Chapter Twelve
-DECLAN-
The moment a whole new kind of pleasure raced down my spine and seized my ballocks while making love to Astrid, I was in big trouble.
I knew that I should not spill my seed in her lest risk a pregnancy that could mean truly terrible things for her.
For us both. While every part of me craved having wee bairns with her, if her belly swelled on this journey, it could mean both of our heads.
Then, by affiliation, my clan’s.
Yet being inside her, feeling her in the way I had wanted to since first laying eyes on her, felt utterly perfect. Beyond intense. Beyond addictive. There weren’t enough words to describe it.
So when she locked her lovely legs around me in the throes of passion, I knew I was in grave danger of losing control and all sense of reason.
How else could it be when I wanted to claim her in the most primal way possible?
Mark her as mine? Fill her with my seed until it was rooted deep inside her, and we made wee ones together?
As many like her as we could.
To that end, I knew I had lost the battle before it began.
My willpower no more when I meant to pull free, trying with every ounce of my being, yet still that primal feeling won out.
When her tight, hot, caressing sheath clamped down hard on me, and she muffled her cry into the pillow, it was too late.
She took me with her in the best way possible, and I had no choice but to follow.
And it was not just far past pleasurable but impactful.
So impactful that after I emptied myself inside Astrid, I couldn’t help but murmur in her ear how much I loved her.
Still buried in her, I met her eyes and cupped her cheek, making sure she saw what I felt.
“I dinnae know how I went from such…” I shook my head, struggling to find the words, not wanting to say dislike, loathe, or hate anymore when it came to her people.
Certainly not when it came to her. “I’m sorry, Astrid…
” I wiped away a tear that had trickled from the corner of her eye. “Truly.”
“There’s no need,” she said, her voice gentle and caressing.
She leaned her cheek into my palm, her eyes full of pleasure.
“’Tis understandable during these trying times, especially living in a country so many always want to conquer and own.
” Genuine pain for my people lit her gaze.
“Make theirs when ‘tis not their right.”
“Even so,” I murmured, so taken by her despite having just had her that I couldn’t help brushing my lips across hers again, longing for the next time we made love, then all the times after. As many as she would allow me. “You didnae deserve it.”
A flash of gratefulness lit her gaze before she pulled my lips down to hers and kissed me softly, once, twice, then a third time, murmuring sweet endearments in between.
How much she loved me, too.
How she wanted this night to last forever.
How she longed to stay in my arms always.
We kept kissing until those soft, tender, fleeting kisses, full of sweet, whispered words, grew into more passionate ones.
While I could safely say she had the most beautiful body I had ever seen, with her softly rounded breasts, slender waist, and perfectly shaped legs, even I was shocked when my cock swelled for her again soon after.
Yet there was no stopping it, and I grew inside her before I even pulled free, allowing her to roll us until she straddled me.
After that, all I could do was relish and adore the sight and feel of her riding me.
Taking me. She was the most aggressive, assertive lass I had ever been with, sometimes gentle and other times fierce.
Yet again, I could hardly believe I had ever considered her my enemy when she pulled such extraordinary pleasure from me.
Moved her body in ways I’d never seen a woman do during lovemaking.
She was as fluid and lithe in bed as she was in battle, conjuring forth such erotic sensations that I was helpless to do anything but give in to her.
Sitting up, I wrapped her lush, sweat-slicked body in my arms when I knew she was letting go again, and allowed her to bury her cries of pleasure in my neck. Swept away by the feel of her stroking my arousal, I crested that perfect peak with her once more.
Pressing my lips to her temple, I vaguely wondered how I would ever survive her. She felt too good. Too much a part of me. So how was I to leave this room, pretending that she was not mine by law?
I was her husband.
She was my wife.
“In secret,” Astrid whispered, making me realize I must have said those words aloud. Nuzzling into the crook of my neck, she flicked her tongue over my skin as if eager to taste the salt of my sweat. The result of our passion.
What she pulled from me.
What I gave to her.
Then she cupped my cheek, her gaze so tender and loving that it humbled me. “We survive such need for each other by doing this in secret, knowing always how much we love each other. Trusting in that before all else, no matter what we face.”
