Ulla is a gifted healer. But she needs healing now.
His voice raspy, rough, and raw, Cardin growled, “I will.”
****
An owl hooted from the dense beech trees where splotches of moonlight filtered through the thick foliage. Swiftly and silently, Cardin strode across the leaf-strewn ground as he made his way to Ulla’s secluded cottage with the thatched, slanted roof. Dim light illuminated the two mullioned windows flanking the front entrance where twining trails of lush ivy climbed a wooden trellis.
He trotted up the three stone steps and knocked upon the heavy oak door. When Ulla did not respond, he tried the latch and found it unlocked. Cardin let himself in and bolted the door behind him.
In the silent darkness, banked embers glowed in the fireplace along the left wall where Vill reclined on the hardwood floor. Upon Cardin’s entrance, the wolf rose to his feet, lumbering forward to greet the familiar guest with lolling tongue and wagging tail.
“Good boy, Vill.” Cardin stroked the shaggy fur and scratched behind the lupine ears. Satisfied with the affection and attention, Vill returned to slumber in front of the hearth.
Cardin glanced around the still room. A wooden settee with tufted pillows of rabbit fur and a pair of walnut chairs were arranged in front of the fireplace. Behind the rear wall of the living area, a narrow hall led to two small bedrooms. At the far end of the rectangular interior, a kitchen stretched across the back of the quiet cottage.
Where Ulla stood, bathed in moonlight, staring out the window.
Her body shook with silent sobs, her sniffles the only sound. Slowly and cautiously, as he would approach a wounded animal, Cardin slipped to her side.
She acknowledged his presence with a half turn of her head before fixing her gaze back on the forest. Like glittering stars in the night sky, the tears on her face glimmered in the moonlight.
Cardin gently touched her cheek to wipe one away. He pushed back a wayward lock of long hair which clung to the side of her grief-stricken face. Tenderly, he took her hand, cradled it within both of his own, and raised it to his trembling lips. “Tonight, while you and my mother delivered Rozenn’s babe, I relived the night Lukaz was born.” He lowered his head to kiss the inner curve of her bent thumb, tucked protectively inside his palm. “The night I lost my wife.”
Startled by his intimate confession, her widened eyes darted to his.
He grasped her forearm, gently turning her to face him. In the dark depths of her sorrow, he glimpsed fear, pain, and empathy. “For the past seven years, I’ve been suffering in solitude. Blaming Lukaz for her death. Shunning my son, living in shame. Drowning myself in drink.” He pulled her to his chest, wrapping secure arms behind her shivering back.
Caring compassion glimmered in her gaze as tears spilled down her crumpled cheeks.
With the pad of his thumb, he brushed them away. “And you, Ulla. You’ve done the same. Shunning others. Suffering in solitude. Shattered by grief. Just like me.” He searched her forlorn face, immersed in her lonely longing. “Tonight, when you held Rozenn’s babe…you relived the birth of your own. The son you lost. The husband who died defending you.” He tenderly traced her bottom lip with the tip of his thumb. “You and I are the same. Broken. Damaged. Alone.”
He lifted her quivering chin. Her sorrowful eyes mirrored the endless mourning of his own empty soul. “You’re a healer, Ulla.” Lowering his lips to brush softly against hers, he whispered into her open mouth. “Heal us.”
Tenderly, he drew her lips into his own, tracing the inner lining with the tentative tip of his tongue. Gently at first, he deepened the kiss, pulling her close as his arms crossed behind her. He leaned her back, one of his hands reaching up into her lush mane of dark curls to cradle her head as he probed every recess of her luscious mouth. Like a dying man slaking his thirst at a cool, crystalline stream, he drank Ulla’s flowing essence deep into his desiccated soul.
She came alive in his awakening embrace.
Wrapping her arms behind him, she gripped him tightly in a desperate, clinging hold. She slid her arms under his tunic, running her hands over his flexed back as she caressed the bare, sensitive skin. Helping him remove the garment, Ulla buried her nose in the dark hair across his chest. As if inhaling his scent, she breathed deeply, trailing kisses with warm, eager lips.
Cardin bent to nuzzle her slender throat, sucking at the smooth, delicate skin. When Ulla eased her gown over her shoulders to reveal small, perfect breasts, Cardin’s ravenous lips swooped down to suckle the soft nipples with a deep, guttural groan.
She pressed her hips against his hardened length, kissing the skin at the base of his neck as her long fingers stroked the hair upon his pounding chest. Withdrawing from his embrace, she stepped out of her woolen gown as it fell and puddled on the kitchen floor. Limbs visibly trembling, long black curls cascading to her slender waist, a nude Ulla took hold of Cardin’s calloused hand.
And—with a gesture for Vill to remain by the hearth—led him to her bedroom down the hall.
****
Moonlight shone through the sheer curtains of the windows on the opposite wall. Ulla stoked the embers in the fireplace on the right and tossed another log atop the crackling sparks. When she turned to face him, Cardin devoured her with ravenous, reverent eyes.
Her creamy skin glistened in the soft, gilded light like a golden, glowing goddess. Longing and fear etched her exquisite face as he pulled her into his sinewy arms. Showering her with soft kisses, he tenderly traced her lips with the tip of his tongue. He parted them to intensify the kiss, exploring the luscious depths of her tempting mouth.
She responded to his taste, her tongue dancing seductively with his. Curious fingers caressed his bare skin as she pulled him close, pressing her hips firmly against his. Her long, lean legs quivered with desire.
He laid her gently upon the bed and removed his boots, braies, and sword. Kneeling over her divine reclining body, Cardin worshipped her with adoring lips. He savored the flavor of her silken skin, the luscious flesh between her lithe thighs.
Throbbing with need, throttled with desire, he positioned himself between her open legs. Slid trembling hands beneath her rounded bottom. Tilted her receptive hips up. And—with a primal, guttural growl—plunged into paradise.
Ulla wrapped her slender arms around his back, her long legs around his waist, lifting her body to meet his pounding thrusts. Limbs taut with increasing tension, jaw clamped upon his straining shoulder, she soon shuddered beneath him, her molten core clenching his shaft in rhythmic contractions of release.
