Chapter Eight
Evelyn watched as swirling black swiftly overtook pools of green, and then infringed on the whites of his eyes. His protruding veins rushed with blood as muscles heaved upon each other until he grew even larger. She hadn’t thought it possible.
Even his flagging erection pulsed with blood and became gloriously full again.
Witnessing the evidence of a power more tangible and elemental then she could imagine culminate into the perfect masculine form before her struck her dumb with wonderment.
This was the Berserker.
With a bestial snarl, he advanced upon her, hands clenched and chest heaving with deep, growling breaths. His teeth gleamed sharper, more predatory.
Evelyn wondered if she was destined to become a blood sacrifice to his Gods.
He ripped the covers from her, exposing her naked body. His eyes zeroed in on the blood, and he growled. It wasn’t the rumbling purr she’d heard before. This sound was filled with lethal menace. Deep and hungry.
“Don’t be angry.” She kept her plea level and soft, swallowing a surge of dread as he stalked closer. “I – I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that… I’d never…”
He paused, cocking his head to the side in a now familiar gesture. Bristling like a great cat, his nostrils flared and he examined her with his cold, black eyes like a curious specimen.
Dear God. The thrill of her first orgasms still pulsing in her veins spiked even higher as she imagined all kinds of terrible ends for her in the clutches of this monster. Why did excitement tangle with her panic? She’d always feared death and avoided danger. Feared there was nothing after for her but bitter judgment and possible damnation for the things she’d done.
For whom she was.
Yet this creature had nothing to do with all that. He was a creation of a different deity. He existed as a holy cleric of some other, more ancient order. He wasn’t bishop, templar, monk, or confessor.
He was an executioner.
His presence forged the outcomes of war and established the conqueror from the conquered. Though he subjugated no one, his sword drew the lines of possession in the soil, and then cut down the opposition. A berserker didn’t discriminate. He killed everyone.
He won’t kill me. Like all her knowledge, Evelyn didn’t understand where this came from. She just—knew.
“I’m not afraid of you,” she murmured, rising to her knees on the bed.
He tracked her every move.
Her trembling hand made her a liar as she reached out to him, resting her palm against his heart. The muscle twitched beneath her touch, his flesh hot and feverish.
That strange ticking rumble, somewhere between a growl and a purr reverberated from deep in his chest and vibrated against her hand. Then she was falling into the air where he’d been standing.
A strong arm clenched beneath her breasts, saving her from toppling head first off the bed. Evelyn let out a small squeak as she was pulled back against his strong body and set between his open legs.
She hadn’t even seen him move. One moment, he’d been standing in front of her, the next, crouched behind her on the bed. They were leaning against the headboard, her backside pressed against his arousal.
Instead of taking her, or hurting her, he settled her back against his rumbling chest and leaned against her. Evelyn gasped as a rough hand wound in her hair a moment before his face buried in it.
He was scenting her?
All right. She let out a breath of relief. This is… strange, but not altogether unpleasant.
He released her hair and heavy arms created walls on either side of her as he reached forward. She’d completely forgotten about the damp cloth he’d been holding until he used it to gently cleanse her thighs.
Blushing, she hid her face against his arm, and he made an animalistic noise of amusement. She smiled against his skin.
“I was planning to sleep in the cupboard tonight with the spiders. At least until the MacKay were gone. But I’m quite glad I didn’t.” She hated her propensity to babble that whenever discomfited or embarrassed. Biting her tongue, she admonished herself to be quiet.
Roderick grunted when she said ‘MacKay’ and it wasn’t a happy sound. Folding the cloth the opposite way, he parted her folds and washed her intimately as well, the cloth wiping away any evidence of her virginity.
She cleared her throat and squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to focus on the unfamiliar intimacy of his actions. “I, uh, used to be locked in a lot of cupboards and such when I was a girl.” She couldn’t seem to help herself. The words tumbled out of her in reckless succession. “The London convent where I was raised sometimes held prisoners as well as orphans. I dare say we weren’t treated much differently. When we misbehaved or— when they wanted something, we’d be locked away. Sometimes for hours… or overnight.” She didn’t dare tell him that she’d been locked away more than any other child. That the bishop had used her gift for knowing truths and forced her to listen in on countless tortured confessions. She’d rarely been able to save any of his victims, though. Even the innocent ones.
