Inside, he can hear her shedding her tunic and boots, and he wipes his hand over his face.
“Jarl Calder?” She finally whispers at the crack in the door.
Despite knowing what awaits him in their room, he is still unprepared for the sight before him.
His black tunic, crafted to fit his broad shoulders, exposes one of hers, revealing her flawless skin. Even through the loose fabric, her thick curves are an allure straight from the damn Abyss. And those copper curls fall loose from the wrap, begging him to sink his touch into her scalp.
If he believed the gods weren’t just a petty bunch of narcissistic assholes, he might pray to one. Holding hisseidrat bay will be thesimpler task of the night when he must lay his head beside that temptress and not devour her flesh.
She plucks her clothes off the bed, gathering the pieces into a disordered mass. Every movement bounces her heavy tits under his shirt. When she bends over to stuff her dirty clothes into a sack, the fabric tugs up, revealing the entirety of her plump ass.
Godsdamn, she is not wearing anything under my tunic.
He readjusts his member while watching her stack the bags as he locks the door, forcing himself to glance away. Deep breaths do little to calm his feverish appetite for the young woman, now shivering by the fire.
She rubs her exposed forearms as she spins on her bare heel away from the hearth. “Jarl Calder?”
Using his full title in that breathy tone does something to his controlled state of mind.
“I am exhausted. Do you mind if I slip into bed?” She bites along her bottom lip, rolling the flesh he knows tastes like a godsdamn afterlife.
He can hear his withering self-control manifest in crystallized ice along the window panes. Heat rolls off his skin as his cold fills the tiny room.
“Climb into bed, Princess. I will throw a few logs on the fire, then join you.” He faces the hearth so he can discreetly squeeze his aching cock.
Damn, this woman.
He kicks off his boots, leaving him in just a pair of black leather trousers.
They can still see their breath despite tossing half the remaining woodpile on the fire. She lays under the layers of thin blankets and fur. When he finally forces himself to bed, he lifts the bedding to see the shirt pulled up, exposing her behind.
Godsdamn, she is going to kill me.
He lays with her back pressed against his front. The bed is only wide enough for them to lay on their sides, which is his justification for his cock pushing against her bare ass.
He drapes an arm over her waist, holding her closer to fight against his unrestrainedseidr. “You are freezing, Princess.”
“I deserve to suffer the frost.” She shifts to face him with one arm tucked under her head and the other flush against her curves.
He tucks a fallen curl away from her face, unable to relinquish the feeling of her soft skin along her jawline.
Remorse slithers through his gut.
His ice could destroy her in an instant. Why has he permitted any of this, as unhinged as his hold on hisseidrhas become in her presence?
Her hand, resting on the outside of her thigh, shifts to press against the center of his chest. “I trust you to warm me, Calder.”
That is why he has not been able to quit her.
In my cold heart, she lit a fire I thought wasn’t capable of burning.
He wraps her securely in his arms and lays his cheek against her forehead, closing his eyes and listening as her breathing steadies into a faint snore.
As he clutches her figure, shrouded in his tunic, he knows it is only a matter of time before he claims this woman. And when that day comes, there will be no one else for the Iss Drengr.
Only Aura.
26
