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

by Purington, Sky

  “I get the theory.” She watched the water closely for a fish. “But I don’t know, would Rokar ever be into a woman like Tess? She’s pretty wild.”

  “As you saw in my mind’s eye, Rokar was once a much different man,” he reminded. “Perhaps he needs someone to remind him of that. To remind him that he was once very much alive rather than...what he has become.”

  “Well, if anyone can make a man feel alive, it’s Tess.” She frowned as she thrust her spear and totally missed. “I seriously suck at this.”

  “I disagree.” He grinned at all the fish swimming close to her for safe harbor. “You aimed to miss, and you did.” Then he cocked a brow. “How is it you eat meat when you cannot seem to harm a living thing?”

  “I eat what’s already been killed.” She tossed aside the spear because he was right. It was all for show. “I’m not sure that makes it any better, but my dragon needs sustenance, specifically meat, so I do what I have to do.”

  He speared several fish with one thrust then nodded. “Then I will provide for you.”

  Though tempted to bite back that she could provide for herself, she couldn’t quite find the words. In all honesty, she was just fine with it if he was. She might not like the act of fishing, but she rather enjoyed watching him shirtless with his pants rolled up. More than that, she liked seeing the pure enjoyment on his face at doing something so normal with another person. He was reveling in it as much as she had been enjoying the warm rays of the sun all day.

  “How are you doing since our conversation this morning?” he asked softly, one eye on her and the other on the water.

  “Still shaken but a little bit better,” she admitted, mainly because he had remained by her side chatting all day, because of his warm response to being inside her mind’s eye. “I sort of feel like I suffered a great loss, but now it’s a few months later, and I’m just adrift if that makes sense.” She shrugged. “That’s the only thing I can compare it to, and I haven’t even lost anyone close to me in this life.” Her eyes met his. “But I imagine it’s what I would feel if I lost a parent or sister. The aftermath of such a great loss...do you know what I mean? Do you feel it as well?”

  “Yes,” he admitted, a flash of distress in his eyes before they resumed a strength she was becoming all too familiar with. An incredible fortitude that had made him into the man he was today. “I feel an ache...” he began before he cleared his throat, clearly struggling as much as she was. “A hurt that was not there before.”

  “But you don’t know why?” she said softly. “You haven’t had any flashes of what happened? Any memories?”

  “You know I have not.” His eyes returned to hers. “My mind is open to you now Kenzie. There are no more secrets.”

  “I know.” She looked to the darkening sky, and the moon rising over Níðhöggr’s Ash, amazed that it could be at the center of so much strife...so much turbulence. “It really is a beautiful tree.”

  “Very beautiful,” he murmured.

  When her eyes returned to him, it was to find him looking at her, not the tree. It was strange having a man look at her the way he did, but she found she liked it. More than that, she realized, she didn’t want it to stop. He made her feel things she had never felt before in that steady, appreciative gaze of his. Not just beautiful but far more.

  They said nothing for a while after that as he fished and she watched. She enjoyed the comfortable silences they shared as much as the conversations. Floyd seemed in full agreement as he lounged on a patch of grass and stared sleepily at them with approval.

  “Has it hurt lately?” she asked, eying Eirik's tat as he gathered up the fish and they headed back toward the others. According to what she had heard, the other tats hurt at one point or another, meaning various things. One thing remained constant though. They were put there by Skáld.

  “It has hurt here and there,” he admitted. “But very little lately.”

  “So does that mean Einnar is close or not?” she murmured, more to herself than anything. “Because he seemed so close earlier.”

  “That is because Helheim is so close,” he reminded, his eyes going to hers. “We will be ready for him when he comes, Kenzie. We will defeat him.”

  She nodded and swallowed hard, wishing she didn’t feel so terrified. That she possessed more courage.

  “But I do possess courage,” she whispered, as she met his eyes, knowing full well he followed her thoughts. She had been courageous when she was willing to go to Einnar the day before. Not to mention, it spoke to a level of bravery that she had been eager to kick his ass if the opportunity arose. But since then, since learning everything she had overnight, a whole new fear had settled in the pit of her stomach.

  “I’ve never been a coward,” she continued. “But something about this dragon we’re facing makes me feel like...Honestly, I feel like I’d be quick to run and hide now.” She shook her head. “And I don’t mean ducking behind a rock with Dagr but downright cowering in fear. Turning into a quivering mess.”

  Not what she wanted to feel considering she may have to give herself over to him.

  Would give herself over.

  “Your feelings of fear and wanting to flee would make sense if you were pregnant in another life,” he replied, his troubled eyes on hers as he dropped his catch on a rock near Leviathan, gathered up some skins of mead and pulled her after him. “Would you not have hidden the child from him? Protected the child no matter what?”

  “Of course.” She gave her sister a nod of reassurance and a little wave goodbye. “Which makes me wonder at the life you and I must have shared, Eirik. Were you one of Skáld’s dragons like Davyn and Håkon? If so, did we run off together before or after you got me pregnant? And what happened to that child before it died?” She met his eyes as a whole new terrifying thought occurred to her. “What if it was Einnar’s child? What if he got me pregnant?”

