A Most Peculiar Season Series Boxed Set: Five Full-length Connected Novels by Award-winning and Bestselling Authors

by Michelle Willingham

  “Do you wish I had never touched you?” he asked, his voice low and deep.

  His words were like a physical caress, luring her into temptation. “No.” She forced herself to meet his brown eyes. “I enjoyed being with you, though it was wrong.” The intensity in his gaze unnerved her. He looked as if he wanted to remove every barrier between them.

  She reached out to touch his rough wool tunic. Arik guided her hand beneath it to his bare skin. She traced the scars of battle that edged his ribs.

  Viking, her instincts warned.

  “Are you real?” she whispered. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m going mad.”

  “Do I feel real to you?”

  He did. The hot skin beneath her palm burned her blood in a different way. He was so unlike William. When she’d married her husband, she’d done everything possible to please him, but he had grown bored of her within a matter of months.

  “I don’t understand how any of this could have happened,” she murmured. “I don’t know who you are.”

  “But you know how I make you feel.” His wicked hands caressed her spine, finding a sensitive place. A tremor caught within her, and for a moment she almost believed in magic. She rested her palms upon his chest and could feel his heart beating. The warm male skin tempted her to press her mouth against him.

  He removed his tunic, revealing a body that had been honed like a blade. The scars he carried revealed a man who fought and bled for others.

  “Let me be with you this night,” he urged, running his hands down her throat to her tightening breasts.

  She could say nothing, but instead, she captured his palms and held them upon her body. “I’m afraid.” Afraid of the way he made her feel and the way she responded to him. This man tempted her like no other.

  “I will never hurt you, Juliana.” He drew his hands around her waist, keeping her close. “But I will hurt anyone who tries to take what belongs to you or your son. They will bleed for it.”

  His conviction was undeniable, and a sudden fear iced through her. “You cannot kill anyone.”

  “What I do matters not, for my life is already lost, Juliana. Soon enough, I will die. And this time, it will be over.”

  Somehow, he believed this. And though she could not understand how anyone could be brought across time, there was no denying that he was vastly different from any man she’d ever met. He was bold and unyielding, a man who would fight for what he wanted. He was a man of action, not words.

  More than that, he made her feel alive in a way no one ever had. With him, she could speak her mind, saying whatever she wanted. He seemed to admire it, and when she’d lost her temper, his eyes had narrowed with unmistakable interest. And God help her, she wanted him, too. It simply wasn’t fair that she’d married a man who had used and discarded her. And now that she’d met Arik Thorgrim, she felt as if the chains of her old life were breaking. He made her want a different life, one where she was in command of her choices.

  Her hands curled against his chest, and she insisted, “None of us can know our fate. You—you might stay.” Blood rushed to her cheeks, for she didn’t know what he would think of that.

  “Do you want me to stay?” His wide palms moved down her back, pulling her to sit on his lap. There was no denying that he was a strong man, far more imposing than any of the gentlemen she knew.

  In his presence, she felt vulnerable. Arik Thorgrim knew how to unsettle her, how to tempt her wilder side. Nothing about this man was tame.

  I take what I want, Juliana. I don’t ask.

  Could he be real? Was there truth to what he was saying, that he had died in another time and could not move on yet?

  Or was this the purgatory the clergymen spoke of? To die and be trapped between Heaven and earth, forced to live another life that wasn’t his?

  She didn’t know—but selfishly, she wanted Arik to stay.

  Juliana reached up and traced the scar upon his throat. “Why do you even bother with me? I am no one to you.”

  “You know this is not true.” He caught her hand and passed it across his lips. A rush of feelings poured over her, and she wished she could rest her head against his chest and be held so tightly she could hardly breathe. No one had ever looked at her like this. Her heart was falling hard for a man she hardly knew. But there was no denying the connection she felt with him.

  “My afterlife depends upon winning this battle for you,” he said. But his words had nothing to do with the way he was touching her. His hands slid through her hair, and, seated on his lap, she could feel the evidence of his rock-hard desire.

  He kissed her then, his mouth silencing her. Her heart quaked, and he moved his hips so she felt his arousal pressed intimately.

  “Kiss me back,” he ordered.

  She surrendered beneath the onslaught of his mouth, accepting the heat of his lips and tongue. Desire roared through her, and she struggled against her conscience and the way this man made her feel.

  Never once had he criticized her, making her feel awkward or disappointing. He behaved as if he couldn’t get enough of her. When she touched her tongue to his, he adjusted her position on his lap until she was straddling him. His hands clenched her hips, and he forced her to feel the length of his desire through the barriers of clothing. She could imagine his body thrusting within her slick entrance, and how it would feel to ride him.

  She was shuddering, her breathing hitched as she sat upon him, wrapping her legs around his waist. Her nightdress was riding up against her thighs, but she hardly cared. She was drowning in need, reveling in his touch. When she tightened her legs around him, he groaned.

  “Temptress,” he accused, his breath heated against her mouth. “I could take you right now,” he said.

  She was aching for him, so wet it would take nothing at all to drive her wild. She needed to stop this madness, right now, before she did something she would later regret.

