Her Gilded Firebird: Book Three in the Norse Warriors series

by Susannah Shannon

  “Sir, Ma’am? Dinner is being served.”

  Elin began to giggle and Gunnar teasingly covered her mouth with his hand. They laughed together like naughty children while they hurried into their clothes.

  Chapter 34

  Walking to the main hall, Elin saw that Fasen had been correct, it was already dark outside. Dinner was smoked salmon and cracker bread. Elin realized that there hadn’t been time to bake since the wall had gone rogue and thrown them all about. The hard cider was delicious. A happy shout went up when two visitors arrived mid-meal. One of them was Ragnifer and beside him was a short, nearly totally round, little woman. Her face was round, her body was round, and only the long braids of saver hair that streamed down her back were a straight line. Elin found the woman’s presence made her smile. Many people called out amicably, “Welcome Ragnifer! Nice to see you, Stella!”Gunnar stood, bowed his head in the direction of his host and said, “Thank you, for your hospitality.”

  Everyone present stood and returned the respectful bow to Gunnar. She tucked her hand through his arm and allowed him to lead her out of the dining hall.

  “We don't have to leave the hall quite yet, I am not that tired,” she said.

  “Oh, you are going to be exhausted, trust me,” he whispered.

  One glance into her husband's’ eye and she realized that he had no intention of her falling asleep anytime soon. She eagerly waited for his hungry hands to reach for her. His strong arms wrapped around her and he buried his face into her loose hair. They kissed, and sparks flew. She was gasping for breath as he gently began unlacing her bodice. She allowed herself the pleasure of running her hands over his strong muscled arms. He lowered his lips to her bosom and followed the unlacing by laying soft kisses along the newly exposed skin. Elin was swooning with pleasure. A deep aching need throbbed between her legs. She caught her hands in his hair and moaned.

  Gunnar smiled but didn’t allow his wife to hurry him along. Slipping her dress down over her shoulders he pressed his lips unto her belly, swirling his tongue around her belly button.

  Her breathing ran jagged, and he tugged her dress down over her hips.

  Elin reached for him, unbuckling his belt and enjoying the way his cock sprang towards her. Pressing his palm against her mound, Gunnar was delighted at the way she ground up against it. With a gentle fingertip, he parted her lips and lightly brushed her swollen pearl. Elin was ravishingly beautiful with her face flushed and her head thrown back. Gunnar teased her, by nipping at one tender pink nipple. She rolled his rocketeer with her hands, marveling at his girth. With a strength that shocked both, she pushed Gunnar off her and straddled him. “I want to see your chest,” she ordered, helping him lift his shirt over his head. With fervor she kissed him as hard as she could, laughing at the way her hair tumbled down over them, leaving them in a world of their very own.

  He twirled a strand of her hair around one of his fingers. Elin lifted herself up a little and then lowered herself onto him, impaled upon his cock she rocked back and forth driving him deeper into her each time. Digging his fingers into her bottom he lifted and lowered her at a frantic pace.

  She trembled with pleasure as she felt herself explode around his hard cock. Elin was still catching her breath when Gunnar shifted her so that she was on her hands and knees on the bed. She awaited his lunging into her with bated breath. He did not. Pressing a kiss into the curve of her lower back, his hand explored her slick pussy. Darting fingers over her clit, he rubbed and swirled as she bucked and ground. He leaned forward and took a gentle, slow bite of her ass. “Do,” he nibbled again, “Not,” the hardest nip of all, ”Move, ”he ordered. Elin held still, although most of her inclinations were to dive under the covers and wrap her arms over her breasts. Gunnar dug something out of a trunk and in a few steps returned to the bed. “Can I move now? I feel silly,” Elin said, acutely aware of her hanging breasts and jutting out bottom.

  “You can if you want to end up right over my knee.”

