Chapter 5 Lokken
LOKKEN
My skin tingled from the warm press of her lips on my arm and chest. I could feel exactly where her mouth had been, as if she’d burned a brand on my flesh forever.
Though I couldn’t help but scan her bond continually, afraid I would accidentally harm her.
Ice still crackled inside the dark river of her power winding through my head.
Her fangs scraped lightly, jerking my attention from her inner bond back to her face. Her eyes gleamed, heavy and sultry with hunger as she lifted her head toward me. Automatically, I slid my forearm beneath her neck and bent lower, tipping my head aside to offer my throat.
“I want that too,” she whispered, trailing her mouth over my shoulder to my throat. “But first, I want you inside me.”
I fought the urge to shoot to my feet so I could drag off my pants. Too bad I couldn’t sprout claws like her dark alfar and simply cut my way out of the denim. “With your permission, my queen, I’ll rise a moment to remove the rest of my clothes.”
Arching a brow, she scooted deeper into the mattress and lay back against her alpha’s chest, using him as a pillow. “You don’t have to ask my permission, Lokken. Is that something other queens demand from their Blood?”
Unbuttoning my pants and toeing off my shoes, I paused for a moment, surprised by the question. “I can’t say, since I’ve never served a queen before. Perhaps my former House was stricter and more proper than others. Queen Ylva’s Blood didn’t sneeze without asking for her leave to do so.”
“Well, I’m certainly not going to be a stickler for propriety.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle as I pushed my jeans off. “Which I should have realized after you allowed Gunnarr to sit down at your table in his underwear.”
“I honestly didn’t mind.” Her voice thickened as she looked at me. “In fact, I’m starting to think he was on to something pretty brilliant. Especially when I can look at you.”
Standing nude before her with such raw, open desire blazing in her eyes, I was horrified to feel my throat tighten with emotion. I tried to hide it, but she immediately sat up and reached for me.
“What’s wrong? I’m sorry. Was it something I said?”
“No,” I whispered hoarsely, shaking my head vigorously. “Nothing’s wrong. I love the way you look at me, my queen. I would gladly stand guard day and night clothed in absolutely nothing at all as long as you would look at me with such heat in your eyes.”
She threaded her fingers through mine and pulled me toward her. “You’re a gorgeous man. Why on earth would you feel such shock that I enjoy looking at you?”
I clenched my jaws, shaking my head. “Skathi are descended from jotnar, my queen. We’re giants, generally larger than other Aima.
Most consider us slow, stubborn, and, quite frankly, stupid.
Difficult to Call, and not suitable for court life.
A stupid ogre fighting over a piece of swamp, or in my case, fighting to preserve some ice that isn’t even habitable.
I’m overwhelmed and honored you Called me to serve, let alone find me attractive enough to want me in your bed. ”
Her alpha made a rough noise I finally realized was amusement, though it sounded more like a warning growl from a wounded bear.
“If she were to be repulsed by any of her Blood, she’d certainly reject dark alfar over you, ice man.
You’re at least a child of a goddess. I’m a nightmare creature of pure Darkness. ”
“I couldn’t possibly love you any more than I already do, even if you were Aima.” She gave him a firm look and tugged insistently on my hand until I joined her on the mattress. “And now it’s time for me to love you as well.”
My heart thudded so loudly I wasn’t sure I’d heard her correctly. Did I dare hope she would actually love me? Even a little?
Finally, a queen had Called me to be Blood.
A queen who’d already been generous with her blood while we sailed to her new nest. A queen taking me to her bed with heavy, smoldering eyes.
Eager hands sliding over my arms and shoulders as she pulled me down to her.
Who wasn’t afraid of my ice or my hulking size.
If she loved me…
Then Draumstafir had already fired its magic, and my deepest, most secret desire was right here in my arms.
HELAYNA
Closing my eyes, I breathed in his scent, and an image filled my mind.
A campfire ringed with round gray stones in the middle of a snowy forest. Pine branches smoked faintly on the crackling flames.
But it was more than just the smoky scent of pine—it was the feeling of being in a wintry forest, surrounded by pristine snow and silent woods, wrapped in warm woolen blankets and sipping a hot drink while I looked up at the swirling green lights dancing across the midnight sky.
An intense wave of longing filled me. :I want to have a place outside for a fire.:
Braced on his forearms, Lokken stared down at me with soft wonder shining in his eyes. :You saw my home where I grew up. We often had bonfires to watch the Northern Lights.:
:It was beautiful.: I stroked my fingers over the strong, chiseled lines of his cheekbones.
