There’s no doubt about that. I laugh at his thought process. Sometimes I wonder if Alex waited to have sex with me out of respect, or out of fear of being tossed in jail. Again, I laugh inside. It’s probably a combination of both. Not that his ass couldn’t have been arrested for some of the other things we did to pass the time, if you know what I mean.
“How do you feel, Meggie?” He settles his hand between my legs, but doesn’t move it. “You might be a little sore.”
He’s got that right. “I’m okay. It doesn’t hurt. I guess a little sore is the way to describe it.”
“The warm water should help.” His hand moves to my belly, holding me tighter. “I hope so anyway.”
“Yeah, it does. I can already feel the difference. The sting is already gone.”
Again, Alex’s moist lips press against my neck. My eyes feel heavy and I let them fall closed. The swaying of the water feels like a massage, lulling me to sleep. I don’t give in, but I do enjoy the satisfaction of resting in my man’s hold.
“I love you, Megan.”
“I love you.”
We stay like this, wrapped up in each other until the water goes cold and our fingers and toes have shriveled up like raisins.
The warmth of the water is now replaced by the warmth of Alex’s bed. We’re under the covers again. Still naked. Still skin to skin. And I’m enjoying every second of it.
“We don’t have to do it again just yet,” Alex tells me. “We can slow down.”
Silly guy. There’s no way we’re not having sex again, right now.
I hold Alex’s face in both of my hands and pull him down to me for a good, long kiss.
When I feel the need to catch my breath, I back away. “Oh, no no no. Now that I know what it feels like to have sex with you, there’ll be no slowing down. We’re going to do it again and again. And if that means I have to soak in the tub again so my cooch doesn’t catch on fire, then that’s what we’ll do.”
Alex laughs out loud at my proclamation. So do I.
“Only you, babe,” he says. Still chuckling, he presses his lips to my forehead for a brief moment. “Only you.”
“You got that right.” I lift my head toward him, reaching up until my lips peck at his several times. Then, I give his ass a swift spank before grinding myself against his stiffy. “Let’s get this show on the road, baby. We both know you’re ready. And I can assure you that I’m definitely good.”
“God, I love you,” he says.
“And I love you.”
Alex lowers his beautiful face and captures my mouth for another sweet, ever loving kiss. He was so right. This isn’t our someday. Mmm. Mmm. Mmm.
This…is our forever.
***
Extended from Double Threats Forever (Double Threat Series, #4)
About the Author
Julie is a high school educator by day, and a writer by night. She writes both young adult and adult romances. When she’s not writing, she can be found out and about with her family, reading, and watching football. As a reading intervention specialist, she prides herself on matching her students with great books to encourage them to become lifelong readers.
Titles by Julie Prestsater
Julie has written five young adult books which are all available now:
The Double Threat Series
So I’m A Double Threat, #1
Double Threat My Bleep, #2
Double Time, #3
Double Threats Forever, #4
Before Someday (Alex Tells All), #5 (coming March 2015)
You Act So White
Julie has also written six adult romance novels:
Tell Me You Love Me, Fire Me Up Series #1
Without You
More Than A Friend Request
The Against The Wall Series (a spinoff from the Double Threat Series)
Against The Wall, #1
Between The Sheets, #2
Straddling The Edge, #3
Playing Chase, #4
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The Ultimate Prize
by S.T. Bende
An extended scene from ELSKER (The Elsker Saga #1)
In ELSKER, eighteen-year-old Kristia Tostenson moves from her one-stoplight Oregon town to Cardiff University in Wales. She falls in love with Ull Myhr, but her new boyfriend isn’t exactly what she was expecting. His cashmere sweaters and old-world charm mask the warrior who has spent an eternity fighting just to exist. Ull is an honest-to-goodness Norse god—an immortal assassin, tasked with protecting the realms as the God of Winter. He’s marked for death, and Asgardian law prohibits him from dating a mortal. And his antiquated sense of decency is keeping him from doing anything before marriage that he considers inappropriate, and Kristia considers … well … fun. Here, a frustrated Kristia finally gets exactly what she wants out of her Norse god boyfriend … even if it is only in her dreams.
