Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
Rowena
I was anxious.
There was a something in the air, and I was certain the entire clan could feel it. I told myself I was just irritated that Vrogul and I hadn’t repeated our hot springs pleasure, and I hadn’t had the chance to bring him pleasure…but I suspected ‘twas more than that.
Since that day in the pool, Vrogul had been distracted, preoccupied. And while I would like to think ‘twas because he’d enjoyed himself with me, I suspected it had more to do with my questions about Callor.
Each night, he lay beside me, not speaking. But his arms were warm and safe, and although I found myself praying he’d tell me what was on his mind, I fell asleep cozy and protected.
During the day, I cleaned, I cooked, I did my best to smile at my new friends…and I dreaded having to leave Battleborn Village.
Then do not. Plenty of humans have made their home here. There is naught to return to, after all.
Aye, the thought had intruded more than once these last days. Especially since Vrogul’s impassioned words as he’d brought me pleasure.
Ye think me yer enemy, but I am no’.
He wasn’t my enemy.
He never had been.
So why did he take me?
This afternoon, I’d had enough. I’d picked up my father’s sword, slung the scabbard around my shoulder, and headed for the training grounds. Even if Vrogul wasn’t available, someone would oblige me with a spar, or I could work on my forms alone.
But halfway there, the sound of hooves surprised me.
I turned, half-crouching, prepared to spring away. When I realized ‘twas Vrogul, trotting toward me on one of the hardy island horses, I straightened…only to yelp in surprise when he bent to one side, grabbing me by the back of my bodice and lifting me into the air.
With an oof of air, I landed across his lap, and his hand went to my back to hold me in place. I tried to lift my head, but he shoved it back down, and I got a mouthful of horsehair.
“Pllbt. Vrogul! What are you doing?”
My objection was weak, and I began to kick and struggle.
“Put me down!”
“Nay, lass!” he roared, smacking my arse so hard I jumped in surprise.
“I’m a raider, aye?”
“Wh—” I began, but bit down on the word when Vrogul’s hand cupped the spot he just smacked, squeezing it lightly then giving it a rub. My eyes widened.
“Ye accused me of being a terror, dkaar.”
His hand slid down to my thighs, cupping one so that his thumb rested between my legs, daringly close to my core, which was already warming at his touch.
“So, I’m pillaging.”
“Pillaging me?”
My question was supposed to be indignant, but it came out with a squeak.
“Pillaging ye,” he agreed, squeezing my flesh possessively. “Taking ye.”
Oh my.
My cunny flooded with desire, and I squirmed in his hold, even as the horse carried us away from the village.
“I—”
My voice cracked, and I tried to inhale.
“I could fight you.”
“Ye could.”
With a nudge, he spread my thighs slightly and his hand pushed my skirts against my wetness.
“But ye willnae. Ye like the idea of giving me control occasionally, love. Dinnae deny it. Ye want this. Ye want me.”
God help me, I did.
I groaned and dug my forehead against the horse’s side as Vrogul continued to caress me through my gown.
His touch was casual, but then he began to tell me what he had in mind for me.
“As yer captor, I could do aught I wanted with yer body. Throw ye down, fook yer mouth, plow yer body, give ye to my men.”
‘Twas what I had feared, all those weeks ago, but when he said it now, it made me breathless with need.
“But I am chief, and I want ye all to myself. I’ll take ye someplace private and worship yer body the way it ought to be.”
I lifted my head.
“Worship?” I repeated weakly.
His thick finger pressed into my core.
“Worship, dkaar.”
“Wha—what does that mean?” I was trying desperately to ignore the arousal coursing through my veins, trying to be as casual as he was about it. “Dkaar. You have said it afore.”
Vrogul answered without hesitation.
“Beloved.”
He cupped me possessively.
“Ye’re mine, Rowena. My beloved.”
Oh.
Before I could respond or even process what he’d said, the horse stopped and Vrogul swung from the saddle, taking me with him. He slapped the animal’s rump, sending him back toward the village, then lifted me in his arms.
I grabbed onto his kilt.
“Where are we going?”
He didn’t answer, but instead stared straight ahead.
I would have asked again except we crested a hill, stepped around a pile of boulders—and I sucked in my breath in awe.
We stood at the top of a cliff, the sea stretching out infinitely in all directions, with only a distant island on the horizon.
Straight ahead, the sun was sinking toward the water, the red and orange reflection peeking through the ever-present clouds.
The constant Islay wind battered us and I was glad for Vrogul’s anchor.
‘Twas the single most magnificent thing I’d ever seen.
