As he begins to consider slipping back inside and taking Avina’s tight pussy while she sleeps, he, once again, senses more than hears clacking along the decking.
He focuses on the calm bay waves as the unwelcome visitor leans against the railing too close to his side.
“Calming, is it not?” She fucking dares to speak to him.
“I do not care for games,” he spits, his gaze tinging a nasty shade of crimson as his berserker side creeps along his spine, “say what you fucking mean, Lavinia.”
She huffs in an overly exaggerated way. “If you must, dear Sigvid. You are a proud and powerful man who must have insatiable carnal needs.” She licks her lips and lays her hand on his upper arm. “I assure you, I can satisfy your passions.”
He smacks her hand away. “Do you think I would be so easy to fuck with?”
She cackles with that sinister laugh that cuts under his skin.
Briny God, she sounds like my brother. Did I not rip his heart in half?
“It is just sex, Sigvid. I am quite skilled.” She places both her hands on his chest.
Fucking audacity.
Sigvid grabs her wrists, twisting until she screams and stumbles away from him. “You are reaching for any drip of power you can fucking grab!” He cracks his neck, thoroughly understanding why Avard never wanted his son to return to Skalor and further sensing Calder’s actions. “And who do you fucking think I am? I would burn down the entire godsdamn continent for my Queen! It is her or nothing.”
She waves him off dismissively. “Yes, even inSkalor, we heard the tale of your ‘love story.’ You will tire of your sad little Queen one day. Domestication doesn’t sit well with men like you. ”
“I notice you have a fucking habit of talking about shit you do not understand.” He unsheaths his axes, pointing one of the blades at her. The boiling under his skin reaches a crescendo as the berserker blood takes control. “Let me fucking hasten your soul’s passage to the realm of the damned.”
“Oh, honey, I have a villa there. You should visit soon.”
He swings his axe at her neck, but she moves just as the blade slices her flesh. Blood sprays his arms as the edge digs in at her clavicle along the base of her neck.
With an ear-piercing scream, she tumbles over the deck railing into the icy water below. Sigvid’s Drengr swarm the wharf with their weapons drawn. They encircle him protectively, just as the Skalor Royal Guards join the fray.
Two of her soldiers dive into the water, removing her shrieking form.
“This is not over, Thordsson! This is not over!”
Her guards warily keep their distance.
At least someone in this godforsaken country understands my might.
Avina and Bjorn run onto the pier in their night attire. “What happened?” She clutches his arm.
“I am going to fucking kill her!” Sigvid snarls as he attempts to follow her guards and end this now.
Avina holds his arm firmly with her lithe, soft fingers. Not that she has the muscle to restrain him, but the brush of her delicate curls against his bare skin and the scent of her rose and lavender bouquet still his progress.
The pulsing in his blood ceases.
He strokes the soft cheek of his woman, who means everything to him, all the while relishing in the balance she represents in his violent life.
“The fucking bitch propositioned me for sex. Fucking manipulative power grab.” He needs to find the Healer's tent and end her life now. “I sunk my axe into her neck as ananswer.”
Avina’s eyes widen. “That’s a strong response.”
“Are you surprised after all of this time?”
She presses her lips to his, and he responds earnestly, biting at her lips and dominating her mouth.
“I hate to interrupt this beautiful moment,” Bjorn snarks in a way so much like Sigvid, “but we should be leaving Skalorbefore now.” He emphasizes the last two words.
