Page 51 of Summer of the Viking

His nipples puckered. She rubbed her palms over them, marvelling how they felt and how the burgeoning heat deep within her increased.

His faint scent of pine and something uniquely him rose about her and held her within its intoxicating embrace.

Her breasts ached for his touch and the secret place deep within her burnt with an all-consuming fire. All her hard-won control seemed to be slipping through her fingers like water through a sieve. She drew a low breath and tried to bid the dizziness to go.

‘Do I pass? Do I match your dreams?’ he asked with a husky laugh.

She tried for a matter-of-fact tone of voice, something to help her regain her distance. ‘You have healed very well. No scarring from the battering you took in the sea.’

‘I wear my scars with pride. It means I’ve survived the battle.’

‘Is everything a battle with you?’

He captured her hand and raised it to his lips. ‘Most of my life, but it has made me cherish the good times. And you are one of the good times.’

Her heart fluttered and began whispering dreams. She tried to silence it. ‘I am? I haven’t done much.’

He smoothed her hair back from her forehead. ‘I know who saved me from the sea. I, too, have dreams. One particularly vivid one of kissing you. Was it merely a dream? I wonder...’

Her cheeks grew hot. ‘It was to keep you quiet!’

‘I want you to always kiss me like that.’ He undid her hair and ran it through his fingers. ‘Silken night is the colour of your tresses. It shone in the fire’s glow, just as it shines now. Beauty personified.’

A trembling started in her soul. He thought her beautiful. She wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe in the goodness of life again. That her life could be the way she had dreamt it. That the nightmare of the past few years was coming to end. She wanted to believe and it frightened her.

‘Stay with me,’ he murmured. ‘Be with me.’

‘I am here.’

He captured her chin with his fingers and held it so she could only look into his unfathomable eyes. ‘Good.’

Giving in to instinct, she undid her cloak and allowed it to slip to the ground, joining his discarded clothes.

His hands roamed down her body, tracing her curves and causing her inner place to throb. A small moan escaped her lips. He stopped to cup her bottom, pulling her more firmly against him, allowing her to experience the hardness of him. It was exquisite torment which caused a thousand points of light to explode in her mind.

‘May I see you? All of you?’ he murmured against her neck.

The instant he said it, she thought of how her couplings with her late husband had always been furtive and in the dark and she knew that she wanted something entirely different. She didn’t want to imagine him. She wanted to see every inch of him.

Unable to speak, she nodded. He tugged at her gown and slowly lifted it. He then took off her undergarments until she was naked. The warm breeze caressed her skin, making her nipples pucker to tiny points.

‘I’ve never done this before.’ She gestured with one hand. ‘Any of it.’

‘I’m honoured and flattered.’ He ran a hand over her naked shoulder. The simple touch sent hundreds of fiery tingles coursing through her body. ‘Let me show you how good it can be.’

Her knees trembled and he slowly laid her down on the nest of clothes. He loomed over her, golden and warm. All about her, she heard the soft patter of the rain and knew that they were cocooned in this little place.

His lips moved down her arm to the soft inside of her elbow. He lazily drew little circles with his tongue.

Her breasts grew heavy and her nipples became tightly furled. She arched upwards, wanting his mouth there rather than where it suckled.

He seemed to understand and trailed his glorious mouth to her breasts, where he lapped at the nipples. He took each one in turn into his mouth and suckled. Her body bucked upwards and heat seared through her, making her feel reborn.

His hands slipped down her body, tracing the hills and valleys of her flesh. Her skin seemed to be newly alive. Each touch made heat thrum through her. He moved between her thighs.

‘May I?’ he murmured against her belly. ‘May I feast?’

Not knowing what to expect, she nodded.

He moved his mouth to the apex of her thighs. His tongue moistened her inner core and her world exploded in a haze of stars. Her body thrust upwards, seeking him, wanting him deeper within her. His tongue probed and teased, sinking inside her and undulating against her. The stars became blinding light.

Giving a great cry, she collapsed back against the nest of discarded clothes. Slowly the world righted itself. He loomed over her with a very male smile on his lips.

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