Page 15 of Tempting the Warrior

“Not necessarily, but I prefer to be in charge.” He led her through the sitting area and into his bedroom, turning on lights as he went so that a golden glow filled the room. Her pink headband caught the light, glimmering softly as he ran his hand over the curls that had gotten tangled while she worked. “It’s not just something I play at, understand? It’s part of who I am.”

Greer wrapped her arms around his chest as high as she could reach and nodded. “I understand. Have you spent a lot of time at that club?”

“Sugar, I’m a regular member.” Magnus tucked a finger under her chin so that she was compelled to look him in the eye. “I don’t go there to hook up for easy sex. It’s not about that. What I like is giving a sub what she needs - domination. She has to trust me enough to give me control of her pleasure, and taking care of her gets me off. Have you ever done that with anyone before? Let them lead you in the bedroom?”

He wasn’t surprised when she shook her head. But after her reactions to him, the cries he’d pulled from her as she almost instinctively gave him the reins to her body - and he hoped, to her heart - he knew that his command was something she craved.

Still, she couldn’t seem to resist teasing him. “Is that one of your questions?”

The solid spank he delivered to her sweet ass made her cry out in surprise. “Yes, and you’d better get ready to play some more, sparkles.” He squeezed the cheek he’d smacked. “I like to win.”

CHAPTER8

Greer reached back to rub her bottom, but he grasped her hands and tucked them into his chest. “No, no. Naughty, teasing subs don’t get to rub the sting away.”

His words made her shudder convulsively. Something about them got deep under her skin as her brain fritzed, then settled. Was that who she was now? Was that the element she’d found lacking in those other relationships? None of her previous partners had been overtly dominant and she’d always wanted more from them than they could give. A sense of purpose. A sense of control.

Another piece of her soul clicked into place.

“Greer? Are you okay, sparkles?” His brow wrinkled as he frowned in concern and all she could do was gently lift a hand out of his grasp and run her finger over the crease on his forehead.

“I’m perfect. Better than I’ve ever been. And I’d love for you to take the lead.” She paused, then added, “Sir.”

A wide smile crinkled his beard along his jaw. “How did I find such a perfect woman?”

“Is that another question?”

His laugh was contagious and she joined until tears trickled out of the corners of her eyes.

Several questions later, Greer’s sweater had been tossed across the room, she’d discovered that he’d earned his degree in civil engineering, and he preferred dirty talk to dirty texting.

In return, she’d told him that she was originally from a medium sized town outside Wichita, Kansas, and that no one - not even her parents - had ever spanked her until he clapped a hand on her bottom earlier that day.

“That’s definitely something we’ll do more of, then. I can’t wait to turn you over my knee and spank that ass until it glows.”

Her hips pulsed forward again, another stroke of her pussy over his hard cock that had them both hissing in pleasure. She sat straddled over his lap where he lounged on the bed, propped up against the headboard like a conquering Viking warlord enjoying the spoils of a raid.

It was possible she’d binged a certain series about Old Norse society more than once… for its historical value, of course.

In true conquering fashion, he hadn’t stopped running his fingers over her skin since the sweater came off and she luxuriated in his touch like a pampered prize. For once, she let herself relax into someone else’s strength, knowing that she wouldn’t have to make decisions about what to do for the next couple of hours.

In fact, she was a little surprised at how easy it felt to let the weight of the day slide off her shoulders. Magnus was in control.

“Why do they call you Odin?” she asked, stroking his beard.

“Big Swedish guy and I like to be in charge.” He winked at her, which was a little disconcerting because it meant he couldn’t see her at all. “It was almost inevitable, even before I lost the eye and grew the beard.”

Greer’s fingers stilled briefly as she gathered her courage for the next question. “How did you lose the eye?”

“I sure as fuck didn’t sacrifice it for knowledge,” he grumbled. “I just didn’t get out of the way fast enough.”

She could tell the joke was a deflection as old as the pain and smiled as he meant her to do at the non-answer. But it didn’t stop her from tucking his hair behind his ear and tracing her fingers lightly over the scar that spread out from the eyepatch, over his temple, and down that side of his cheek. The beard didn’t grow in as thickly over the scar tissue, but it was enough to hide it.

“Does it still hurt? Or affect the vision in your other eye?”

Magnus grasped her fingers and brought them to his lips, holding them there as he spoke so that they were the object of fluttering kisses.

“You’re just full of questions, aren’t you?”

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