  “Then he got you pregnant,” he said firmly and rather practically as he urged her to follow him around a bend to a river that stemmed off the lake. He crouched at the water’s edge and washed the fish from his hands before he finally spoke again, his words soft and heartfelt as he met her eyes over his shoulder. “Whatever our story, Kenzie, we mourn the loss of this child together.” He stood and came to her, grasping her shoulders gently as his eyes held hers. “Because whoever’s seed took root in our previous life, I considered that child very much mine in the end. One that I would raise as my own...love as my own.”

  “Then it wasn’t yours?” she whispered.

  “I do not know,” he murmured, pulling her close. “Other than to say I loved it like my own. That my grief is every bit as strong as yours. Every bit as heartbreaking.”

  “It is that,” she whispered, resting her cheek against his chest, so incredibly content to be back in his arms that it caught her off guard. More than that, it made her realize how close she had grown to him in a very short time. But then it hadn’t been that short a time, had it? Not if he were her destined mate. Not if they had lived another life together.

  “We can return to the others now,” she murmured, well aware he had brought her here to make sure she was really okay. To be a sounding board if she needed one. She was doing all right though. In truth, she would just as soon stay here simply to spend time alone with him. But not if he thought he had to make her feel better the whole time. “I know your heart’s in the right place, but I don’t need coddling.”

  “I know you do not.” He stroked her hair then inhaled its scent. “I just wanted to show you something...and be alone together.”

  Glad they were on the same page, she inhaled his scent just as deeply, amazed by how much she was into him. Thrilled by the sensation. Addicted to it almost. She had never wanted to be in a man’s arms so much. Against him. Touching him.

  “Come,” he whispered before he pulled her after him along the river to a stream that branched off and ran beneath a thick intricately carved stone archway.

  “That definite
ly looks manmade,” she remarked, caught by the stunning beauty of the area. Moss caked rocks lined the stream and delicate roots from sparkling silver trees draped down into the water as if long, enchanted hair caught in the moonlight. It was all so eye-catching, she found herself walking forward without much thought as to where she was going.

  “Why does this place look so familiar?” she whispered, smiling as she saw the entranceway between the roots to a dark but tempting pool of water directly beneath the archway. “It’s a whirlpool of sorts, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” he said, joining her. “Though this stream is one of many in the area, this location seems more caught up in the Realm’s oddities.”

  “What do you mean?” she murmured, eying a small but lush bed of green grass nestled beside the whirlpool. Before he could respond, her eyes were drawn specifically to the compelling swirl of water, and she suddenly understood. “The water’s different here isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” he replied. “Like a few bodies of water in the Realm, it goes against the laws of gravity, but there is even more to it...”

  “My God,” she whispered, interrupting him as she figured it out. She began removing her clothes, compelled to go in. To be part of all this. “It flows both upstream and downstream at the same time.”

  Yet she knew he had been about to say even more. That he was going to speak of the inherent magic of this place. Because its pure enchantment was undeniable.

  “It does flow both ways,” he confirmed, as he began undressing as well.

  Her gaze remained locked on the whirlpool as she waded in. It drew her in a way that brought unexplainable joy to her heart. Oh, how she wanted to immerse herself in it.

  Remember it.

  “That makes no sense,” she murmured. “Why would I want to remember it when I’ve never been here before?” She stopped and glanced over her shoulder at Eirik, suddenly certain this place was more than familiar to him and not because he had visited it lately. “It makes sense to you though, doesn’t it?”

  “It does,” he confirmed, his eyes never leaving hers. “It did the moment I first discovered it.”

  A delicious, life-altering sort of chill washed over her as their eyes held. “Why?” She swept her eyes over the area then looked at him again. “What does this place have to do with us, Eirik?”

  “Everything,” he said softly, pulling off the last of his clothes before he joined her. “It has to considering this is where we were the first time I dreamt of you years ago.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  THERE WAS NOTHING comparable to stepping into a dream. Nothing more surreal than finally seeing the woman he had long dreamt of just as she should be. Just as strikingly beautiful as her brilliant emerald eyes lit with unexpected childlike joy. As she suddenly laughed, the sound so freeing to what felt like his caged soul, that he laughed as well.

  “Why do I feel so blasted happy all of a sudden?” She visibly trembled as her hand slipped into his and they made their way past the silver roots and under the archway to waist-high water. “Why do I feel so happy now when I’ve felt so much sadness today?”

  He shook his head, not sure other than that he felt the same way. Just as he had when he dreamt of this moment.

  “How did you dream of it though?” she asked, following his thoughts. “When it’s in a place that hasn’t existed until recently?”

  “I do not know.” He shook his head again, just not sure. “I can only be grateful that it was still here to show you considering how this land changes as it does.”

  She nodded and smiled as they made their way to the whirlpool.

  “Look at the steam rising off of it,” she whispered, thrilled by the push and pull of the water. “It’s not as warm as the water earlier but definitely heated somehow.”

  “Come.” He pulled her to its very center. “You will enjoy this even more.”

