The Swede

by Maureen Smith

  Viggo looked amused. “Not in your room, I hope?”

  “God, no! Their room.” She shuddered and wrinkled her nose. “My mom was getting whipped cream.”

  “Yeah?” Viggo grinned. “Light or extra creamy?”

  Scarlett choked back a laugh. “It’s not funny! It’s after midnight and we just got back from a trip. Those old people should be fast asleep right now, not slathering each other with whipped cream and doing God knows what else.” She shuddered again.

  Viggo threw back his head and laughed.

  God. He had such an amazing laugh.

  She struggled not to smile. “I’m glad you find my trauma so amusing.”

  “Trauma? Listen, sweetheart, I’m one of six children. That means my parents put a serious hurting on their bed—and anywhere else the mood struck them.”

  Scarlett burst into giggles. “Ew.”

  Viggo laughed and reached over to tweak her nose. The affectionate little gesture made her heart contract.

  The scent of hot chocolate wafted up from two cups nestled in the cup holders. She picked up the one closer to her and lifted the flap on the lid. As a cloud of fragrant steam escaped, she inhaled appreciatively.

  Viggo smiled, watching her blow into the cup and take a sip, her eyes closing as she swallowed. The hot chocolate tasted decadently rich and delicious, warming her insides.

  “Mmm. That’s good.”

  “Glad you like it. They make good coffee and pastries, too.” Viggo glanced around at the brick and stone houses framed by manicured lawns, ivy-covered trees and curved driveways. “Beautiful neighborhood. You grew up here?”

  “Yeah. We moved here when I was four after my dad got a promotion at work.”

  “Where does he work?”

  “Boeing. Been there over thirty years. My brother Luke works there, too. He followed in Dad’s footsteps and became an aerospace engineer.”

  Viggo nodded. “Luke’s the one getting married, right?”

  “Right. To Ana.” Scarlett sipped more hot chocolate.

  They had reached the front of the neighborhood. The gatehouse was unmanned after hours. Viggo drove through the automated gate and turned left onto the main road.

  Scarlett smiled, sinking deeper into the warm leather upholstery of the crew cab truck. “Are these seats heated?”

  “They are. You like?”

  “Very much.” She grinned. “Your truck is totally awesome. I was expecting you to pull up in one of your other toys.”

  Viggo shot her a blank look. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Yeah, right.” She gave him a knowing grin. “So you don’t have a Lamborghini and a Bugatti Veyron stashed at home?”

  “Again, drawing a blank here.”

  She laughed, shaking her head at him.

  He gave her a sidelong grin. “Seriously though. I’ve always preferred trucks. I learned to drive on an old farm truck.”

  Scarlett smiled. “How old were you?”

  “Eleven. My grandfather taught me to drive as soon as my legs were long enough to reach the gas pedal.”

  Scarlett’s smile softened at an image of him maneuvering a tractor around his grandparents’ farm. She pictured him as a tall preteen boy with a shock of golden blond hair, silvery gray eyes and full lips set in a dirt-smudged face. He’d probably been just as beautiful then as he was now.

  Leaning her head back against the seat, she watched him drive. He drove the way he played hockey. Fast, aggressive, making quick power moves but always maintaining control. Steering one-handed, he looked as natural as if he were one with the big truck. Scarlett could watch him all day long.

  They left the gated enclaves behind them and headed down a twisty road that cut through a stretch of woods. Scarlett had no idea where they were going and she didn’t care. Just being with Viggo was all that mattered.

  He reached across the cab and skimmed the back of his knuckles down her cheek. When she shivered, he sent her a lazy smile. “You know I’m just driving with no particular destination in mind.”

  She grinned. “I suspected you might be trying to kidnap me.”

  His smile turned mischievous. “I figured I could head out of town and disappear up into the mountains before you even noticed.”

  She laughed. “Okay, um, this is the part in the movie where I should be sneaking my phone out and hitting the panic button.”

  He laughed, giving her cheek another tender stroke. “No worries, beautiful. You’re safe with me.”

