Page 8 of Berserker Devotion

“You look good for someone who’s at least a hundred and five years old.” Nora fought a smile of her own.

“I think you just paid me a compliment.” His stomach growled as he grinned at her, ignoring her calling him old.

“I’ll fix us some food.” Nora rose, thankful for the excuse to hide another blush. What was wrong with her? Men never affected her this way, no matter how handsome they were. Bolt would have laughed himself silly if he’d seen how she reacted to this Viking.

She fixed them some soup, and as they ate, they continued to discuss their backgrounds and how weird it was that both their groups were elite soldiers of the Norse gods and yet didn’t know about each other.

“Maybe Bolt will have answers when he comes,” Nora said, stifling a yawn. The hour had grown late as they spoke. “We should sleep now.”

“You take the bed,” Ulf said. “I’ll sleep on the couch.”

Nora gave him a once-over, all six feet and two more inches of him. “I can’t even sleep on that couch, she said. The bed is big enough for both of us. Besides, with this storm, sharing body heat is a good idea. If it doesn’t let up, we’ll run out of wood.”

Her plan made perfect sense. It was the most sensible decision based on the weather outside and the size of their wood pile. It had nothing to do with how attractive the Viking was.

It really seemed like a best idea. Keep telling yourself that, her hormones whispered in her mind.

Shut up, she hissed back.

* * *

Two days later, Nora knew it was a very, very bad idea to sleep next to a tall, handsome Viking who oozed sex appeal. She’d woken up both mornings horny and frustrated.

And visions of him and her in a much more intimate position than the one they tried to maintain on opposite sides of the bed filled her dreams.

A queen bed really wasn’t big enough for two people when all one of them wanted to do was to ravage the other. Her being the wannabe-ravager.

At least the winter storm had finally let up this morning. The bad weather had grounded all airplanes into Reno, but now it looked like Bolt could finally reach them later that day.

Ulf and Nora had passed the stormy days close to the wood stove, playing every card game they could think of in between cooking and eating meals.

Their supply of firewood had dwindled to nothing. Now that the weather had finally let up, Ulf had gone outside to chop some more.

Nora took off her pants that were soaked from going outside to collect snow to boil for water. She hung them over a chair close to the wood stove. With the sun shining through the windows in combination with the heat from the fire, the interior of the cabin was hot enough to where the long-sleeved t-shirt that reached her mid-thigh was all she needed to keep warm.

She was both glad and disappointed to have a little distance from Ulf. Something about him drew her near. And when they accidentally touched, weird sparks generated. Sparks much stronger than what static would generate.

She fiddled with the rotating dial button on her uncle’s old radio. Most of the stations that reached the cabin were political pundits talk shows, but she finally found one that played music. The outside sound of wood-chopping stopped, and Ulf came back inside. His cheeks glowed red from the cold, somehow making his charming grin even more irresistible.

His eyes raked over her and she suddenly felt like pulling on the hem of her t-shirt. Which was ridiculous because the garment was longer than some skirts she owed.

Something dangerous and tempting glittered in his eyes. “Dance with me.” He held out his hand.

Nora knew this would be an even worse idea than sleeping next to him, but she couldn’t help herself. She wanted to feel his arms around her. She’d been longing for his touch for two long days. And two sweaty, hot-dream-filled long nights.

“Sure,” she said and grabbed his hand, sparks shooting where their skin touched.

One dance couldn’t hurt.

CHAPTER 6

As soon as he pulled Nora into his arms, Ulf knew he was in trouble. Two nights of sleeping beside her—trying not to touch her delicious body—had him beyond frustrated. He’d had a hard-on for the entire time he’d been around her. Finally having his hands on her made his dick jump for joy.

She felt so good against him, so right. All he could think about was her. There were still so many questions about the shifter pack and about her being able to turn into a wolf but they faded from his mind. Not even the weird sparks that happened whenever they touched worried him right now. He just wanted to enjoy the way her curves molded perfectly against his body.

Mine, his berserker purred. Fucking purred.

Ulf ignored it.

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