“Where are we going, Aaric?”
My lips twitch into a small smile. “Somewhere I have never taken another woman. I want to show you my world, Liv.”
It is all the explanation that she needs. Liv slides her hand in my waiting palm and without a word, I lead her toward the back of my room. She doesn’t know it, nobody does, but I have an escape door just in case something happens to the húsgørd.
Finding the hidden latch, I reach for it and pop the door open. It’s small, we both have to duck and I barely fit through it, but if something were to ever happen, I do want her to be able to find a way out of here.
Once we make our way out of the door, I stand up straight and turn to her. “If something ever happens to me and you need to escape, this is the way you will go. Nobody knows of its existence, just me and now you.”
She looks up at me, her eyes wide and full of what I can only describe as, wonderment. “An escape route, nice,” she whispers.
My lips twitch into a smile, my hand still wrapped around hers firmly. Tugging her behind me, I guide her through the woods. I could take her to my cabin, but I’m not ready for that yet.
That would require a level of trust that only my closest men have.
One day, I hope that she will be as trusted as my men.
She tugs the fur around her shoulders tighter as I guide her through the forest area. It isn’t a long walk, just half a mile or so until we reach the isolated area that I come to when I need to think and be away from the rest of the world and their prying eyes.
Liv gasps behind me. I don’t look forward, instead, I look back at her. I’ve seen what she’s looking at and I want to watch her expressions as she experiences it for the first time. Her lips are parted in awe, her green eyes glittering as she takes in the world around us, my world.
“Aaric,” she gasps.
“This is my place. The only place where I feel truly at peace, fagr.”
If I could take her right here on the edge of this cliff, I would, but the rocks are too sharp and it would assuredly hurt one or both of us in the process. There are some natural rock steps to the side, and though the sand isn’t any less painful, it is much softer.
Guiding her down the rock steps, I hold her hand tightly as we step carefully, until we are walking on the pink sand. Without uttering a single word, I guide her under the cliff’s edge, into the half cave that is naturally carved out of the rock.
“If ever something happens to me and you must use the hidden door of our room, this is where you should come to hide until the threat is gone,” I instruct.
“I will, Aaric.”
“This is where I will come to retrieve you if something ever happens to the húsgørd.”
“Aaric,” she calls out from behind me.
Turning around, my mouth goes dry at the sight of her. She has her fur laid out on the sand, her undergarment dress is neatly folded into a pile and placed on top of her shoes, and she is completely bared to me.
“Liv,” I rasp.
She sinks to her knees on the fur, then lifts her hand and holds it out to me. “Come to me, Aaric. Let’s forget the hurts of the past and make a new beginning for us,” she offers.
“Would you, Liv? Would you allow us to begin anew?”
“Yeah, you big asshole, I really would.” She smiles.
Arching a brow, my lips curve up into a grin. “I don’t know what you said, but it doesn’t matter. I want that as well. You’ll learn to control your magic. I will learn to control my quick temper.”
“Will you?”
Shrugging a shoulder, I disrobe and crawl onto the fur in front of her. “Doubtful.”
“That’s what I thought,” she says right before I tilt my head to the side and take her mouth with my own.
Chapter Twenty-One
AARIC
Liv lies against my chest, her eyes focused on the water as the waves move against the shoreline. She sighs, curling closer to me. Her hand travels up my chest, swirling around my marks as she wraps her fingers around my neck.
“What do they mean?” she asks.
“What?”
“Your tattoos?”
“My talisman?” I ask.
Nodding, I look down into her eyes. “They are my marks, to keep me safe, my ode to the gods.”
Her fingers continue to trace the lines on my chest, over and over. My böllur begins to harden again at the sensation of her soft fingers against my flesh. My eyes flutter closed as I let out a sigh.
“Oh shit,” she cries.
Opening my eyes, I look into hers. She’s focused on my chest, her lips parted in awe. “What?” I ask, unsure of what she’s looking at and why she looks almost terrified.
“It’s glowing,” she breathes.
Lifting my hand, I touch the markings on my body and blue sparks fly from them. Moving my hand, I sit up as Liv tumbles to the side. She’s still staring at my chest in awe, but I can’t actually see the glow.
“What is this?” I demand.
She shakes her head. “I’ve never seen anything like it, but it’s beautiful, Aaric,” she murmurs.
Her eyes sparkle as she watches me. Then without a word she climbs up my body, straddling my thighs, her skjede sliding against my hardened böllur. She’s warm and wet, still dripping with my release from earlier.
“I need you, Aaric,” she exhales.
Reaching between us, I hold myself against her opening. With her eyes focused on mine, looking nowhere else, she sinks down along my length. Dropping my head back between my shoulders, I let out a groan as she takes me inside of her.
“Liv,” I moan.
I feel her hand wrap around the side of my throat. Lifting my head, I open my eyes and look into her green gaze. She smiles as she begins to roll her hips. Reaching for her waist, I grip her tightly as she works me, my other arm stretched out behind me to hold me up.
Her breasts sway as she moves, her eyes intense, dancing with green glitter as she watches me. Her fingers grip the side of my neck tighter, her nails digging into my flesh as she begins to ride, taking from me, taking what she wants—what she needs.
Sliding my hand up her back, I tangle my fingers in her hair, tugging and forcing her body to arch for me. Her breasts push forward, I lean toward her, taking one of her nipples between my lips and sucking.
Her body trembles beneath my touch, beneath my lips. Her hips begin to move faster, to jerk above me as she searches for her release. I grunt, shifting over to her other breast as she grinds down against my pelvis.
Blue light surrounds us, at the same time I hear her cry out as her skjede clamps down around me. Lifting my hips, I fill her from beneath, slamming into her hard with each thrust. Her fingers dig deeper into my neck, causing me pain, but at the same time euphoria.
“Yes,” she shouts as the waves of the ocean drown out her cries of desire.
When my release is on the edge only then, do I roar as my seed fills her body, hopefully entering her womb to plant deep inside of her and create our son. Leaning forward my breathing comes out in pants as I press my forehead against the center of her chest.
Liv’s hands slide around my shoulders, her fingers gently touching my hair, combing through the knots without causing me any pain at all.