***
Once my roommates were asleep, I closed the door to my room and booted up my laptop. I’d left Ull’s country house, Ýdalir, with more questions than answers, thanks to the discovery that my boyfriend was an actual god—an Asgardian assassin no less. I knew he’d given me all the information he was willing to share for now, so I felt only a little guilty turning to the Internet for answers.
Google did not disappoint. I typed in “Norse gods” and came up with a slew of websites relaying the stories Mormor told me as a child. There was Sif, the Warrior Goddess of Beauty. And Thor, all-powerful with his mighty Mjölnir. Odin was there in his eye patch and even Balder was represented, bearing a masculine resemblance to our own Lady Justice. Each god had a story to tell, and for an hour, I lost myself in their journeys. How different this studying was, knowing these myths were about real people.
Next, I entered “Ull Myhr” and came up with nothing, so I dropped the Myhr and got a whole range of pages. I found everything from some ski festival in Breckenridge honoring the snow god, to a runic drawing of a man on old-fashioned skis—or were they skates?—crossing a river. There were academic papers detailing Ull’s parentage, and even a blurb about his rumored assassination by Danes after taking over for Odin. According to the Internet everything Ull had told me about himself was true. But I’d known that much. What I didn’t know was how he fared at Ragnarok.
I switched gears, searching for Ragnarok. Everything I found about the Norse apocalypse was pretty consistent with what Mormor and Professor Carnicke had preached. The realms would turn on Asgard, with serpents and wolves and every imaginable beast attacking the gods and destroying the earth. Nearly all the gods would die horrible deaths, with an unnamed handful either surviving or being reborn.
Well that was no help. I wanted names. I wanted to see that Ull was going to live. I clicked the next link, then the next, but nothing could tell me who might survive. Ull wasn’t even mentioned in the Ragnarok articles. For the first time in my life, the Internet had failed to provide me with the information I needed.
I closed the computer and lay my cheek against its casing. None of this made any sense. According to Google, my highly accredited University course, and every story I’d ever been told, Ragnarok already happened. The earth was reborn from the aftermath, and descendents of the survivors repopulated the planet. So why was Ull talking like the apocalypse was some looming threat, a to-be-determined gala of destruction? Wasn’t it in the past? Obviously, I didn’t know everything about the End of the World. And neither did the Internet. Problem was, I didn’t have anyone else to ask. Ull was the only god I knew, and I wasn’t about to question him on what I knew was a very sensitive issue. I crawled into bed and hoped some rest would slow the fears gnawing at my brain.
***
My night was quiet, but my sleep was fitful. Usually, my dreams were filled with visions of Ragnarok or creepy Elf Man or other sc
ary things, but tonight I replayed my last night at Ýdalir. The first part of my dream played out the way it had in real life; Ull sat beside me on the couch and held my hands as he told me about his job as the Norse God of Winter. And even though I could have listened to him talk forever, it was late and I was exhausted. I stifled a yawn as Ull gave a knowing glance.
“I am sorry Kristia, I forget myself. You must sleep.”
“You, uh, mustn’t sleep?” I asked, my dream-voice echoing the formality of his words. I should have guessed that he was more than mortal. His language gave him away—nobody in their twenties in this century was so proper.
“Well, yes I must sleep sometimes. I just need far less than you do to function. Immortal bodies are exceptionally efficient.” He didn’t say anything else on the subject, just walked me to my room and took my face in his hands. “God natt, Kristia Tostenson,” he murmured. I eyed him warily, both hopeful and anxious to repeat that kiss—the one that had nearly been the end of me. But Ull declined my romantic overture, just as he had in real life, instead bending to kiss me chastely with the softest lips imaginable.
“Soon enough.” He touched my cheek as he leaned in to whisper in my ear. I caught a hint of the faintly woodsy smell that was so delicious I leaned in, involuntarily. “I hope you have beautiful dreams,” he murmured as he started to walk down the hallway with one last glance over his broad shoulder.