  Elin did not move. She was aware of his hot breath on the back of her neck. Gunnar ran his hands over her back and down her hips. He lay a kiss on her tailbone and then as Erin gasped, he parted her bottom cheeks and pressed his lips to her tiny pink rosebud. Elin had to force herself to stay still, slamming her legs shut and rolling over was her first reaction.

  Gunnar seemed to understand this and was quick to praise her, “Good girl for doing as I say.”

  His tongue darted in and out of her, swirling in circles around the puckered opening. Her arms and legs began to tremble. Gunnar withdrew his mouth from her. She heard a jar being opened and then a finger was firmly slid into her back passage. “Oh!” she gasped. She had no idea anyone ever did that. His hot tongue was back on her clit, smoothing the way for her to accept the invasion of her tiny ass. He sucked and teased with his mouth, while slowly, but insistently his finger began to move in and out of her. She darted forward, only to be stopped by his hand on her shoulder.

  “What did I say would happen if you moved?”

  “Oh no, honey, please, I am sorry.”

  Gunnar hauled her over his lap, she could feel his massive cock pressing into her soft tummy. The first swat was more warming then punishing. He used his hand to slowly spank all her bottom and upper thighs. It was deliberate and exciting and nothing like the kind of punishment she knew he can mete out.

  “Are you ready to obey?” he whispered.

  “I will try,” she answered huskily.

  Gunnar stroked her hair, “Back on your hands and knees.” She scrambled to obey him.

  “Press your breasts to the bed,” doing so made her bottom go even more skyward. “Spread your knees,“ he commanded. She did so, although her face blushed to imagine what she must look like. He resumed tonguing her. Starting at her pussy and moving upward with each stroke of his persuasive tongue. The waves of pleasure made Elin moan. He paused a moment and then his finger was back, covered in something slick and more demanding than before.

  “You belong to me,“ he said as his finger drilled into her bottom hole. “Keep your chest down, spread your legs wider for me.”

  Elin gasped when she felt the broad head of his cock press against her tiny virgin opening.

  “It’s alright” he whispered. Just before he entered her, she anticipated pain, and she wrenched herself onto the bed, simultaneously saying, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it will hurt.”

  Gunnar rolled onto his back and took his bride in his arms. “Don’t be sorry, my love, I was too impatient.” He gently kissed her, and she felt herself responding to his wooing.

  “I might have an idea,” she whispered, rolling them over so that he was on top of her.

  He took his weight onto his elbows, the better to see her pretty face. “Will I like this idea?”

  She shrugged, “I hope so. Do you have to do it that way? I mean with me on my knees?”

  “I don’t understand the question. You mean to take your bottom?”

  She opened her legs and wrapped them around his hips. Reaching down between them, she rubbed the head of his cock all over her soaking pussy and then lifted her hips a fraction.

  His head found her back cleft, and he slowly began to penetrate her. There was a moment of discomfort, but there was something primal about it too, and she took a deep breath as he inched into her.

  With pleasure, he sighed into her hair, “good girl, you are opening up for me like a flower, good girl.” It helped that she could look in his eyes and be reassured by the love she saw there. She gasped at seeing the delight on his face as he claimed every inch of her. He moved slowly, keeping his eyes pinned on her ecstatic face. When he reached between them and pressed against her clit while he was deep inside her rosebud, she gave a wild cry and shuddered with orgasm.

  “What a good girl,” he exclaimed, allowing himself to move more forcefully within her. The sensation danced on the precipice of hurting and yet didn’t. She felt claimed, possessed, beloved. He came deep, deep withi
n her and then moaned, “That was an excellent idea,” before cradling her in his arms so that they could both fall asleep.