  Given the way her hormones went berserk every time he touched her, she doubted she could ever be truly safe around him. “Since you mentioned stargazing, I know a great lookout point that’s nearby.”

  “Nearby, huh?” He sounded a little disappointed. “Guess that means no running off to the mountains to find our own secret hideaway?”

  Scarlett thought of her morning flight and felt a pang of misery that made her sigh. “I’d love to run off with you—”

  He grinned.

  “—but unless you want to pass out from sleep deprivation during practice, we’d better stay close to home.”

  His grin turned rueful. “Point taken.”

  Scarlett directed him to turn off the main road and drive up a narrow rocky path that ended at a secluded spot high above the city. She knew couples often came here at dusk to watch the sun set or to make out after dark. Thankfully the place was deserted tonight.

  Viggo parked the truck where they could enjoy the best views. It was so beautiful with the city lights twinkling below like a starry constellation, the distant Rocky Mountains towering majestically over Denver.

  “Nice,” Viggo murmured.

  “Very,” Scarlett whispered.

  Her breath caught when he turned and leaned toward her. She thought he was going to kiss her, but then he reached past her and popped open the glove compartment to pull out a white paper bag.

  “What’s that?” she asked.

  He handed her the bag. “Can’t have fika without something sweet.”

  She grinned. “Isn’t the hot chocolate sweet enough?”

  “It’s not the same.” His eyes gleamed. “Gotta have something to sink your teeth into.”

  Her belly quivered. It was all she could do not to sink her teeth into him.

  Lowering her eyes, she opened the warm paper bag and peered inside. “Oh my God,” she breathed. “Do I see red velvet truffles and snickerdoodles?”

  Viggo grinned. “Is that what she put in there? I told her to surprise me.”

  Scarlett was already pulling out a truffle and biting into it. “Ohhh.”

  “God, I love watching you eat.” Viggo’s voice was a rough growl. “I’m bringing you some sweets every time I see you.”

  She laughed. “You’d better not. You’re gonna give me diab—” The rest of the word dried in her throat at the way he was staring at her lips, like he wanted to suck them right off her face.

  She swallowed hard and licked the sugar off her mouth.

  His smoldering gray eyes lowered to her hand. “Feel like sharing?”

  She followed the direction of his hot gaze, bit her lip and smiled.

  He shifted closer on the seat as she lifted the other half of the truffle to his mouth. She watched his lips part to accept the sweet confection. When his tongue slicked over her fingertips, her nipples grew hard and tingly, demanding to be licked.

  “Mmm,” he rumbled deep in his chest. “Fucking delicious.”

  They stared at each other, the air sizzling between them.

  Scarlett had to glance away just to catch her breath.

  Grinning, Viggo turned the ignition back on and reversed, then deftly wheeled the truck around and backed up toward the guardrail that separated them from the edge of the cliff.

  Scarlett stared at him. “You wanna sit outside?”

  “Best way to enjoy the view.” He winked. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you nice and warm.”

  Heat pulsed between her
thighs.

  “Hold this for me.” He handed her his hot chocolate, then opened the door and climbed out of the truck. Her stomach fluttered as he came around to let her out, smiling into her eyes as he helped her down.

  When she shivered from the brief contact with his body, he murmured, “Cold?”

  She shook her head. If her blood burned any hotter, she’d combust.

  She stood there holding their hot chocolate and goodies while Viggo walked around to the back of the truck and lowered the tailgate. As he started pulling things out of the truck bed, she couldn’t help drooling over the round, muscular perfection of his ass. That ass…wow. No man had a right to look that fucking good in jeans.

  She bit her bottom lip, picturing his ass cheeks flexing as he thrust furiously between her legs. The shockingly explicit image sent a hot rush of tingles to her sex, causing her to cross one ankle over the other.

  When Viggo turned around, she saw that he was holding two thick wool blankets and some type of lantern.

  “Wow,” she said teasingly. “You came prepared.”

  He chuckled. “I go camping and hiking with Reid, Hunter and Logan during the offseason. So I’ve gotten in the habit of keeping supplies on hand.”