Roderick discarded the cloth and pulled her closer against him, nuzzling the curve of her neck. It felt good. Warm. In a short time, this had become her favorite place, this haven of his solid body wrapped around her. Perhaps the Berserker wasn’t as dangerous in this form as she’d originally thought.
“Anyway, I’m not fond of small spaces, to say the least. I suppose I’m thanking you for, well, inviting me in here. For protecting me from the MacKays—and the cupboard.”
He nodded against her skin, capturing her earlobe in his lips and scraping his teeth against the sensitive flesh there.
Goose pimples erupted all over and she shivered.
Searching for her knowledge, she was paralyzed by the desperate hope that perhaps his fate had changed, as they sometimes did through no fault of one’s own, but of others or circumstance.
Nay. His life ended on the morrow. She closed her eyes against hot tears as grief snaked through her.
What could she do? Should she warn him? Should she tell him of her ability and risk his lethal censure? Did one night of love-making addle her wits so much that she forgot about self preservation? They turned to each other for pleasure, yes. He might be using her body for distraction before a battle. And, in turn, she used him for protection against a fate worse than death at the hands of the MacKay. Yet, she refused to let anyone use her ability against her again. In the hands of the church, using it in the name of one God, it had been a nightmare. She shuddered to think of what it would become in the hands of an entire Norse pantheon. She’d risked her life to escape to Scotland, and she didn’t have enough money saved to take herself any farther.
No, she couldn’t tell him. It wouldn’t change anything. She’d tried before to save people from their destiny. It wasn’t to be done.
Though, how she wished things were different.
She tried to focus on something, anything, else. His chest felt unerringly solid as she rested her head against him, noting his grunt of appreciation.
So, the man and the Berserker could create sound... Evelyn blushed a bit, recalling the ecstatic noises he’d made earlier. Burning to know why he was capable but unable to speak, she ultimately decided against questioning. It didn’t matter now, she thought miserably.
Yawning greatly, Evelyn felt a weighty fatigue settle upon her, as if honey flowed through her veins rather than blood.
“Roderick?” she murmured sleepily, “I-I don’t wish to return to my bed, may I sleep here with you tonight?” Tilting her head up and to the side, she wasn’t surprised to see that his green gaze had returned, though he did seem affronted.
Tightening his arms around her, he rolled them so she lay down and faced the wall on her side. Settling in behind her, his back to the door, he drew her bottom close against his erection, but didn’t press it into her.
Resting her head on his curled bicep, she relished in the feeling of the front of his tremendous body pressed flush against the back of hers. His arm, still tucked beneath her breasts, secured her to him.
The only sound in the softly glowing room was his breath stirring the top of her head. Languor stole all reason and Evelyn only distantly registered the room plunging into darkness.
Magic. She thought dreamily before drifting into velvet oblivion. If only she could break this curse…
* * *
Sensation flared beneath her skin and coursed down her spine as the whisper soft rasp of calloused fingers dipped into the dramatic curve of her waist and followed the soft rounded arch of her hip. Curled on her side, Evelyn smiled sleepily, refusing to open her eyes lest the subtle, unfettered exploration cease. Instead of dropping to the front of her, the caress paused and then retraced its journey back toward her ribcage as if indulging in the softness of her skin there.
Warm breath caressed her face and a nose nudged hers before probing lips settled across her mouth in a languid kiss. This had to be the most pleasant way she’d ever awakened, Evelyn decided, as heat seeped through her sluggish veins.
Silvery tinged darkness barely outlined the form of the naked Berserker facing her when she resolved to lift her heavy lids.
As dark as the night, his jet hair and bronzed skin melded with the shadows. Only his eyes gleamed as he pulled his lips from hers.
“Roderick,” she whispered, feeling shamed and sinful, every nerve ending alive and vibrant.
His great body stiffened, fingers clamping on her hips, digging into the sensitive flesh and pulling her forward, thrusting his hard sex against her thighs.
“I want…”
Without warning, he seized her other hip in an iron grip and lifted her, full bodied, as though she weighed no more than an infant.
She gasped as he rolled onto his back and held her entirely above him, demonstrating his preternatural strength. Before Evelyn completely registered what he was doing, he balanced her on her knees encompassing either side of his head, his eerie eyes burning up at her from between her legs.
