“That was not music,” she said. “Not like your piper.”
“It sounded like it to me.”
“My grandmother taught my sister and I when we were little. What you call a song, I call a kulning. It’s only meant to call them home.”
“But how do they know which one to go to?”
“Because each one is different. They are taught our kulning from the time they are calves, and they remember.”
He smiled at her and brushed a piece of hair from her face that had drifted across her mouth with the breeze. Drawing a deep breath he looked out over the pasture.
“Your brother and I are to speak of alliances when I return to the hall.”
Saga held her breath. Would he ask for her? Did she even want that? Well, she might, but would he want her to leave with him now? The thought of it made her head hurt.
“I know you feel an alliance would be good for us both,” she said.
“And you do not?”
“I didn’t at all before yesterday. When my brother told me of this first, I was quite vexed. I felt like he was giving up everything we have worked for.”
“And now?” he asked.
“Now I see that we are not so different, you and I. We both want to protect those we love and preserve our way of life.”
“And would it be so bad to live somewhere else?”
“I believe it would,” she said and locked eyes with him. “I am as much a part of this place as it is of me.”
“Then you can take it everywhere in your heart.”
Saga tilted her head back to consider his words. Her belly tightened at his nearness. His scent was that of leather and wood and fresh air. Giric placed his hands on either side of her face and leaned down. Brushing his soft lips across hers sent a thrill through her body.
She placed her hands on his chest. The hard muscles there excited and tormented her; she wanted more of him, on her, over her, in her. She was not unaware of the ways between men and women, but for the first time, she wanted to experience it.
Giric claimed her mouth, his lips sweeping across hers, his tongue probing, coaxing hers to dance with his. As the kiss deepened, her hands found their way to the back of his neck, drawing him closer. There was too much clothing between them. She groaned as one hand held the back of her head and the other reached down to cup her bottom to pull her closer to him, his hard erection evident against her thigh.
Odin’s blood she did not want this to end. Thrilling sensations raced through her veins as he laid claim to her mouth and her body. Surely there was no other man who could stir her in this way. She was certain it was the same way for him. Wanting to drive him to a similar madness, she reached around to cup his hard bottom as well, mirroring his movement. The resulting growl from his throat set a thousand butterflies loose in her belly.
Breaking the kiss, he whispered, “I want you.”
Saga smiled and gazed at his mouth. She wanted to taste him again, so she reached around to the back of his neck and pulled him down toward her.
“Kiss me again,” she said.
Another growl. He kissed her with greater need this time, almost bending her backward with the power of his passion. Saga felt completely dominated by someone for the first time in her life and she liked it. She liked that he wanted her so fiercely he could barely control himself. Finally she’d encountered a man strong enough to match her strength. And so, if that was the case, there would be no other man to compare for her either.
Giric broke the kiss and brushed his lips along her jaw and to her neck. Thor’s breath, his mouth was surely akin to something magical. Her sex pulsed with a need she barely understood. When Giric pulled her tunic down and grasped one breast she arched toward him, wanting that mouth on her flesh. As if reading her thoughts, he found her nipple and sucked hard. Saga’s head fell back, and she gasped.
“Oh!” she said.
In the next moment, she was on her back with Giric grinding into her. Pressure and pleasure built within her. She did not know what the end result would be, but she did not have the strength to stop no matter the consequences. She had to know what it felt like to find that release and she was desperate to know how he felt inside her.
“I want you so much,” he said as he pressed his thick erection against her, holding himself there.
Saga opened her eyes and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw not just Giric above her, but the brown furry face of a cow who had come to inspect what was happening. She had stuck her head in between the fence posts and was sniffing Giric’s robe.
Saga started to laugh and Giric’s confused look only made her laugh harder. He turned to the side and realized the cow was there. The look of curiosity on the cow’s face, coupled with Giric’s startled expression sent her into fits of laughter as Giric rolled off her and lay flat on the grass. Before long he joined in with her, his deep chuckle dancing in the air.
