Page 35 of Valkyrie Song

But I rise up beneath him, pushing him backward. He leans back with a grin, heat in his eyes as I set to work on his clothes, stripping him with shaking hands.

His grin fades, his expression turning dark as I rake my nails down his chest and then lower. "Gods, princess," he growls, his head kicked back as my lips follow the same searing trail. "You have no idea what you do to me, do you?"

"I know, Stephan." I flick my gaze up to his, wrapping my hand around his erection. "I feel it."

His eyes lock with mine as I suck him into my mouth, plunging down.

"Fuck!" His hips arch from the bed, his hand sinking into my hair. His growls and curses spur me on as I lick and suck,pleasuring him in a way that has power singing through my veins.

But he doesn't let me please him for long. I may be Valkyrie outside of this bed, someone to be obeyed and feared. But in this bed, Stephan rules. I'm his to command.

He tips me over backward, snarling softly. "My turn, princess."

"Come and get me then, warrior."

He falls on me as if I just gave him the keys to heaven, kissing and touching everywhere he can reach. I cry out beneath him, not even trying to be quiet. Let everyone hear. Let the Norns know that this man is mine and I am his. The Bifröst may demand we sacrifice our bond for the greater good, but I'll spit defiance and scream down the heavens before I let him go willingly.

His name leaves my lips in a shout as he hauls my legs up over his shoulders, his tongue spearing through my folds. He groans, eating me like an unruly, wild beast. I cling to his shoulders, rocking against his face as waves of pleasure roil through me in a tornado of bliss.

They rip me asunder and scatter me to the winds, sending my Light spilling across the room in a blast of fiery sparks. As soon as Stephan feels it, he's on top of me, flattening me to the bed as he surges inside of me.

"No one is taking me from you," he growls against my lips. "I'll shatter kingdoms and destroy time myself, Valkyrie, do you hear me?" His hips slam against mine again and again, each strike a vow as meaningful as the words spilling from his lips in a litany. "You belong to me. My mate. My soul.Mine."

I sob his name and choke on hope, clawing at his back, trying to keep him as close as possible. So close nothing can rip us apart—not the Bifröst, not fate, not the Gods themselves. This warrior is mine. If the Norns demand a sacrifice to part the Veil, it can't be him.

I won't allow it.

"Kiss me," I beg. "Kiss me until you're the only thing that exists."

"Kara, princess," he breathes, immediately brushing his lips against mine. "For you, I am the only thing that exists.Ek elska þik. I love you."

I shatter apart, falling to his Light, to his love, with his name echoing from the rafters around us.

He groans my name, burying his face in my throat as my pleasure sends him spiraling over the edge with me. "I love you," he chants over and over, as if he's trying to brand his adoration on my soul. "I love you, Valkyrie."

I cling to him, wrecked and ruined…and whole in a way I've never been.

"I love you too, Stephan."

And, perhaps, that's what makes the bitter edge of fear so sharp. I love him…but I don't know how to save him. I don't know how to keep him. And I'm absolutely certain the Bifröst wasn't wrong today.

His life is the sacrifice fate demands.

And I'm not nearly strong enough to make it.

Chapter Nine

Stephan

"I'm tired of huntingvarulv," Malachi complains in a deep rumble, kicking at a fallen log as we troop back toward the village, weary to our bones. "My boots are wet. My feet are cold. And my balls are chafing. We need the Valkyrie."

Dax snorts loudly beside him. "Wear better pants and you won't have that problem, Malachi."

Malachi shoots Dax a withering look, slashing at a branch with hislyststål. "I would not have this problem if the devil dogs weren't spread from one side of Valhalla to the other," he grumbles. "My Valkyrie says I've lost weight."

"Where? In your head?" Rhistel mutters, causing Garrison to boom laughter from behind me.

"I heard that," Malachi growls, turning a dirty look on Rhistel, who flashes him a cheeky grin.

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