In reality, I’d stood in my bedroom doorway as he walked away. Heat had flooded my cheeks and I’d snapped my jaw shut before Ull could notice my gawking. But in my dream, I grabbed Ull’s arm and pulled him back. I tilted my head and stuck out my lower lip.
“Ull.” My pout was seriously unladylike. “It’s just one more kiss. What’s the big deal?”
“No, Kristia,” Ull demurred. “You have to understand.”
“Oh, I understand all right.” I took a step closer, and inhaled the woodsy scent of the man whose stubbornness was no match for my hormones. I’d behaved myself for eighteen years, but no amount of etiquette training could hold a candle to my feelings for Ull. I wanted him. Now. And propriety be darned; I was going to have him. “I understand that you kissed me, and now you’re afraid you’ll lose control and do something crazy. Is that right?” I trailed a finger through his thick hair, down his jaw, and along the line of his torso, resting my palm flat against his abs.
Oh hot bejeebus, his abs were hard.
“That is correct.” Ull spoke softly. His eyes positively burned with longing.
“Good,” I whispered into his ear. “I want you to do something crazy.” I took another step, and he wrapped an arm around my waist. “Please, Ull. Just another minute. Then I swear I’ll leave you alone. I’ll be good, I promise.”
“Dritt,” Ull swore. He lowered his face to mine, kissing me with such determination I lost all sense of time and space. “I cannot do this anymore,” he moaned, locking his arms around me so my hands were pinned to my sides. He pressed his chest against mine, backing me into the guest room so quickly I would have tripped without the massive deity holding me tight.
“Ull!” I gasped as his teeth raked my neck. I hadn’t expected my inexperienced seduction to actually work. Ull was so stubborn, so adorably archaic—I’d expected him to cling to his outdated principles like moss to a sequoia in rainy season.
Apparently I didn’t know the God of Winter as well as I’d thought I did.
“I am tired of doing the right thing,” Ull growled, not slowing from his determined trajectory toward the bed. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
Yes. Oh God, yes.
“Mmm-hmm,” I murmured, turning my head to give Ull better access. His lips moved downward, kissing a fiery trail along the neckline of my sweater. As he neared the deep V of my top, I shivered.
“You positive?” Ull raised his head to look me in the eye. The break in contact was almost painful.
“Ull. If you don’t make love to me right this minute, I might actually die.”
The corner of Ull’s mouth turned up in a half smile. “Die?”
“Die,” I confirmed.
Ull raised one eyebrow. “A little dramatic, would you say?”
“Die,” I repeated.
Ull released my arms and traced a light line along my ribcage, sweeping inward so his knuckles grazed my chest. The tremor that wracked my body made my knees give out, and Ull caught me as I fell. “Well, sweetheart. We cannot have you dying on me, now can we?”
I shook my head. Ull set me on my feet and stared me down.
“You are absolutely positive you—”
“Just kiss me already.” I twined my fingers in Ull’s hair and pulled his face to mine. He let out a growl and wrapped his fingers around my hips, hiking me up so I was pressed against him. I wrapped my legs around his waist and held on tight. I had to. Ull was moving with inhuman speed, racing right past the bed. He wrapped his arms around my body, cradling me as we crashed into the wall. I moaned as the impact pressed him against me, the full weight of his six-foot, five-inch frame melding against my considerably smaller one. His chest was hard against mine, and his arms held me close as he kissed me with desperation, as if his very existence depended on consuming me at that very moment.
Finally.
“Ull.” I sighed as he pressed his hips against me, bracing me between his body and the wall. He tugged at the bottom of my sweater, and I raised my arms, letting him pull the fabric over my head. He crushed his mouth against mine as he threw my top over his shoulder. His hands moved over my stomach in a frenzy, pausing just before he reached the lace of my bra.
“May I?” He didn’t break our kiss as he spoke. The words vibrated against my lips, his deep baritone resonating through me.
“Yes,” I panted, clawing at his sweater. I didn’t want anything separating us—not even cashmere.
