After dinner, as the sky grew dark, Alrek found Natalie already in his room. She’d built up the fire, warming the chill air, and now lay on the bed, fiddling with another one of her otherworldly toys.
She held a small, shiny metal tube, pointing it around the room. He wasn’t sure what it was doing, until the kitten’s movement attracted his attention. They were chasing something, a little red dot that moved erratically around the room. Natalie was creating it with her metal tube.
Alrek watched her trail the light back and forth across the floor, and understanding flowed over him.
“It’s a toy,” he said.
“A toy for cats,” Natalie agreed. To demonstrate, she spun the light in a quick circle, sending the kittens into frenzied spinning attempts to catch it. “There is no magic, unless making cats very confused is magic.”
“They say that Freyja rides a chariot pulled by cats,” Alrek said.
Natalie snorted. “Still think I am a goddess, do you?” she said. “A goddess that does not know how to perform the simplest tasks.”
“You have other talents, I’m sure.” Moving to the bed, he sat beside her and began trailing his fingers up and down her back, leaning over to plant a kiss on the back of her neck. “I have no doubt you will earn your keep.”
Natalie frowned at him. “In my country, it is a grave insult to suggest a woman earn her keep with her body,” she said coldly.
“Then don’t. I would let you stay, anyway.” Alrek continued to caress her, his hand now sweeping down over her bottom. “I would still want to fuck you if you were the most skillful woman on earth.”
“Why?”
Alrek paused.
“You’re cute.” he said, after a moment’s consideration.
Natalie closed her eyes, his blunt words soothing her rankled temper a little. He seemed nice enough. She was reliant on Alrek’s mercy for everything, from the roof over her head to the fact that she was alive at all. He certainly kissed her well, and she’d be lying if she said she didn’t want to know what else he could do well. His touch sent a shiver running through her, from the spot where his fingers connected out to the edges of her being and back again.
What better way to wash her hands of Cedric than to make love to a Viking?
Natalie sat up, putting one hand flat on Alrek’s chest. He paused, waiting for her to push him away, but instead, she slid her palm along him, feeling the muscle of his broad shoulders. With a wolfish smirk, he looped his arms around her waist, pulling her in close, and she gasped at suddenly finding herself pressed into him. Her gasp was quickly smothered as he kissed her; a hot, open-mouthed kiss that took her breath away.
Alrek nimbly undid the buckle holding the tunics around her waist and threw it to the side. The overtunic followed, fluttering to the floor. Moving behind her, he slowly pulled up the under tunic, trailing his lips along the skin of her back as it was revealed.
Natalie shivered under his touch, biting back a small moan. Alrek smiled. That was right—even if she came from another world, she was still a woman—and he knew what to do about that. Ripping off the under tunic, he pulled away her strange undergarments, leaving no barrier between his hands and her body.
With a pleased rumble, he ran his hands up her sides, the roughness of his skin in delectable contrast to the softness of hers. Natalie was transfixed—she’d never been with a man who didn’t do most of his work on a keyboard. The texture of his calloused hands catching against her skin made his every touch more intense. Tendrils of pleasure ran through her, converging on where his fingers were now cupping her groin. With surprising gentleness for a man so large and rough looking, he stroked her folds, teasing up and down swirling around her clit until a riot of sensation was starting to build inside her. Sensing her growing arousal, he shifted his hand to slip a finger deep inside her.
Alrek was much better at this than Cedric. Natalie hadn’t been expecting that from a 10th century man. No matter how gentle Alrek was when he kissed her, she hadn’t expected him to caress her like this. Maybe that’s my modern point of view, giving me expectations that don’t matter here. she thought hazily.
He was tickling her from the inside, pushing her further and further, until she was stretched tighter than a rubber band about to snap. And then she did—pleasure flowed through her in a rush, sweeping away any lingering doubts she might have had.
With a soft moan, Natalie fell forward, flopping into the bed as she shook. He leaned forward with her, keeping his hand on her body until she lay pinned under him, panting and sweaty. Alrek tore off his own clothes, finally freeing his throbbing desire. Grabbing her hips, he pulled her up on her knees and quickly entered her from behind. Natalie cried out as he started to move, pushing her already sensitive body.
Now he was done being gentle. There was the Viking she had been expecting-- Alrek was moving so hard and so fast that he was all she could feel. He was much better at that than Cedric, too. Biting her lip, Natalie pushed back against him, their hips meeting with a smack. A soft moan escaped from her anyway, which only pushed him farther. His breath came in grunts as he moved.
It seemed like their movement could go on forever, and when Alrek shuddered behind her and held her close, she wouldn’t have minded if it had. Alrek had leaned forward over her, the skin of his chest hot against her back as he panted. With a satisfied groan he lay down on the bed, pulling Natalie down next to him. The softness of her skin next to his was more comfortable even than the silkiest of furs. Strange woman, that her skin could be so soft even at her age. Natalie sighed into him, a soft, feminine sound that made him happier than he could understand.
Rising on one elbow, he grabbed the blankets and pulled them up, covering the both of them. Tomorrow would be another long day, and they both needed their sleep.