Norse Valor (4 page)

Curious, Svana tasted it.

“Maple sugar,” she exclaimed in delight.

“It is the last I have. I was saving it for my mother, but
as you can see, our stores are low.”

He sounded concerned.

“Low?” Svana had asked for a tour of his vessel. There had
been all kinds of foodstuffs. She handed his gift back to him. “I’m fine, Vakr.
If this is for your mother then give it to her.”

“Our flour is all but gone for bread. Even if we found land
and made a fire, only a coat of dust is left. There is nothing to cook onboard.
We ate the last of the dried meat tonight. Do not fear. We will see land
tomorrow.”

Svana could see his worry. “But you have sacks filled with
cornmeal. You can make little cakes or porridge with that. And I saw your
potatoes.”

“Potatoes?”

“Yes the brown roots in the bushel baskets,” she replied.

Vakr gripped her hand and hauled her to her feet. “You know
of these items?” He looked incredulous.

“Yes. Don’t you?”

Vakr shifted his feet. “I took a small bite of this thing
you call a potato but it was unpalatable. I was going to throw the baskets
overboard, but thought if we were desperate enough, some might attempt to try
the roots. Hunger will flavor any dish.”

“You tried it dirt, skin and all? Yuck.” Svana was beyond
surprise when Vakr blushed. “If you didn’t know what they were, why did you
trade?”

“I didn’t trade.” He shifted uncomfortably. “There was a
young beauty with long black hair like onyx. Eyes so dark they were almost
black. I saved her from death from others who looked similar to her. Her father
was called a chief. He was grateful for the safe return of his only child. It
was too difficult to understand them, but when we left, they gave us many
things. Things like long yellow cocks with buds on them…”

Svana howled with laughter. “Corn or maize. You cook it and
eat it. You must be talking about Native Americans.” For a moment she grinned
them sobered. She remembered he thought he was a Viking. “You really don’t know
what corn is?”

“We ate it with them one night but they smoked a pipe and my
head rolled after a while. Strange smoke. We will reach land tomorrow.”

To Svana he seemed to be reassuring himself more than her.
She placed her hand onto his arm. “Vakr. Your men will not starve. Tomorrow
I’ll make them something from the stores you have.”

A gust of wind rustled Svana’s hair. She shivered. The
farther they traveled, the colder it became. Svana had noted earlier Vakr had
put on a warm wrap to cover his chest. She was grateful for the clothing he had
given her and David. Another breeze had her seeking the warmth of Vakr’s body.
After all, the dress she wore was long but the material was fine and thin.

“It is time you went below deck to stay warm. I will take
you to my furs,” Vakr said.

David jumped to his feet. Vakr pushed him down. “Get your
rest, you pup,” he commanded David. “You row like a feeble drunk woman.”

“You’re leaving me up here alone with Itchy and Scratchy?”
David looked appalled, but he also looked scared.

Vakr crouched before him. His voice was low as he said,
“Baldr has a bad right leg. Ing broke his left rib a month ago. Not very
honorable, but if you fear for your life, aim for those areas.”

“Vakr,” Svana said with unease.

“He will not be coddled or I will spend every waking moment
in the village saving his sorry ass. Let him fight a few battles and gain some
respect,” Vakr insisted. He looked down at David. “Did your father never teach
you that if you stand up to a bully, he will back down?”

“The leg and rib, huh?” David said and gave Svana a lopsided
grin.

Svana knew how stubborn her brother was. She also knew her
brother struggled with the fact he felt his father thought him a coward. Svana
knew better. Daddy pushed David harder because he was male and had a stereotype
in his mind of how men should behave. In the short time they had been aboard,
David had grown to respect Vakr, and she knew David was grateful he had saved
her. Vakr’s men respected him a great deal. Svana knew why; Vakr was a born
leader, even if he wasn’t quite right in the head. Svana could see David didn’t
want Vakr to think him a coward. She was torn between wanting to keep an eye on
her brother and not wanting to embarrass him.

Svana was pulled below by Vakr. A small soapstone bowl with
a tiny amount of melted grease and a stubby wick lit their way. Svana was
pushed onto the pile of furs. Vakr began to undress before her. His fur shirt
hit the wood beneath his feet. She watched him uneasily and scooted back away
from him. Vakr was a man who looked even bigger without clothes.

“Are you a virgin?” he asked.

Svana’s eyes rose in surprise. “That’s really none of your
business.”

Vakr blew out the candle and wick. His leather pants then
hit the wooden hull.

Svana was glad it was dark. She had felt how big his cock
was, she didn’t want to be reminded of his size if she were to see it. She
swallowed hard when he dropped beside her on the bed.

“Undress,” he demanded.

