Page 28 of Vikingr
"How?" she gasped. "Did you raid some really rich ships?"
I forced that smile to stay, even though it took enormous effort. "WhenJörð was destroyed, the combined wealth of all inhabitants was split among the survivors. A billion people died. That's a lot of credits even after you divide it by a thousand."
Her eyes widened. "I'm so sorry. I didn't think. I didn't want to remind you of what happened."
She reached out and grasped my hand. I looked down, barely recognising the unnatural skin tone that the C-suit gave me. I couldn't wait to get out of this thing and look like myself again.
"Why do you continue to raid?" she asked after a moment's silence. "If you have all that money? Why not retire, make a nice home somewhere?"
"I am a Vikingr. It's in my blood. Besides, sticking to our traditional ways helped us cope. I learned very quickly that my crew needed a familiar routine, so we continued as before. One day, I was hoping to retire, but only once I'd found my mate."
Her eyes lit up. "You have now."
"Yes, I have."
The vehicle came to a stop. While Steff paid the driver with a strange little rectangle of plastic, I struggled to get out of this metal cage. I bumped my head on the way out, but it was an acceptable price to pay to be able to stand up straight. The Peritans walking past us gave me strange looks. I checked my C-suit, but it was still in place. Maybe it was because I was taller than most of them. Now that I got to see lots of Peritans in one place, I saw just how varied they all were. Different skin tones, different hair, different sizes.
Vikingar were not as diverse as Peritans. We all had more or less the same skin tone, although our hair colours varied between white, black, tones of grey and shades of blue. And no Vikingar would ever let himself become as fat or thin as some of the Peritans I saw. These males clearly weren't warriors who had to fight to survive and to protect their kin. Many wore strange clothes, but always covered their chests, even the men. How would the females judge a male's prowess if she couldn't see his display of muscles?
In old Vikingar tradition, unmated males would walk around bare-chested - unless they went into battle - and if a female was interested in one, she'd sew him a shirt. If he returned the interest, he'd wear the shirt until it frayed and came apart, which was the signal that their relationship was now permanent. Of course, that was only for couples who weren't true mates. Some Vikingar never found theirs, or stopped looking, content to live with a partner who they loved or liked.
"The hotel is over there," Steff said, pulling me from my thoughts. The vehicle drove off, good riddance. On the way back, we'd port. I was sure I had bruises on my head from bumping against the low ceiling.
I followed my mate through an ornate doorway, leading to glass doors held open by two Peritans. They wore the same navy uniforms with golden stripes along the sides of their breeches.
"Do you have any luggage?" one of them asked.
"No, we don't," Steff said cheerfully and shot me an amused glance. I wasn't sure what was funny about it, but I gave her a smile in return. All this smiling was making my facial muscles ache. I had a feeling I'd be doing a lot more of it in the coming rotations. I finally had a reason to smile again.
I let Steff take the lead as she talked to a female at a dark wooden table. She was handed a key and another one of those plastic cards. It was all very peculiar.
We climbed a big circular staircase which was covered in fluffy red stuff. Our room was at the end of a corridor lit up by fake torches. I liked the atmosphere of this place. The stone walls spoke of age and tradition, while other things told of a more modern age. If you could call the Peritans’ current state of development modern. It would still take them many, many generations to reach the technology we'd had onJörð.
"This is amazing," Steff cheered as she unlocked the door and stepped inside. Usually, I would have insisted on entering first to eliminate any possible threats, but this was her territory - and I liked watching her shapely arse as she walked in front of me. My cock was still as hard as rock. Not much longer now.
The room was huge, airy and luxurious, even for Peritan standards. A bed big enough for Vikingar stood to our right, with a sort of wooden ceiling held aloft by four poles. Deep red curtains hung from the ceiling, bound back so we could enter the bed. I assumed this was a Peritan tradition that allowed a male and his female to mate in private while their offspring or in-laws were in the same room.
"I've always wanted to sleep in a four-poster bed," Steff cheered. "Although I guess we'll do more than just sleep."
"You can be sure of that."
I was behind her in an instant, swirling her around, my hands on her cheeks, my lips crushing against hers. She gasped as I kissed her hard.
We were alone now. We'd made it to the place Steff had chosen for our first mating.
So I let go of all restraint. It was time to claim my mate.
17
Steff
I'd thought our first kiss had been amazing. This was even better. Njal devoured my mouth and when his hands started to roam over my body, I couldn't repress a moan. I leaned into his touch, arched my back, desperate for more. The throbbing between my legs was reaching a crescendo of desire. I needed him. Oh fuck, I needed him so much.
Without warning, he grasped me by the hips and pushed me onto the bed. A moment later, my blouse was torn open, buttons flying everywhere. He kneeled over me, his dark eyes almost black with the same bottomless hunger I felt. He kissed me again, hard and rough, his beard scraping against my skin. Then he straightened, stared at my bra, and then as if deciding not to destroy it like my blouse, he simply pushed it down, letting my breasts spill free. Cool air hit my nipples, soothing the soreness. They'd been hard all day and the bra had started to be really uncomfortable.
His movements were fast, faster than they should have been. One moment he was looking at me like I was a tasty morsel he was about to swallow whole, the next his lips were clamped around my nipple, sucking hard. I moaned then, a sound so full of yearning that he looked at me, without letting go of my nipple. Our eyes met. Darkness swirled in his, a warm dark that was welcoming and comforting. I let it envelop me, gave into the lust simmering within me. I let go of all fears and inhibitions, accepting the urges my body was communicating.
"Mate," Njal said hoarsely; a command, an acceptance, a declaration.
