Viking's Ransom (Viking Ancestors: Rise of the Dragon, #4)

by Purington, Sky

  In retrospect, it was the best thing he could have done because she lost her train of thought and with it, any further argument. Good thing because she wasn’t much in the mood for talking. She didn’t want to discuss what had happened with Einnar and certainly didn’t want to talk about the lack of children she could give Eirik. No, kissing and feeling him seemed like a much better idea. Something her dragon wholeheartedly agreed with based on the low growl of arousal that vibrated in her chest.

  She knew what he intended to do when he brought her here, and though initially determined to convince him otherwise, she realized that was the last thing she wanted to do. Sleeping with him had nothing to do with forever and certainly, in her case, nothing to do with children.

  Right now was about right now and how much she seriously needed release.

  Though female dragons in heat might not put off a constant scent, the driving ache for a male between their legs never abated. Therefore, anything that could assuage that plus keep away the horrible sadness she had felt was a good thing.

  So she gave in, deepening the kiss as she straddled him then ground against him, turning the driving ache into an almost painful level of lust. All the while, his hands wandered, touching, stroking, testing and teasing as he clearly reveled in feeling a woman that was at least half human.

  “Not just any woman but you,” he murmured into her mind, cranking her arousal up about a thousand notches with his heartfelt words. While there might be a degree of desperation in the way he touched her, there was none in the way he felt about her. It was true and unwavering. Something he had absolute confidence in.

  “No clothes,” she whispered against his lips, frantic to be closer, to touch, to have the material gone in an instant.

  But it seemed he had other ideas as he pulled back and met her eyes before slowly pulling off her shirt. He appeared to enjoy the process of gradually revealing her flesh, his eyes hungry as they roamed over her. Just the way he looked at her, with sizzling hot dragon fire heating his lustful gaze, made her squirm in anticipation.

  Yet she wasn’t getting what she wanted any faster by wiggling around.

  Instead, he lifted her by the waist until she stood over him then had her brace a hand on each of his shoulders as he removed her boots. Then he did more of that hand-caressing-eye-caressing thing she was already addicted to as he ran his hands up her legs then untied the cinch at her waist. Then, just as painfully slow, he pulled everything down inch-by-excruciating-inch until he had her completely undressed and standing, legs spread, in front of him.

  A low growl of approval vibrated deep in his chest, as he ran his hands up her thighs, then grabbed her ass before he inhaled deeply and put his mouth precisely where she wanted it.

  “Hellll,” she groaned, caught off guard by how talented he was considering he had only been with one other woman. But then, look who that woman had been. So maybe groaning ‘hell’ right now hadn’t been in the best taste.

  When her legs buckled, he held her in place and continued enjoying himself thoroughly by the looks, feel—and sound—of it. Which turned her on even more and the buildup swiftly became a mind-blowing release.

  He allowed her to sink down slowly, kissing and licking his way along her body until he pulled a taut nipple into his mouth, only intensifying the orgasm. One that kept washing over her and made reality come and go as he yanked his shirt off then closed his lips over hers.

  One thing became abundantly clear as he guided her back and forth over his still-clothed erection. He was extremely good at this. Well-practiced to be sure as he managed to keep her climax going and going until it seemed he couldn’t take it anymore.

  The next thing she knew, he was on his knees as he braced her against the rock. Seconds later, after tugging his pants down enough to free himself, he thrust hard. Forget groaning, she belted out a solid half-scream-half-roar of approval as her ongoing release only intensified.

  A mixture of bliss and concentration ravaged his features as he began moving, thrusting deep and hard while rolling his hips just right. She had never felt anything so damn amazing or anyone look so hot while doing it to her. Sweat slicked his flexing muscles as he braced a hand against the rock and moved faster, filling her so completely, so perfectly.

  Eager for more, never wanting this to end, she wrapped her arms and legs around him and met his thrusts with a frenzied need that clawed its way to the surface. Though she knew it was her dragon, her alternate personality, it wasn’t taking over but joining in. Reveling in an experience it had never had before.