“And if I don’t?” she asked. Her chin lifted in defiance.

“The air is frigid, Svana. Skin on skin is warmer. I will
not roll onto you and force you. I do not want you to fear me. I only asked if
you were a virgin because you looked so skittish, like I was a hungry wolf and
you an innocent lamb. I assure you, you’re safe.”

Vakr had wrapped the furs around himself. Svana sat
shivering on top of them. It was so dark now, she couldn’t see his face. Last
night she had been helpless and he had not harmed her. She remembered his
comforting warmth. The dress was a thin material and as the darkness of night
deepened, she became colder. The thickness of the furs beneath her teased her
with their delicious warmth. It was as though they called to her cooling skin.
Svana shrugged. It would be stupid to just sit here with her teeth chattering
and the dress was a bit too snug to sleep in. She lift it up over her waist
then struggled to pull it over her head. Within moments she felt strong hands
helping her. As the dress lifted higher, her exposed nipples hardened in the
cold air. Her entire body quivered with the cold. Svana felt warm flesh brush
against her own and it was as though her body sought shelter. She moved closer
to Vakr. Her arms were trapped above her head when she felt a warm mouth settle
over her high breast.

Svana gasped as his tongue laved her bud. Vakr’s hands
pulled her closer. His fingers pressed into her side drawing her near and he
suckled deeper. Svana managed to drag the material over her head and free her
hands. She tossed the dress over the side of the bed and pushed at Vakr. His
hand settled into her long hair and he released her breast only to settle his
lips onto her own. Svana groaned as she felt her mouth conquered. She could
hardly breathe. Vakr’s tongue was velvety smooth against hers. His taste was
sweet. Soon enough she was under him with the furs piled onto them. When Vakr
stopped his assault to her mouth, both were panting.

“Vakr?”

Vakr’s cock was once again pushed against her belly. He was
hard. His breathing was ragged. Though he lay half over the top of her, she
wasn’t crushed by his weight. Her head turned and pressed into his throat.
Calloused hands stroked her from neck to thigh. His hand cupped her bottom and
pulled her even closer. His big body was so hot. Powerful fingers massaged her
everywhere. His hot tongue licked and laved over her neck and shoulders until
Svana was writhing.

“Are you warm?” Vakr asked, his deep voice sounded like an
oasis.

Warm? Holy shit, I’m
on fire.

“Yes,” the word was dragged from her.

“Good. Sleep well, sweetling. I look forward to your
breakfast tomorrow. I still hunger.”

“So do I,” she muttered, only food was the last thing from
her mind.

How could he make her feel the way she did right now when
she barely knew him? Every inch of her body was remembering his touch. His
hands still lingered over her in sweet caresses. He wasn’t demanding or even
coaxing, just soothing and warming. Whether he was insane or not, the man was
so hot she wanted him. How dare he arouse her and leave her wet and panting? An
idea occurred to her.

Svana ran her hands up and down Vakr’s body. Her mouth
latched onto one of his nipples and she sucked it with leisure. Her tongue ran
circles around the bud. Vakr groaned. She pressed her body tightly to him.
Small movements made his hard length stroke up and down against her belly.
Svana kissed a trail of sweet kisses meant to torment as he had, up to his jaw
line. He tasted so good, she couldn’t get enough of him. Svana’s hand stroked
his well formed behind. He was rock-solid. Her fingers kneaded his skin.

“Vakr?” she whispered.

“Uh?” he grunted.

“Are you warm?”

Svana squealed when suddenly she found herself under him.
“Warm? By the Gods, woman, I’m on fire.”

Chapter 2

“I will ask you only once more,” Vakr said, his voice thick
with desire. “Are you a virgin?”

“No.”

“Good.”

Svana gasped when his long hard length pushed its way inside
her. Inch by inch, he made his way deeper and higher without stopping. Svana
lifted her legs to wrap around his solid middle. Her insides stretched to
accommodate him. He was huge. By this point, she didn’t care; she needed all of
him. When he was finally buried to the hilt, Svana gripped him tightly around
the back with her long slender arms. Her breasts flattened against his chest.
His skin was so warm. The furs beneath her embraced her body in a luxury she
had never felt.

“I could stay this way forever,” she whispered.

“You feel like Valhalla would, I’m certain.”

“You must tell me of this Valhalla sometime.”

“Why don’t I show you instead?”

She made a small protest when he pulled himself from her.
Before he pulled himself free, he plunged again. Svana groaned. Never before
had her insides felt so slick and wet. Vakr was so hot. As he began to move
faster Svana’s behind rode the furs beneath her. It was an odd sensation and
for just a moment she imagined herself being taken by a huge bear. The idea was
startling. She had never had fantasies like that before. Nevertheless as the
man and fur slid round and over her body she could almost taste a primal animal
passion.

