Page 82 of Heart of Fire

Freyja’s tongue tangled with his. Fearless. Fierce. All the things that first ignited his curiosity. Her mouth brushed against his, and he tasted the violence of her power on her tongue.Mine.Rurik fought free of her hands and captured her around the waist, drawing her into his embrace. This woman could be a queen, if only his people could see the same things he did when he looked ather.

Breathing hard, with her breasts crushed against his chest, she let him plunder her mouth. Rurik felt his hard body melting into her soft curves. It was a kiss to tell her everything he felt in his heart. He wasn’t letting her go. Maybe he hadn’t been entirely certain of that when he came here, duty to his people warring within his breast, but seeing her now, having her skin beneath his, cemented hisdesire.

The court could wait. His uncle could wait. Freyja was his to claim, and without her there was no point inexisting.

Suddenly, he could no longer withhold the heat of his need. The world reeled around them as he pushed her backward, hand sliding down her hips, then up, to the curve of her breasts, as if to make sure she was real. That she was really there, in his arms. He couldn’t get enough of her. Freyja’s back met the barn wall, and her mouth tilted to his as she claimed him with her hungry lips, her hand still fisted in hisshirt.

Rurik dragged a handful of her skirts up between them, even as her hand slid down to caress his erection through the thin fabric of his trousers. Cupping her thigh, he dragged it up to nestle around his hip, thrusting into her hand. The shock of that touch lanced through him.Sweet goddess, but he’d yearned for this. To see Freyja boldly take what she wanted from his body, as if there was no longer any barrier between her heart and his. To curl those fingers around his hard length and work him, as if she wanted to imprint the feel of him on herskin.

Biting back a gasp, Rurik thrust his cock into her hand, rubbing against her touch. A desperate ache filled him. He wanted to be inside her. Now. To claim her and fulfill their mating bond, so she could never, ever be taken fromhim.

His fingers found her, wet and slick. He didn’t know if it was his hands that freed his cock from his trousers—or hers. But he grabbed her under the ass and lifted her, impaling her with a singlethrust.

“Mine.”

Her thought-thread connected with his.“I claim you, Rurik, prince of myheart.”

“And I claimyou.”

Power spilled between them as the mating bond roared to life. A strangled sound tore from his throat as the heat within him suddenly flared volcanic. The world faded. All that remained was him and Freyja, and her tight little body clutching at his as he thrust home. One. Last.Time.

Pleasure roared through him, and he could feel her match him as the mating bond took them both over the edge. Freyja cried out, throwing her head back as they rode the storm.Sweet Goddess.Rurik sank his teeth into her throat, rocking into her hard, grinding his hips against hers as his seed flooded withinher.

Their minds danced against each other, until he no longer existed as Rurik, nor she as Freyja, but both blended as one. White-hot pleasure obliterated all else, until slowly sensation began to return; Freyja’s hand cradling his nape, her face nuzzling against his throat as little aftershocks ran through her. Rurik turned his face and found her mouth, kissing her with slow affection.His. Finally his. Utterly and irrevocably. He gasped against her lips, completelyspent.

Freyja’s skirts fell around her thighs. Slowly she looked up, her eyes heavy-lidded and a lazy, satisfied smile on her face.“Everything andforever.”

Her mind touched his, locked together in a thought-thread that could never be broken. She could never hide anything from him ever again. Nor he her. The feeling might have left him slightly exposed once upon a time, but this was Freyja. His mate. His twin flame. He could feel the sated ache in her body where they joined, as if her body was merely an extension of his own, and it felt like coming home. Like finally feeling complete inhimself.

“Everything and forever,” Rurik whispered, and lost himself in the sensation of lovingher.

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