Page 53 of Heart of Fire
She jerked her gaze to his face, with its sensual mouth and cat-slit eyes. Thedrekiswelled within him. Not quite human, not quite her Rurik. But still there. “Not directly,” she replied, recalling a half-dozen statements that, in hindsight, had revealed all. “That must have required some very carefulwording.”
“Oh, itdid.”
Anger swelled. “The whole time I was tied to that stake, I waited for you to come for me, butyou—”
“I did come foryou.”
“For me?” she demanded. “Or to flaunt your might in front of Haakon and hismen?”
“For you.” Rurik’s eyes shuttered, and he stepped toward her with dangerous allure. “Everything’s been for you. Do you think I would take human form for the sheer enjoyment of it? I told you this was fate, Freyja. The night you dared come into my lair was the moment I knew you were the one. How could you doubt I would come for you? You’re mine,Freyja.”
“Don’t saythat.”
“Why?” he asked. “You know I cannotlie.”
“I challenged you,” she pointed out. “That’s why you did this. And you might not lie, but yourwording—”
“You’re mine,” he growled out, and there was nothing to say to that, no means with which to misunderstandhim.
Freyja tilted her chin up stubbornly, aware the ground was shifting beneathher.
“Of course it’s because you challenged me.” His voice turned gravelly. “You’re beautiful, but I have seen beautiful women before. No, what captured my attention was your fierce pride and stubbornness. Your determination. The storm brought me a warrior in female flesh, and I knew then that I wanted you. You were utterly glorious that night.Becauseyou challenged me. Because, in all my long years in exile, I have never met a woman whodared.”
Freyja’s gaze dropped, then she jerked her head away, the image of his nude body burned into her retinas. He was taller now than he’d ever been as Rurik, bristling with heavy muscle, the ripple of his abdomen giving way to the proud jut of his cock. A creature that sauntered toward her with unearthly grace, knowing that it alone was the ultimatepredator.
She swallowed, her voice suddenly very small. “And what happens when you’ve conqueredme?”
“How does one conquer astorm?”
That was not an answer. How typicallydrekiofhim.
Freyja took a step back as he took one toward her. She had refused to allow Rurik to court her, knowing she risked her heart. Yet a small part of her had begun to think perhaps he might own some genuine feelings toward her. She liked his flirting. She liked having him chase her. She’d even begun to think of him as something more: a potential husband, a lover, a friend. A whisper of a dream she’d not even thought existed in her heart. And this time, it was no smalldream.
An impossible onenow.
Thedrekidid not fit into her future. Rurik had, but he didnot.
“You do not seempleased.”
“You’re not who I thought you were.” None of this had turned out to be what she had thought it was, and a little part of her ached at theloss.
“You made your own assumptions and I didn’t bother to correctthem.”
“Because it served yourpurpose!”
He took a dangerous step toward her. “And what do you think my purposeis?”
Freyja didn’t look behind her, but she could almost feel the heavy presence of the bed at her back. Her fists clenched and she tipped her chin up, the scrap of wool still in her fingers. It was very clear what he had wanted of hernow.
“If that was all I wanted, Freyja,” he purred, “then I would have had you lastnight.”
A smile curled over his made-for-kissing mouth. Dangerous. Despite everything, her heart started thumping faster, excitement flooding through her veins, as her body recognized thatlook.
“You’ve cornered the dreki in his den,”Rurik whispered in her mind, the touch of it trailing over her heated skin.“Now what do you think I should do to you for disobeyingme?”
“I didn’t disobey you.” Another step back. Then another. She dropped the blindfold, her chin tilting with the same stubborn arrogance he owned himself. “You told me to put the blindfold on, and I did. You never said I mustn’t take itoff.”
“You argue likedreki.” His hand reached out toward her, and Freyja’s breath caught in her throat. “Or asolicitor.”
