me in, eyes sweeping up the length of my body, pausing for a long second at the apex of my thighs. When he met my gaze again, dark determination shone in his.
Without another word, he rose to his feet and turned fully toward me.
He stood so close, his natural coldness leeching through the distance between us, pulling on me with the whispered promise of relief. His scent, though still dimmed by Hel, seemed stronger now. Delicious. Alpha.
Uninvited images of licking his throat popped into my head, and I swayed toward him, my body momentarily taking over.
His cool, strong hands closed around my forearms, stopping me. The shock of his chilled skin against mine pulled me out of it enough to draw my focus from his throat to his eyes.
“I’m sorry,” I blurted. “I… I’m not sure how to do this.”
It was true. The other times, I had been so deep in my heat my instincts had taken over, making me say and do things I wouldn’t have if I’d still been in control of my mind.
Now? It was still early, and I still had the ability to feel shame. My body hummed with interest at Grim’s presence, heat pulsing more heavily in my womb, but it wasn’t strong enough to force me to my knees and beg for him to mount me.
I should have waited until it was.
“I’m sorry,” I repeated, pulling away from his grip. I turned around before I could see the look on his face and retreated to my corner. Without looking back, I dropped down on the dried skin I’d used as a bed these past few nights, wrapped my arms around my knees, and pressed my face into them to wait for the sweet oblivion of my full heat.
Hours. It would be hours of increasing torture before it crested, if the past two times were anything to go by. I gritted my teeth and clasped my knees harder, trying to push down a sudden wave of despair. If my mates had been here, they would’ve seen me through this without shame or misery. They would’ve surrounded me with love and laughter, inflicted upon me guilt-free pleasure until every cell in my body was sated and my mind at peace.
Peace.
It had been mine for the briefest of moments, that night in the arms of the four men who loved me, before I’d been ripped from them again. I longed to be back there on the soft furs in that room in Valhalla, longed for it so much my heart ached.
A cold touch on my shoulder made me draw in a sharp breath, my sadness scattering. I hadn’t heard Grim approach.
He wrapped his strong fingers around my braid, then tugged, pulling my head back. He knelt down behind me, his body dwarfing mine as he bent his head to murmur into my ear, “Have you changed your mind, omega? Are you no longer interested in fucking me?”
I swallowed thickly, unsure how to respond. Was he toying with me? Mocking me? My blood pulsed, heating my thoughts until they were too hazy to grasp.
Grim leaned in closer, and I shivered as the chill of his body enveloped me from behind, making every hair stand on end and my nipples tighten. Still keeping his fist locked in my hair, he ran his nose up the side of my neck, a rough noise escaping his lips that woke my clit with a shudder.
“You smell almost like you did that night at our farm on the cusp of your first heat. So needy. Your scent nearly drove my brothers to force you up against the kitchen counter.”
“I remember,” I croaked. “You stopped them. Was it… Was it for their sake? Or mine?”
He only snarled in response and slipped his free arm around my midriff.
Even through his leather armor, it was such an intimate embrace from the alpha who had barely stomached my presence up until now. I drew in a shuddering breath, my mind reeling, but my body reacted on pure instinct, leaning into the man whose scent and touch promised blessed relief.
“Were you scared your first time underneath the Thorsson bastard?” he asked, his quiet voice surprising me as much as the question itself.
I looked at him over my shoulder, tried to decipher his intentions, but his face revealed no emotion.
“Yes,” I said. “I was. But the heat was… more insistent. I didn’t register much else apart from the need.”
He chuffed a breath through his nose, but it wasn’t quite