Page 178 of Master of Storms
And then he kissed her.
* * *
It wasa kiss to capture her heart. Her soul.
Marduk kissed her the way she needed to be kissed—as if they were two souls striving to contain the same space. One strike of the match igniting the entire hungry bonfire. He kissed her as if she was everything to him. As if he’d spent his entire life just begging for this moment, and he needed to make it last.
Her hungry mouth and hands demanded more.
And he gave it gladly, his hands rough on her skin as he pushed her back against the wall and took what they both wanted.
Teeth skimming down her throat, his mouth capturing her delicate skin and suckling there. Just a tease really. A question. And she stilled as if she heard it, and then arched her head back in answer.
Surrender.
Yes. A thrill lit through him, every possessive urge within him demanding that he mark her. He bit her. Hard. Even as his fingers found her nipple through the soft fabric of her nightgown, and pinched.
“Marduk.” A cry tore from her throat, and then she was wildfire in his hands.
He’d never heard her sound like that. Soft and breathy and desperate. Hands slid under his shirt, her nails digging into the soft muscle of his shoulders.
Oh, she liked that.
The urge to be inside her pounded through his brain.
“Hold on, my love.” Gritting his teeth, he hauled her legs up around her waist and strode toward the bed.
His cock rode between her thighs, and even with her nightgown between them, he could feel how wet she was getting.
Solveig’s back hit the mattress, and Marduk followed her down, pressing one knee between her thighs. Instantly, she curled up, grabbing a fistful of his shirt, but he was ready for her.
Capturing one wrist, he forced it onto the mattress beside her head. And then the other.
A smile took him by surprise as he kissed her furious lips. “You have all the control. You always have had. Let me make love to you, Solveig.”
I shall return with Marduk's heart—or not at all.
He finally, finally had the answer to Harald’s challenge.
He just had to convince her it was worth the risk.
Dangerous eyes explored his face. And then the breath left her, as she slid a hand up the back of his neck. “Then do it. Make love to me. And don’t ever stop.”
* * *
The shockof her mouth took him by surprise.
Not because he’d always been the one to kiss her first—but because there was a sweetness to the caress that slipped its hooks into him more surely than any trick she’d ever played. She kissed him as if she wanted to inhale him. She kissed him as if the sun rose and set in his smile. She kissed him as though she was intent upon claiming him, heart and soul.
This.
Rolling onto his back, he skimmed rough palms up her spine as she straddled him, capturing her closely against him.
He’d had her before, but every time they’d lain together it been war. And though Solveig bit his lip as if to remind him that she was no placid maid for him to lay back on the mattress, this felt entirely different.
She wasn’t fighting him anymore.
That thought alone almost made him come. Suddenly, it wasn’t enough to have his hands sliding over her nightgown. He wanted her naked. Growling deep in his throat, he tore at her buttons, his teeth skating down her throat as she arched into him. It ground the slick skin between her thighs against him.
