“I don’t think they really thought about that, Aaric,” I murmur. “They named us all odd names. I think they just liked to be different, unique.”
He grunts but doesn’t comment. “Well, I am grateful the gods sent me you, Liv, the protector.”
“Even if she is two years younger than me?” I ask.
Dropping his chin, his eyes find mine and he takes a step toward me. “Enough about that,” he gruffly demands.
“Is it, enough?”
He nods his head once, taking another step toward me, and another, until his body is just inches from my own. Tipping my head as far back as possible, I look up into his eyes. They’re no longer black with anger, but instead the lightest watery blue.
“It is enough sváss,” he rasps.
“Tell me what happened with your brother and his whatever she is,” I mutter.
Aaric’s lips twitch into a grin at my obvious annoyance with that woman. He lifts his hand, cupping my cheek and I lean into his touch. The pad of his thumb slowly traces my lips, his eyes following the path.
“We are going on a raid in two weeks’ time. You will be joining me on the Strïth. Fiske and his thrall will be joining us, but traveling on a different ship. He was boasting that it was his idea, that he is in charge of the raid when, in fact, he is not.”
“Was it his idea?” I rasp.
He nods. “It was his suggestion. One that I had already been debating in my own head before he brought it to me. We need one more raid before winter to secure our supplies for the harshness of the weather that is to come our way.”
The pad of his thumb continues to slowly trace my lips as he talks. Chills continue to slide throughout my whole body at the touch. My thighs tremble, my pussy aches, and my belly melts. I want him, right now.
This is almost the sweetest foreplay I’ve ever experienced—almost.
“So, you’re angry because he’s trying to take the glory from you?” I breathe.
He snorts. “Nei.” There is a moment of silence and I think that he’s finished talking, I kind of hope that he is because I am ready to move on to a different kind of conversation, but instead he starts to speak again. “Fiske is unpredictable. He’s also not behaving as his usual self, I am concerned that there is something larger at play,” he murmurs.
“Like maybe he’ll try to get people on his side by acting like he’s the big man?” I suggest, licking his thumb as I speak.
Aaric grunts, slipping his hand from my face and curling his fingers around my neck. I mourn the loss of his thumb against my lips, but then he starts to rub circles against the center of my throat. I forgive the move of his hand, because this feels just as good.
“Possibly, more like he would paint himself as a hero and kill me to gain the throne for himself.”
“He’s your brother,” I gasp.
Aaric smiles, but it’s a sad one. “Yes, Liv. He is my brother, but when we have children, he will no longer be second in line to the throne and while Tait is third in line, he is happy to live his life with his family on Serene Reef. Fiske has never been content being the brother to the konungr.”
“He’s hungry for power.”
“Já, Liv. He is just that, starving for power. My being the king, having a wife and possibly and heir on the way, being part of an ancient prophecy, my brother has changed.”
Pressing my lips together, I bite the inside of my cheek. “I’m sorry, Aaric,” I admit.
“Why?”
“It’s my fault. It’s all because I’m here, if I could go back, I would.”
He shakes his head, dipping his chin slightly, his mouth touching my own. It’s just a brush of his lips, but that simple touch causes my entire body to melt like a pile of goo just for him.
“I would not allow it, Liv. You are here with me, minn, not just because I’ve had you bound to me, to these lands. But also, because in this short amount of time, you have also bonded yourself to my soul.”
“Are you saying you love me, Aaric?” I exhale.
He grunts. “Nei, Liv. I do not understand this word, this feeling—love. What I understand is that you are minn. You were fated as my brúõr. There is no other that makes me feel the way you do.”
“I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing,” I mutter.
Aaric is silent for a moment, as if he’s thinking about that. “Me either,” he confesses.
Without another word, he tilts his head to the side and his mouth slams down against my own. I moan as the sensation of his tongue fills me, imagining that it’s his beautiful cock sliding inside of me at the same time.
I want him, need him—now.
AARIC
Liv reaches for my pants. She unties the sides, sliding the hides down and then reaches inside, freeing me as she wraps her hand around my length. Slowly, she strokes me as I stoke the fires of her mouth.
I let out a grunt, shifting my hips forward. I want her to take me inside of her mouth, but then again, my need to be inside of her warm skjede overrides that desire by far.
Slipping my hand from her hair, I glide it down her back. Grabbing ahold of the plump flesh of her a backside, I pick her up before I guide her toward the furs. She rips her mouth from mine, her eyes dancing as she watches me.
“Take me, Aaric. I need you. My body burns to have you inside of it. Only you can put out the fire.”
I don’t understand all of her words, but I comprehend enough to know that she desires the same that I do. She needs my böllur, my seed inside of her warm and waiting body. Setting her down on the edge of the furs, I take a step back and continue to undress myself.
Liv takes off her dress, tossing it to the side. She reaches for the undergarment dress, but I hold up my hand to stop her.
“Leave it on,” I gruffly demand.
She lifts her gaze to meet my own, her curiosity peaked. Deciding that I need more than what’s in here, I need to feel the salt of the ocean on my face, I need the freedom that the ocean provides me.
I need to atone for my treatment of my víf. “Stand,” I order.
She does, without an ounce of hesitation. Trust. It is there, simmering just beneath the surface and I need to feed it, to grow it like a plant, to nurture it and her.
The gods fated me to this woman for a reason, a prophecy has begun to take shape and put into motion, something they have chosen me to be part of. Runa and the seeress believe that if I do not accept Liv as my life, as my fated wife, then ruin could come down on the land and my people.
I cannot let my people suffer just because I feel my bride is too old to bear the children I desire. I cannot let my lands ruin because I do not believe in love. And I cannot cause her to distrust me and send her in a spiraling magical catastrophe that she has no way of controlling.
Gathering one of the furs from the bed, I wrap it around her body. Pulling my hides back on, I tie the sides loosely as I slip back into my boots. She sees me dressing and slips her own shoes on. Holding out my hand, I wait for her to slip her palm inside.
Instead of blindly following me, like she did in front of my people, this time she hesitantly looks from my hand to my eyes, then back to my hand before she shifts her gaze back to meet my own.