Chapter Twenty-Two #2
She stared at him, momentarily distracted from his body to his face, unsure if he fully understood her. ‘Do you think what happened last night will make a difference? There are ways for me to ensure against another babe.’
‘If that is what you wish.’ He reached for his tunic and she grabbed his arm.
‘Surely that must bother you?’
His eyes fixed on hers and she realised similar shades of dark green surrounded them, but the colour of his eyes was the most intoxicating and vibrant shade the mother goddess had created.
‘I have told you more than once that I will accept Astra as my heir…’ His eyes widened, and he took another step closer. ‘Was there another reason why you wanted to bring me here?’ His hand cupped her face and then raised her chin with a brush of his thumb.
Skadi rose from the boulder, allowing her hands to do as they wished and touch his chest. She smoothed her palms up the ridges of his stomach and over the tattoos across his heart, her fingertips delighting in the strength and vigour beneath his scarred skin.
‘I just needed you to know…that I do this because I want to,’ she said quietly, before meeting his eyes.
‘Not for the hopes of another child to secure my position as your wife, or for any other reason. I have made mistakes in the past and no longer blindly trust people. But… I also want…to feel pleasure…’
Agnar’s hand slipped around her waist, pulling her close. ‘You are my Queen. You can do whatever you want with me.’
He curved his body down towards her and eagerly she opened her mouth for him. ‘I want you,’ she gasped.
Accepting him even before their lips met, her cloak fell to the ground as their kiss deepened into panting, desperate strokes of tongues and licks. Both of them eager to feel the all-consuming fire that seemed to ignite so easily between them.
No one else had ever made her feel this way, filling her with hot lust. She tugged at his belt, desperate to have him inside her again, soothing the physical and emotional ache within her, as only he could.
Power and possession—she wanted to experience all of it and she dropped to her knees, staring up at him as his belt fell and she was able to lower his trousers enough to see him fully.
A thick and long shaft awaited her, rigid with desire.
It made her want to whimper and moan as she remembered how it had felt riding something so large and powerful.
But she wasn’t a young maiden frightened by the sight of a naked man.
She gripped him firmly with one hand and pumped him slowly, measuring the size of him, allowing herself time to enjoy the look of him and the pleasure she knew he would give her.
She was ready to savour every moment of this private intimacy, in peaceful nature and away from all her responsibilities.
She had never made love in the open and last night during the storm had awakened a craving within her. She didn’t want to be a guest in a king’s chamber, she wanted it to be free and natural. To possess and be possessed.
She shifted slightly, widening her knees and then raising her skirts enough to be able to touch herself with her free hand. She leaned forward, sensually licking her lips and then moving forward to take his glistening head in her mouth.
Agnar groaned loudly, rolling his head back. ‘You will be the death of me…’
She moaned, loving the combination of his lustful words, the stroke of her own touch and the thickness of Agnar in her mouth. He was completely at her mercy, his body bowing and groaning at every lick and suck she gave.
He didn’t grab her head or thrust into her mouth. He allowed her to explore and taste the length of him in whatever way she desired. Each movement seemed agony for him as his hands clenched and unclenched beside his upper thighs.
‘I need to take you,’ he groaned, ‘now.’
Skadi gave a throaty chuckle that had him hissing out another long breath. ‘In a moment…’ she said lightly, already more than ready for him by the slickness of her fingers, but she quickened her strokes until her body was almost at the precipice of release.
‘Now,’ she groaned, turning away from him and raising her skirts provocatively as she got on all fours. Looking over her shoulder at him, she commanded, ‘You can take me now.’
Agnar slowly lowered himself to his knees, running a hand up the back of her thighs. ‘Are you ordering me…my Queen?’ he asked softly, the slight guttural inflection of his voice the only indicator of how deeply he was trying to restrain himself.
‘Yes!’ she hissed, as his palm smoothed around her hip.
A very light slap on her bottom made her rear up and glare at him over her shoulder. ‘What are you doing? I want you to take me.’
He smiled and looked devastatingly carefree and handsome in that moment. ‘Oh, I will…but I decide how and when I take you. You’ve been in charge for long enough.’