“And pray we dinnae bear fruit from it too soon,” I murmured, wrapping my hands around her slender waist, nearly encompassing it as she was so petite.
“We cannae take chances like this anymore, wife.
‘Tis too bold by half.” I shook my head.
“There are ways to go about things without filling you with my seed.”
“Ja,” she agreed softly, trailing her gentle fingers down my neck and over my chest, her eyes at half-mast with desire.
Her gaze followed in the wake of her fingers, her sheath still softly caressing me with the aftershocks of our last encounter.
“Of course you are right, husband, though there are herbs I can take to mayhap help prevent your seed from sprouting, so worry not.”
Whether there were or were not, somehow, I knew in that moment she would be the death of me if our duties to King Alexander did not end in a timely fashion.
The death of us both because we made each other feel so very much.
As some part of me had known from the moment I caught sight of her, this chemistry mingling between us, this perfect combination of sweet musky scents, soft textures, and beautiful pale blue eyes would imprison me for all time.
Make me hers to do with as she saw fit, whether it would mean our demise or not.
Though hard to fathom, given that we had already released twice and strongly at that, my fierce little shield-maiden was not nearly done with me yet.
Instead, she kissed me again, and I was once more lost to her.
This time we took things more slowly, and explored one another. Tasting every part of each other.
The pleasure she continued wringing from me only made me need to give her the same in return. While I managed not to let go inside her again as the night went on, it was bloody hard, especially when we were wrapped up in each other’s arms under the blankets into the wee hours of the morning.
Eventually, we finally dozed off with her tight against me, and I slept soundly.
More soundly than I had in a long time. Too soundly given that I should not be in here.
Fortunately, I stirred awake sometime in the wee hours, only to realize the sun would crest the horizon soon, and it was best I wasn’t here when it did.
Even though I rose quietly, she stirred at my leaving her, murmuring my name in her sleep, but never woke.
It was impossible not to gaze at her as I dressed.
At some point between kisses and loving caresses, she had unbraided her hair, and its glorious, honey blond locks fanned out around her delicate face on the pillow.
Her lips were rosy pink and especially lush from my kisses, and her skin dewy in a way that bespoke of being pleasured well and often.
After sheathing my blades, I left, intending to sit outside her door with Oksana, only to find Stewart already there, sitting on the floor, dozing with a blade in hand, his back to the wall.
Understanding he likely told anyone who might have happened this way that we were taking turns guarding Astrid’s room, I roused him and urged him to grab some rest in bed. The sun would soon be up.
“Nay, ‘tis all right,” he said, speaking softly as I sat beside him with Oksana curled up between us, resting her chin on his lap. “You know I dinnae need much sleep.”
“Aye,” I murmured, much the same, given our lives as warriors often traveling and fighting on behalf of the king. Nodding at him, he knew he had my eternal thanks for doing this for Astrid and me last night. “You are a good friend, Stewart.”
He nodded in return, not speaking to the thanks behind those words lest anyone overhear. I suspected, however, that all slept or had found their way into a woman’s arms, including the king himself. Villages like this were full of lonely lasses in need of coin.
“I worry about this one.” Stewart rested his hand on Oksana. “She doesnae seem quite right, and I cannae say why. Too tired when I get the sense ‘tis nae usually her disposition when guarding her mistress.”
Knowing little to nothing about this breed of dog, I looked the husky over but saw no signs of a festering wound or any other reason for his concern.
“Mayhap ‘tis just all the traveling,” I suggested, running my hand along her soft, thick pelt, undoubtedly suited to ice and snow. Sighing, I shook my head. “Or mayhap lethargy from losing her brother when Astrid first sailed to our shores.”
“Och,” Stewart muttered, shaking his head as well. “I didnae know. ‘Tis sad, that. For both Oksana and Astrid.”
Stewart might be one of the fiercest warriors I had ever met, but when it came to animals, he had a soft, caring heart, as seen clearly in Oksana’s trust in him. I could only pray she would be well, given how much Astrid loved her.
“I told her,” Stewart finally said softly, no longer speaking of huskies. “I told Florie how I felt before we left.”
“And?” I wondered, glad to hear it.