Page 25 of Wulver's Flame
“Hush, I’m going to take the chains off. I need to bring a few things in,” I murmured to her as she clung to my hand, rubbing it on her burning cheek.
“You feel so cool…mmmm. Why do you smell like honey cakes?” she asked, squirming on the bed.
She suddenly gripped her belly and groaned into the pelt.
“Did yae poison me?”
A fine sheen of sweat was on her brow.
“No,elska. Your body is preparing to welcome me,” I said softly, washing the chain off her neck.
She rolled on the bed, back and forth, gripping her lower belly.
“Youdidpoison me,” she wailed.“It feels like daggers stabbing me from the inside.”
I stood, unlocked the chain from the roof beam, and tossed it into the corner. Sköll rumbled his approval. He hated seeing her restrained—when what we really wanted was her submission.
“What did yae do to me?” she cried, eyes wild.
I sat beside her and pulled her into my lap, her sweat-drenched dress clinging to every trembling curve. I kissed her burning brow.
“I did what I had to. You’re a gift from the Gods, darling. Tonight, you’ll take my knot.”
She gasped, but I didn’t stop.
“My seed, my bite, my bond. You’ll carry it all.”
“No. You demon—”
Another cramp cut her off. She folded in on herself, whimpering like she could hold back the heat clawing through her womb.
“I need to bring water. Food. Nesting clothes. I won’t be long,” I said, easing her down as I rose from the bed.
“No! No, come back. No, stay away. You demon. You’re going to curse me with your beast!”
She clutched the pelts like they were armour, her cries tangled with confusion and dread.
I turned to the door, her sobbing, broken voice trailing behind me, and smiled.
There would be no denying my claim now.
She would admit to me that she was mine.
OURS!Sköll snapped.
I rolled my eyes and rushed to gather everything we needed.
???
Her resistance was strong, but it wouldn't last. She lay huddled in the corner of the bed as if to protect herself from me. I was the only cure for her ailment. She would learn. I rubbed my beard, worried about her maidenhead. Her heat came faster than I’d prepared for.
A faint sting of regret settled in my chest. Too late now. Her body had already begun to turn for me.
The piles of my clothing lay untouched on the bed. Sköll growled that our mate wasn't building the nest from our offerings. Her head turned, and from between her wild curls, blue eyes peered through them. I remain seated on the chest.
“Don’t look at me like that. I've told you what will take the pain away,” I said, lifting my hands in the air.
“I will kill you. Slit your throat from ear to ear,” she spat, voice raw.
