Page 17 of Heart of the Wolf
Leif sank to his knees, his palms caressing her thighs. Shaking, she met his breathtaking gaze. The silver in his eyes called to the gold in hers and sang to something profound in her soul.
Something known.
Strong hands ghosted a tender trail up her curves until they reached her face.
Well-worn fingers stroked her cheeks. His mouth relaxed and inviting, his eyes sparkling with an emotion she had never seen before.
“You are mine, hjartað mitt,” he said, his timbre thicker than honey. “Freyja sent me. Guided my feet back to the other half of my soul.”
Brielle choked on a stuttered breath, trembling on the bench.
“I could not leave you. Never leave you. My soul is bound to yours. There is forever in your eyes.”
Chapter five
Brielle
The scent of cedar and smoke enveloped the cabin. Smoldering logs in the hearth turned into a sputtering pile of ash.
Leif remained kneeling between Brielle’s legs, gently stroking the swells of her cheeks. The tips of his fingers traced the line of freckles there, drawing patterns on the skin like he was charting the stars.
Brielle didn’t know enough of the old gods to be sure if there was unbridled truth in Leif’s words.
What she did know, was how her heart beat to match his.
How time flowed slower in his presence.
How a lifetime flickered in his silver gaze.
With his eyes now searching hers, everything she once believed was forgotten. All that mattered was this moment. Was them. The ever-present feeling that she was destined for something more led her to this. To him, drawing her in like a moth to a flame.
Brielle never understood what attracted her to the Norse.
Until now.
Despite how her father attempted to snuff out her curiosity, it only grew with each passing breath. Leif said Freyja guided him to her. Had she done the same for Brielle? Had Freyja tried to lead her into Leif’s arms?
Brielle was only in the woods that day because winter came sooner than expected.
“How would I know if Freyja guided my feet?” she breathed, unable to hide the hopeful lilt in her voice.
Unease pitted in her stomach. It was a stupid question; something like that would be obvious. One would know if a god was steering them. The Christian God had never done such a thing for Brielle. She questioned his existence many times, keeping that feeling to herself lest her father shame her. Leif’s cheeks pushed up into his eyes with the breadth of his smile.
When he stood, he urged Brielle up with him.
The rough skin of his palms scratched against her silken face. Without realizing it, she leaned into his touch.Grinning, his eyes melted into shimmering pools of silver. The creases around his mouth went lax, his face gentle and his body rigid.
Trying to stay composed, his throat bobbed with a swallow.
“You found me, did you not?”
An indescribable feeling nudged her toward Leif. She couldn’t break the link between them even if she willed it.
Not that she did.
No other man had ever touched her so intimately or looked at her with such unguarded desire. It wasn’t the hungry, assuming gaze that drunken men in her village would level on her after a night of too much wine.
Leif stared at her like she was the reason for the sun and the sky.