  Chapter 35

  The next day the wall remained resolutely shut, so Gunnar made more swords at Mid Mount forge. Elin had settled into a warm cranny of the keep with her drop spindle when Signe and a few of her Fasen joined her. The warrior women casually leaned against the walls and seemed to relax although a closer inspection showed that their senses were always on alert, guarding their priestess. Elin wasn't sure what the Fasen had done to their hair, the day before it had all been jet black. Now all of them had a single thin silver streak that ran through their elaborate braids. The Huntrix was young and beautiful, but her extraordinary plaits were all of a silvery, luminescent shade. The Huntrix made Elin a little nervous, so as she was wont to do, she said something entirely inappropriate and rude,” How can people abandon baby girls? What is wrong with those people?” Signe effortlessly dropped to the ground and sat watching Elin’s face. “Not everyone can feed all of their children. Some believe that a sacrifice will make the Gods have mercy.”

  “Well, I think it’s murder,” muttered Elin.

  Signe smiled, “I understand that feeling, but the threads are woven together, and my daughters and I are each other’s destiny.” Elin could not help but notice the warm way the Sisters of the Moon looked at each other. They were a fellowship, a family of sorts. As quickly as they had appeared, the women melted away, with Signe calling over her shoulder, ”We will see you later Elin, the healer.”

  Chapter 36

  After Signe left her, Elin could not stop thinking about the abandoned baby girls. She wondered how many of them Signe and her order could save. She pictured helpless newborn Gertie, left outside to perish, and her belly clenched with fury. Her hands were shaking, so she gave up on her spindle and tossed it into the chair. She needed to clear her head. Elin tried to open a door that led to the stairs to the top of the wall. It was stuck fast. Even using all her strength, she could not budge it. Frustrated she gave it a kick.

  Her need to get outside seemed urgent. She was able to pry open a different door. This was a staircase where the students stored their outerwear. Hooks with coats and scarves lined the walls, and there was a built-in shelf underneath each step that held boots. As she started up the stairs, a heavy coat fell upon her. She tossed it aside and tried to hurry up the stairs. The entire staircase seemed to shift a bit, and a pair of boots bounced down the stairs towards her. She tried to toss them back. Again, the entire staircase seemed to move. “This is absurd, “she shouted to no one. But she sat down and pulled the boots on. They fit perfectly and would be warmer than the shoes she had on. Running her hand along the solid wall, it seemed ludicrous to think that it could have moved. “I’m going crazy, like everyone else up here,” she whispered, pressing her forehead to the wall. In response, a heavy coat dropped onto her. She tried to. Hang it back up and the hook resolutely refused to hold it. When she set the coat on a step another jacket, even bigger dropped onto her.With a shrug she pulled it on, it was big on her, but fur lined. It was altogether unnecessary, she had no intention of being outside long enough to need such a warm coat. Her need to get on to the wall was surging through her. The walls of the staircase seemed to be closing in on her. Adrenaline pulsing, she forced the door open and felt the wind sting her eyelids. Up here, there were no trees near the wall, just wide-open icy space.

  It was sleeting, and the tiny specks of ice stung her face. Ringing in her ears sounded like a mournful cry. A feeling of being abandoned, desolate, worthless, rose up within her bosom. She leaned over the edge of the bulwark. She could see birds flying below. The wall was solid, but she felt as if she might float away. An image of a starving, frozen baby Gertie overtook her. Her boots stubbornly clung to the stones of the wall, but the grief was too intense. Elin allowed it to carry her along.

  With a gasp, she realized she was falling. Unsure if she had fallen or jumped, she tried to scream, but the cold sucked her voice away. She landed on something wide and substantial and moving. She felt claws and beaks peck at her hair and hands and then realized that she was somehow among a gathering of owls. The flash of a round yellow eye near her face made her try to draw her hands up. She couldn’t, her sleeves were grasped in the talons of a dozen owls, somehow, she was on the back of others, and at least a few were tangled in her hair. Amidst their yapping and screeching, she realized that the birds had broken her fall and were landing her safely. She tried to rein in her panic. The birds suddenly spread apart, leaving her to free fall the last foot or so. She landed with a humiliating but relatively painless thud in the deep snow. The blizzard was increasing, and she had to blink hard to get it off her eyelashes. She ran her hands over her body, relieved that it was all in one piece.

