Once more he thrust into her, pushing her cheek flush against the wall, his fingers biting once more into her backside.
“Remember who fucks you the best, Inga. If I find out you are still returning to your guardsmen, I will not be thrilled. I will punish you.”
“Punish me?”
“Yes. Deny you my cock. Spank you. Tie you to my bed while I tease your quim but refuse to bring you release. You consented to be my lover, and now your body is mine. I don’t share.”
“Yes, Einar. Yes.” Inga panted as his words along with his cock brought her to release. Einar covered her mouth with his hand as she moaned once more. He no longer held back and flooded her with his seed.
“It will be my children you carry. It will be my sons who one day rule this tribe. I will keep you pregnant so often Ivar’s seed will never take root.” Einar pressed all of his weight against her, making it impossible for Inga to move. “Do you understand our arrangement?”
Inga struggled but nodded. Einar removed his hand from her mouth but tangled it in her hair, tugging hard.
“Is it what you want?”
“Gods, yes. Einar, I’ll do anything you want. Please just keep doing this.” Inga’s mind fractured between the desperation to experience Einar’s coupling again and disgust that she did not hesitate to submit. It was as though he cast a spell over her when he approached, and she had no strength or reason to fight against it. She had never given in to a man so easily, but something deep within demanded she submitted over and over. She could not piece through it, but then she did not really want to.
“I intend to. You will retire now and make your parents believe you are asleep. I will come to your window in an hour, and you will let me in. I have a cock that needs sucking, and you have an arse that needs my attention.” Einar eased the pressure on her hair and stepped back far enough to turn Inga to face him. He stroked her cheek as he feathered kisses along her other cheek. “Have you given your arse to another man?”
Inga shook her head. Einar leaned in and gave Inga such a tender kiss she grasped the front of his tunic and clung to him. The kiss was gentle and loving after what they had just experienced.
“That’s good to know, my little one. That is one part of you I am sure I will not have to share with Ivar.”
“I wish you didn’t have to share any part with him,” Inga admitted. “How can I ever give myself to another man when I know what you will give me? You understand what I want, what I need. How is that even possible?”
“I do understand, Inga, and I will be your lover for the rest of our lives.” With another gentle kiss buta punishing twist of her nipple, Einar stepped out of her reach. “Go to your chamber and ready yourself for me. I expect you to be naked when I arrive.”
“Yes, Einar.” Inga’s complete capitulation stirred Einar’s cock once more. He was not even sure how he gained such influence over her with such ease.
“You will come to love me beyond reason one day, Inga. And I will give you everything your body desires.” Einar spun on his heel and walked away, leaving Inga staring at his retreating, aroused once more to the point where the ache in her core burned.
Einar could not believe how simple it had been to seduce Inga. He had to admit to himself that most of what he said was true. Einar would command her body; he would pleasure her in ways he understood she needed, but no other man would give her; he would plant his seed to take root over and over; and she would fall in love with him. Or at least she would believe she was in love with him once he made her solely dependent upon him for both her physical and emotional needs. Einar would use his position to get closer to Lena when he suggested to Inga things that she should demand of Ivar. He would convince Ivar that as the younger brother of his best friend, no one was more trustworthy to watch over Lena. He would convince Inga that it was so he could plant seeds of doubt and distrust with Lena, telling her how Ivar loved Inga more. Once he did that, Lena would never continue with Ivar. She would be free for him to marry. Lena might carry the children born from his love for her, but his children born of Inga would one day rule this tribe. He just had to have patience for a little longer, and he would have the woman he had fantasized about since the first time he palmed himself.
Inga stood watching Einar until he entered the mead hall. She leaned against the wall as tears streamed down her cheeks. Inga had never given into a man so quickly. She had plenty of men pursue her, and she pursued the ones she wanted. But never had a man completely captivated her to the point where all she did was beg to surrender. For the first time since learning she would marry Ivar, she regretted the arrangement. There was no way out of it, and there was no way her father would ever let her marry a man like Einar, but that did not mean she could not accept his offer. She was sure she was already halfway in love with him.
Ten
“You must go,” Lena murmured, even though she had not released her hold on Ivar’s waist. “Inga will have a fit if she learns you came here tonight.”
“Inga doesn’t control me. I am not married to her yet. Where I go will always be my business, and right now, I am here and am not going anywhere else.” Ivar brushed hair away from the cut on her forehead and kissed just beside it. “Let me tend to you tonight. I’ll bathe you and put you to bed, where I will spend the night loving you.”
“Is this your way of saying goodbye?” Lena choked out the words.
“Never. There will never be a goodbye. Not in this life or the next.”
“Gods, I hope so. Ivar, I keep trying to tell myself I can give you up, that I can make a life without you, but I don’t think I can. What will I do without you? It would be like I lost half of me. The desperation is choking me, even while I try to convince you it’s best for us to part. I can’t shake the constant fear that fate will separate us.”
“I know, my love. I feel it, too. But we will begin our plan tomorrow. For now, I am here to make love to you and remind you I am always yours. Let me gather the hot water.” Ivar released her, but she rested her hand on his arm.
“Only if you bathe with me,” she murmured.
The wolfish grin that was Ivar’s only response made Lena’s core clench and her breath hitch. Four years, and there was no sign that Lena’s reaction to Ivar would ever diminish. It was visceral, raw, innate. He had drawn her like he was a loadstone since they were children, but it had been the same with Eindride. They had been the best of friends, but as they matured and their desires for companionship shifted from those of childhood, Lena had always known her feelings for Ivar differed from those toward any other man. It had only taken a drunken night for them to lower their inhibitions. A single kiss at the taunting of their friends had altered their relationship forever. What was meant to be a brushing of the lips or even an exaggerated and sloppy farce morphed in an instant to something that all those around them recognized was combustible. They left the mead hall without a word or a glance to anyone else. It was not a romantic first time for either of them. It was a joining against the side of a building that answered a call they both had ignored. It was a joining that forever altered the course they imagined they would follow, but one the gods had ordained. Or at least fate led them to believe that for the past four years. Now it felt as though it had only been Loki the trickster who had a hand in their relationship, a hand that taunted and manipulated. rather than a nurturing nudge from the goddess Freyja.
Ivar pulled the tub from where it rested on its side and moved throughout the longhouse, setting pails of water before the fire to warm and gathering soap and drying linens. All the items he found with ease after many nights of bathing at Lena’s, many nights of bathing with Lena. His cock twitch against the tight seam of his leather pants. He ached to release it from its confines and find relief within Lena. It took little effort to remember what it was like to slide into the only woman he had desired. He had loved her as all childhood friends did one another, but when his body began to stir with needs for release, it was only ever Lena who he pictured, wanted. It was the sight, the sound, the smell of her that would stir him to taking himself in hand night after night. The pressure from friends to kiss her had been the excuse he had longed for since the first time his cock hardened because of her. The first time he entered her, he was convinced there would be no one else. It was as though his need both intensified and satisfied in that moment when they came together and finally became the singular entity that made them both stronger, happier, better. The thought of being forced to couple with Inga made him furious and nauseous all at once. He wanted to scream each time someone mentioned it, since he attempted to avoid thinking about it. He already realized he could not go through with it, though they might force him to try.
“Do you think we will have long before Tormud and Jan return?”
“Father has gone to visit Astrid, so he’ll be away for the night. Jan will return drunk and unsatisfied. I can assure you he will go directly to his chamber.” Lena’s grin made Ivar chuckle.