  Oddly enough, it was the first time she ever felt a sense of peace between her two halves. Maybe because they were sharing the same untouchable experience. The same build up to what she suspected was going to be a mind-blowing crescendo.

  Or maybe it was all him.

  Perhaps they were in perfect agreement when it came to his dragon and what they wanted from him. Not just a climax that would outdo all climaxes but something far more. Something she had studiously been trying to avoid but was drawing her closer to him regardless.

  It was that, the deep emotional connection she was forming with him, the need for more, that ended up catapulting her over a physical edge she never could have imagined. An edge he followed her over as he braced his other hand against the rock, thrust deep one last time then locked up, a strangled growl of approval rumbling in his chest.

  Way beyond cloud nine, every inch of her body tingled, shook and clenched in such an amazing way she never felt him move let alone lay her down in the grass. For that matter, she wasn’t aware of anything but pleasure washing over her again and again.

  By the time bits of awareness started surfacing, night had fallen, and moonlight splintered down through the pines. Though it probably should have unnerved her to find Eirik by her side watching her, it didn’t.

  “How long have you been doing that?” she murmured, never more content to have a man’s eyes on her.

  “The whole time,” he said softly, skimming his fingers along her jaw so tenderly she knew he had wanted to do that since the moment he laid her down. “I have never seen a more beautiful woman or dragon.”

  “I find that hard to believe,” she whispered, well aware she was blushing. “In fact, according to most and I tend to agree, Hel’s the most beautiful woman to ever exist.”

  “Maybe to some,” he agreed. “But not to me.” His fingers trailed so lightly down her neck, gooseflesh raced all over. “Not compared to you.”

  He wasn’t just saying that but truly believed it. She could sense it in him, see it in his thoughts, even in his eyes as he gazed at her. And that, not shockingly, had her so aroused you would think she hadn’t just climaxed more times than she could count. Or maybe it had just been one long climax. Nevertheless, in her defense, based on the sky that was a while ago, so she didn’t hesitate to push him back and straddle him.

  “You are not thirsty or hungry?” he murmured, his eyes drinking in the sight of her body. The way he looked at her made her feel like she was built more like Shea with all her curves. Not to say she didn’t have a few. She did. But hers were smaller, more petite, and her breasts? Perky but not overly large was the best way to describe them.

  “Oh, I’m hungry,” she murmured as she began kissing her way down him. “And more than a little thirsty.”

  Though she knew he intended to respond, she made sure she took the words right out of his mouth. He might be large, but she had always been especially good at oral gratification, using her tongue and lips in creative ways. Ways he seemed to thoroughly approve of as he wrapped his hands into her hair not so much to guide her but because he needed something to hold onto.

  By the time she was finished, he wasn’t just groaning but roaring in satisfaction. More turned on than ever but understanding he needed a chance to recover, she went to shift away, but he caught her and flipped her beneath him before she could.

  “How,” she gasped, unable to get another word out before he s
pread her thighs and thrust hard.

  “It wants to be inside you,” he growled in her ear, clearly talking about his dragon as he buried himself deep. “It wants to impregnate you.”

  For a moment there she had forgotten exactly what was on male dragon’s minds when they took a female in heat. But that didn’t stop her from responding to it. Hellishly turned on, she spread her legs wider and took him deeper still, whispering, “Doesn’t it know that I’m in fake dragon heat?”

  “There is nothing fake about your state right now,” he managed, his voice hoarse with arousal, his movements slow and methodical as he hit just the right spot over and over.

  Actually, there was a level of deception here seeing how she couldn’t get pregnant, and that was the whole point of going into heat. Keeping the species going. But none of that mattered as mini-climaxes began fluttering through her. So many that she couldn’t seem to find the muscles to wrap her legs around him. To instinctually get him as close to her womb as possible.