The makeshift cabin was so black inside like a cave, and Svana
realized any fantasy was possible. Why not a huge Viking bear-man? In her wild
thoughts, Vakr became half-human and half-beast. A lusty werewolf with fangs
when he bit into the side of her neck causing her to yelp and shudder. His
tongue laved her throat like a hungry wolf. Vakr had pulled the fur all around
them, encasing them in animal magnetism. Her man-beast growled and grunted
making the illusion all that more real.

Vakr’s hips began pounding against her, thumping wildly like
a wild stallion. She imagined a huge white steed, a destrier from the middle
ages. Vakr’s chest was as large as a horse’s. Svana gripped tight to his hair,
his flowing mane, as she was mounted. Vakr’s mouth crushed hers in the most
demanding kiss of her life. His tongue claimed hers with a fiery passion.
Flames from his scorching lips was so real she could almost see the fires blaze
up all around them, beside them, behind them. Licking them to engulf them in an
inferno of passion.

When his mouth broke free of hers, Svana’s back arched as he
captured a high breast. Long moments he spent sucking and tormenting her bud
until it ached and yet still begged for more. Her hands buried in his hair
pulling him closer and she writhed under him until his hand captured her wrists
high over her head holding her hostage. She was a willing captive. His strong
fingers squeezed her behind and released with each hard stroke.

Vakr removed his demanding cock and flipped her onto her
belly. His massive arm captured her around her waist and Svana cried out when
he slammed back into her. She slipped against the furs but his hold was tight
and she was pressed against him and kept immobile. Again her wild fantasies
took flight and her beast-man could have been part stag, but no, the fur was
too shaggy and a bison was too small. Nothing was as large as Vakr. Her Viking
warrior had pummeled a shark to save her life. She didn’t need to imagine that.
It was real.

Vakr slowed then roared his release. Svana cried out her
own, her elbows collapsing until she lay with her cheek pressed into the furs.
Vakr slumped forward over the top of her. She heard the gasping pants of a man
well satisfied. Skin-on-skin molded into the furs when he pressed her all the
way down, covering her. Man or beast, Viking or not, Svana gloried in the
feeling of safety. She felt his fingers trail through her hair and she could
envision him in her mind. Even though she couldn’t see him in the dark, she
imagined his striking blue eyes hungrily absorbing her. The strength of his
chiseled jaw. The power in his hands. She was soon panting again. Vakr was so
damned hot and handsome.

“So that was Valhalla?” she asked.

“By the Gods, oh yes.”

She could get used to this Valhalla place. How was she going
to let him go when her father came for them?

* * *
*

“What do you call this again?”

Vakr was eating the food Svana had made for the crew. All
had looked at her creation with hesitance, but after the first bite they were
hooked.

“Mashed potatoes,” she replied.

“And what is the yellow mush?” Vakr asked.

Svana chuckled. “It is like mush, but it’s called polenta.
It’s cooked cornmeal mixed with water, salt and the last of your molasses.”

“Where did you get the gravy?” David asked.

Mr. Picky was shoveling food down his throat so fast Svana
was tempted to say something. She refrained when she looked once more at his
black eye. Svana had been beyond dismayed to learn while she was having the
best sex of her life David had been battling for his own life. It took every
fiber of her being not to start throwing her fists around. She had to give
David credit—Baldr was limping heavily and Ing had collected his food hunched
over and holding his ribs. Both men gave her brother a wide birth. It was
apparent the other men were more respectful of him. David seemed happy enough.

David had smiled when he had seen Svana cooking.

It hadn’t been an easy task. The vessel was made of wood.
Fire could be a deathtrap onboard. Vakr had explained normally they would find
land and cook a meal if at all possible. Some days they went for long periods
without land in sight. Once when Vakr had traveled years before, he and his men
had become lost in a storm. They went for weeks without a warm meal. Flour had
sat unused in barrels. Their dried meat and dried fruit was all they could have.
If only they could have made a small fire. It would have been nice to warm some
mead and take the chill from their bones. It had given him an idea.

Enlisting his men’s help, a kitchen of sorts was created. A
small iron table was made a foot up off the bottom of the boat and tied
securely. On that was placed an iron pot that was nailed to the table to limit
its motion. They didn’t want it to go flying off in a storm. The pot could be
filled with burnable items. Suspended over the fire was another pot to cook in.

The tabletop grew very hot and Svana had filled another pot
with the treasures she found, melting the contents.

“I found pemmican packed in rawhide,” Svana said, answering
David’s question. “I was surprised your men and you hadn’t eaten it, since there
is a lot.”

“This is pemmican?” Vakr asked.

