The moment my eyes collide with Ulf’s, Asbjörn releases my mouth. Air swooshes into my system like a bolt of lightning. The force rips through me, crashing with the thrumming sensations I had almost forgotten—setting fire to them.
I scream as an orgasm, so wild I can barely breathe, rips through me. I twist and convulse, pant and grapple at the chains.
All the while, Ulf keeps watching me, spinning that knife.
My eyes shut and snap open as the storm rips through me, and flickers of Ulf’s demanding stare and the spinning knife flash before me.
It’s too much. The sensations, the utter surrender. The otherworldly sounds of the drums and the almost godly dominance Ulf is wielding from afar.
The moment the orgasm loosens its grip on me, I collapse. My hands fall limp in the cuffs, and my feet slide toward the window as my knees cave in.
Asbjörn catches me. His arm around my waist easily holds my weight while he reaches for the cuffs to open them. It takes a while and some fumbling with one hand to unlock the padlocks and free my hands.
He has just gotten my second arm free when I vaguely register someone entering the room and going to work on my feet, unlocking the cuffs and freeing my legs.
Once I’m free, Asbjörn scoops me up and places me on a soft fur on a bed, covering me with a blanket. And then everything fades. A blissful, floaty sensation wraps me in quiet darkness. The drums outside keep beating, but they’re not oppressive. If anything, they seem to keep me wrapped in calmness—a steady heartbeat that draws me into my body.
Asbjörn strokes my hair gently while he murmurs comforting words. The meaning doesn’t quite register, but the soothing tone is like honey to my ears.
I don’t know how long I lie there—completely still. I don’t move a single muscle. Not even a twitch. I’m not even sure I could if I tried.
Finally, my body starts to wake up. I move my fingers a little, then curl my arms up and fold my legs in my favorite comfortable position.
God, it’s peaceful. I’ve never tried anything like it.
“Elina?” Asbjörn says. He’s behind me, sitting against the headboard, giving me space to drift while letting me know he’s here with soft strokes.
“Hmm.”
“Is it okay if Ulf sits with you for a while?”
My slowed-down heart makes a double beat. I open my eyes and see the shadow of someone moving behind me, and that’s when I feel that pull—the intensity of his power that always draws me in. I wasn’t even aware he was here. My brain is too slow to have realized he must have been the one to free my legs. It’s on standby. I didn’t even register that the person who came into the room didn’t leave again.
I turn my head a bit more to see Ulf. The sight of him up close is startling—his observant eyes and tall, mighty posture.
“Um,” I say, uncertain. “Okay.”
Part of me has no idea whether I can handle it, but another part thrums with the desire to feel him.
Asbjörn senses the uncertainty. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” I reply with more clarity.
Asbjörn moves to sit in a recliner close by, where he watches over me as Ulf takes his place on the bed. Instead of sitting against the headboard, like Asbjörn did, Ulf lies down behind me. The intimacy, even before he touches me, sends a swoosh through my body. It’s almost more than I can bear in my shaken-up and drugged-like state. Anxiety starts to crackle, but when Ulf places his big, warm hand on my cheek, it all draws back.
The world shuts off, my eyes fall closed, and peace descends.
I drift back into that floaty space, lying completely still, just soaking up his touch and his presence. I don’t know what it is about him, but being this close to him is a rush in and of itself. It rattles me even as it grounds me.
At some point, he starts stroking me. He pushes the blanket off enough to trail his hand down my arm, my waist, and my hip. He moves so close that the heat of his body kisses my back.
Little shivers skitter across my skin, and I soften even further. My mind goes quiet, my breathing slows down, and I drift away with a feeling that I finally have found the place I’ve been searching for all my life.
14
Ulf
I’m in my workshop, carving patterns in an old chest of drawers, when Asbjörn calls on Sunday afternoon. Usually, I’d be hiking in the woods, sparring with my brothers of the clan, or meditating outside, but knowing I might get this call, I decided to stay home and alert, ready to leave. Asbjörn told me this morning that Elina insisted on going home after breakfast—something neither of us was happy about.
