And Gunnar followed her into the shadows and warmth of the bed, knowing with absolute certainty that his world had just changed. And that he would burn the mountains down before letting anything take her from him.
Chapter
Seven
Gunnar lifted Wren and lowered her onto the furs, his massive hands spanning her waist. Heat radiated between them, her skin prickling with awareness where his rough fingertips grazed her bare flesh. His grip tightened for an instant before gentling, as though battling his own desire to claim her completely. She arched into his touch, wanting more—wanting everything.
He knelt between her parted thighs, his chest heaving with each ragged breath. Sweat gleamed on his skin, firelight licking across the ridges of his abdomen, the hard planes of his chest. But it was the runes etched into his powerful body that made her mouth go dry with want.
They glowed.
First a shimmer like moonlight on water, then brighter, pulsing in rhythm with the ache building between her legs. The silver markings deepened to colors that called to something deep inside of her.
Her hand hovered near one, tremulous with awe.
“Gunnar, your markings?—”
He shuddered. “Wren. Don’t, unless you mean this. All of it.”
“I do.” She reached for him, her palm settling over the rune just above his heart. “I’ve never meant anything more.”
The light blazed under her fingertips, sliding beneath her palm like molten silk, alive and humming at her command. Gunnar exhaled a low growl that shivered through her core. Her pulse leapt in her throat. He leaned down, slow and worshipful, giving her every chance to turn away. She didn’t. Instead, she curled her fingers into the muscles of his broad shoulders, drawing him close until his breath warmed her lips.
“You’re sure?” he whispered, voice thick with need and warning. “Once we cross this, I may never let you go.”
Her heart pounded. She curved her lips into a daring smile. “Good. Don’t.”
His kiss was nothing like before—hungry, fierce, utterly consuming. He pressed into her with the desperation of centuries starving for one taste of life. His tusks—alien and provocative—brushed her mouth, sending sparks through her veins. She matched him stroke for stroke, a wave of urgency rising in her chest.
His hands glided down her sides, reverent and quivering, worshipping every inch of skin. When his palms cupped her hips and tugged her up against him, she gasped, arching into his solid weight.
The runes pulsed in answer, glowing brighter in waves of ancient magic that kissed the furs beneath them with soft luminescence. She felt it deep in her soul—a tether drawing her to him.
Foreheads pressed together, his breath ragged, eyes squeezed shut. “The bond stirs,” he rasped. “It answers only to you.”
She framed his face, thumbs brushing the ridges of his tusks. “Then let it.”
He kissed her again, slow and deep, a kiss that dissolved every thought but the one tying them together. His body draped over hers, protective and scorching, enveloping her in warmth. She arched, welcoming the intimacy of heat against heat, the profound rightness of him.
Fingertips trembling, she tugged his shirt up and over his head, tossing it aside. He inhaled sharply, his gaze roaming her bare skin as though committing every curve to memory. He peeled off his pants, scattering them across the pallet, then settled between her thighs once more—skin on skin.
A shudder ran through her when his warm skin pressed against hers. His hands traced the glowing runes etched across her waist, each stroke setting her nerves aflame. Gunnar’s breath hitched; his forehead fell to hers as he exhaled her name like a benediction.
“Sensitive?” She teased.
“I never knew.”
“Someone had to have touched them before,” she said, still exploring the glowing designs.
“Yes,” he admitted. “There have been women, occasionally. I rarely left my cave, unlike my brothers. And there was one woman, long ago, who I thought might be a mate. But she was only looking for an experience.”
She froze, the realization slamming into her. “An experience? She wanted to know what it was like to be with a troll?”
He nodded against her neck and she tightened her arms. That explained so much. Why he was so hesitant around her, and so reluctant to trust her.
He lifted his head. “Is it okay?”
Her breath tangled with his in the warm space between them. She nodded. “It’s perfect, like you.”