No! He couldn’t mean to—
“Oh… my.” She breathed as the flat of his tongue split her apart. Aghast, entranced, Evelyn was thankful for the darkness or she wouldn’t have been able to bear the depraved act. Arousal flooding her womanhood, she shuddered when his unrelenting tongue dipped into the resulting wetness, and he swallowed, an appreciative moan vibrating against her clitoris.
Trembling thighs gave out and she belatedly realized that his strong hands at her hips not only supported her entire weight, but imprisoned her there.
Another unhurried lick stole her breath. He cleaved her with his tongue, stopping right before he reached the most sensitive peak. Circling it, nipping at it with his lips, teasing the moist flesh surrounding it, Roderick tormented her with his mouth, chasing away all reason with searing pleasure.
Evelyn bit back moan after moan, throwing her head back, reveling in the feel of her long hair brushing naked skin. She shamelessly surged against his mouth.
“Roderick… please.” Her hands desperately grasped at his. “I need…” She grit her teeth and hissed, kneading his strong arms and wordlessly demanding release.
Shoulders shaking in a silent male chuckle, eyes glittering with purely masculine delight, he latched onto the engorged peak of her sex and centered all movement just below it, creating an overwhelming burning sensation.
A hot ache built beneath it until she squirmed to escape what she knew would be next. Throbbing pleasure engulfed her core as wave after wave of gripping ecstasy flowed from his tongue into her body. Wracked with tremors, Evelyn bucked against the strong hands gripping her hips. Frustration at her inability to move heightened each pulsing sensation of her climax.
When the last tendril of pleasure wrung from her body, her berserker still allowed no quarter. Kissing her playfully on her sex, he lifted her from his drenched mouth much the same as he had before, and deposited her upon his torso, finally letting go to wipe her juices from his lips.
Drunk with pleasure, and feeling rather bold, Evelyn’s hand slyly traced the contours of his lean abdomen behind her until she found his pulsating erection twitching against his belly.
Wrapping her fingers around it, she wondered if her lips would have the same magnificent effect on his body.
His hands rested on her thighs, his fingers curling as Evelyn stroked the skin of his velvety shaft, her touch feather-light.
Sliding her down his body, he positioned her against lean hips, the slightest tremor in his hands indicating of the intensity of his need.
Nudging her slick entrance for a moment was all the warning he gave before pulling her hips down, impaling her on his thick cock.
They both gasped at the impact of the joining. Evelyn stilled in his hands, letting her sore muscles again adjust to his intrusion. This time, only the slightest twinge of pain permeated the haze of her passion. A sense of fullness, of heady command spurred her to act on every primal urge that danced along her senses.
Clenching her intimate muscles, she enjoyed the jerking of his body, the short intake of breath, so she did it again, eliciting the same response. Grasping him with her insides, she slowly rose and slid down upon him again feeling every glorious inch of his breadth inside of her.
“Ohhhhh…” The moan escaped her as she rode him with delicious languor. “Oh that feels so...”
A familiar growl warned her before strong hands again seized her hips and held her immobile. Roderick set a furious rhythm plunging deeply into her, angling her forward to heighten her pleasure. Ceaselessly thrusting upwards, the pad of his thumb found the sensitive little nub his tongue had so expertly toyed with moments before. Softly swirling it in time to his thrusts, he brought her to peak so hard and fast she couldn’t hold the desperate cry that tore from her throat.
Roderick waited until the storm passed before pounding into her with abandon. Evelyn knew when his release was upon him because she could feel him swell within her before hot spurts of seed shot against her womb, his entire body taut and trembling beneath her.
After her breathing slowed sufficiently and she became fairly certain she could walk, Evelyn reluctantly withdrew and padded blindly to her linen basket, selecting something to clean herself and ministering to him as well.
“It’s still a while until dawn,” she observed, a heaviness settling upon her shoulders. Did the morrow have to come? Couldn’t they stay here forever?
A hand caught hers, pulling her down over him until she was splayed across his body and engulfed by his arms.
“No.” She giggled in spite of herself, “I’m too heavy.”
Grunting softly, Roderick tightened his hold and pressed a tender kiss into her hair.
Exhausted, Evelyn counted the decelerating beats of his heart. She felt as though time, itself, sped toward an inexorable meridian while she lay in the darkness. What if, just this once, things could end differently? What if, she could save him, as he saved her this night?
‘Dangerous thoughts.’ She told herself, squeezing her eyes against futile desperate frustration. ‘Dangerous desires.’