Their kiss was chaos, a storm of tongue and teeth competing for dominance like lightning dueling with thunder. The guilt she experienced in the wanting was purged away in the having. He was where her destiny lived and breathed, where it met its match in a perfectly flawed man that was as much of her enemy as he was her desire. He was the best mistake she’d ever made, a gloriously selfish indulgence that took from her as much as it gave back.
She rocked her hips against the tense muscles of his thigh, and Vali carved his fingers down the harsh curve of her hip to hook adept fingers under a knee. She sighed into his mouth as a tension coiled inside her core with each grinding push against his counterpressure, the throb in her hips matching the compelling race of her pulse. It was like they’d done this a hundred times, he knew exactly where to touch her, how to kiss her, how to feel her to heighten the sensation building between her legs.
A coarse noise slipped from his throat as he stroked the length of her thigh, gently rocking his own hips to the rhythm of hers. They were no better than animals, seeking a primal need from the other with no concern of the consequences. Knowing only the rush of a matched need, the power of paired pleasure. The ridge below his belt pressed against her stomach as he pulled her writhing body against him. The evidence of his size made her sigh a breath against his lips, burning her blood hot with want. Her hands dove down his chest, searching for the opening of his belt to feel him–-to know him.
“Ailsa,” he said, stopping her hands with his. “Not here, not yet.” His voice was as strained as her self-control.
She slipped from his knee, realizing just how little she had breathed during their kiss. She broke their connection, too starved of air to continue, and backed away from the elfin until her legs met the small chair. Her weight collapsed into the seat, feeling the ache in her chest soothe with every labored breath. She looked to Vali, but he did not regard her with pity or concern. He simply brushed her hair from her face, leaning his weight against the wall behind her.
“I took your breath away, didn’t I?’
She managed a laugh despite the sting in her lungs. “I’m sorry,” she said between breaths. “I guess the moisture down here has affected me more than I realized, and I’ve been without my medications longer than normal. I promise I have more stamina than this.”
“Even though I’m sure you are inexhaustible,Stiarna, I think we should take things slow.” He shifted the front of his pants. “For both our sakes.”
“Slow is good.” She cleared her throat when her breath finally regulated and asked, “Was it… to your liking?”
The elfin’s brows rose an inch before taking her hand in his. He slid the sleeve of her gown slightly higher, revealing the line of rune marks on her forearm, and kissed each one reverently before answering. “Very much so.”
His bruised lips traced the sensitive skin under her arm, pausing only to taste a staggering pulse with a flick of his tongue. The simple kiss a sensual form of worship, and she realized something terrible. Something impiously selfish. “I know I said I would help you save your realm, but… I don’t want Odin to take me away from you.”
Vali squeezed her hand gently, pledging his vow with persuasive fingers. “I will make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. You’ll just have to trust me.”
She released a satisfied sigh as his hand moved to cup her neck and nodded. “I trust you. ButSólskin?”
“Hmm?” he mumbled. Too focused on tracing the runes on her throat with his thumb to speak. His face hovered above her shoulder, breathing waves of juniper into her neck.
“You can’t make me wait too long to get under your belt.” Her smile turned wicked. She ran a finger along his length for effect, marveled at the size of him still straining against the leather. “Because now Iknow.”
His laugh was low, dark, a deep tenor she’d never heard from his lips. “As long as you promise me one thing,” he muttered, voice husky. “That when or if that time comes, you will always be selfish when it comes to me, when it comes to your needs. Promise me, Ailsa, and I will never hold back a single thing from you.”
A shudder rippled through her chest and she swallowed the nervous giggle rising in her throat. “I promise. Now get me out of here, Vali, before I prematurely show you the meaning of the word.”
Seela and Ivor were waiting outside the boat when they traveled back to the river. The pair sat together on the grassy part of the bank, basking in the heat of the midday sun that finally peeked behind the disordered clouds and dried the flooded earth. The sound of Skiord’s horse throwing mud behind his trail made them both snap to attention.
Ailsa slipped from the horse's back before the mare could even come to a complete stop. “Ivor!”
The wolven met her halfway in a familial embrace, pressing her face against her cheek. “Ailsa, thank the gods you are okay. Vali took his sweet, precious time getting you back.”
“Never mind the fact I did end up getting her back,” he grumbled as he passed them.
“Wouldn’t have had to if you wouldn’t have lost her in the first place,” Ivor muttered against Ailsa’s head.
“Oh, stop. Both of you.” Ailsa slipped from her wolven’s arms and gave Vali a look of warning. Ivor was the only family she had left, and she expected him to do his best to have a diplomatic relationship with her at the least. “Do you need to return the horse to Drieger’s hall?”
“No, she knows the way back,” he said as he slapped her rump and sent her flying up the path toward the mountain.
“I am happy to see you are well, Ailsa. Thrym isn’t the most respectable of the giant lords, and I was worried for you. But you are radiant as usual.” Seela approached behind Ivor.
Ailsa smiled her way, pleasantly surprised at her compliment. If she was close enough to Vali to be blood bonded, she wanted to remain on her good side. “Thrym’s reputation must be as bad as his card skills. I managed the giants just fine, but I don’t think I’ll be stopping by for a visit anytime soon.”
Seela nodded knowingly before her eyes caught on Vali. Her brows narrowed. “Where did you get that shirt? You weren’t wearing it when you left.”
Vali smoothed the wrinkled places over his stomach with a casual hand before pulling his vest apart to show off his new garment to Seela. “It was custom made. Though the seamstress thought my arms were much longer than they are, I find her eye for detail impeccable.”