, Goddess,” I reply, scooping her up in my arms before I stride to bed and carefully place her on the mattress. I quickly strip down to my boxers, wanting to feel her skin against mine.
“I’m wearing too many clothes,” she murmurs as my hands roam over her body.
I know she thinks she’s too short, too petite, but she fits me perfectly.
I’ve been a goner for her curves from the first time I saw her, even though it wasn’t under the best circumstances.
Still, I felt the connection even then when I carried her out of that hellhole when we rescued Zoey and Elodie.
“All in good time,” I tease as I lean down to kiss her. “My plan is to have you so full of want and need that you overlook my faults.”
“You have none that I can see,” she sasses. “Because with me, you’re different. Well, me and the kids anyway. But that’s a topic for another time because I ache right now and you’re the only one who can put out that fire.”
“Fire, huh? Then let me stoke those flames, Goddess, so we can burn together.”
I watch her reactions carefully as I continue to stroke, nibble, and kiss my way across her torso down to the waistband of the shorts she put on after her shower. Her muscular, powerful legs are moving against each other, trying to stop the ache that I know is slowly building.
“Viking, if you don’t take those off of me, I might just die,” she huffs out, her hands now playing with my braids that are wildly swinging about.
“I can’t have that, Letti,” I reply. “Because the day you draw your last breath is the day I’ll draw mine.”
I see her roll her eyes at my dramatics, but I’m serious. This woman has captured me, heart, mind, and soul. “Like what happened in The Notebook, huh? Whatever, I’m dying right now and you’re stalling, Viking.”
I realize she’s calling me out on my shit right now, because in a way, I am stalling.
We’ve had some hot and heavy make out sessions, but every time it looked like it might go further, she froze up and I backed down.
I’ve never forced a woman and I definitely would never force the woman who owns me.
“Maybe a little,” I confess, looking up at her. “I want to make sure you’re not just going through the motions.”
She grabs my hand and shoves it down the front of her shorts, which she managed to unbutton without me being aware and suddenly, I’m feeling the heat and wetness that are soaking through her panties. “Does this feel like I’m ‘going through the motions’ to you?”
I bite back the chuckle her words cause and shake my head, my braids swinging around. “No, ma’am.”
“That’s Goddess to you, Viking,” she teases as she shimmies out of her shorts and underwear, leaving her bare to my gaze.
Leaning back on my calves, I allow my eyes to feast on her perfectly packaged body. I see the silvery scars from her past but know that they don’t define her except as the warrior and survivor she is, at least to me and at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.
“Yes, Goddess,” I reply. “Fuck, Letti, I want… I want to worship you the way you deserve.”
“And I want you inside of me,” she retorts. Glancing at my dick, which is straining against my boxers, the front of them now soaked with my precum. “Seems like Junior is on the same page as me.”
My browns pinch and my eyes narrow on her as I ask, “Junior?”