Page 44 of Alien Viking's Plunder

“And there were conditions,” Bragr guessed, wanting to give Josie the words. “Thatlacehad to be paid for. You had to do certain things to pay for it. Things that were useful for your earl. Or for your king, since you told me you don’t have earls.”

Her eyes were big and clear. “How did you know?”

He shrugged. “Just a guess. It is the way of the world. Very few things are truly free. Those that are should be treasured. What were the conditions?”

“I had to go far away. To a place where children learn things. Children with lace in their heads. They told us how to use the lace right. It took a long time. After that, I had to work for them. They sent me toUnity,and I worked there. Aretha was there already. She has a lace, too. We became close friends.”

“How long had you been onUnity?”

“Six years. And had to stay there for this many years more.” She used her fingers to quickly show him. Five fingers shown six times, then four fingers shown once.

“Thirty-four,” he said, shocked. “Forty years in that smelly old place?”

“It was in the conditions my parents agreed to when they were distraught about me. I have to work for thegovernment— like the king, although we don’t have a king — for forty years. To pay for the lace. Until I’m old. Anyway, the lace makes it possible to be in space for years and years with no problem for the body.”

Bragr squeezed her hand, words failing him. She was going to spend forty years of her life in that dirty little can. She had been in desperate need to be rescued.

“But we had some time off,” she added. “Ten days per year.”

“At least that’s something,” he managed. “You were a warrior on the station?”

“Sometimes warrior. OrSecurity, as we call it. Not real warriors, as you know.”

“There was one real warrior among them,” Bragr said. “She was so out of place in that stinky station that I grabbed her.”

“You had an urge,” Josie said calmly. “Perhaps soon you’ll have the urge to put me back there.”

He looked away, knowing that wouldn’t happen. “That’s not how my urges work, Josie. But you’ll see. Anyway, earlier today you chased the dfergir away. Did you know your lace would make you that fast?”

She took a deep breath, and her grip on his hand tightened. “I was surprised. And I was scared. It has never done that before. Also it has never let me learn to speak a language this fast. It is working better than it should. I’m scared, Bragr. With all that’s going on. The lace is doing things it should not be able to. It’s in my head. I can’t get away from it. I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t feel… safe.” Her voice cracked at the last word.

Bragr calmly changed hands so he could embrace her narrow shoulders while still holding her. “If the lace turns you into a warrior who can defeat a whole band of dfergir alone, then I wish I had one myself. But knowing our healers, mine would probably be made from oak and weigh twentyfjordungr. It would have to be worn on the outside of the head like a hat the size of a fish barrel.”

Josie sniffled and chuckled. She reached up to stroke one of his horns. “You have something like it, I think.”

“You think my horns are like your lace? Perhaps. If so, know that it is probably Straum that makes your lace better than it was. Our sun can do strange things. And we sense its rays with our horns, although that is all they sense. I can’t feel your touch now— ah,thatI can feel.”

Josie had let her hand slide down the horn until her hand was buried in his hair. “What’s it like to have horns?”

Bragr shrugged. “It’s normal for us. It feels… right. When Straum is up, it makes them glow. Not really, Josie. That’s just the way it feels.”

She let her hands slide down his body, along the Marks. “These are beautiful.”

Her touch made his crotch swell again, and he couldn’t do anything to hide it. “We think so, too. They’re the Marks of a warrior.”

“Mmm,” Josie said, tracing the Marks down his torso.

His manhood stood up straight and pulsating.

She let her hand slide off him. “I’m feeling pretty hot.”

He had forgotten they were in the bastu and it was her first time. Sweat was running down her face and the part of her body that he could see. “Then let’s cool down. Come with me.”

He got up and held the door open for her. She left the fur on the bench and walked out, fully naked and without trying to hide herself. After she passed him, his eyes followed the fluid jiggle of her magnificent behind as she stood in the middle of the hut. “Do we go out?”

“It’s the only way.” He strode across the room, cock bobbing ridiculously at his crotch, crawled out the tunnel, and took Josie’s hand to help her stand up when she followed him out.

Then he dove into the snow, laughing while he rolled around and felt the snow melt under his heated body. Josie sat down in the snow and scooped up handfuls, rubbing her arms with it.

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