“Did Jorvik offer you a room?” I raise an eyebrow. Shaw opens the door and lets me in first, locking the door behind us. The room is small, holding a fireplace, a few pieces of furniture, and a decent sized bed.
“Joanna did. Your brother thought Vidarr and I were delusional, so he was more apt to converse before you appeared.”
“I was gone for four days?” He nods. “Jorvik only helped you because he figures I’ll still be complacent,” I admit.
“He pulled a knife on you.” Shaw’s voice brakes. I try to shrug it off like this is normal. My brother is an ass as always, but I bitedown on my lower lip, struggling to build up my facade. “I hit him to protect you,” he murmurs, taking off his own axe and knife to put them on the bedside table. He slides the pointed knuckle rings down his swollen fingers. The guilt that Shaw is exuding has no place here.
“I’m sorry. I should have told you about my parents. That was not how I wanted you to find out.” Taking the quiver off my back, I set it on the chair. Shaw sits on the bed, spreading his legs so I can stand close to his strong body.
“There is nothing to be sorry for. I only wish I had been there to…”
“Don’t say it.” I press on his shoulders until he succumbs. Falling back into the bed, he drags me with him, pulling my legs around his torso so I am riding his hips.
“Okay, I won’t say I wish I could have protected you. Instead, I will say that the pain you have harbored over what happened has given you empathy and understanding. I will say, if you’ll allow me, that I love you. I have loved you in all of my lifetimes, though we only just found each other.”
My heart swells. Leaning over him, I gently devour him with my lips. The words I want to say are lost to guttural moans and wet kisses, caressing the dips of our mouths. His hands pull up my shirt, calloused fingertips grazing my skin, and I help him ease the material over my head.
My hands slip under his shirt, feeling the ridges of his abs as I peel the tunic off his body, and kiss down his chest till my teeth find the ties of his pants.
“Rasha,” he sighs from his tense jaw. I peer up at him.
“I love you. I might not know what it means to love a god or what I am getting myself into, and I know I am inexperienced, but I don’t want to wait to finish the chain. We can do that after or tomorrow.”
“Rasha, slow down.” He brushes my hair off my naked shoulders with a smile on his handsome face.
“I’m nervous,” I say honestly, sitting up to feel his hard cock pressing into the seam of my pants.
“Don’t be. Say the first part of what you said again?” Shaw asks, his fingers traveling up and down my arms.
Looking to him for clarification, I repeat the first thing I said. “I love you. But, Shaw.”
He leans up fast, throwing his arms around me and pulling my lips to his. The kisses are hard and fast, replacing my words with the bond we share in our souls.
“That is all that matters.” He kisses down my chest until he puts my nipple in his mouth. My head falls back in bliss as he sucks hard, swirling his tongue around my ridged skin. Shaw finds the top of my pants and unties them. Pushing me off of his lap, he eases my pants down my legs, and I lay back on the bed.
“I missed you,” I softly say. The glow in his hazel eyes still holds a flicker of hesitation, even though I am naked before him. “Shaw?” I almost beg, but I see him take out the ore and a tiny iron cup.
“Fire?” he asks. I move to the end of the bed, rubbing my hands together and remembering the feeling of my veins filling with power. Flames light the fireplace, and Shaw drops the ore into his iron cup. Taking the amulet, he waits for me to agree and pours our blood inside the cup as well.
“Here.” I kneel naked on the floor beside him and cut a piece of my hair the same way I did for the first link. “My hair is red because of the blood spilt on the bond, isn’t it?” I ask, adding my offering to the smelt cup we are using as a smaller version of a crucible.
“I didn’t think about it that way, but I see it now. You were made to become a goddess, Rasha. It would be wrong of me not to honor you.” He secures the lid on the cup and wedges it deep into the flames. Taking a thin, smoldering piece of broken wood out of the bottom of the fireplace, he hands it to me to hold while he pours clean water from the pitcher into a cup.
“I promise to honor you always,” he says.
I repeat, “I promise to honor you always.” Dipping the blackened wood into the water cup, he lifts my chin and draws a line over my cheeks. After setting the wood back into the fireplace, he stands and pulls me up with him. I watch him take off his pants as I easeinto the bed. His solid cock bobbing in freedom makes my mouth fall open in anticipation.
“Do you want all of me?” he asks.
My throat is tight, so I nod. Leaning back into the pillow, I spread my legs, dipping my fingers inside my aching cunt.
“I need you to say it. Tell me you want me to fuck you, please.” He asks, stroking my thigh and circling my knee. I bow my legs wider to show how wet I am.
“I told you the truth every time I said I wanted to give my virginity to you. Tonight is no different. Bond or no bond, I am yours, body, heart, and soul.” As I tell him my truth, my limbs move more confidently than I thought possible. Moving to my knees, I run my hands up his naked chest till I reach his strong jaw.
Our kisses sear promises into each other’s skin as the fire burns brighter around the smelting cup. Shaw touches me all over with his mouth and hands, leaving nothing to his imagination. My body softens under him, and I wrap my legs around his waist to keep him close.
“I have dreamt of you on top of me,” he whispers. Rolling to the side, he situates himself on the bed in the most intimidating way. He strokes the ridges of his long cock up and down with drops of his own need dripping down the sides. “Come here and set the pace.”