Ull withdrew his hands and wrenched his mouth away from mine just long enough to remove his sweater. My jaw fell slack as I took in the expanse of bare skin. Taut muscles stretched across his torso, dipping where his chest met his shoulder. I didn’t have to look down to know he had a veritable washboard surrounding his belly button; his abs felt rock hard against the skin of my stomach. And his arms … I’d never seen anything look so formidable and so enticing at the same time.
Except for Ull’s eyes. Right then he was staring me down with a hunger that would have made Red Riding Hood nervous. In that moment he was every bit the predatory assassin I knew him to be.
And I was about to become his prey.
“Kristia,” Ull growled again. His hands returned to their determined trajectory. He stroked the lace of my bra with the backs of his fingers, sending another tremor through my torso. At the movement, his eyes rolled closed and he turned his hands over, placing his palms over my bra. He squeezed lightly and a moan escaped his lips, the vibration of his voice making me shiver.
“Please,” I begged, watching as his eyes flew open.
“Please what?” He assessed me through hooded lids.
I kept my voice to a whisper. “Make me yours.”
Ull’s eyes slowly focused, and he cupped my behind as he wrenched our bodies away from the wall. He dove for the bed, cradling my body to shield me from the impact. He rolled to his side and undid the button of my jeans, removing them, and his own, before I had a chance to catch my breath. Then he rolled so he was on top of me, framing me between two positively massive forearms.
“You are mine, Kristia Tostenson. Every last inch of you.” The words were commanding, possessive, and left absolutely no room for argument. I should have been intimidated, lying practically naked, about to give my virginity to a living, breathing, Nordic deity. But as intense as this moment was, I couldn’t think of anything but Ull’s skin on mine, his hands caressing my cheeks, and the absolute adoration in his eyes as he claimed me as his own.
“Then show me,” I whispered, bringing my fingers to his face. Ull’s eyes deepened to an inky blue, and his hands slid down, r
emoving the last layers of clothing between us. His fingers brushed against me in a languid dance, teasing me for one delicious moment with a hint at what was to come. I let out a whimper as he pulled his hand away and placed it beside my head. Before I could voice my protest my breath caught in my chest; now I felt him—all of him—pressing against me.
Oh my God.
Ull brought his mouth to mine; a soft kiss that built in intensity. I squirmed beneath him, desperate to close that last bit of distance between us. He raised his head so he could look me in the eye. “Jeg elsker deg.”
“I love you too,” I whispered, cupping his face in my hands. I pulled him closer, letting my kiss show him all the things I’d never be able to put into words. And in one sweet movement, we became everything I so desperately wanted us to be: partners; equals; teammates. We became two halves of one whole; the fulfillment of a divine union I hadn’t even realized I was fated to be a part of.
We were one.
I woke up with a gasp, clutching at my sheets in a sweaty, panting, wholly undignified mess. My head whipped from side to side, searching for the god I’d given my dreamland V-card to just moments before. But of course he wasn’t there—we weren’t married; we’d barely even started dating. And in the waking world, Ull’s prehistoric code of chivalry would prevent him from doing anything even close to what I’d conjured up in my subconscious. It had only been a dream.
A really vivid, heartbreakingly beautiful, devastatingly-imagined dream. Crumbs on a cracker, why did I have to wake up?
I flung myself back onto my pillow, breathing slowly to still the butterflies doing a tango in my stomach. Ull had his rules, and there was no getting around them. But something told me I’d find a way to get what I wanted, eventually. After all, I was nothing if not determined.
And Ull Myhr was the ultimate prize.
***
Takk for reading this exclusive look at the rest of Kristia’s dream! There’s much more to come for Kristia, Ull, and the rest of the Elsker crew as they gear up for Ragnarok — the Norse apocalypse. To read more about the Elsker crew, check out the books of The Elsker Saga. ELSKER (Book #1) is currently free! Visit my website http://www.stbende.com/ to find out where to download it. Skål, y’all!
Losing It: A Collection of VCards Page 16