He sank into the water without warning, splashing her with a waterfall over the side of the bath. She didn’t bother jumping out of the way, she was already soaking wet.
When he raised up again, she tapped him on the head with a comb. ‘You just rinsed off the oil I put on your hair! It is expensive! What a waste!’
He turned his head and upper body to look at her, his eyes lowering slowly until they were staring at her chest. She followed his gaze, and gasped when she realised her breast and nipples were heavily outlined by the water.
Tugging at the shift, she then smacked him with the comb again, immediately regretting it when he winced. She was meant to becaring for him!‘Oh, sorry!’
‘Don’t apologise,’ rumbled Agnar with a chuckle. ‘The pain distracts me from your see-through shift.’
She gasped in outrage again, but then he pulled her towards the bath. She squealed and stopped him from dragging her in by grabbing the sides. ‘No! I was meant to be caring for you. I had a plan to wash and dry you—’
Agnar laughed, but he released her, and she stepped aside, smoothing back her hair with a flustered sigh.
Her composure was short lived, however, because he rose from the water like a god and stared down at her, his raven hair falling forward over his broad shoulders. His body shimmered in the light from the brazier and torches like a bronze statue. Between his powerfully thick thighs his staff was erect and ready.
Skadi’s throat bobbed with nerves and she watched with barely contained excitement as he stepped out of the bath.
‘I should get a linen,’ she said, although she made no move to reach for the several folded and waiting only a few feet away.
‘I have never seen you fully naked,’ he said with a tilt of his head, as if the thought had just occurred to him. He cupped one of her breasts with his hand, brushing a thumb over her nipple, and causing a river of need to rush through her. He smiled, ‘Not even now…you are always only half-revealed to me.’
Her chest tightened with an unexpected longing. She had to admit that she had hidden her feelings for him. Showing her lust, only to shy away from him straight after. She had grown to love him, this man who had stormed into her life and forced her hand. But she still couldn’t voice her feelings, because he didn’t either.
Did he feel the same? Or was she just imagining it, wishing for a dream that was no more real than magic.
She untied the knot at her neck and slipped the shift from her shoulders, baring herself to him, physically at least. ‘Is this better?’ she asked, hoping he wouldn’t notice the stretch marks on her skin, or the softening around her belly that had come after childbirth.
To her relief Agnar didn’t seem to care, he wrapped her in his arms and kissed her like a man starving for touch. Their tongues danced and she ran her hands through his silky wet hair, desperate for the mindless pleasure he could give her. She didn’t want to worry about the future disappointments or the threat of war. She wanted to feel alive, cherished and loved, all of the overwhelming emotions she felt in Agnar’s embrace.
He lifted her and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her to the bed, his manhood rubbing flat against her in ways that made her moan and pant against his lips as he kissed her thoroughly.
He lowered them to the bed, their wet bodies clinging to the sheets and each other as they slid against one another.
He trailed a hand down her body and she felt the callouses of his burns. She gripped his wrist to stop him, ‘Not with your poor hands.’
He laughed. ‘Mypoorhands are fine!’
She shrugged. ‘I want you to use your mouth and tongue instead…would you deny me?’
His face sobered. ‘I could never deny you.’
She arched her back, hoping it would tempt him, and it did. His mouth latched on to her nipple and gently sucked. She squirmed beneath him, hot pleasure coursing through her veins.
She clung to him, revelling in the heat and strength of his body. He shifted, trailing kisses down her body, and she opened her legs for him, her breath held tight with anticipation. The first touch of his lips and tongue made her moan with joyous relief. He kissed her between her legs until she couldn’t bear it any longer, and her heels dug into the mattress as her spine arched.
‘Agnar,’ she groaned and she could tell he was also on the edge of shattering by the wild look in his eyes. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he raised up and positioned himself at her entrance.
But when he entered her, he did so slowly, easing into her with a sigh of satisfaction, as if he were revelling in the feel of her. Then he lowered his weight, being sure to slide in and out of her and let her feel every inch of his body moving against hers as he did so.
She clung to him, face to face, naked and exposed. Holding on to him with all her strength as they moved together as one.
When their climax came it was joyous and natural. They held one another tightly breathing the same air, satisfied and blissfully happy.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The snow grew over the next few weeks and Thrudheim worked hard to keep the defences, training arena and pathways clear. Her men had been integrated into Agnar’s warriors, as it was clear that Oddmund had been working with Sven alone.
They’d even found messages and bags of silver in his home—although they’d simply been temptations to keep his loyalty. The real prize was mentioned in a contracted alliance between Sven and Oddmund that clearly stated he would be rewarded with the role of Thrudheim’s Chieftain, once Skadi was widowed andremovedfrom power. The message had been sent well before Heimdall’s death and it was the damning proof she needed to accuse Sven in front of the petty Kings of his conspiring to usurp her and kill Heimdall.
