Unspoken (4 page)

Her mind and body slammed back into the moment as
a throbbing pressure caused her feminine muscles to clench around him.  Once.
Twice. And then her existence shattered into thousands shards each with
prismatic spectrums that burst behind her closed eyelids. 

Tossing her head back against the bed, she arched
so powerfully against the all-consuming sensation that his arm came around her,
pulling her body against him.  His guttural roar drowned out her own cries as
he followed her into oblivion.   

For what seemed like minutes after, Roderick
stroked her back and shoulders as she trembled and convulsed, still held
tightly against him.  They remained intimately joined as she felt him shrinking
from his formative girth and slipping from inside her.  Evelyn focused on the
feeling, letting his tender fingers soothe her.  The immensely powerful impact
of their orgasm overwhelmed her, and she fought tears of intense emotion while
her body recovered.      

After a silent while, he laid her back and
withdrew from her.  A look of sated incredulity relaxed the brutal planes of
his face.  Leaning in to kiss her, looking as though he thoroughly enjoyed the
act, he left the bed to retrieve the towel that hung next to his wash basin. 
He yawned expansively as he washed himself without looking.

Evelyn took the opportunity to shamelessly ogle
his godly backside.

He rinsed the cloth and wrung it out before he
turned around with it still in his hand.  Roderick abruptly froze, his eyes
locked between her legs.

Looking down, Evelyn was mortified to see the tell
tale pink of her virgin’s blood mixing with the aftermath of their joining,
staining the sheets and her thighs.  Gasping, she seized the top sheet to cover
her nakedness, hiding the evidence from him. 

It was too late. 

Chapter
Eight

Evelyn watched as swirling black swiftly overtook
pools of green, and then infringed on the whites of his eyes.  His protruding
veins rushed with blood as muscles heaved upon each other until he grew even larger. 
She hadn’t thought it possible.

Even his flagging erection pulsed with blood and
became gloriously full again.

Witnessing the evidence of a power more tangible
and elemental then she could imagine culminate into the perfect masculine form
before her struck her dumb with wonderment.

This
was the Berserker.

With a bestial snarl, he advanced upon her, hands clenched
and chest heaving with deep, growling breaths.  His teeth gleamed sharper, more
predatory. 

Evelyn wondered if she was destined to become a
blood sacrifice to his Gods. 

He ripped the covers from her, exposing her naked
body.  His eyes zeroed in on the blood, and he growled.  It wasn’t the rumbling
purr she’d heard before.  This sound was filled with lethal menace.  Deep and
hungry. 

“Don’t be angry.”  She kept her plea level and
soft, swallowing a surge of dread as he stalked closer.  “I – I’m sorry I
didn’t tell you that… I’d never…” 

He paused, cocking his head to the side in a now familiar
gesture.  Bristling like a great cat, his nostrils flared and he examined her
with his cold, black eyes like a curious specimen. 

Dear God
.  The thrill of her first orgasms
still pulsing in her veins spiked even higher as she imagined all kinds of
terrible ends for her in the clutches of this monster.  Why did excitement
tangle with her panic?  She’d always feared death and avoided danger.  Feared
there was nothing after for her but bitter judgment and possible damnation for
the things she’d done.

For whom she was.

Yet this creature had nothing to do with all
that.  He was a creation of a different deity.  He existed as a holy cleric of
some other, more ancient order.  He wasn’t bishop, templar, monk, or confessor. 

He was an executioner. 

His presence forged the outcomes of war and
established the conqueror from the conquered.  Though he subjugated no one, his
sword drew the lines of possession in the soil, and then cut down the
opposition.  A berserker didn’t discriminate.  He killed everyone.

He won’t kill me.
  Like all her knowledge,
Evelyn didn’t understand where this came from.  She just—knew.

“I’m not afraid of you,” she murmured, rising to
her knees on the bed. 

He tracked her every move. 

Her trembling hand made her a liar as she reached
out to him, resting her palm against his heart.  The muscle twitched beneath
her touch, his flesh hot and feverish.

That strange ticking rumble, somewhere between a
growl and a purr reverberated from deep in his chest and vibrated against her
hand.  Then she was falling into the air where he’d been standing. 

A strong arm clenched beneath her breasts, saving
her from toppling head first off the bed.  Evelyn let out a small squeak as she
was pulled back against his strong body and set between his open legs.

She hadn’t even seen him move.  One moment, he’d
been standing in front of her, the next, crouched behind her on the bed.  They
were leaning against the headboard, her backside pressed against his arousal. 

Instead of taking her, or hurting her, he settled
her back against his rumbling chest and leaned against her.  Evelyn gasped as a
rough hand wound in her hair a moment before his face buried in it. 

