Page 30 of Scornful

"There," I gasp. "Right there."

"I've got you,sváss," he groans, driving into me with more force now. "Take what you need from me."

The change in pace, the new angle, the weight of him above me—it's all too much and not enough at the same time.

I feel myself climbing toward another peak, faster and more intense than the first.

"Geirolf," I pant, clinging to his shoulders. "I'm going to?—"

"That's it," he encourages, his rhythm never faltering. "Come for me, minn. Let me feel you."

His words push me over the edge, and I come with a cry that he captures with his mouth, kissing me deeply as I pulse around him.

A few more powerful thrusts and he follows, burying his face in my neck with a groan as his body lays against mine.

For a few moments, we stayed like that, connected, breathing hard, my hands stroking lazily up and down his sweat-slicked back.

When he finally pulls away, it's only to discard the condom and then gather me against his chest, arranging us so we're both lying on the narrow couch, my body draped half on top of his.

"You okay?" he asks, brushing hair away from my face with a gentleness that makes my heart ache.

"Better than okay," I admit, feeling strangely shy considering what we just did. "That was..."

"Yeah," he agrees, pressing a kiss to my forehead. "It was."

We lie there in silence for a few minutes, his hand tracing patterns on my bare back while I listen to the steady thump of his heart beneath my ear.

"Don't you get it?" I say eventually, voicing the fear that's been lurking beneath the surface. "You need to stay away from me. My dad will kill you if he finds out about us."

Geirolf's chest rises and falls with a deep breath. "I know the risks, Astrid."

I push up onto my elbow to look at him directly. "I'm serious. He'd lose his mind if he knew what just happened."

Something fierce and possessive flashes in Geirolf's eyes. "Let him try to keep me away from you."

That should have scared me, this willingness to go against my father, but when it comes to Geirolf, the rules suddenly don’t matter anymore.

"This is dangerous," I say, though I make no move to leave the comfort of his arms.

"Life's dangerous, princess." He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. "Question is whether you think this is worth the risk."

"And you? Do you think it's worth it?"

His answer is immediate and certain. "Absolutely."

The certainty in his voice settles something in me, even as it raises a thousand new questions.

What are we doing? What is this between us? How long before someone figures it out?

But as Geirolf pulls me in for another kiss, slow and deep and full of promise, I decide those questions can wait.

For now, I just want to be here, in this moment, feeling wanted and desired and, for the first time in longer than I can remember, absolutely perfect.

CHAPTER FIVE

Geirolf

"You're fuckin’ quiet today."

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