Chapter 12
Ulf and Ylva woke up face to face. Judging from the amount of light pouring in through the window, dawn had broken some time ago. Ulf smiled to himself. He had not spent such a good night in a long time.
And no wonder, considering what he had been doing before going to bed.
He had been shocked to see Ylva fall asleep with his fingers still inside her, overcome by the release he’d gifted her with—shocked and delighted.
He’d been even more surprised to fall asleep so quickly after wiping her stomach clean, because by then he’d been hard as stone.
Licking her, finally doing what he had dreamed of doing to a lover, had aroused him to such an extent that he had feared he would unman himself when he’d felt her first spasms of pleasure squeezing his fingers.
Not that he would have minded.
The day at the beach, he had bemoaned the fact that he did not have much left to discover, wishing he could find new things to experience.
Well, last night he had done just that. He’d had his first taste of a woman.
And what a woman. Bold, beautiful and generous.
That experience he had definitely enjoyed to the full and would never forget.
She had been so forgiving of his clumsiness, so responsive to his caresses, so appreciative of his gift that he knew he would treasure this first time forever.
In fact, he wanted to carry on experiencing such pleasures with her.
He wanted her to be the first woman he made love to outside in the woods, the first lover to ever ride him, the first to suck him to completion, and much more.
There was only one problem with that plan. She was about to leave the village.
Yes. But perhaps she would come visit in a few weeks’ time, once she and Judith had found a place to live? He refused to think that she would disappear from his life after all they had gone through. In just a week they had shared more than some people shared in one year.
“Good morning,” Ylva whispered.
“Good morning. Did you sleep well, she-wolf?” Never had any woman deserved the title more.
“Yes.” She blushed. “What happened last night was… Well, it was like nothing else I’ve ever felt or even thought anyone could feel.”
“No.” He knew exactly what she meant. The intensity of their release, the sharing of trust, the glorious connection, the mind-blowing pleasure. It had seemed too much for one person.
“Why didn’t you take me? You wanted to. And honestly, so did I.”
“Yes. I wanted you.” He clenched his jaw, remembering the intensity of his need for her.
The need that was still torturing him. He had woken up hard, as was his wont, and her presence by his side had ensured that his cock remained erect for much longer than usual.
“You wanted me but you were scared of being possessed and I didn’t want to force you to do anything that frightened you. ”
She bit her bottom lip, as if dismayed that he had seen her fears.
But in truth, considering what they had done instead, he had not felt he was missing out.
He should have guessed that after all she had gone through during her captivity, after seeing the woman she loved most in the word get raped, she would be wary of being possessed by a man.
“I was not scared of you,” she said on a breath. “I hope you know that. It’s only that, well, after—”
“No, I know. Still, I didn’t want to spoil our night together with an inconsiderate gesture or cause you pain.” He took her hand in his. “And, in any case, I think we both got what we wanted.”
A shattering release and the intimacy he had dreamed of having for years.
He had heard many times that women tended to be disappointed by their first experiences of bedding but he had never heard any of his male friends complain of the same.
As far as he knew, a man’s release was guaranteed—and his had been achieved, admittedly, every time he and Revna had slept together.
He had reached his pleasure. But that didn’t mean he had been satisfied.
It was hard to explain and he wasn’t sure many people, men in particular, would understand but it was nevertheless true. Something crucial had been missing from their couplings, because something had been missing from their relationship.
It was just like with his purpose in life. For years he’d had no idea what he was destined to do, he had only managed to eliminate what he knew would never satisfy him.
“So, what did you think?” Ylva looked uncharacteristically shy. She seemed worried that she had not lived up to his fantasies. Oh, but she had, more than she would ever know. “Was licking a woman as pleasurable as you had hoped?”
His cock went from hard to granite at the daring question. His tongue licked his lips, where the faintest trace of her intimate scent remained. Her taste had been sweet and creamy, utterly intoxicating. And he needed more.
“Better. A hundred times better. So good that I want to do it again. Right now. The way I’ve always wanted to do it.”
He had no choice but to make the scandalous suggestion. Seeing as she was leaving later that day, it was now or never. Would she let him? Perhaps. Fire had lit up in her lovely eyes.