He was scenting her? 

All right.
She let out a breath of relief.
 
This is… strange, but not altogether unpleasant.

  He released her hair and heavy arms created
walls on either side of her as he reached forward.  She’d completely forgotten
about the damp cloth he’d been holding until he used it to gently cleanse her
thighs.

Blushing, she hid her face against his arm, and he
made an animalistic noise of amusement.  She smiled against his skin. 

“I was planning to sleep in the cupboard tonight
with the spiders.  At least until the MacKay were gone.  But I’m quite glad I
didn’t.”  She hated her propensity to babble that whenever discomfited or
embarrassed.  Biting her tongue, she admonished herself to be quiet.

Roderick grunted when she said ‘MacKay’ and it
wasn’t a happy sound.  Folding the cloth the opposite way, he parted her folds
and washed her intimately as well, the cloth wiping away any evidence of her
virginity.

She cleared her throat and squeezed her eyes shut,
trying not to focus on the unfamiliar intimacy of his actions.  “I, uh, used to
be locked in a lot of cupboards and such when I was a girl.”  She couldn’t seem
to help herself.  The words tumbled out of her in reckless succession.  “The
London convent where I was raised sometimes held prisoners as well as orphans. 
I dare say we weren’t treated much differently.  When we misbehaved or— when
they wanted something, we’d be locked away.  Sometimes for hours… or
overnight.”   She didn’t dare tell him that she’d been locked away more than
any other child.  That the bishop had used her gift for knowing truths and
forced her to listen in on countless tortured confessions.  She’d rarely been
able to save any of his victims, though.  Even the innocent ones.

Roderick discarded the cloth and pulled her closer
against him, nuzzling the curve of her neck.   It felt good.  Warm.  In a short
time, this had become her favorite place, this haven of his solid body wrapped
around her.   Perhaps the Berserker wasn’t as dangerous in this form as she’d
originally thought.   

“Anyway, I’m not fond of small spaces, to say the
least.  I suppose I’m thanking you for, well, inviting me in here.  For protecting
me from the MacKays—and the cupboard.”

He nodded against her skin, capturing her earlobe
in his lips and scraping his teeth against the sensitive flesh there.

Goose pimples erupted all over and she shivered.

Searching for her knowledge, she was paralyzed by the
desperate hope that perhaps his fate had changed, as they sometimes did through
no fault of one’s own, but of others or circumstance. 

Nay.  His life ended on the morrow.  She closed
her eyes against hot tears as grief snaked through her. 

What could she do?  Should she warn him?  Should
she tell him of her ability and risk his lethal censure?  Did one night of
love-making addle her wits so much that she forgot about self preservation? 
They turned to each other for pleasure, yes.  He might be using her body for
distraction before a battle.  And, in turn, she used him for protection against
a fate worse than death at the hands of the MacKay.  Yet, she
refused
to
let anyone use her ability against her again.  In the hands of the church,
using it in the name of one God, it had been a nightmare.  She shuddered to
think of what it would become in the hands of an entire Norse pantheon.  She’d
risked her life to escape to Scotland, and she didn’t have enough money saved
to take herself any farther. 

No, she couldn’t tell him.  It wouldn’t change
anything.  She’d tried before to save people from their destiny.  It wasn’t to
be done.

Though, how she wished things were different.

She tried to focus on something,
anything
,
else.  His chest felt unerringly solid as she rested her head against him,
noting his grunt of appreciation. 

So, the man and the Berserker could create
sound...  Evelyn blushed a bit, recalling the ecstatic noises he’d made earlier. 
Burning to know why he was capable but
unable to speak, she ultimately decided
against questioning. 
It didn’t matter now
, she thought miserably. 

Yawning greatly, Evelyn felt a weighty fatigue
settle upon her, as if honey flowed through her veins rather than blood.

“Roderick?” she murmured sleepily, “I-I don’t wish
to return to my bed, may I sleep here with you tonight?”  Tilting her head up
and to the side, she wasn’t surprised to see that his green gaze had returned,
though he did seem affronted.  

Tightening his arms around her, he rolled them so
she lay down and faced the wall on her side.  Settling in behind her, his back
to the door, he drew her bottom close against his erection, but didn’t press it
into her.

Resting her head on his curled bicep, she relished
in the feeling of the front of his tremendous body pressed flush against the
back of hers.  His arm, still tucked beneath her breasts, secured her to him.

The only sound in the softly glowing room was his
breath stirring the top of her head.  Languor stole all reason and Evelyn only
distantly registered the room plunging into darkness. 