He looked skeptical.

“Viking pemmican is cereal.”

“This is Native American pemmican and it’s made with dried
meat and berries and fat. It stores well and with the last of your flour it
made a nice gravy.”

“It is hard to believe roots can taste this good,” Vakr
said. He took his fingers and shoved a huge amount into his mouth.

“It’s hard to believe there isn’t a single fork on your
vessel,” Svana replied.

During her search of the small cooking area she had found
huge wooden spoons and even a prong but there weren’t any teaspoons or forks.
All the men used either their fingers or daggers to eat with. Neither she nor
David was allowed a knife so they used their fingers. It had been a chore to
mash the potatoes, and the two men Vakr enlisted to help her peel them had
grumbled the entire time, but it was worth the effort. She had cooked them in
saltwater and used the last of the pepper she had found as well as some garlic.

“Perhaps I can find someone to make you a fork,” Vakr said.

Svana was grinning inwardly. After last night, she imagined
Vakr would do anything for her. Men were so much more agreeable when their
cocks were happy. After last night, she bet if his dick could talk, it would be
shouting hallelujah. When Vakr leaned forward and his fur-covered arm touched
her hip, she shivered. It wasn’t with the cold; for an instant, she was
remembering her fantasy of a man-beast. Svana and David and the other men had
made good use of the buffalo furs Vakr had traded for. All of Vakr’s men were
huge; she was surrounded by sheer strength. The air was frigid, and the ocean
choppy. It was amazing to her. Just days ago, the July sun had beat down on
her. Now it felt like February.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a man bellowed,“Land!”

Everyone was on their feet in an instant and Vakr was
shouting orders. Svana looked over the side. Something large crashed into the
boat and she was knocked off her feet. Svana rubbed at her backside. The vessel
was struck again.

“Svana, go below!” David shouted when he hauled her back up.

“No!” Vakr yelled, as there was now shouting all around
them. “The men are going below to row.”

“You can’t think they would touch her in this?” David looked
incredulous.

Surrounding them in the water were massive chunks of ice.
Some smashed into the boat as the wind picked up. Svana and David were both
pitched to the side. Vakr’s men raced below. Ari was at the bow calling out
directions as the oars slipped into the ocean.

“If there is damage to the hull, I don’t want her to drown
if it is breached by ice! My men are powerful swimmers; your sister is not!
Damn! We are back a month too early! I had hoped the ice would have melted!”
Vakr yelled to be heard over the chaos of his men. “David, take your place below,
as we need every man possible to maneuver around the ice! We have not come all
this way to die in our own waters!”

“I can row,” Svana said.

That stopped Vakr in his tracks. The vessel once more
lurched under the assault and Svana was thrown into Vakr’s arms.

“Svana,” Vakr said.

“If the boat sinks, you will save me,” she replied and
grinned cheekily up at him.

Vakr grinned back. He grabbed her hand and they made their
way below. Vakr sat her on the bench in front of him.

Svana gripped the heavy wood and pulled with all her might.
Good God, how on earth do the men row for
hours?
For a moment she was sorry she had offered, until she found the
rhythm of the men. When Ari yelled something from above deck, Vakr would call
to Svana.

“Pull hard!” he yelled. Then after a moment he yelled, “Be
still, Svana!”

“Where are we headed? I didn’t see a dock,” Svana groaned
out her words as she began to row once more. Her arms already burned with an
ache.

“Right to shore,” he replied.

Svana turned to look at him and he was grinning like a madman.
On shore?
“Vakr, you mean to run your
vessel aground? On purpose?”

“When the ice is gone the water will have risen and it will
be in enough water for our men to push it to the dock. This way everything we
have brought can be hauled from land to home.”

“Oh.”

Svana heard a yell from above. Ari sounded frantic. The next
thing she knew Vakr had her pulled backwards into his arms and was all but
crushing her to his chest. She was suddenly under him. Crunching sounds under
the boat were her first warning. Svana groaned when the fast-moving vessel
suddenly stopped its harried movement forward. Vakr’s entire weight was on her
and she was immobile. For a moment there was silence, then more shouting was
heard only it was a cheer of happiness. They had made it. Vakr grinned down at
her then kissed her hard. The men cheered again.

“Soon you will meet my mother. She will love you,” Vakr
said.

Svana had mixed emotions about that. She would of course
meet his mom, but then she would need to call her father. He was no doubt out
recruiting the navy trying to find them. In just these few short days, she had
grown very fond of Vakr. Perhaps she could figure out why he and his men
thought themselves to be Viking warriors once she went into town. A disturbing
thought entered her mind.
What if they are
outlaws and the police are looking for them?
Depending on what they were
accused of Svana decided she would hire him the best lawyer possible.