How could anyone not find him attractive?
A big, gorgeous man striding out of a blizzard in a beautiful suit.
Now stripped naked in my bed, all tawny skin and muscle gliding beneath my hands.
Yet he barely touched me, hovering carefully above me. :As beautiful as you.:
The campfire I’d seen in my head crackled into a burning inferno in his bond. :How would you like me, my queen?:
Bracing myself for another shot of ice to pierce our bond, I pressed my mouth on the design over his heart.
But all I felt was the blazing heat of his skin.
I arched my back, tipping my pelvis up, but he was too far away for me to press against him.
:As fast and deep as the river flowing in our bond. :
He grunted softly as if I’d punched him in the gut.
His fingers fisted in the bedding. Eyes locked to mine, he slowly lowered his body against mine.
So hot, his skin spread flames, meeting the ice still flowing in my veins with a vicious hiss.
I shivered, unable to distinguish whether I was too hot or too cold.
I tightened my thighs around him, soaking in the delicious feel of him on top of me. Burning weight, gliding muscle, so much strength bursting in his big body, yet he restrained himself, as if afraid of hurting me. Or perhaps still waiting for permission.
:As much as I love the feel of you on top of me, this is neither fast nor deep, my Blood.:
He made a strained sound that might have been laughter. “I’m trying, my queen. You make it… difficult.”
Still in his dark alfar form, Dorr’s chuckle came out more like a rumbling growl. “It’s a mighty battle every time to keep the monster at bay.”
“If you’re only interested in teasing me, then I’ll skip ahead to Gunnarr—”
“No, no, my queen,” Lokken blurted, still chuckling. “I only meant it’s hard to restrain myself so I can give you as much pleasure as possible. I feel like a mindless rampaging beast.”
I reached back over my shoulder and stroked my palm up Dorr’s chest to his throat. “In case you didn’t notice, I love my beasts. I don’t need you to keep anything at bay.”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” Lokken gritted out, his shoulders corded with strain. “If I lose control, I could seriously injure you. Break your spine, crush your ribs, tear you open…”
On one hand, it was sweet of him to worry about me.
But I didn’t want sweet and carefully controlled.
In the beginning, when I’d first taken my Blood, sure.
Sweet and careful had been wonderful. But I’d tasted their dark essence, and I’d embraced Myrk’s dark alfar form.
I didn’t need careful control any longer.
I wanted wild and rough and raw. Real.
I wanted the Darkness.
My Darkness.
Dorr rumbled in my head. :Perhaps you should show him, my queen.:
My alpha made an excellent point. I didn’t want to lose Lokken’s blazing heat and weight against me, or I’d simply turn to Dorr and slake my hunger.
For I did hunger, and not just for blood. A few days’ abstinence suddenly seemed like an eternity. I hadn’t had one of my Blood moving inside me for far too long. Desire hummed in my veins. The ice was lost in the blazing inferno that cranked my lust higher.
How did a vampire queen show her Blood she’d wearied of hesitant consideration? With her fangs, of course.
I’d already told Lokken I wasn’t going to bite him until he was inside me.
So I turned my head and sank my fangs into the thick, meaty muscle of Dorr’s forearm just above his elbow.
A hard bite, jamming my fangs deeply without worry I’d hurt him.
It wasn’t his essence I wanted, but pressure on my fangs, the feel of his flesh in my mouth.
Though I swallowed the black gold filling my mouth, enjoying the thick, sweet taste of him.
Releasing his forearm, I bit him again, higher on his biceps.
Arching up to get to his chest. His throat.
He curled over me, sliding his other arm beneath me to support my head.
Black essence dripped on my upper body from the bites, stirring my lust higher.
I could feel every drop humming against my skin and running in rivulets down my throat and breasts.
“Black blood.” Lokken trailed his fingers over my upper chest, smearing the essence across my breasts. I shuddered, my hips thrusting up against him in silent demand. “May I taste it, my queen?”
“Yes.” I worked my hand between us, stroking down his belly to find his cock. He pulsed in my hand, every muscle in his body quivering at my touch. “On one condition.”
“Anything,” he ground out.
“Release your deepest, darkest desires on me.”
My words hung between us, ringing softly in the silence, broken only by the rasp of his breath.
“Don’t hold back. Don’t hide from me, Lokken. I want it all. I want you. The real you.”