A Heart of Fire (32 page)

"I
very much doubt that!"

"Cease
with this," Valdrik shouted.

He
grabbed Finna up by the waist, holding her to his body and crossed the room. He
tossed her back on the bed and came down on her, his weight pressing between
her thighs.

Finna
cried out in anger, and, to his vast surprise, she flipped them over. The
strain of her full strength surprised him. She continued rolling until she left
his body and flung herself to the side. The kick of her legs brought her off
the bed, and as soon as her feet touched the floor, she ran, dodging the other
direction toward the door.

Valdrik
flew from the bed, too, going after her. Though she was at the advantage, and
could easily escape outside before he could stop her, she hesitated. Most
likely, the thought of going out in the snow again stilled her, and he chuckled
at the crux of what she battled.

Go
out in the cold or bed her husband.

Her
eyes fell down him, and he followed her stare. The protrusion of his shaft
stretched taut upward in his leggings, thick and ready for her. Her eyes on him
caused a sound of virile hostility.

He
came at her then, and Finna dodged him again, but to no avail this time.
He caught her about the middle, and she bent her head to his arm and sank her
teeth into his shoulder. Valdrik howled in pain as she started to dash away.

He
lurched out and caught the back of her kirtle in one fist and yanked her
back to him. Her yelp did not garner any sympathy from Valdrik. He grabbed the
other side and rent the material from her body. Finna paused, her cry muted by
disbelief as she looked down on herself.

Valdrik
now took the chance to look down her, as she had him, with hot desire.
Determined to have her, he began to unlace his leggings, freeing himself. As
she watched, he stroked his cock, tempting her on purpose.

Obviously
still angry, Finna leapt on him, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs
around his waist. As their lips locked it was only minimal shifting for Valdrik
to impale her there where she was, clasped onto him.

With
a groan of pleasure, she bit his lip, drawing blood, and ground herself onto
him, forcing his member into her to the hilt. Valdrik thrust savagely upward
into her in response.

"That's
it, wrap your legs around me, woman. Take all of me," he rasped.

He
curled one arm around her back, holding her to him as she moved against him. He
took her slender thigh in his other hand and positioned her better.

He
cried out with a guttural sound of pleasure as Finna's head fell back, the
slick heat of her climax pulling him deeper within her.

Why
would she ever think he would want any other woman when he had her?

Valdrik
took her to the bed and dropped them both down, her heat searing his cock,
pushing him to want more. He pulled from her body and thrust her legs over his
shoulders and impaled her again, deeply. He bent over her, cradling her head as
he rode the smooth, wet folds of her sheath until he was near to bursting.

She
whimpered under him, tossing her head from side to side.

When
he spilled into her, his cock spurting his seed, he threw back his head with a
ragged cry of pleasure. Valdrik growled at the intensity of his need for her,
and
only
her.

"Turn
over," he said roughly, pulling his cock from her body. Finna whimpered as
he pulled her up with one hand under her neck and kissed her.

He
turned her as he wanted her, pushing Finna over until her hands were braced on
the straw mattress and her back arched, her knees pressing into the bedding and
spread apart. Valdrik positioned himself just outside her body. He grabbed a
fistful of her hair and pushed her down until her breasts were firmly pressed
into the mattress.

Finna
panted and squirmed, arching more to take him in, but he wouldn’t allow it. Not
yet.

"Do
you not see that I do not
need
another woman? Finna, you are more than enough to sate my desires."

She
only whimpered in response.

"Only
you fill my thoughts," he said low, roughly.

She
wasn’t listening anymore, and he growled at her, at the sight of her opening.

She
arched her bottom into his groin again, searching him. She bucked her hips, and
this time he allowed her to impale herself on him. The skin over the head of
his shaft stretched so tightly with need, it was near painful.

"Valdrik,
make love to me," she demanded, availing herself of his hard member. She
undulated provocatively, drawing him within her deeply. She moved wildly,
gasping on the cusp of her climax. "Harder," Finna cried.

He
pressed her into the bedding with a hard thrust, his hands on her shoulders,
her bottom hiked up, her legs spread. Valdrik bore into her, hammering his
hips. He savored the feel of her around him as he spilled into her again.
Taking her buttocks in his hands, he squeezed her flesh as his cock flexed once
more and then he pulled from her.

Completely
spent, Valdrik rolled to his side and drew her against him, flush against his
body. His hand roamed down her side and came to rest on her belly as he kissed
her hair.

She
vexed him with her antics, made him crazed with lust, happy for her joy, proud
of her strength—but mostly she completed him.

Stieg
claimed he was smitten.

Perhaps
the man had been right.

Perhaps
he had come to love his wife.

Valdrik
kissed her hair again, lifting his head to find her asleep. Again, he brushed
her belly with his fingers and then, too, found sleep.

Chapter
Twenty-Seven

After
spending the better half of the day warm in her husband's arms, Finna marched
into the hall with purpose, tugging her cloak and then a shawl from her
shoulders. She handed them to a slave girl and scanned the wide room from wall
to wall in search of the new woman.

Of
course, Valdrik had done his best to soothe her worries, but it wasn't Valdrik
seeking Isaguilde that she feared—it was Isaguilde seeking her husband that she
had no doubts would happen.

It
was a saga that had been told too many times.

That,
and it was all too strange, this former slave showing up out of nowhere. It was
a hard winter that had settled around them. A
fimbulveter
for sure, as the seer had foretold. In their isolated
location, it would not be likely a woman could make the journey from the north
passage on her own. And, even if she came from the south,
why
was she out by herself in the dead of winter?

