When she pulled away, he thought she might head back into the hall, but she grabbed hold of his hand for the second time and dragged him with her. They darted into a nearby workshop as the first drops of rain splattered on the ground.
Squinting around in the darkness, he noticed it was a weaver’s workshop by the loom in the doorway. Piles of fleeces and rolls of cloth filled the room, and Skadi turned to face him as lightning split the sky behind him, illuminating her face in a white light.
Her cheeks were flushed, her lips pink from the rough kiss she’d given him, and her eyes dark with determination and desire. Just as quickly the sky went dark and another roll of thunder rumbled even louder than the first. Her expression was now shadowed, but for once, he knew exactly what she wanted and it filled him with a raw and savage wave of lust.
He pulled her close, reclaiming the kiss. Their tongues sliding together in a wild and desperate dance. It was more than enough to ignite the mountain of kindling that had been slowly building between them for days… Desire he’d not realised until now had been returned.
Hot molten heat coursed through his body and his body hardened at the mere realisation that shewantedto kiss him. Eager fingers tugged wantonly at his tunic and his belt fell to the ground with the clatter of his sword and axe. He then helped her tug the cloth over his head. She pushed him against a stack of the fleeces and a few of them tumbled to the ground.
He broke away from her long enough to pull down a few more and drape his tunic over them. If she wanted him to take her, he would at least make it as comfortable as possible for her—there was no private chambers in the hall and they would have to sleep in front of people as with the hunting lodge. This was probably the only privacy they would have until they returned to Thrudheim.
He was about to try to help her out of her gown, when she pushed at his chest and commanded, ‘Lie down.’
He did as she asked, still a little bewildered by the sudden change in Skadi. Gone was her measured and regal tone—in its place was a passionate and desperate woman.
It was like a dream…a dream he’d prayed for.
The tunic-covered fleeces weren’t that large and he leaned his back against the wall as he lifted his hips and pulled down his trousers. He didn’t have time to kick off his boots or pull off his clothing completely as Skadi was already lifting her skirts, and seating herself on his lower thighs. There was another flash of lightning from the open doorway and he saw Skadi desperately clawing at one of the silver-turtle brooches pinning her apron dress together.
The brooch finally released its hold on her gown in another flash of light and there was more scrabbling in the dark while she fumbled with her clothing. When the next lightning bolt lit up the sky, she’d managed to pull her shift and apron dress down to her waist, releasing her breasts and naked upper body.
She stared down at his engorged flesh with wide and eager eyes, rocking her pelvis against his thighs, as if in anticipation of him filling her.
He reached forward, cupping one breast before the light left them. He swept his thumb over the mound and when her nipple puckered, he covered it with his mouth and gently lapped and sucked on it until she began to pant and moan.
There was another rumble of thunder, but he no longer cared about anything more than making her moan drown it out. ‘I want to hear you scream my name,’ he growled. ‘When I fill you, and when you come. I want to hear you shout my name.’
His hand slipped beneath her tangle of skirts and stroked up her inner thigh. Her legs tightened either side of him, as she groaned through clenched teeth, ‘Make me!’
He chuckled at her stubborn pride, his length throbbing with anticipation. But he tried his best to ignore it, he wanted her pleasure first. ‘Oh… I will.’
She gasped as he found her wet entrance and his finger slid easily inside of her, as if he’d been preparing her for hours and not the handful of moments they’d spent kissing in the darkness.
He rolled the pad of his thumb against her most sensitive part and was rewarded by a wave of clenching wetness that had his body aching to thrust into her. Skadi rocked her hips against him and then pushed at his chest. ‘Agnar, I want to ride you.’
He gritted his teeth against the desperate need and shook his head. ‘Not yet.’ He wanted her so much, but he didn’t want to disappoint her, and he was afraid that if she climbed on top of him, he would fall apart in moments.
She jerked against his hand, her body riding his finger so greedily, that he added another. She moaned, her head rolling back as lightning lit up her body for him, in the most erotic image of his life.
Skadi, her head thrown back with pleasure, her breasts bare and bouncing beautifully at every grind of her hips. He only wished he could see her lower body, but a mountain of fabric was in the way.
‘I want you, Agnar, now!’ she demanded, grabbing him firmly around his shaft and pumping him tightly until he thought he would explode.
‘Odin’s teeth!’ he hissed, removing his hand from between her legs, so that she could do as she pleased and she did with startling speed. Moving forward and lifting up, she continued to hold his shaft tightly before guiding it slowly into the soft, clenching heat of her.
He filled her body and was rewarded by the whimper of his name. She grabbed his head and tugged his hair as a spasm caused her body to tighten around him. His hips thrust upwards in eager response and she ground down with her hips, pressing his pelvis back into the fleeces and earth beneath him.
Primal desire took over and he clutched the wool beneath him in a desperate attempt to slow the release that was threatening to overwhelm him. Skadi was merciless, riding him with quick and confident thrusts of her hips. Her breasts bounced against his panting mouth. She pressed harder against his body, lowering herself into an angle that allowed for her loins to rub against him in a way that maximised her pleasure and deepened his penetration. She knew what she wanted and how to pleasure herself and it made him want to please her even more.
‘Agnar!’ she moaned in his ear, as the thrusts of her hips became faster and more desperate.
He reached around her pulling her close, thrusting his hips to match her pace. The lightning had faded into the distance and streams of rain were pouring down in front of the darkened doorway, muffling the sound of their climax, as they clung to one another, and rode the waves of pleasure that first flooded Skadi and was quickly followed by Agnar’s desperate release.
Chapter Twenty-One
Skadi couldn’t quite believe what she’d done. Not only had she lain with the man who had killed her husband, but she’d done so willingly…
No…worse than that—she had ravished him!Dragged him from the hall and made love to him as if they were young lovers sneaking away from the sight of their parents. Fast, desperate and passionate…but also so exciting and satisfying. The slow build of her interest in him had suddenly boiled over and she’d been unable to deny herself.
