Page 35 of Heart of Fire
Grabbing a handful of hay, Freyja stuffed it down the back of his shirt then began torun.
She made it two steps before his strong arms caught her up. Her feet left the ground, and her back hit his chest. “Where do you think you’re going? You owe me a debtnow.”
Freyja wriggled, but there was no denying him. He was simply too strong for her. Muscle-bound arms trapped her like a cage, and she felt like she wrestled a wall. “I don’t owe youanything.”
Rurik dumped her on the pile of blankets he was sleeping upon, and Freyja rolled onto her back breathlessly. Ripping his shirt from the waistband of his trousers, he shook himself with a growl. “Thisitches!”
“Perhapsnissecan help clean all the hay from your shirt?” she told him, innocentlyenough.
Oh, yes.That was definitely one irritated male shooting her a baleful look. Freyja couldn’t stop herself from laughing. He looked like he couldn’t believe she’d doneit.
And then that devil’s smile crept over his face. “Perhaps I won’t need them. Perhaps you couldassist?”
Reaching over his shoulder, Rurik grabbed the collar of his shirt and hauled it over his head. Pieces of hay dropped from his skin and shirt, leaving him bare chested above her. Freyja’s mouth gaped. This was not what she’d planned. Not atall.
In the flesh, Rurik was breathtaking. Every inch of his skin was that sun-kissed color, and a taunting trail of golden hair edged all the way from his navel to where it disappeared into the waistband of his trousers. His chest seemed carved of heavy slabs of muscle, and he towered over her, perhaps six and a half feet tall of frustrated, dominantmale.
He’d allowed her to set the pace in all of their previous encounters. For the first time, Freyja felt like she might have stirred him too far, and unleashed the predatorwithin.
And, startlingly enough, she wasn’t frightened ofhim.
Perhaps it was the smile, the one that said he knew just how much he affectedher.
Or perhaps it was the fact Rurik had never once taken what he’d wanted from her. Instead he’d allowed her to set the boundaries and he’d respected them, even as he flirted and teased her to the point where she wanted to growl infrustration.
Shewas the one who’d shoved a fistful of straw down hisshirt.
Uh-oh.
“Indeed.” His voice came out in a velvety growl. Rurik threw his shirt at her, and Freyja caught it, almost recoiling from the heat retained by the linen. His scent wove around her, spicy-hot andalluring.
No, no,no.
She might have started this game, but she had the bad feeling he was going to come out the winner. Freyja scrambled to escape, but Rurik was simply too big, too strong, and too fast. He covered her with ease, caging her from behind, so that his masculine scent enveloped her. Freyja locked an ankle around his leg and threw his weight over her shoulder, and somehow they went down in a sprawl. His skin was deliciously hot, and she didn’t think she was fighting as hard as she couldbe.
When her back hit the blankets, he slammed his body over hers, one knee pinning her skirts between her legs. Freyja ceased trying to free herself, and slumped beneath him. She wasn’t going to win her way free. And if she were being honest, she wasn’t certain she wantedto.
“Just what do you think the penalty should be for such an infraction?” he asked her, pinning her wrists above her head and breathinghard.
Freyja gave an involuntary shiver. All of that hard, male body was pressed above her, though he didn’t make contact. Not fully. There was just enough space between them for her to catch her breath. “What do you think I would be willing topay?”
Those amber eyes flared with heat as they both realized she was flirting back.Oh, God.What was shedoing?
Enjoying the moment, curse her. Both body and heart wanted to see where he’d take this, and her curious mind wasn’t farbehind.
“I will accept favors,” Rurik replied softly, “as I don’t think you want me trying to return thegesture.”
It wasn’t the hay down her dress that bothered her, more the thought of him getting his hands on her bare skin. Freyja wasn’t certain she’d have the sense to stop him, if he didso.
“What type of favors?” she whisperedback.
Rurik’s face lowered, and she found herself tensing in anticipation,and—
Nothing.
Freyja glanced up beneath her lashes, only to find him staring down at her, an inch between their faces. She let out the breath she’d been holding, her chest heaving against his. What was he waitingfor?
“If you think I am going to steal a kiss,” Rurik said, in a voice turned molten with heat, “then you should thinkagain.”