He lowered me to my feet and I was so enraptured by the sight before me that it took me a moment to realize he was undressing me.
First my weapons were laid beside the boulders alongside the satchel I hadn’t realized he’d been carrying, then he went to work on my bodice, his gaze intently green but his expression neutral as he focused on the ties.
“Vrogul?”
“Hush, lass. I cannae worship ye if ye’re dressed.”
My arousal spiked again.
“I thought you were pillaging me?”
And about damn time!
A hint of a smile ghosted his lips.
“I’ll do both in a moment.”
He moved before me, blocking my view of the sea, but when he pulled my chemise over my head and I stood naked save for my stockings, he turned us both.
Turned us so he stood at my back—the hard ridge of his erection pressing into the small of my back—and I faced the sea from the top of the cliff.
He surrounded me with his warmth, although the wind here at the edge of the cliff caused my skin to prickle.
The juxtaposition between cold and hot caused my blood to hum, and when he lifted my breasts in his hands—warming them, aye, but also rolling the nipples—my knees went weak in response.
“Do ye see, dkaar?” he murmured against my hair. “Do ye see everything?”
Forever seemed to roll out before me and I found myself clutching his forearms, trying to hold myself steady, hold myself here on this cliff so I didn’t shoot off into that sunset from the sensations lashing me.
“We’re standing on the edge of the world,” Vrogul continued. “That land over there? Yer people call that Ireland. My warriors have raided there as well as the mainland and the isles. This is ours. Islay is no’ an easy land, but ‘tis ours, and we are happy here.”
When he squeezed my breasts again, I arched into his hold, whimpering with need, my arse rubbing against his thighs, pleading without words.
“These are my people, Rowena. I cannae leave them…”
I felt him take a deep breath.
“But I would consider it. For ye.”
What?
My mind stuttered to a stop, especially when Vrogul dropped my breasts and moved around before me, blocking the wind, protecting me. He cupped my jaw.
“There is a kenning, dkaar,” he whispered, lifting my hand to rest against his chest. Vaguely, I noted that he was still dressed and thought it unfair, but I was far more focused on the thrumming I could feel beneath his skin.
“That’s what we are told as kitlings. There is a kenning.”
Why was this so familiar? Oh aye, he’d told me this that first time we’d sparred.
“Mates?” I managed a strangled whisper.
“Rowena, I feel ye here.”
He pressed my palm against his chest.
“I ken ye. I ken this. We’re connected.”
We were.
We were.
My eyes slowly widened in understanding; my heart thumped wildly.
Vrogul lowered his chin slightly to hold my gaze.
“I cannae regret what brought us together, but I regret how it made ye think of me, love. I have no’ thought of ye as my enemy since the moment ye ate from my fingers, and I hate that ye continue to think of me that way.”
I couldn’t speak, could barely breathe. I was being lashed on all sides by sensations and information and all I wanted to do was plaster myself against Vrogul and demand he protect me from it all.
But…
“That is when you made me feel safe,” I admitted hoarsely. “And I began to second-guess myself.”
He nodded solemnly, slowly moving his hand to my back, warming me in the cool air.
“We are Mates, Rowena. There is a kenning.”
Mates.
I felt as if I’d been holding my breath, waiting for him to say the words. And now that he had, I could finally breathe.
Mates.
My fingers curled around his kilt. He was my Mate? Aye, and I was his, wasn’t I? I couldn’t deny this tug, this knowing, as he described it, that we shared. Is that what it meant?
At first I thought he was my enemy, then I realized I admired Vrogul the Stormseeker, chief of the Islay Battleborn.
Now, I suspected I loved him.
“Vrogul…” I whispered, not sure what else to say.
So I pushed myself up on my toes, claiming his mouth in a kiss. Mine, I wanted to growl. He was mine, and I was his.
And I couldn’t go home again, could I?
This is your home. This wild, wicked, incredible land that makes you feel alive in a way no other place or people have.
And I knew ‘twas the truth. I’d found where I belonged.
When Vrogul pulled away, I was momentarily disappointed, but only as long as it took him to sink to his knees before me. I remembered what he’d said about worshiping me, and decided that’s what this was.
His mouth trailed hot kisses down my skin, and I spread my legs for him, bracing my weight. As he lowered himself, the wind hit me again, whipping my long hair over my shoulder. I tightened my fingers in his braids and locked my knees to keep from falling when the pleasure began.
He stroked me with his callused fingertips as his tusks scraped over my sensitive skin, heightening the anticipation and arousal. When he finally slid his tongue along my soaked cunny, he groaned as I bucked against him, going wild.