  Evidently sensing what she wanted, needed, more than likely needing the same himself, he wrapped his arms under her knees and lifted her legs for her. One thrust later, she cried out in pleasure as she catapulted over the edge again and colors burst all around her.

  Instead of finding his own release, he stopped and watched her ride the waves. Because that’s exactly what it felt like. Crashing waves of release that went on and on until they became an ebb and flow. And all the while, he watched her, admired her based on the flare of his pupils and the on again off again flicker of dragon fire.

  When he began moving again, it was with a whole new intent in his eyes. One she had never seen before but recognized. His dragon had opened her up to him through so many climaxes, so much arousal, that it felt she was ready to receive its seed. Ready for it to claim her in a way so primal, it turned her on something fierce despite her lack of fertility.

  That’s when everything became an out of control blur of lust and pure sensation. Still locked in position, she dug her nails into the grass and became completely lost in all he made her feel. Immersed in the harsh pleasure that coiled inside her, and wrapped around her very being.

  Firelight flickered over him as she basked in the feeling of him taking her on a ride she had never been on before. Taking her to a place far beyond Níðhöggr’s Realm. Somewhere else entirely. The firelight flickering over him became a hundred fires as sparks drifted all around them. Then his dragon’s face flashed in her mind’s eye.

  Close.

  So close

  All hers.

  Impassioned beyond belief, totally in sync, an indescribably intense all-consuming orgasm ripped through them at the same time, and both roared.

  Then another face flashed in her mind’s eye.

  A baby dragon blacker than night with quicksilver ebony eyes.

  “No,” she cried as crippling pain that had nothing to do with pleasure ripped through her.

  The last thing she remembered before everything turned pitch black was crying out a single name...Dagr’s.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “HEL,” EIRIK ROARED in his mind, trying to summon the goddess. “What just happened?”

  Because something had undoubtedly happened.

  Not now but in their previous life based on what he had seen in Kenzie’s mind’s eye before she passed out. Dagr had been there. He had seen him on Múspellsheimr. Or was that all an illusion and he was actually there now as the prophecy foretold?

  “No,” he said aloud to himself, holding Kenzie in his arms, trying to shelter her even in her slumber from whatever had just happened. “Einnar does not have him yet. That was something else.”

  “It was,” whispered through his mind. “Help her, Eirik...”

  He frowned and peered into the night at the sound of her sister Tess’s voice. Was she here?

  “No, I’m still at home,” she murmured, still within his mind. “I think I’m dreaming...but I’m watching out for her.”

  Where the Ancient’s had a tribal ranking, and Sigdir’s tended to run a close family unit, Kenzie and her sisters had designated siblings they specifically looked out for. In Kenzie’s case, Tess was what they called her number one. So she was the first dragon to protect her in times of trouble. But how was she doing that all the way from the twenty-first century? And why was he hearing her?

  “I’m trying to get there,” she said, clearly worried. “I’m trying...”

  “What do you know of what just happened?” He felt her essence begin to drift away. He was losing the connection. “Why did we see my son?”

  “Because his dragon’s trying to tell you something,” she murmured, further away by the moment. “Trying to make you remember.”

  “How do you know?”

  She responded, but he could no longer hear her because she was too far away. Then her essence vanished altogether. What had she meant? What was Dagr’s dragon trying to tell them? As if he knew, Floyd meowed once loudly before he sat on a nearby rock and simply stared at Eirik well into the night.

  Though determined to remain awake to lend Kenzie comfort when she woke, he must have drifted off at some point because when he opened his eyes again, they were lying together in a puddle of bright morning sunlight.

  “Hey there,” Shea exclaimed, smiling widely from across the fire as she and Davyn cuddled and roasted game. “We were wondering what time you two love dragons were gonna rise and shine.” She eyed the sunlight streaming down on them. “Literally.”

