Page 77 of A Light So Blinding
Until he moved back for a moment, his thumb pressed against her clit, and heheld it downin a way that had her throbbing. She gasped, looking up to see him biting his nails until they were short enough for him to...
Bjorn plunged his finger into her, sinking it deep inside her body. She bit her lip, eyes rolling back in her head as she rode just his finger that somehow felt so big.
“Gonna have to stretch you a bit,” he murmured as he worked her. “That’s all right. We’ll get there. Can’t hurt you.”
He wasn’t talking sense. All she cared about was the fact that now his finger was inside her and his tongue was on her clit and she couldn’tbreathe. He was inside her, outside her, everywhere until she finally clenched around him. Her head slammed back, and maybe that was why she saw sparks, or maybe it really was that good when he made her come.
He groaned with her, the sound almost pained, but it was so hard to focus on that right now. Her body had turned to liquid. Her arms wouldn’t lift, but she wanted to hold on to him. She needed to feel his skin pressed against hers for some strange reason.
Bjorn knew. He always knew. He crawled up her body, breathing hard and pressing kisses to her torso along the way up. Then, a soft blanket draped over her. The same quilted blanket that he’d said had been his when he’d been a child. It was warm and cozy, chasing away the chill of the air that cooled the sweat that had gathered on her skin.
Then he pressed one more kiss to her lips, with the taste of herself remaining.
“Sleep, bright one,” he said.
“What about you?”
He rolled her onto her side and then curved his body around her. She could feel the hard bar of his cock pressed against her bottom, but he made no moves to do anything about that. Instead, he folded himself around her body and wrapped an arm over her.
“Sleep,” he grunted again.
“Bjorn, I can feel your?—”
“Sleep,” he repeated. “The piercing limits what I can do. It is a small price to pay to know reality is even better than dreams. I will watch over you tonight. Tomorrow we have a long day ahead.”
Who was she to deny him that? Sleep was rapidly calling her anyway. After being treated like that, she wasn’t sure any woman would have been able to stay awake.
But also, she felt like this was one of the rare times in her life she was completely safe. Wrapped up in his arms, Astrid knew without a single doubt there wasn’t a person in this realm who could harm her.
Twenty-Nine
Bjorn
With her tucked against his side, he felt like he could do anything. He felt like agod. Astrid was all snuggled up, tucked against his heart, and it didn’t matter that there was a distinct ache between his legs. He’d been in pain for ten years. Suffering to have her in his arms was worth every moment.
Bjorn still couldn’t believe it. After all this time, he had found the person he was meant to be with. The perfect mate bond, someone who he was worthy of, and all it had taken was ten years of torture.
He almost snorted at his own thoughts. Astrid had come out of nowhere. Fate had been laughing at him, most likely, when she had walked into that labyrinth and seen him tied up like that. The gods had likely been teasing him, dangling what he could not have, while he’d swung from the chains that had reminded him of where he was. But then she had laughed in the face of the gods, telling them that he was hers.
It felt like such a long time ago. He didn’t remember the faces of the people who had been in the room, but he rememberedhers. He remembered her pearl dress, every single stitch on it, and the mask that had covered her pretty face.
Bjorn would have to ask her about that. He’d only seen a few women of her station before, and they all wore masks like she had. The trolls would never cover up the features of someone so powerful, but he feared that was normal to humans. Why? He did not know. But he wanted to. He wanted to know everything about her life and how she had come to this moment.
He tightened his arms around her, shifting just a bit closer. As if he could get any closer. One of his legs was between hers, an arm draped over her, the other she used as a pillow. She was as tight against him as possible, and it still didn’t feel like it was enough.
Hours passed. Bjorn didn’t move even when his muscles started to ache and his hand lost all feeling. None of it mattered. He wanted to remember every detail of this moment. How her breath rose and fell in her sleep, the dusting of her eyelashes on her cheeks, and the way her hair smelled like flowers even though he knew that had to be impossible.
He would have stayed here forever if he hadn’t heard the telltale signs of movement outside their tent.
At first he thought it was animals. Tiny scratching noises, then a few rocks that had been loosened and fell free. He knew most animals would see a tent like theirs and not be curious enough to risk their lives.
But then, a voice.
“Did someone survive you think?” Male. Obviously pitched low so no one would hear him, but that booming voice would have a hard time being quiet. It carried across the mountain peaks because there was nothing to dampen the sound.
Bjorn tensed. He could feel Astrid waking when she felt his body tense against hers. Carefully, he shifted his hand up from her waist to her mouth.
Clamping down around her jaw and nose, he muffled the sound she made as she woke. Though startled, she rolled to look at him.