All
questions her husband and father should have asked. But, as she well knew from
being around more men than she had women in her lifetime, men rarely thought
with an un-addled mind when it came to the fairer sex.

Especially
women who
looked as exotic and charming as this Isaguilde did.

When
she'd first laid eyes on her, the woman's very countenance had set her ill at
ease, despite anything Valdrik had said.

He
may not desire his former leman anymore, but there had been something in
Isaguilde's eyes that bespoke her true nature. There was something calculating
hidden under all her beauty.

"Isaguilde,"
Finna called when she spotted her. The woman was walking behind her mother,
helping carry linens up the stairs. Finna held up a finger to her mother.
"I would have a word with the woman," she said.

Surguilde
nodded and turned a sharp stare on Isaguilde. Finna tilted her chin high. So,
her mother also found the former slave's presence undesirable. Her mother
watched Isaguilde with scrutiny as she held out the linens she'd been carrying
to a thrall standing beside them. As she walked over to her, Finna bored an icy
stare into her, one that was sure to rattle the other woman's mettle.

Isaguilde
dusted her hands on her apron, unscathed by the glares she was receiving, and
matched Finna's cold look. "Shouldn’t you be helping the women, too?"
she asked.

Already,
she was a bit too snappish for Finna's liking. The corner of Finna's lips
curled up tightly, and she took a step, leaving hardly a space between them.
She was fairly snarling down on the woman, she knew, and though it was unfair
to use her height as an advantage, she forced Isaguilde to look up at her.

"You
are not one to question what I do or do not do. I'm not the one to work for my
keep."

Isaguilde
pressed her lips into a thin line. "What is it you want?"

"I
would speak to you in regards to your stay here." Her eyes briefly
flickered over Isaguilde's shoulder to the women working around the fire and
the rest of the hall. "
And
my husband."

A
slight smile curved the other woman's lips. "Valdrik." His name
rolled off her tongue and lingered on her lips. She arched one brow over the
other and pulled her lower lip between her teeth, as though she were savoring
something. "What of him?" she asked, shrugging as though he were of
no consequence.

The
other woman's smile, the twinkle in her eyes, pushed Finna over the edge.

She
reached out faster than she could stop herself and her hands contacted with
Isaguilde's chest in a mighty shove.

The
woman's eyes shot to hers, going round with outrage, and she gaped, either in
shock or fright. Finna wasn’t sure, neither did she care. She gave Isaguilde
another shove, toward the wall under the stairs.

"You
will keep your distance from my husband. You would be wise to heed me."

Isaguilde's
mouth opened and shut in search of a response. "And if he desires that I
come to him?" She gave Finna a confident look, her lips curling and
pursing at the same time, but this time her coy smile did not have the same effect.
For like her falsity in her reasons for being here, Finna saw through her
façade to her fear now.

"What
then?" Isaguilde asked. "Am I to deny him? I am a free woman now. I
can
deny him, but he is such a big,
strong man." She feigned a shiver. "The thought of him makes me slick
with desire. I well remember his touch—"

Finna's
hand shot out and caught Isaguilde's throat. "Enough," she said,
squeezing until her fingertips turned white and the other woman struggled to
breathe.

"Finna,"
Stieg called to her from the other side of the hall. Slowly, Finna turned her
glare over her shoulder at him and narrowed her eyes. To Isaguilde, she asked,
"You think he will save you? I fancy crushing your tiny throat before he
can get here."

Isaguilde
didn’t respond. She clutched at Finna's hand, straining for relief. After a
moment, when Stieg was almost to them, Finna did relent. She hadn’t come for
this. She hadn’t come to kill the girl. She just wanted her to understand that
there were boundaries, and if she crossed those, there would be consequences.

"I
know you," Finna said as she let Isaguilde go.

The
other woman struggled to breathe, raggedly drawing in air. She held her throat
as she looked back to Finna. "I have stayed on many Jarls’ lands,"
she said, her voice rough but high. There would no doubt be bruises on her
throat later.

Finna
slanted her eyes on her, looking her over. She seemed so familiar, but she
could not place her. "Were you a whore to them all?"

Isaguilde
stiffened her back and snarled. "Nay, I am a free woman to do as I please.
I am no whore," she spat.

"Valdrik
told me you were only his leman. He brought you back from your homeland and
made you a thrall. How is it you earned your freedom?"

Isaguilde
stiffened, refusing to answer with a shake of her head.

Finna
started around her, picking up a strand of Isaguilde's hair and dropping it to
the woman's back. As she came around to Isaguilde's front, Finna grabbed her
arm. The bracelet on her wrist resembled one she had seen before, but it was
not possible that this woman could possess the
same
one.

"Where
did you get this?" Finna asked.

Isaguilde
jerked her arm back from Finna. "‘Twas a gift," she said.

Finna
narrowed her eyes. "Have you been to Jarl Aldar's lands, perhaps?"

Isaguilde
tilted her chin upwards. "Nay, and if that is all, I have work to get back
to," she said, turning on her heel. "
I
do have to work for my keep."

Finna
grabbed Isaguilde's arm and dug her fingers into the woman's flesh.
"Should I find that you are deceiving me, or anyone here, I shall
personally toss you on the other side of these walls and watch as you freeze to
death. Should you so much as look at my husband in a way I do not care for, I
shall rip you limb from limb." Finna let her go, shoving Isaguilde
forward. "Am I understood?"

Isaguilde
rubbed at her arm and started for the stairs, looking back at Finna only once.

Finna
watched her go, unsure if her warning had taken hold or not.