  It seemed they had been covered with a fur at some point but more alarmingly, he realized as he looked at Kenzie’s tear-streaked face, she had been crying in her sleep.

  “Yeah,” Shea murmured. The octave of her voice changed as her eyes drifted to her sister. “Though I wish those had been tears of lustful joy, I get the feeling they’re not.” Her gaze leveled on him, all merriment gone. “What happened, Eirik? Because you know, don’t you?”

  “He knows as much as I do,” Kenzie whispered, her voice hoarse as her bloodshot eyes fluttered open and locked with his though she spoke to her sister. “I’m okay, Shea.”

  “Are you?” he said softly, trying to wipe away dried tears as he brushed his thumb over her cheek.

  “I have to be,” she whispered, searching his eyes. “Did you see...do you know what happened? Because whatever it was,” she swallowed hard, emotional, “it ripped my heart out.”

  He nodded in agreement. “I felt it too.”

  “And you weren’t the only one, were you?” Shea said softly, her eyes trained on him. “Tess was here...I felt her close last night.”

  “She was?” Kenzie exclaimed, adjusting the fur around her as she sat up. “Where is she now?”

  “She was never actually here,” Eirik sat up as well, “but connecting with us across time in a dream state.”

  “So you felt her too?” Surprise lit her eyes as they met his. “Across time?” She frowned and shook her head. “How is that even possible?”

  “I did not just sense her I spoke with her,” he revealed before he shared what she had told him.

  “How the hell did you speak with her across time when even I couldn’t?” Shea exclaimed as Rokar melted out of the shadows and appeared at the entrance to their rocky alcove.

  “You are not the only one she spoke with,” he said, his expression more troubled than usual as his eyes went between Kenzie and Shea. “What kind of dragon is she to be able to do that?”

  Though everyone likely thought he referred to her speaking across time, Eirik and Davyn, equally shocked as they looked at their cousin, knew he referred to something else entirely. Because though Rokar could still hear his kins’ thoughts if he wanted to, he had blocked anyone from hearing his own thoughts or communicating with him telepathically since his wife and child died.

  “Well, we’ve always called her a Free Spirit Dragon,” Shea said in answer to Rokar's question about Tess. “But that wouldn’t explain her being able to talk to you guys acros
s time like that.” Her eyes slid back to Eirik and Kenzie. “Especially considering Eirik is clearly not Tess’s mate.”

  “No,” Eirik agreed, unable to stop himself from pulling Kenzie closer. He wanted her in his arms as much as possible. All the time if he had his way. “My mate is right here.”

  Though Kenzie’s eyes widened a little, she said nothing to that nor did she try to pull away.

  “Why do you call Tess a Free Spirit Dragon?” Rokar said, already having said more in the past twenty-four hours than the past few years combined.

  “Mainly because she’s always had her own mind and does her own thing.” Shea eyed Rokar as he joined them by the fire. “Whether we like it or not.”

  “And,” Kenzie added softly, nodding thanks to Davyn when he handed her and Eirik some meat, “because her dragon is more free-thinking than most. More independent and difficult to ground. Its hard to get it to stay in one place too long.”

  “I sometimes think we should have called her Restless Spirit Dragon,” Shea added. “But free just seemed more noble.”

  “Is she noble then?” Rokar said softly, his eyes on the fire as he seemed to ask the question of himself rather than of her sisters.

  “On occasion,” Shea muttered, winking at Kenzie. “When it suits her.”

  “Hey there,” Kenzie murmured to her cat as Floyd crawled onto her lap. After a pat, he proceeded to drape himself across both her and Eirik’s laps before he yawned, flicked his tail once then purred up into the sunlight with contentment.

  Though he had initially disliked the cat, he could admit he wasn’t totally opposed to having him around now. Primarily, because he knew Floyd was watching out for Kenzie. Not only that, but he calmed her and made her happy. As if he were in full agreement with Eirik, the cat winked at him then decided it was time to give himself a bath.