  “Did you ever have a wife?” she asked, as she arched her hips against him. His eyes were smoldering, and it gave her a heightened sense of power.

  He palmed her breasts, stroking the tips with his fingers. She let out a shattered breath and between her thighs, she felt the echo of his caress.

  “No. The woman I loved betrayed me with another man,” he told her. He continued to tease her nipples through the fabric, and she rewarded him by grinding her hips against him. A flare of jealousy caught her, at the idea of Arik loving someone else.

  Which was so very foolish. Of course he’d had another life, so long ago. But she couldn’t stop the possessive desires that caught her.

  “She was with another man,” he said. “I tried to kill him, and his brother buried his ax in my spine.”

  He kept his expression neutral, as if nothing were amiss. And yet she knew that his death should not have happened that way.

  “My men were taking my body back to my brother’s settlement for a true burial. They all knew I would die on board the ship.”

  “You deserved better than a woman like that.” She kissed him softly, and he returned it with tenderness of his own.

  There was an unnamed emotion in his eyes when he drew his arms around her. “I thought I loved her. And yet... I don’t even miss her.”

  She pressed her cheek against his, holding him close. It was so wrong to be with him in this way, but she could not stop herself.

  “I remember looking up at the moon on the night I died, wishing I had another chance at life.” He drew back, still keeping his arms around her. “The gods granted my wish. And I am grateful for the days I spent with you, Juliana of Arthur.”

  A sense of foreboding filled her at the thought of him leaving. It wasn’t only the way he had touched her. It was the way he’d barreled into her world, demanding to fight her enemies. And the way he’d made her laugh, teaching her the joy of sailing.

  And the softness in his eyes when he spoke to her son.

  God help her, she could sense the heartbreak that was coming. She had to shield he
rself from that to protect her wayward feelings.

  He drew her hands downward to rest upon his chest. Beneath her fingers, she felt the pulse of his life. “I am not real, Juliana. I died that night. And for some reason, I am caught between life and death. The gods granted my request for a little more time, and I must honor that. If I help you and bring back your son’s inheritance, it gives me a purpose. A way of redeeming the mistakes I made in my life.”

  Although the room was now warm, Juliana felt the chill of his words and the hint of sadness within them. He drew her hand to his chest, and his hardened muscles were warm beneath her touch. “You know that I am not a part of this life. I cannot be.” He leaned in, his breath warm against her cheek. “But I intend to enjoy whatever moments I have left.”

  This man terrified her, not because she feared he would harm her—but because of the way he affected her feelings. He was unpredictable, barbaric... and yet he possessed more honor than any man she’d known.

  “I want to touch you all night until you cry out with your need,” he murmured, his mouth grazing her jaw. “The way you did before.”

  Between her legs, she grew wet and aching. Dear God, she did want to lie with this man again. He had made her into a wanton, desiring something she should never give. But it was more than carnal needs. She wanted to seize a memory for herself, to touch this man as he had touched her. William had been gone for so long, he might never return.

  She’d been so naïve the day she’d wed him, believing that they were eloping at Gretna Green. But there was no evidence at all that she’d signed a marriage registry. It could have been a false document, for all she’d known. And at the age of eighteen, how was she to know any better?

  It was tearing her up inside, and she wished that she had never married William. And yet, she couldn’t regret Harry. He was the darling of her life, the son whose smile never failed to warm her. If it turned out that she and William had never been married, Harry’s life would be shadowed by illegitimacy. And she didn’t want him to suffer the embarrassment of his mother’s mistakes.

  She was falling beneath the spell of this Viking, wanting so badly to forget the years of hardship. William had never caressed her like this, nor had he cared about bringing her pleasure. He only took what he wanted.

  You should be grateful that I rescued you from the life you had, her husband had told her, when he’d taken her virginity on their wedding night. Now you will learn how to be a proper wife, one who knows her place.

  She shuddered at the memory, pushing it back.

  Her fingers dug into Arik’s hair when he slid her nightgown over her shoulders, revealing her bare breasts. His mouth moved downward, and she was helpless to do anything but gasp when he kissed her nipple. A violent tremor rocked through her, and he was merciless in the way he exposed her, finding all of her buried needs. “Your husband never touched you like this, did he?”

  “N-no.” Words of protest came back to her, but her body refused to let her speak. This man was taking apart her senses, shattering the boundaries between them.

  “He turned his back on you, leaving you alone for six years. He doesn’t deserve your loyalty.”

  Her mind and body warred with one another, and she found it difficult to breathe while he was touching her. She wanted him so badly, desiring another night in his arms. His mouth was drawing at her nipple, evoking a need that was so strong, her hands gripped his hair.

  All she had to do was cast aside her morals and lie with him. The thought was so tempting, she wanted to seize these last moments.

  Because she believed that Arik was going to leave her. The belief struck her like a physical blow. And what would happen if she succumbed to him? He would leave, and only shattered pieces of her life would remain.

  Her eyes welled up with the knowledge that once again, she would be left behind. She had relied on others for so long, letting them manipulate her life until it was no longer her own.

  What kind of a woman was she? Was she truly such a shadow that she would stand back while this man left her, too? She didn’t like the person she had become, a woman with no substance or backbone.

