Page 21 of Stolen By the Berserker

His balls clenched, and he shouted her name as he came with her, blowing his load so hard he forgot to breathe. Stars flittered in front of his eyes, and he thought he might pass out.

He tried to remember how to force his lungs to take in air as he slumped down beside her.

She curled into his chest, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Did I hurt you?” he asked.

“No,” she mumbled against his skin. “I want to do that again.”

He chuckled. “Give me a moment or two.”

His only reply was a soft snore.

Sten got up and pulled the cover from underneath Cassie. He slipped back into the ridiculous small bed and joined her in her slumber. Hopefully, she’d sleep normally this time and not accumulate weapons in her dreams.

Cassie wokeup to Sten sitting in her desk chair, wearing just his jeans and watching her. Darkness cloaked the room except for the light emitted by the small lamp next to Sten.

“Are you okay?” she asked. She’d been doing that a lot, it seemed, since she’d found him outside her dorm.

He scrubbed a hand across his face. “I need to apologize to you for so many reasons. But first, for thinking you betrayed me back in Montana. It was the gun dealer’s security man who sold me out to the wolverines.” She opened her mouth to reply, but he held up his hand and continued. “But I shouldn’t have suspected you at all. I know that now. All I can say is that thesjälsfrändebond messed with my mind and made me more defensive than usual.”

“Okay,” Cassie said. “Apologies accepted. Anything else?” she asked when his gaze still bounced all over the room as he avoided looking at her. If he gave her some speech about being just friends or going back to friends with benefits, she would probably kill him.

“We didn’t use a condom. And in Montana a month ago, I also forgot to use a condom. I don’t have any diseases, but what if you’re pregnant?”

She put her hands on her stomach, the thought of a little Sten resting inside there disturbingly pleasing.

The grownup version turned pale. “Have you had your monthly flow since you told me to leave Montana?”

Cassie giggled. “Are you asking me about my menstrual cycle?”

He nodded as he got out of the chair and crouched beside the bed. “I want a life with you. I would love to have children withyou, but I don’t what you to feel trapped.” His jaw clenched. “I’m already ashamed over how my berserker trapped you in this room when you wanted to leave.”

Cassie stroked his hair, the silky tresses slipping easily through her fingers. “I suggested we leave,” she corrected. “But then you distracted me, and I was quite happy to stay.”

“Truly?” he asked.

She nodded as she continued caressing his hair. “I’m on birth control, so we don’t have to worry about a baby.”

He leaned into her caress. “I feel so much better when you are close to me. Even if you don’t want a relationship with me, can I continue to see you?”

She smiled. “You want to be fuck buddies? Friends with benefits?”

He didn’t return the smile. His eyes remained serious. “No, I want a genuine relationship with you. But I’ll take anything you’re willing to give me.”

“I want a relationship with you, too,” she said. “But I’m not giving up college.”

He leaned closer. “I would never ask you to give up anything for me.” His lips claimed hers, and they were done talking.

At least for a while.

EPILOGUE

Cassie sat in the uncomfortable folding chair, listening to the president of the college speaking about the glorious futures they hoped the fresh graduates would experience. Normally, the athletic center hosted the university’s basketball games, but for this one Saturday, three different graduation ceremonies would take place. The College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics went last. Cassie wondered if the president had given the same speech at all three ceremonies. If so, the fact that she still spoke with conviction and enthusiasm was admirable.

She wanted to listen to the words, but her mind kept drifting to Sten, who had promised to take her out to celebrate after the ceremony. He sat somewhere in the stands with some of the other Vikings from his tribe, and Astrid—a Valkyrie who Cassie took fighting and self-defense classes from. One of the reason’s the folding chair hurt her butt so much was because Astrid had smacked her on the behind with a practice sword last time they sparred.

The Valkyrie had a mortalsjälsfrände, Luke, and sometimes Cassie talked to him about what it was like to be an immortalwarrior’s soulmate. Everyone who lived at the Viking fortress had been nice and welcoming to her. She didn’t get to visit at often as she’d like because studying for a bachelor's degree in biology took more time than a full-time job. The last four years had been brutal, but worth it. She didn’t know what she’d be doing next. Maybe she’d go to medical school. That would have made her healer grandmother proud. Cassie had done some work with Irja, the Viking tribe’s doctor who had a medical degree but also used herbal healing that she’d learned when she’d lived as a mortal about a thousand years ago.

But Cassie also loved the physical therapy internship she’d done. And the Vikings could definitely use someone to help them with the many injuries they sustained during battle and sparring. Sometimes, she worried about Sten when he went out to fight, but since he never complained about what she wanted to do with her life, she couldn’t very well tell him to stop doing his job. Especially since the gods had given it to him.

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