  Scarlett grinned. “I love a man who’s always ready.”

  “Oh, I stay ready.” He gave her a sexy wink.

  Her knees almost gave out.

  “Since we didn’t get to have dinner at a romantic restaurant,” he went on, “we’ll have to improvise.”

  “Improvise?”

  “Yes, ma’am. Watch how it’s done.” He hopped up into the truck bed and spread out one of the large blankets.

  Scarlett watched him, a delighted smile playing over her lips. How could one man be so hot and sexy, so sizzlingly virile, and still pull off adorable?

  He turned on the LED lantern and placed it in the middle of the blanket. It cast a warm glow over the whole area.

  He gestured grandly. “Ambience.”

  “Nice,” Scarlett said approvingly. “As good as candlelight.”

  Looking pleased, he pulled his phone out of his back pocket, queued up some smooth jazz and winked at her. “Mood music.”

  She let out a dreamy sigh. “Perfect.”

  Viggo grinned and jumped back to the ground as nimbly as if he were hopping the boards at a hockey game. She was still swooning when he lifted her into the truck bed and vaulted in beside her.

  She stared at him, his closeness quickening her breathing.

  He stared back at her. “Let’s get comfortable.”

  “Okay.” She set their cups and goodies on the blanket beneath them while Viggo wrapped the other blanket around her shoulders.

  “You can get under here, too,” she said almost shyly. “There’s plenty to share.”

  His slow smile curled her toes. “Don’t mind if I do.”

  He draped the other half of the blanket around his shoulders, bringing their bodies close together. She could feel the heat of his big frame seeping into hers, could smell the spicy warmth of his aftershave and the soap he used.

  Her heart was beating so hard she wondered if he could hear it above the soft jazz music.

  Together they leaned back against the rear window of the cab and stretched their legs out. Viggo’s were so much longer than hers. His feet also dwarfed hers in size. She loved the way he cuffed his jeans, a single roll over his boots. It was rugged and manly and totally added to his sex appeal.

  He reached for the cups of hot chocolate nestled between them and handed her one. She didn’t know if it was the cup she’d been drinking from. It didn’t even matter.

  They smiled at each other, their faces lit by the lantern’s glow.

  “Isn’t this nice?” Viggo murmured.

  “So nice.” She lifted her cup, inviting him to toast. “To our first fika.”

  He grinned. “The first of many.”

  They tapped cups and drank without looking away from each other. Hot chocolate had never tasted so good.

  Lowering his drink from his mouth, Viggo pointed out, “Technically it’s our second fika. We had coffee and croissants back in Detroit.”

  “That’s true.” Scarlett gave him an amazed look. “Can you believe that was less than twenty-four hours ago?”

  “Hard to believe, right? And we’d only just met a few hours before that.” His gaze softened. “It feels like we’ve known each other a lot longer.”

  “It does,” Scarlett whispered. He had no idea how much.

  Smiling, he dug inside the paper bag, pulled out two snickerdoodles and passed one to her.

  “Tack,” she thanked him.

  He grinned. “Look at you speaking Swedish. What am I supposed to teach you?”

  She laughed. “I know a few basics. You can teach me all the advanced stuff.”

  The unintentional double meaning of her words struck them both at the same time.

  She blushed as a purely wicked smile curved Viggo’s lips. His deep voice dropped to an even lower register as he drawled, “Nothing would please me more than to share my advanced knowledge with you.”

  Her throat ran dry as her mind went into overdrive. She’d always had a smart mouth and was good at snarky comebacks. But Viggo totally threw her off her game. He reduced her to a puddle of rampaging hormones and made her feel all hot and tingly.

  And girly.

  God, he made her feel girly. Horny, too. Because right now all she could think about was getting under him and letting him teach her every dirty thing he knew.

  As her body grew hotter, she dropped her lashes over her eyes and bit into the cinnamony goodness of the snickerdoodle. “Yum.”

  Viggo took a bite of his own cookie. “Double yum.”

  She smiled.

  He smiled back.

