Page 25 of The Blue Viking

I just want to show her who is in charge. I am going to stop… in a moment, he told himself. And he was serious.

“Nay,” she whispered.

“Yea,” he responded, his arms already reaching out for her.

I am going to stop… in a moment.

Really.

She went stiff as he gripped her head with two hands by tunneling his fingers into her hair… hair so fine it formed a cobweb of red about her face. Smudges of scarlet bloomed on her cheeks in a most becoming manner, making her seem younger than she was, like a sun-drenched maiden, which he knew too well that she was not. She dropped her green eyes under his steady gaze but not before he admired their misty illumination. Like pale emeralds, they were, shaded by thick lashes of a darker hue, in this light more brown than russet.

“Ert mjg falleg,” he told her in a voice he barely recognized for its huskiness. “You are so beautiful.”

Her chin shot up at his words, and her eyes locked with his, wide with surprise. “I am no such thing,” she protested hotly, but he could tell she was pleased at his compliment.

Women! They are so predictable. He took a deep breath for control, and girded himself with resolve. I am going to stop… in ? moment. I swear before all the gods that I will… well, some of the gods… Loki, perchance. That lighthearted jester of a god is having a good laugh on me now, I would wager.

It must have been Rurik’s long period of self-denial—he could not recall the last time he’d lain with a woman—for Maire was becoming compellingly attractive to him. The consummate woman. All that was feminine and desirable. She made him want her body, but it was more than that; she made him want… he felt mysterious yearnings he could not name, which tantalized and terrified him at the same time.

I am going to stop … in a moment. I am, I am, I am.

His lips were lowering to hers beginning the mating ritual that came instinctively to all men and women when the sap thickened in their bodies and pooled in certain places. In truth, it was almost as if he could feel the blood flowing, torrid and insistent, from his fingertips, all the way to his toes, and some important places in between.

I am going to stop… in a moment, he repeated to himself like a litany, trying to ignore his thundering heart.

But almost immediately, under the assault of a million lustful impulses, he exclaimed to himself, To hell with stopping!

“By your leave, my lady witch, be forewarned. I am going to kiss you senseless.”

“I do not give you leave,” she said on a gasp.

“Oh?” He pondered her protest, but not very seriously, then replied, “More’s the pity.” With a sigh he set his course to do what he damned well pleased, her wishes notwithstanding. That decided, he settled his mouth over hers. Wanting to be slow and gentle, he entreated and persuaded her into the love play by moving his lips against hers, back and forth, till they slickened and fitted together perfectly. When her lips turned pliant, his senses flamed and he güded the tip of his tongue along the seam.

She obligingly parted for him with a moan.

That moan was his undoing. He made a rough growl deep in his throat and entered her, his tongue lightly touching the roof of her mouth.

Instinctively, she sucked on him, and he almost catapulted off the boulder. Tearing his mouth from hers, he stared down, stunned by the turbulent passions that swirled betwixt them, at just that one kiss. A hunger for her assailed him, so intense he could scarce breathe. He panted, trying to rein in his burgeoning desire.

Her long, sweeping lashes lowered over green eyes that held a glint of wonder. She, too, must be experiencing the selfsame emotions. He should get up now from where he still lay sprawled over her. He had accomplished his goal. He’d scared the spit out of her. But her lips were moist, and, oh, so inviting. He could not resist her allure.

Had she bewitched him with a spell, or one of her love potions?

“You taste like mint,” she said in a breathless whisper.

Damn, damn, damn! Did she have to say that? He could not resist her now. “You taste like heaven,” he countered. And she did.

Lacing his fingers with hers, he stretched their arms overhead. At the same time, he ground his hips against the heart of her, which lay open to him betwixt her cloth-covered thighs.

“Oh … merciful… Mary!” she rasped out and arched herself up toward him. “What is happening to me, you wicked man? You are turning me into an inferno.”

Her artless admission of arousal stirred all that was masculine in Rurik. And, indeed, a red flush did color her skin… skin that was deliciously warm and tempting to touch. He murmured against her parted lips, “I have always wanted to play with fire, m’lady.”

When he reclaimed her lips now, there was nothing gentle or slow in his approach. Rapacious and devouring, he pressed his lips and thrust his tongue. Rurik had always prided himself on being an inventive lover who ofttimes followed specific, tried-and-true steps to bring his women to ecstasy. Now, he was barely able to focus through the haze of his excitement. He was a man out of control, and he did not care. Maire—bless her soul—gave herself freely to the fervor of his kisses. When he forced her lips open even wider, she made soft sounds of pleasure into his mouth … whimpers that spurred his invasion to be even bolder. He could not swear that it was so, but he suspected he might have whimpered back.

Rurik had never known that kissing could be so intimate or so glorious, and he told her so… in words that were sinfully explicit. Maire did not seem to mind. Actually, an erotic tremor rippled over her body in response. He even saw goose bumps rise on her bared forearms. In his experience, goose bumps on a woman’s flesh during lovemaking were a good thing. Some men disdained all the preliminary exercises and gestures in lovemaking, wanting to get right to the tupping, but there was no doubt in Rurik’s opinion that this kiss he and Maire shared was love play of the grandest sort.

But, wait, Maire’s hands were fluttering with dismay, and he noticed her eyes darting from side to side. She was starting to think, he would wager, and a thinking female was not a good thing when the male sap was running high.