Page 141 of Storm of Desire
Árdís growled as soon as the enormous man vanished through the doorway, shutting it quickly behind him. "Youbetonme?"
Haakon let her go, and crossed his arms over his chest. "He seemed to think he knew you better than I did. He said you'd be overwhelmed with gratitude when I brought your ring home. I said you'd be furious. Atfirst."
Árdís stabbed a finger into his chest. "Fáfnir is not someone to toy with, damn you. He hates my father. He made me trade the ring because he knew it would cause me the most pain. Or he thought it would. Do you know why I gave it to him? Because if he had any clue how muchyou meant to me, he would have bartered for youinstead."
"It's your wedding ring," he growled back, trying to fight a smile. "It belongs on your finger, so all the world knows you'remine."
Her voice rose. "Stop smiling at me. You're ruiningthis."
"Ruining what?" He took a step toward her, and her back hit the wall. "Are you trying to work up to a good fight,sweetheart?"
"Trying."
Haakon pressed his forearms against the wall, and leaned closer. "Mmm." He bit his lip, a twinkle in his eyes. "Maybe we could just skip the argument for once? Get right to the goodstuff."
She sucked in a sharp breath. "Iswear—"
"To all the gods." The back of his fingertips brushed her cheek. "Are you happy to have it back, Árdís?" he murmured, pressing her to the door and brushing his lips along herjaw.
"Don't think...." A soft gasp escaped her as his erection ground right where she wanted it. "Don't think you're going to kiss your way out of thisone."
"No?" His mouth whispered across herlips.
A surge of pure heat sheared through her. Somehow her unruly hands were in hishair.
"Damn you, Iloveyou. My mother could have captured you. Any of the court could have made a play for you, and I wouldn't have known until it was too late." She held his face to hers, staring deep into his eyes. "You knew I couldn't followyou."
"Not without risking the child,no."
The precious child she'd discovered she was carrying. She'd gone into heat the second she bound his soul to hers, as if the bond had flicked some switch in her brain. It had been an overwhelming couple of weeks where everyone, even Rurik, had barely dared knock on their door. All Árdís could remember was naked skin beneath her lips, her hands, and her husband pinning her to the bed, driving himself into her. She'd been insatiable, and Haakon had more than made up for lost time, until they could barelymove.
Heat incinerated her. Haakon licked at her lips. "Perhaps I can kiss it allbetter?"
Oh, gods.She gave up, and wrapped her arms around him. "I will let you kiss it better," she growled, "as long as you promise not to go hunting any more dragons or kraken, or wyrms or trolls.... Or anything else that might take you from myside."
Haakon caught her up under the thighs, and locked her legs around his hips as he strode toward the bedroom. "It's a deal, my love. No more dragons for me. Just this one little temperamentaldrekitomaster."
"I'll give you 'master.'"
He laughed, even as he captured her mouth in akiss.
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