  Warmly cocooned under the blanket, they munched their cookies while gazing out over the glittering city lights below them. The air was so crisp and clean, and the stars were shining brightly in the sky.

  Scarlett sighed. “God, I love Denver.”

  Viggo shrugged a shoulder. “It’s all right.”

  “What!” She elbowed him and he laughed.

  “Just kidding, gorgeous. I love the Mile High City. I’m glad the Rebels drafted me.”

  “We’re glad, too.” Scarlett grinned. “We’ll be even gladder when you boys bring home the Cup. No pressure.”

  “Right,” Viggo laughed, pulling another snickerdoodle out of the bag and offering it to her.

  She shook her head. “I’ll take another one of those red velvet truffles.”

  He stuck half the cookie in his mouth while he dug out a truffle for her.

  “Tack.” She smiled as she nibbled on the truffle, watching him polish off the cookie in two bites. A little tingle went through her when he licked a crumb off his lips. “After you retire from the NHL, will you go back to Sweden?”

  “I don’t know.” He smiled a little, staring out over the city. “At some point I plan to go back and build a house by the sea. That’s probably where I’d spend most of my time after retiring.”

  Scarlett’s throat felt strangely tight. “A house by the sea sounds wonderful.”

  His eyes returned to hers. “I think so, too.”

  A wave of prickling heat washed over Scarlett as they stared at each other. Long moments passed.

  She looked away first, lowering her eyes to sip her hot chocolate. A bluesy jazz melody wafted from Viggo’s phone, wrapping around them like a seductive cloak.

  He angled his head back, looking down at her from under his lashes. “So you really like Misty Knight, huh?”

  “Um, yeah.” She gave him a surprised look. “How’d you know?”

  He hitched his chin toward her sweatshirt.

  She glanced down at herself and grinned sheepishly. She’d forgotten what she was wearing.

  “Is she your favorite superhero?”

  “She is.” Scarlett beamed. “I’ve been obsessed with her since I was a ki
d.”

  Viggo grinned. “How obsessed?”

  “I cosplayed her for Halloween several years in a row, and I collected all of her memorabilia and comic books. I was pretty devastated when my copy of the first issue got stolen.”

  “Someone stole it? That sucks.”

  “I know.” She pouted for a moment before resuming her geek-out. “Wonder Woman rocks, but Misty Knight was everything to me as a little girl. The first time I ever saw her in a Marvel comic book…man. I can’t even describe how empowering it felt to see a black superhero who looked like me. I loved the evolution of her character. She was so brave and smart and tough as hell. She kicked serious ass!”

  “She’s pretty badass,” Viggo agreed.

  “Fuck yeah!” Scarlett laughed, caught up in her fangirl excitement. “Of course I also loved Storm from The X-Men. But she was a mutant, you know? So as awesome as she was, I couldn’t completely relate to her.”

  “Totally understandable.”

  Scarlett grinned. “I wanted to be like Misty Knight so bad that I begged my parents to let me take martial arts classes.”

  “No shit.” Viggo grinned at her. “Were you any good?”

  “I worked my way up to a red belt in taekwondo before I got totally sidetracked with drumming.”

  “A red belt? Seriously?”

  “Seriously.” She puffed out her chest a little. “I still plan to test for a black belt one of these days.”

  Viggo grinned, looking her over. “I’m impressed.”

  She cocked her head to one side, pretending to size him up. “On a good day I could probably kick your ass.”

  His eyes glimmered. “Okay.”

  Scarlett had to laugh at the way he’d dismissed her claim with a single word. As she finished her hot chocolate, she considered showing him her Misty Knight ankle tattoo. But she decided to hold off. She’d done enough geeking out for one night.

  Viggo bumped her shoulder with his, giving her a sideways smile as she set her empty cup down. “We should go to Comic Con together.”

  She tried not to get too excited. “Really?”

  “Yeah. It’d be fun. You could go as Misty Knight and I’d go as Iron Fist.”

  “Ooh, yes.” She grinned. “You could also go as Thor. You’d make an excellent Thor.”