Page 72 of A Curse Carved in Bone
“Then I should give it some thought.” His hand slid down my back, scooping me up into his arms. Then he sat, settling me on the ground between his knees. I leaned against his chest, soaking in the heat of his body.
Wishing it didn’t feel as though an obstacle still stood between us, but there was no denying that it did. Because there was still one thing I needed from him.
Silence stretched between us for a long time, broken only when Bjorn said, “I’m sorry, Freya. I should have trusted you with the truth, but I was afraid. Not just of what you’d do with the truth, but of losing you.”
With his admission, the last vestiges of my anger crumbled and took the wall between us with it because he’d finally given me the reason for his lies.The real reason.“You are forgiven.”
Bjorn was quiet. “Why?”
“Because you are very good-looking.” Lifting my head from hisshoulder, I met his gaze in the darkness, then traced my fingertips down the side of his stubbled cheek. “Are you quite certain that Baldur did not give you some of his blood?”
“It would explain a great deal.” He smiled, then turned his face to kiss my scarred palm. Though my skin had little sensation, I felt it all the way down to my core.
“Most especially your arrogance,” I murmured, turning my body so that I sat between his legs, wrapping my own around his waist. “I lied before. The arrogance only ever makes me want you more.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
I rolled my eyes. “Already I regret my words.”
His hands closed around my waist, running up and down my back, sending shivers of sensation through me that had nothing to do with the cold. He leaned forward, and my lips parted, certain he’d kiss me, but Bjorn only said, “You still haven’t answered my question.”
It was hard to think with his hands on me. Hard to put my mind to anything other than how badly I wanted to be close to him. To be one with him again, because in his absence, I’d felt so empty. “You promised that I was yours. That you were mine. That you’d be at my back until the gates of Valhalla, and though you broke me in other ways, you never broke those promises.” I curved my hand behind his head, feeling the silken length of his hair brush my skin. “You hurt me but earned my forgiveness, and to deny it only makes the pain worse. Forgiving you frees me to feel things other than pain. I’m forgiving you for myself.”
“I love you, Born-in-Fire,” he whispered, pulling me onto his lap, the apex of my thighs pressed against the hard plains of his stomach. “From the moment I met you, I have fought for you. And I’ll fight for you every day until I enter Valhalla.”
“You have me.” I lifted my head to kiss him. “No matter where fate takes me, I will be yours.”
His mouth claimed mine, and there were no more words. Onlythe taste of him on my tongue, the feel of his skin against mine, and theraging heat of his fire that seemed to burn hotter with the fuel of the desire betweenus.
His tongue stroked over mine, our teeth clicking together, and I didn’t care that my head went light from lack of breath because all I wanted was him. All I wanted was to destroy any distance between us, to have him touch me, kiss me, claim me, and oh gods, for him to be in me again.
I tore at my belt, casting it aside, then caught the hem of my tunic and lifted it over my head.
“You’ll freeze,” he growled into my throat, kissing lines of fire down to my collarbone.
“Keep me warm,” I breathed, lifting onto my knees and moaning as he kissed my left breast, drawing my nipple into his mouth and sending a jolt through to my core. My head fell back, my eyes fixed on the stars in the midnight sky, specks of silver light beyond counting, and let all the world fall away but for the feel of his mouth on my breasts. Licking and sucking and biting until I felt swollen and aching and desperate to be sated.
Needing to be filled.
I lowered myself onto his lap, feeling the hard ridge of his cock press against me, and my need for him felt like it was burning me up from the inside. With feral fingers, I tore off his tunic, kissing and biting at his throat, my hands roving over his back and shoulders. Every muscle was hard, his skin like fire beneath my touch, and though I could feel his hands on my naked body, my focus was on touching all of him. Reclaiming that which had always been mine and always would be, because I’d kill anyone who tried to come betweenus.
Then Bjorn caught hold of both sides of my face. He kissed me, tongue chasing over mine before he pulled back to look me in the eyes. His axe cast dancing shadows over his features, feral and fierce, and he said, “You are so beautiful, Born-in-Fire. You put the goddesses whose blood runs in your veins to shame.”
The ground beneath us trembled, and Bjorn gave a dark laugh, onehand sliding from my cheek to my throat, holding me in place while the other unfastened the ties on my war braids. I moaned softly as his fingers unraveled the braids, grinding myself against him. The wind howled over me, but I barely felt it, my body all liquid heat as I traced the tattoos on his muscled arms, wanting to reach down to free him from the rest of the clothes but bound in place by his grip on my throat.
“I want you to fuck me,” I breathed, shivering as the loosened lengths of my hair fell across my breasts. “I want you to have all of me.”
“I intend to,” he murmured, finishing with the last of my braids. “In every possible way.”
He released my throat, but before I could reach for him, he caught me by the hips and lifted me to my feet. I looked down at him, all taut skin and tattoos as he unlaced the front of my trousers, catching my bottom lip in between my teeth as he eased the fabric over my hips and slid it slowly down my legs.
I kicked off my shoes, and he discarded my clothes, leaving me naked before him. He kissed my navel once, then leaned back on one elbow, looking up at me while he freed his cock, stroking it as he looked me up and down. I could only imagine how I looked, naked with my hair loose and blowing in the wind, my face still painted for war and my body illuminated by a god’s fire.
“I am glad no one has come,” he said, his eyes darkening in a way that made my toes curl against the cold ground. “Seeing you like this is worth dying for.”
Then he let go of his cock and crooked a finger at me. “Let me have you, Freya.”
I dropped to my hands and knees, running my tongue up his length and relishing the groan of pleasure that tore from his lips. But then he caught hold of me and lifted, falling backward until his head rested against the ground with my knees to either side of his face. I gasped as he elbowed my thighs wider, his breath hot against my slick sex.
