Page 47 of The Devil's Viking

“Because I didn’t – because I pulled away. I know men like it when they come in a woman’s mouth.”

“No.” There was that bossy, harsh tone again, the one that the most female, feminine part of her she responded to every single time. “Never,everapologize to me for anything that we do in bed. You hear me, Iris? Never.”

“OK,” she whispered.

“I’m serious, now.” He forced her eyes up to his, not letting it go until he was sure that she fuckinggotthis. “This bed is a place for me to love you, for you to love me. It’snota place for fear, or shame, or apologies. It’s a good place, baby, a safe place. A place where you never say sorry foranythingthat happens or doesn’t happen in it.”

She felt tears starting, and he saw them. Right away, he sat up.

“What?” he said. “Did I scare you?”

“No.” She shook her head, her smile pure and beautiful. “Not at all.”

He wiped the tears from her cheeks. “So what are these?”

“Happiness. Release. Relief.” She paused. “I really – I loved it all, Viking. I’ve never been so relaxed in bed with anyone. I feel like… like every single thing that happened here today was something that Ichose. Something that I’d choose again.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes.”

Viking nodded, accepting that answer, knowing that it was the truth. “Me too, Iris. I’d choose it all again. In a goddamnheartbeat.”

“When?” she said.

“When what?”

“When will you choose it again?”

“Argh,” he groaned. “Jesus Christ, woman. Gimme a minute to recover. You damn near blew myheadoff.”

“Which one?” she asked with that sassy little grin that he adored.

He flipped her back down to the bed now, mindful of his strength, her small body. He saw the spark of arousal in those beautiful eyes, felt the way that she went slack and soft under his hands.

“You’re snarky, you know that?” he said. “Got a mouth on you.”

She did that heart-stopping grin thing again. “Yeah. And don’t youlovewhat I do with it?”

He growled then, wanting her to stop with the sexy talk, at least for the time being. He needed her to shut her up, so he did it the only way that he could thing of – which wasalsothe best way.

He kissed her smart little mouth. Then he kissed her somewhere else, for a long,longtime.

Chapter Fifteen

“Hey guys,” Wolf said. “You’re on speaker.”

“Hey,” the twins chorused in unison. “How you doing, Wolf?”

“Good. Everythin’ is good over here. Ice?”

“Yeah.”

Wolf, Scars and Viking exchanged grins; from just that one word, they could feel Ice’s irritation coming through, loud and clear. The man was an excellent Enforcer, an amazing club general – but he had zero patience for things like chatting and joking. Which meant that after a week, he’d have had just about enough of Dux and Drake, who were just as brutal and lethal as Ice when required, but whose default setting off-duty seemed to be permanently lighthearted. It was a stark contrast to Ice’s permanent setting: cold, implacable, silent, menacing. The man was a human iceberg and icebergs didn’t smile; they totalled unsinkable luxury ships without moving a goddamn inch.

“Anythin’ new?” Wolf asked, getting straight to business. “Last I heard, the Garden of Fuckin’ Lunatics had a lot of comin’ and goin’ through the gate.”

“Yeah. Bad news there, Wolf.”

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