She rolled her eyes. ‘I am losing the mood with this nonsense!’
One moment Skadi was glaring at him over her shoulder, the next moment she was tumbling on her back after being flipped over.
‘What!’ she gasped, not quite believing what he’d done.
Agnar grinned, then lifted her skirts, pushing them up her thighs to her hips. Skadi blushed as he took his time opening her legs, devouring the sight of her naked lower body.
‘I want to taste you first,’ he said and that was the only warning he gave before his head dropped between her thighs.
No spot was left unkissed by his lips or tongue—she moaned and writhed against his mouth.
The familiar build of her orgasm tightened with lightning speed and she dragged her nails into the mossy ground beneath her.
‘Please,’ she whimpered. ‘I want to feel you inside me when I…’
Sitting upright, Agnar nodded, but she could tell his composure was frayed and that he needed her as much as she needed him.
Eagerly she scrambled back on to all fours and lifted her skirts for a second time.
This time he didn’t, couldn’t, deny her and they both gave relieved groans as he slipped slowly inside her.
All restraint was gone after that first slow penetration.
Skadi gritted her teeth against the wave of almost painful pleasure and gripped the grass beneath her, tightly panting into the rich earth, as his hips thrust into her with steadily more force and speed.
‘Skadi,’ he moaned her name over and over with each thrust, pressing her into the earth and muddying her clothes, but she didn’t care. She wanted more, pushing back against his hips to ensure that each thrust filled her completely.
Her legs began to tremble and she couldn’t hold on to herself a moment longer, she fumbled with her skirts, desperate to touch herself and find blissful release.
Agnar must have seen what she was doing because he smoothed his hand over her naked bottom, along her hip, and then his fingers slipped beneath the bundle of fabric at her waist to her core.
‘There?’ he asked and within one stroke of her body she was screaming his name into the grass and dirt between her clenched fists.
Agnar held her hips up, while the rest of her body collapsed. He began to thrust wildly as she spasmed with the force of her pleasure, his own following quickly with a husky groan, ‘Skadi!’
* * *
Afterwards, they cleaned themselves up using the water from the stream, Skadi more than a little embarrassed by the grass and muddy stains on her dress, which even with a light scrub were obvious.
‘Why didn’t we spread out my cloak first?’ she grumbled.
Agnar, who hadn’t stopped smiling since he’d collapsed beside her, shrugged. ‘They are not too noticeable…’
Skadi tutted, knowing that meant they were very noticeable.
‘I shall say I fell,’ she grumbled, pulling her cloak tighter around her. The wind was beginning to whip through the trees and their little tryst in the woods seemed more like madness considering the season.
‘Is that snow?’ gasped Skadi, reaching up to touch a falling speck. The ice landed softly on her palm before it began to melt.
Agnar looked at it thoughtfully, as he pulled on his tunic. ‘Looks like it.’
‘We need to head back soon. The mountain path is treacherous after the first snow fall.’
‘It’s almost dark, but we can go tomorrow morning.’
Skadi nodded, comforted by the thought. ‘True, and at least we did the treacherous side today.’ She hurried down the path back towards the lodge, the confident stride of Agnar following close behind.
As they came into the clearing around the lodge, they saw Brenna speaking with Vali at the campfire. Brenna’s eyes widened as first Skadi and then Agnar emerged from the forest. Skadi knew her sudden desire for Agnar was unexpected, but Brenna was usually open minded about most things…
Brenna’s shocked gaze turned to Vali and she thumped him hard. ‘You said they were together!’
Vali’s brow furrowed. ‘They were!’
Agnar moved to stand beside Skadi, equally confused by their strange argument.
Brenna’s horrified gaze swept to Skadi and her stomach plummeted.
‘Where is Astra?’ she asked and could already tell by the blood draining from Brenna’s face that she didn’t have an answer for her.
Astra was missing…and it was Skadi’s fault. She’d left her child to go and find Brenna alone, when the camp had been in chaos from their arrival. All so that she could have a tryst with Agnar.
She would never forgive herself.