“What is that way?”
She was intrigued, not shocked or frightened by his vehemence, far from it. His heart leaped in delight. This was the response he had hoped to find in his lover.
“It will be intense,” he warned. “I will not stop until you’ve drenched my tongue. I will put you where I want you, hold you in place and devour you. I won’t let you go until you don’t have the strength to beg me to stop.”
They were both still naked, he was hard as nails, and she was already panting.
“Do it,” she said, shyness forgotten. “Lick me the way you wanted to lick me. Devour me. Make me swoon. I will not beg you to stop.”
The invitation was impossible to resist. Mouth already watering, Ulf positioned himself between her legs. Placing both hands on the back of her thighs, he forced her legs back, keeping them open wide, until she was almost folded in half.
“Is this all right?” he rasped. As aroused as he was, he would not cause her any alarm or discomfort.
“Yes,” Ylva whimpered, the sound betraying her desire. Apparently, she liked being at his mercy as much as he liked having her spread open for him. “Yes! Eat me. Now.”
“Ylva?”
Ylva let out a squeak when the feminine voice sliced through the haze of lust clouding her mind. Judith! She was outside the hut, calling out to her. Dear God. The timing could not have been any worse.
“Haakon, Gytha and I are ready to leave. Are you here?”
Leave? Already? But, of course, after her scandalous evening with Ulf, she had slept much longer than she usually did. It had to be mid-morning at least, the time she had promised to be ready.
From his position between her thighs, Ulf threw her glance that made it clear he shared her dismay at the interruption.
Still holding her open, he shook his head, as if to indicate she should pretend not to be here.
She nodded her agreement. After all they had shared, they could not part this way, they had to at least—
“Ylva, are you here? Is everything all right?”
No, everything was most decidedly not all right.
Ylva could not speak for frustration, she could barely think.
A heartbeat ago she had been bracing herself for the feel of a hot tongue at her core and here she was, being told a group of people were waiting for her outside the hut. What had she done to deserve this?
“I’m coming in!” Judith said when no one answered her questions.
“No!”
Too late.
Judith flung the door open—and froze. No need to wonder why.
In front of her was the most shocking sight she could have imagined.
Her friend was lying on her back, stark naked, with her thighs spread wide and pinned in place by a Norseman’s strong arms. That formidable Norseman was equally naked and his cock, hard and ready, was aimed straight at her.
It would look damning. Except that it wasn’t.
She hadn’t been about to be raped, she had been about to be pleasured until she lost her mind. She had wanted this; in fact, she was positively dripping with need.
Judith, unfortunately, completely misread the situation. Her dark eyes blazed with pain and fury combined. In the next heartbeat, she reached to her belt, fumbling for her knife.
“No, it’s not what you think!” Ylva cried out, scrambling back to a sitting position. “Don’t!”
Judith didn’t appear to have heard her. “I will not have you endure what I endured,” she screamed. “I will die first!”
There was no time to react before she launched herself at Ulf.
Fortunately, he had not been on his back and his reflexes were finely honed, better than those of a clumsy, desperate woman’s. He twisted to the side, and the blade that should have pierced his chest merely grazed his arm.
“No!” Ylva screamed, scuttling backward. “Oh, no, don’t kill him! Don’t kill her!”
She didn’t know what she was saying or who she was talking to, had no idea who she was most afraid for.
All she knew was that this was a nightmare.
Judith was too blinded by her recent ordeal to see reason and stop before she had hurt the man she saw as an aggressor, and Ulf was so strong he could hurt her friend without meaning to.
They would never get out of this unscathed. And it was all her fault.
“Stop!” she cried again.
Thankfully, then, they did stop. Judith found herself lying on her stomach, with both her wrists imprisoned in an iron hold.
Ulf had disarmed her and was doing his best to restrain her without crushing her.
There was a red slash on his right arm, just where his arm ring would be if he wore it on this side.
Damnation, what Ylva had feared had come to pass.
He’d been cut. Mercifully, though, Judith appeared unharmed.
“You’re hurt,” she started, placing a hand on Ulf’s shoulder. “You need—”