AEgir (BERSERKER WARRIORS #1) - Lee Savino Page 0,14
lass. He’s never hunted anyone like this before. I don’t know if you can break the curse but—”
I put up a hand and he fell silent. “I have to try.”
My captor wasn’t back in our tower when I returned but it was just as well. Hawk gave me more water to wash, and even provided a few herbs. After he left, I purified myself and the room. Tossed away my old gown and bloodied pelts. Built up the fire, unbound my hair.
Hawk hollered up before he entered the room. When he saw me, he whistled. “Well, now.”
I blushed. I’d prepared myself like a bride. I’d done more for my captor than I’d done for Dòmhnall. “I hope it works.”
Hawk set a full pitcher of mead and a plate of meat down where I directed. “If it helps, I’ve not heard him laugh in a long time. Not like he laughs around you.”
I snorted. “He laughed when I tried to slit his throat. Not sure if that’s a sign he’s more a man than a fool.”
“You’re the only woman who ever dared take a knife to him. Or fight him at all.”
I gnawed my lip.
“Are you afraid he won’t forgive you? He already has. I’ve never seen him look at anyone like he looks at you. And you him. You’re not as afraid of him as you pretend.” He wagged his finger at me.
“His presence, it’s potent,” I admitted. “Feels like fire, or strong mead.”
“That’s love, I expect.”
I shot Hawk a sharp look. He laughed and rapped the table before heading out. “Don’t worry, lass. If anyone’s strong enough to love a man like that, I reckon it’s you.”
Moonrise found me by the fire hearth, braiding and re-braiding my long, dark hair. The Sea Wolf hadn’t returned yet, and when he did, what would be? Man or beast?
A lonely howl cut the night and I shivered. What was the nature of this curse and how could I break it? I tried to remember how the story ended. My mother told a few versions. Sometimes the warrior wandered forever until he became a ghost, a haunting. Sometimes he found his lady love, and they lived happily together. Nanny preferred that ending and that was how she told it.
This time, the story’s end was up to me.
How do you win the love of a monster? And was Hawk right? If I won the Sea Wolf’s favor, was I strong enough to love a monster in return?
Love did not matter. I would open my legs for him tonight. Again. I thought of how well he lay between my legs last night and blushed. He certainly had skill. Maybe tonight would be no hardship.
A growl outside the window, and a scraping sound. I straightened. The Sea Wolf was coming.
The blond head and shaggy white pelt appeared first. He pulled himself through the window and when he rose, the room shrank. He was already naked. Under a pelt I’d wrapped up in for warmth, I was the same. It would save time, and I wouldn’t end up with another ripped dress.
I cleared my throat and found my voice. “Mead?” I asked.
The hulk remained in shadows, and still. Only two glowing eyes marked his presence.
“There’s meat also. I can go down and get Hawk to bring more—”
A thunderous growl crashed over me.
Don’t speak of Hawk, then. Or talk of leaving the tower.
But it was too late. The mountain came to me, hunched and sure-footed as a hunter. He moved like an animal. I forced myself not to flee. I walked slowly from the hearth to the bed, allowing him to herd me away from the door or the window. No escape. I could’ve told him I wasn’t going to run, but if I said the word run, he would pounce. The Wolf with me tonight was not a man but a wild thing.
I backed up to bed, setting my hand on his chest when he crowded me.
“Easy. I’m here. I’m yours.”
Another growl. I gasped, not in fear, but at the pleasure knifing through my loins.
The Wolf grabbed my hips and set me against him. I got a good feel of his cock. Monster indeed.
I tilted my head back, baring my throat. Allowing him to kiss me or rip my life out. The ultimate submission.
He lowered his great head, scenting up the line of my neck to my ear. He could kill me now. At least it would be quick.
“Take me then,” I whispered, not knowing whether I