The Captive - By Joanne Rock Page 0,49

warrior, but the most effective raiding force their people had ever seen. His men were too wealthy to complain, but the unrest at home had gotten to them all.

“Wulf?” Gwendolyn called to him from the bed with soft invitation in her voice. “Remember that first day, you told me you did not want to plunder for riches, but for pleasure?”

She traced the heavy embroidery stitched along the coverlet where it peeped out from under the fur blanket. Her fingers were long and elegant, a noblewoman’s hands. He smiled to think of her tossing aside her own embroidery, her spirit too wild to be tamed by domestic pursuits.

“I remember very well.” He had not understood at first why he’d been called to claim one woman alone when her keep had been loaded with lucrative prizes that could have been his for the taking. But the fates had woven a different outcome for their meeting.

“I am glad you decided to indulge yourself. I see now the weight of your responsibility—to your family and Hedra’s. To your followers and to Harold’s people. And after bearing the burden of so many expectations, you are entitled to some diversion.”

The kindness of the sentiment did not dull the more obvious meaning. His blood rushed hot through his veins, burning away old regret and guilt, leaving naught but red-hot awareness behind.

“Are you offering to be my diversion?” He reached for her under the covers, his hand settling unerringly on her hip. She was so soft, her skin creamy and smooth beneath his touch. Her eyes locked on his and he witnessed the flare of sensual interest.

Would she look at him the same way if she knew he wanted her to remain with him? Or would her aversion to his people’s practice of keeping multiple women send her running away again and again?

“I wish to distract you from all your cares, Wulf Geirsson. At least for this one night.” She sidled closer to him, her fingers dipping low to stroke up the front of his thigh.

He sucked in a breath between clenched teeth, un-prepared for the onslaught of her provocative words and touches.

“You’re off to a promising start,” he managed, his thoughts dissolving to make room for one overriding concern. “That’s definitely distracting.”

Her nails skimmed a path of tingling flesh, raking his senses into full swing. He grabbed the errant hand and pulled it out of the covers and up to his lips to kiss each finger.

“Not enough,” she contradicted him softly, pulling her hand back and laying it on his chest before smoothing her way down, down. “I want to touch you until you can’t think of anything or anyone but me and what I’m doing to you.”

He blinked at her bold words. But when her tentative fingers circled the head of his cock, he understood she wasn’t merely talking. She had big plans for him.

“Gwen—”

“Shh.” She hushed him by pressing her mouth to his in a quick kiss. “I know it’s possible because you make me feel that way all the time. I just need to figure out how to—”

Her hand closed around his shaft, and he could not hear anything else she said. Lights danced behind his eyes like a sky full of shooting stars. The self-discipline he prided himself on was nowhere to be found.

“Ah.” She hummed her satisfaction, exploring every expanding inch of him with sly, darting fingers. “Perhaps I can learn to tell what you like as easily as you seem to read my desires.”

Fire blazed over his skin. He watched her in the torchlight, her dark hair alive with flashes of rich reds and burnished orange. He wanted those long, silken strands sliding over his skin while she tested her newfound sensual knowledge.

Holding himself back required a level of strength he’d never honed on any battlefield. She kissed his jaw and feathered light touches up and down his manhood until he thought his eyes would cross from the temptation.

But then she lowered her lips to his throat, his chest, and the twitching muscles of his abdomen. She could not honestly mean…

“Gwen.” Her name was a hoarse plea he scarcely recognized.

“Yes, Viking?” She brushed the softest of kisses along the head of his cock and his control shredded.

“Those pleasures will have to wait.” He hauled her upward, her breasts teasing the length of his body as he brought her eye level again.

“Why?” Worry and confusion clouded her eyes. “You do not like—”

“I like.” He pinned her to the mattress and stretched out