Magic.
  She thought dreamily before
drifting into velvet oblivion. 
If only she could break this curse…

*  *  *

Sensation flared beneath her skin and coursed down
her spine as the whisper soft rasp of calloused fingers dipped into the
dramatic curve of her waist and followed the soft rounded arch of her hip. 
Curled on her side, Evelyn smiled sleepily, refusing to open her eyes lest the
subtle, unfettered exploration cease.  Instead of dropping to the front of her,
the caress paused and then retraced its journey back toward her ribcage as if
indulging in the softness of her skin there.

Warm breath caressed her face and a nose nudged
hers before probing lips settled across her mouth in a languid kiss.  This had
to be the most pleasant way she’d ever awakened, Evelyn decided, as heat seeped
through her sluggish veins.

Silvery tinged darkness barely outlined the form
of the naked Berserker facing her when she resolved to lift her heavy lids. 

As dark as the night, his jet hair and bronzed
skin melded with the shadows.  Only his eyes gleamed as he pulled his lips from
hers. 

“Roderick,” she whispered, feeling shamed and
sinful, every nerve ending alive and vibrant.

His great body stiffened, fingers clamping on her
hips, digging into the sensitive flesh and pulling her forward, thrusting his
hard sex against her thighs. 

“
I want
…” 

Without warning, he seized her other hip in an
iron grip and lifted her, full bodied, as though she weighed no more than an infant.

She gasped as he rolled onto his back and held her
entirely above him, demonstrating his preternatural strength.  Before Evelyn
completely registered what he was doing, he balanced her on her knees
encompassing either side of his head, his eerie eyes burning up at her from
between her legs. 

No!  He couldn’t mean to—

“Oh… my.”  She breathed as the flat of his tongue
split her apart.  Aghast, entranced, Evelyn was thankful for the darkness or
she wouldn’t have been able to bear the depraved act.  Arousal flooding her
womanhood, she shuddered when his unrelenting tongue dipped into the resulting
wetness, and he swallowed, an appreciative moan vibrating against her clitoris.

Trembling thighs gave out and she belatedly
realized that his strong hands at her hips not only supported her entire
weight, but imprisoned her there. 

Another unhurried lick stole her breath.  He
cleaved her with his tongue, stopping right before he reached the most
sensitive peak.  Circling it, nipping at it with his lips, teasing the moist
flesh surrounding it, Roderick tormented her with his mouth, chasing away all
reason with searing pleasure. 

Evelyn bit back moan after moan, throwing her head
back, reveling in the feel of her long hair brushing naked skin.  She
shamelessly surged against his mouth. 

“Roderick… please.” Her hands desperately grasped
at his. “I need…” She grit her teeth and hissed, kneading his strong arms and wordlessly
demanding release.

Shoulders shaking in a silent male chuckle, eyes
glittering with purely masculine delight, he latched onto the engorged peak of
her sex and centered all movement just below it, creating an overwhelming
burning sensation.

A hot ache built beneath it until she squirmed to
escape what she knew would be next.  Throbbing pleasure engulfed her core as
wave after wave of gripping ecstasy flowed from his tongue into her body. 
Wracked with tremors, Evelyn bucked against the strong hands gripping her hips.
 Frustration at her inability to move heightened each pulsing sensation of her
climax. 

When the last tendril of pleasure wrung from her
body, her berserker still allowed no quarter.  Kissing her playfully on her
sex, he lifted her from his drenched mouth much the same as he had before, and
deposited her upon his torso, finally letting go to wipe her juices from his
lips. 

Drunk with pleasure, and feeling rather bold,
Evelyn’s hand slyly traced the contours of his lean abdomen behind her until
she found his pulsating erection twitching against his belly. 

Wrapping her fingers around it, she wondered if
her lips would have the same magnificent effect on
his
body.

His hands rested on her thighs, his fingers
curling as Evelyn stroked the skin of his velvety shaft, her touch feather-light. 

Sliding her down his body, he positioned her
against lean hips, the slightest tremor in his hands indicating of the
intensity of his need.

Nudging her slick entrance for a moment was all
the warning he gave before pulling her hips down, impaling her on his thick
cock.

They both gasped at the impact of the joining. 
Evelyn stilled in his hands, letting her sore muscles again adjust to his
intrusion.  This time, only the slightest twinge of pain permeated the haze of
her passion.  A sense of fullness, of heady command spurred her to act on every
primal urge that danced along her senses.

Clenching her intimate muscles, she enjoyed the
jerking of his body, the short intake of breath, so she did it again, eliciting
the same response.  Grasping him with her insides, she slowly rose and slid
down upon him again feeling every glorious inch of his breadth inside of her.