Mastered by the Berserkers (Berserker Brides #8) - Lee Savino Page 0,21

I’d ever known. The abbess wanted to cast me out, but the friar took pity on me and said yes.”

“What would they have done if you hadn’t taken vows?”

I shivered. “I don’t know. There were girls older than me. They came of age and disappeared. The friar said he’d found husbands for them.”

“But you did not believe it.”

“No, I—” I fell silent. “I felt something was wrong. But it was not my place to speak. In matters of the church, women are not to speak.”

Fenrir sat back. “You were right to take vows.”

I blinked. That was the last thing I expected him to say. “I was?”

His fingers combed through my hair. Soothing me. I leaned into his palm. “Those girls were not given to husbands, but to the Corpse King, to feed his growing power.”

I sucked in a breath. He stroked my head, but I’d gone stiff and cold. “Truly?”

“Yes. Your vows saved your life. They kept you safe until we found you.” His fingers sifted through my hair, then gave a little tug. “But now it’s time to put them aside.”

“Put them aside?” I shook my head, dizzy.

“Yes,” Jarl said, stomping back inside. “Your vows saved you. But now we are here to protect you. And you must admit your god brought you to us.”

I wrinkled my nose, ready to argue, but Fenrir tugged my hair so I turned back to him. “You say your god made the world and everything in it. Including you.”

“He knit me together in my mother’s womb,” I quoted. “Yes.”

“Then he made you like this.” His left hand settled on my chest and slid down over my breasts, leaving heat in its wake. “You were created thus, and filled with desire.”

“No,” I whispered.

“Yes,” Fenrir insisted. “All these nights you’ve prayed for release. And your god allowed us to take you.”

Oh, God, no. I closed my eyes.

“Your body burns in our presence. You were made for us, Juliet. As we were made for you.” His hand covered my breasts, rubbing gently. A tide of golden pleasure rose, ready to sweep me away.

“No, no.” I grabbed his arm. “This desire is a thorn in my flesh. I wish that I could cut it out.”

“Juliet,” Fenrir said, but I wouldn’t hear another word. I kicked, trying to free myself.

“I have sinned. I have fallen short. I am damned. I must be cleansed and made new.” I was babbling now. I clawed at Fenrir’s hand, and when it fell away, I clawed at my own flesh.

“Stop,” Fenrir ordered.

“Juliet.” Jarl lifted me. His hand collared my throat, and he held my back to his front so he could murmur in my ear. “You have done wrong?”

“Yes, yes.”

“Then you must be punished.”

Relief flooded me and I went limp against him. “Yes.”

“What if we were to punish you instead?”

“What?”

“We captured you. We have a right to you, according to our law.”

I tried to shake my head, but Jarl held me fast. My pulse pounded against his hand. “What law is that?”

“The law of might.” Jarl maneuvered me through the lodge, towards the drying frame. His hand was still at my neck and his arm was around my waist. “You cannot stop us.”

They were right. I could not. If God had meant for me to fight, he would’ve made me stronger.

“That’s settled then. You are ours to punish and control.” He positioned me between the posts of the frame and stretched my arms over my head to bind my wrists with the dangling strips of leather. My feet rested on an elevated platform that put my head closer to the bottom of their chin.

Fenrir approached, the firelight shining on his bare chest. “We will punish you. And then we will make you whole.”

6

Juliet

Jarl stepped back, leaving my arms bound above my head. “You have no choice, Juliet,” he reminded me. Then he took hold of my shift and ripped it from top to bottom.

I hung from the ties, my chest heaving as he stripped me naked. When he stepped back to view his handiwork, I pressed my pale legs together, trying to hide the dark thatch of hair at their apex.

But Fenrir knelt and tied my ankles apart until I stood on the platform, spread eagled. I could not escape. Jarl appeared in front of me and I jerked back as far as I could in my tethers.

“Easy,” Fenrir steadied me with hands at my hips. His rough hands smoothed over me.

“Here.” Jarl draped a cloth over my eyes. I tried to