  This man had drawn out a fire in her that had been lost for so long. And suddenly, she realized that he was right. William didn’t deserve her loyalty. He had abandoned her for years, and no one believed he was alive. Was she meant to sacrifice the remaining years of her life, waiting for him to return? What if he never did? What if he was dead?

  “I was sent to you, kjære,” he said. “And I want this night with you, so you will remember me when I am gone.”

  Her hair had fallen around her shoulders, and Arik’s eyes were heated with raw desire. Her lips were bruised and swollen, but she took a deep breath. “You were angry with your woman for betraying you with your friend. If I lie with you, am not guilty of the same sins?”

  His hands froze upon her, and his expression grew hard. “It is not the same. I would not have left a wife for six years. Such would not be fair to her.” He stared into her eyes. “If she took another man in my place, I would understand this. So should he.”

  She was beginning to wonder. William had walked away from her. He didn’t want her as his wife, and he’d repeatedly told her how disappointed he was in her. All he had done in the six months of their marriage was train her in obedience. And she’d loathed every minute of it.

  She reached out to Arik’s face, touching his cheek. If she had been wedded to a man like this, she would have grieved at his loss. He had filled an empty space inside of her, giving her a strength she’d forgotten.

  This time, she kissed him, and he answered it with a hunger of his own. She could barely hold a conscious thought as he held her bottom and discarded the rest of his clothing. Her nightgown fell to the floor, and they were now skin to skin. He sat down again on the bed, turning her and guiding her to lie down. She was exposed to him, and he gazed down at her body as if he intended to conquer her.

  “So beautiful,” he said, as he reached to touch her breasts. “I would never have left a woman like you behind.” He grazed the tips of her hardened nipples with his thumbs, circling them as he drew her hips to the edge of the bed. She was dizzy with the sensations, and she gasped when he slid the tip of his manhood inside her. Though she tried to bring him deeper, he withheld himself. The sensation only made her anticipate his thrusts, but he only remained there, waiting.

  “He hurt you like this, didn’t he?” Arik murmured. “You took no pleasure in your marriage bed.”

  “It stopped hurting after a while,” she admitted. “He wasn’t happy with me and said I needed to be taught.”

  The expression on his face darkened, and he withdrew from her body. Juliana wasn’t certain what she’d done wrong, but he lay down beside her, drawing her to face him. “In my country, if a man does not satisfy his woman, she will take another man as her husband.”

  He took her hand in his and demanded, “Tell me where you want to be touched.”

  Her face flooded with color. “I don’t know. I don’t know any of this or what I should do. That night on the ship—you did everything.” She had surrendered completely, letting him take command. And the raw sensations had taken her into a storm of physical bliss.

  Arik took her hands and placed them upon his chest. “And what if I let you do whatever you wish to me? Would you prefer to have all the power, kjære?”

  The idea had never occurred to her. Without waiting for her answer, he lifted her easily, letting her straddle his body. Then he leaned back with both hands behind his head.

  She was tentative at first, touching his hair and then his face. Never had she expected him to let her take the lead. But it seemed that Arik was a man who wanted her to enjoy sharing his bed.

  Her palms moved over his broad shoulders, tracing the scars that covered his skin. His stomach was flat and hard, and she hesitated at his waist.

  “Go on,” he urged.

  She touched his erection, startled at the hea
t and hardness of him. His skin was smooth, and when she touched the head of him, a bead of moisture was there. Curious, she rubbed it, and his fingers dug into the coverlet, his body tensing.

  “By the gods,” he gritted out.

  “Did I hurt you?” She pulled back her hands, but he shook his head.

  “Again, kjære. Do whatever you wish, as long as you wish.”

  She held him in her fist, moving her hand up, caressing him with her thumb before she moved it down again. His face tensed, but she realized that she was giving him pleasure. He was moving in counterpoint to her, and as she moved her hand up and down, he grew slick in her palm.

  The motion began to arouse her, as she imagined what it would be like to feel his length embedded within her. She remembered how delicious it had felt when he had slid only a fraction inside her.

  What if she did the same to him? She eased up on her knees, still stroking him with her hand, and then she poised above him. His dark eyes flew open, and he nearly let out a growl when she took him barely inside her.

  She was so wet, so eager to move against him, it took control to give in to the temptation. But instead of being angry with her, he gave a wicked smile. “You think to torment me, do you?” With that, he balanced his weight on his hands and sat up so he could take her nipple in his mouth. He sucked hard, and she clenched his shaft in response.

  Oh dear God, she needed this. She needed him to move within her, to take her past the brink. But all he did was continue to lick and suckle at her nipples.

  He tongued the other breast, and she sank down upon him, embedding him fully inside her. His body stretched hers, until she could feel every inch of his hardness.

  And still, he didn’t move.

  Slowly, she rose up and sank down upon him. It was like a physical caress, deep within.

  “That’s it,” he encouraged. “Where do you want me to touch you now?”

  She began moving in her own rhythm, slow and deep. She knew that he had more knowledge in this, and she pressed him back to the bed, still riding him. “Touch me wherever it will make me feel the most pleasure.”