to wash my face, but it fell away when I saw the thick mist hovering over the still liquid.
Trembling, I stretched my hand over the water. The mist parted and the island where I’d lived my whole life appeared. Fire danced in the image. The village was burning. The largest building—my father’s hall—was destroyed. The roof black and fallen in, the windows smoking. Bodies strewn about the yard, left to rot. Outside the still room, a body lay in the wreckage. Nanny’s eyes stared sightless at the sky. The only thing that moved was a raven, circling high above in silent vigil for the dead.
“No,” I gasped and dashed my hand into the water. The ripples spread but the image remained. “No!”
Ægir was at my side in an instant. I flung myself away from him, fighting when he grabbed me. “Let me go,” I shrieked. “I must go save them! It cannot happen, please—”
My cries mingled with his growls. He wrestled me to the bed where I curled, sobbing. His large hands roamed over me, searching for a wound.
“I’m not hurt. I’m not hurt!” I forced his hands down, swallowing against the knots in my throat. “It was a vision. They’re dead, all dead. Or will be.”
Dòmhnall would blame my father for losing him a bride. A fantastical story about mists and an ancient warrior would not deter him. He would have his revenge, and lay waste to the island in his mad rush to conquer.
“He’ll have the island by marriage or blood. He’ll kill them all for losing me,” I whispered.
Ægir’s eyes widened.
“You understand,” I rose and gripped his arms. “I have to go back. You have to let me go.”
He snarled.
I hung on and didn’t shy away. “If you love me, you will let me go.” I cupped his face in my hands. “Please, Ægir.”
With a roar, he pushed me down to the bed. I covered my face, willing my tears to stop. My chest was heavy with grief. I had to convince him to let me go. It was the only way.
Ægir grabbed my right leg and tugged me to the edge of the bed. He used the rope to tie my wrists and ankles. I lay spread eagled and secured, an unwilling sacrifice. He stretched over me.
“Mine,” Ægir huffed.
I glared at him.
“Mine,” he growled. His knee nudged my legs further apart. I was wet and ready, but I shouted and fought as he pushed his cock into my tender opening. His stiff rod hit secret spots inside me that had my eyes rolling back in my head. I cursed and fought my pleasure. When his head dipped to kiss me, I gritted my teeth and turned my face away.
His hand closed around my throat. A collar of flesh and bone. He squeezed with fingers and thumb, pressing two points on either side of my neck. I growled at him. My chest rose and fell like bellows, dragging air into my lungs. He squeezed tighter and the room fell away. I felt as if I were floating above the bed. Ægir’s great body worked over me, his hips snapping, cock stretching and filling me until I did not know where he ended, and I began.
He loosened his grip a tad and I slammed back into my body. Caught in the crucible of pleasure, I writhed under him. Lights flashed behind my eyes. I gasped, tossing my head back and forth as white heat filled me.
Ægir released my neck but did not let me go. I was still tied up, but he further shackled my wrists in his iron hard hands and trapped my legs under his, using his body as a living cage. All the while his cock battered me in the best, most delicious way. My insides tightened, fluttering around the giant intruder.
“Ægir,” I moaned. I wasn’t fighting my pleasure anymore. My hips rose and fell under his.
He ripped the ropes away, snapping them where they secured me to the bed. I surged up, gripping handfuls of his hair to bring his face close to mine. But I didn’t kiss him. At the last, I turned my head to the side, caught the edge of his neck with my teeth and tore. Ægir bellowed and rooted deep in my body, spending his seed deep inside me with jerking thrusts.
“Mine,” I whispered. The taste of blood tingled on my tongue. I’d marked him as he’d marked me.
The air between us tingled, magic so thick I couldn’t draw