  She bit her lower lip, her eyes sparkling with renewed happiness and vigor as he pulled her against him in the midst of the maelstrom. This was the only spot that was current free yet still offered an interesting yet alluring sensation.

  “Whoa, what is that?” she whispered, the corner of her mouth curling up. “And I’m not talking about your erection.”

  “It is part of the magic of this place,” he said softly, watching her enjoy the strange caressing sensation of the water. It was sort of a churning amid all the current. One that gave more balance rather than took it away.

  “It’s almost like a Jacuzzi but so much better,” she murmured. “And without the bubbles.”

  Her eyes widened a little in pleasure before they flashed with her inner dragon. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say it’s stimulating my dragon somehow.” Her eyes met his. “Is it happening to you too?”

  “Yes,” he growled, no longer in the mood to talk as he grabbed her backside and lifted her enough that he could kiss her. A kiss she wholeheartedly welcomed as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and straddled his waist.

  “No,” she groaned into his mind when he thought to bring her to the grass. “Stay right here.”

  Not about to argue, more than ready to appease her, he braced his legs and allowed her to sink onto his cock.

  “ You feel so good,” she groaned aloud, her breath choppy as her dragon eyes met his.

  He couldn’t manage a response he was so lost in the feel of her. Lost in her incredibly tight, hot heat as he squeezed her backside and began moving exactly how she wanted him to based on her explicit, very lustful thoughts.

  More of a seductress this time than before, she braced her hands on his shoulders, the look in her eyes daring as they stayed with his. Challenging in a way that told him she was eager to see how far he would take her.

  How deep the pleasure could go.

  He offered a small, complying smile as he began to show her precisely how much he could offer simply by lifting her up and down, then around, over and over until her lips parted and her breathing switched.

  Soon after, she began groaning as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders again and dug her nails into his back. That’s when he began increasing his pace, slamming into her with a whole new vigor.

  With a need to fill her.

  Claim her.

  In direct response to his thoughts, she began trembling, her nails likely drawing blood, before she cried out and locked up. Rather than continue moving, he stilled, determined to let her enjoy her climax, but ended up following due to the untouchable sensation of her milking his cock.

  He released a ragged groan, trembling as he held her tight. Clutching her in his arms until he spent himself completely. Until his dragon was satisfied she held all of his seed. Every last drop.

  “So good,” her whispered words echoed in his mind as he finally lowered her into the water.

  “Yes, it was,” he murmured aloud, simply holding her as she rested her head on his shoulder. They stayed that way for some time until she eventually met his eyes. Dragon eyes to be precise. Just like hers.

  “My dragon’s not simmering down,” she said softly. “Something about this place and you...definitely you.”

  “Yet it is not controlling you so much anymore, is it?”

  “No,” she murmured, her eyes a little wondrous as they stayed with his. “And it doesn’t seem nearly as aggressive.”

  “This is good, yes?” he said softly.

  “Yes,” she confirmed. “Things seem clearer between my two halves somehow. Better defined.”

  He nodded, sensing that as well, wondering how it tied in with everything else that had happened to them thus far.

  “Whatever’s going on,” she murmured, following his thoughts as she pulled away yet remained close, “like Shea said, it’s a good thing.”

  “It is,” he agreed.

  As the moon grew brighter, it ignited the water on either side of the archway, and the delicate roots exploded in trails of sparkling silver.

  “God, do you feel that?” she whispered.
Her eyes drifted to the whirlpool before returning to him. “It’s as if the water is alive almost...because it just doesn’t move or feel like this normally.”

  He agreed entirely. It was definitely otherworldly which he supposed made sense considering its creator. Yet this place didn’t strike him as Níðhöggr’s style. Then again, the Great Serpent had been surprising him as of late.

  “It is something,” he agreed, meeting her smile as he reeled her closer.

  Just like that, he was aroused again and desperate to be inside her. But then, like her, he was still strongly under the influence of his dragon.

  “Though I didn’t think it possible, I swear I’m in heat far stronger here,” she murmured before she pulled his lips to hers and their tongues wrapped.

  Though she was likely more aroused than usual because Níðhöggr’s Realm could do that to women, this place, in particular, made it more acute for them both. Perhaps because like all water in the Realm it derived from Hvergelmir’s Spring. The infamous spring from which all life sprung. And now here they were caught in a magical maelstrom of it. A whirlpool of enchantment that seemed to draw them closer and closer together.

  Just like it had when he dreamt of this place.

  None of that mattered right now though. All his dragon cared about at the moment was providing her with as much of its seed as possible. This time he didn’t take her in the center of the whirlpool but brought her to the grass. Just as animalistic and hungry as him, she took him on all fours this time. She took him as he grasped her hips almost roughly and drove into her with a force he had no control over.

  Both roared with pleasure at the almost violent way he slammed into her. He had never taken Hel like this. With a near angry need to conquer and claim and make her all his. A feeling she seemed in full agreement with as she sank to her elbows and hung her head releasing low keens of approval as he thrust harder and harder until he let go moments before her.