  Her relief was short lived. She was on the ground at the base of the wall. She could see no way to get inside. She would pound her fists against a door as soon as she found one. Elin took a guess as to which direction was north and started trudging that way. Pausing to run her hands over the stones that made up the impregnable wall, she said out loud, “So you threw me out, but made sure I had boots and a coat on first? Only a little crazy, huh?”

  The wind picked up, and the sleet stung her lips. Appraising her situation left her feeling even more vulnerable. The land directly around the wall was barren, covered only in snow drifts and icy patches. If she wanted shelter, she was going to have to walk at least a few miles to get to some trees. And that was a few miles away from the wall where her husband was.

  Although it would help in no way, and might even cause her face to literally freeze, Elin began to cry. With her forehead pressed against the unyielding rocks she sobbed and whimpered, the wind seemed to pick up her hysterical cries and amplify them. The noise filled her ears.

  The first poke was in the shoulder. She froze, terrified. Was it an enemy soldier jabbing her with a sword? “My husband is with the Snowforce.” She said in what was nowhere as calm a voice as she had hoped.

  “They are very powerful, and they are famous for taking care of their own,” she babbled. The second poke was to the bottom and scared as she was, Elin whirled to slap her tormentor. She found herself eyeball to eyeball with Hako.

  “Oh, you gorgeous, gorgeous, crazy moose.” She cried, throwing her arms around his neck. The moose rolled his eyes at her but allowed her to do it. After a moment he nudged his head upwards. “I don’t know what you want,” she said. “Do you know how to find a door?”

  Again, with the head bobbing. Elin was growing cold and frustrated. She stamped her feet, trying to keep them from freezing even in the purloined boots. Hako lowered and then lifted his majestic head. Elin’s skirt was stuck on his antlers, and she very nearly flashed the frozen tundra. Slapping her skirts down, she firmly said, “Now stop that.” Hako did not stop, he did it over. Elin took one step away and then another and would have run from the insane beast, except the snow was too thick. Hako was faster and bobbed in front of her. Lowering his head, he dropped to his knees and fixed his eyes on hers.

  “Oh no, no,” she said backing away. “You don’t have your saddle on, and I have never even ridden a horse by myself…”

  A rapid step back and she found herself sprawled on the ice, snow spilling into her boots. She sat up, ungraciously. “Well, I will either break a leg on this ice or break my neck falling off you. I guess you aren’t taking no for an answer.”

  Hako half lowered his eyelids. Elin did not know much about moose psychology, but she was confident he was thinking “Moron, human female,” about her. Even on his knees, Hako was a tall animal. Elin clamored up clumsily and tried to adjust her skirt. She had no pantalets on, and Moose fur was not at all comfortable on the tender skin of her inner thighs., Before she could get things neatly arranged, Hako had barreled off. She barely managed to grab the base of an antler and keep herself on his back. There was none of Gunnar’s controlled, majestic riding of Hako. She was merely a
kite in the wind of his running.

  From the corner of her eye, Elin could see men sneaking out of the treeline. She buried her face into Hako’s shoulder blades and prayed. The moose kept his head down and ran for all he was worth. They were being set upon by several attackers. Clearly, they had been watching for

  Elin, no one would linger in the icy forest without a good reason. She didn’t know how to make Hako try to avoid their attackers, he continued to run at full gallop along the wall.

  Elin saw a small boot land on Hako’s antlers as strong hands gripped her middle. With a yank, she was pulled up. As she rose to the top of the wall, she was amazed to see Fasen and two of her sister’s land and defend Hako. Suddenly tumbling onto safety, she saw that the Huntrix had her in her grasp. With a gasp, she saw the bodies of two of the attackers tossed and bleeding onto the snow. Fasen was returning to the top of the wall with one of the assassins thrown over her shoulders. The women warriors expertly navigated ropes as they returned to the top of the wall.