Vengeance Hammer (Viking Vengeance) (22 page)

’Twas Valhalla, watching his cock push into her heat. He rested one of her legs on his shoulder and angled her hips to better see her puss. Her folds glistened in the morning sunlight, all dewed and swollen and ready. “Play with your clitty.”

“Nay,” she said and fell back onto her elbows.

“It aroused you when I stroked my pecker, did it not?”

“Aye.” She worried her lips. “’Tis wicked and forbidden.”

“Nay, ’tis simple bedsport.” He could hold back no longer and drove into her throbbing channel, climbed onto the bed and bent over to capture a pouting nipple with his mouth. He drew the tip in hard and laved the bud.

She tangled her fingers in his hair and urged him on. He found her other breast and fondled the exquisite roundness. Cupping both breasts together, he moved from one to the other, suckling and licking, rolling and tugging on both nipples, until she cried out his name.

He fought to contain the need to thrust, lifted his head, caught sight of her glazed eyes, and shuddered. Not giving her a chance to resist, he seized her hand and used one of her fingers to play with her nub.

“’Tis torture,” she moaned.

“Aye.” He toyed with her clitty and bit his tongue when her walls clamped around his cock. Her breasts rose and fell quicker and quicker. She grabbed fistfuls of the linen sheets.

“You are ready, sváss. Find your pleasure.” He drew back the hood guarding her reddened nub and pinched the slick flesh.

She rocked on his cock, her hips surged off the bed, and he feasted on the bounty of her climax; head thrown back, neck arched, her curls tumbled in wonderful disorder. Ruby lips parted in silent ecstasy when she fractured for him. Her puss squeezed his cock.

He could hold back no longer and plunged in to the hilt. His balls contracted. Gripping her hips, he held her still for his invasion, but she met him thrust for thrust.

“Mercy. Mercy.”

He had none to give and pounded into her convulsing channel. His seed exploded from his throbbing pecker in hot bursts. A red haze of bliss blurred his vision, and he collapsed and rested his head next to hers on the bed cushion.

It took long moments ‘til his reason returned and his breathing became even.

Dráddør opened one eye and smiled when he glimpsed her pink nipple standing at ready. He tweaked the fat bud.

“Oh,” she squealed and swatted his shoulder. “Nay.”

“Aye.” He disagreed and rose on his forearms to meet her dazed stare. “’Tis mine and I can play with it whenever I want.”

She narrowed her eyes and a gleam of mischief twinkled. “If ’tis yours then are yours mine?”

“Aye.” He waggled his brows. “And you have my permission to play with any part of me you like.”

She blushed.

“What think you now?” He fingered the whorls of one ear and studied her features.

“That ’twill take a long time to become accustomed to the many ways of bedsport.”

Dráddør grinned. He clasped one arm around her back and crawled fully onto the bed, coming close to losing his balance before righting himself.

“’Twould’ve been easier if we moved separately,” she murmured.

“Mayhap, but I need to draw out the feel of your sweet puss milking my cock.” He rolled them over and tilted her chin. “’Tis my duty to show you all the ways of joining that I have learned, and then we will make new ones as we go along.”

“Make new ones?” Her eyes widened.

“Aye. For cert, ’tween the two of us, we can think of new ways to swive.” He buried his nose in her tousled curls and inhaled some flowery fragrance. “It pleases me that we can now talk together of such intimacies. Though I had enjoyed the notion of you using my pecker as velum and writing long tales all o’er it.”

She hadn’t stopped blushing for a moment and dropped her gaze to his chest.

“What think you now, wife?”

He loved the way she wrinkled her nose and peeked up from under at him, her beautiful eyes a pool of turquoise and amber in the morning sunlight. “Methinks you are a wicked man.”

The smile accompanying her playful tone delighted him. He flexed his half-erect cock inside her and she opened her eyes wide. “And methinks, you enjoy my wickedness. Tell me true, Xára mine—did you not find pleasure in our swiving?”

She fixed him with an exasperated stare, nostrils flaring ever so slightly. “You know I did.”

“What concerns you, mit sváss?” He studied the delectable curve of her brows and couldn’t resist tucking a wayward damp tendril back into place. His pecker went flaccid and he reluctantly withdrew from her heat.

Her nose grazed his chin when she bent her head. “I cannot help but wonder if bedsport needs be confessed.”

“Confessed?” A vague memory of the Christian need to spill their wrongdoings to Monks and such mushroomed. “Tell me, what must you confess to your priest?”

“My sins, a’course. If I have broken one of the Ten Commandments. I have thought and thought on bedsport. We do not lie, covet another, kill another, or bear false witness.” She didn’t appear happy about her conclusion.

“If we break none of your God’s rules, what troubles you?” ’Twould take some time to grow accustomed to her Christianity, but Dráddør had no doubt he would. After all, his older brothers had with their wives.

“It feels like a delicious sin, all that we do. Yet I am loath to confess what we do to Monk Herbert. Think you Skatha and Nyssa confess such?” Her voice wavered on the question.

Dráddør didn’t hesitate. “Nay. Does the church not say what happens ’tween husband and wife is sacred?”

She cupped her chin and pursed her mouth before answering, “Aye. You have the right of it. I needs not confess our bedsport to Monk Herbert. ’Tis a relief, I vow. He will stay to become our priest?”

Stifling a groan, Dráddør searched for a way to send the holy man away less Xára ask him to assume the duty. “Mayhap. We will speak of it when I return.”

At once her relaxed posture changed, she moved onto her side, clasped a bed cushion to her breasts, and looked at the windows. “The sun is high in the sky. We make haste?”

Dráddør glanced at the cloudless sky revealed by the open shutters. His mind turned to the coming journey and the numerous tasks to be done. “Aye. We will need the noon tide if we are to catch up to Niketas.”

“Who is this man?”

Dropping a quick kiss on her nose, he eyed the floor and his scattered garments. “I have ne’er shed my clothes and weapons in such haste. You fracture my warrior discipline, woman. Wazir Niketas is an Arab trader who tried to take Skatha and Hjørdis some time ago. He has been a thorn in our side for many seasons. I do not have the time for detailed explanations, Xára. I must meet with Haakon. ’Twill be of great help if you will pack a few of the tunics in my chest.”

“I will see to it and get the food stores ready for you.” She scrambled off the other side of the bed. “May I take the time to see Jennie first? She will be overjoyed to learn that I can speak again.”

“’Tis more than enough time.” Dráddør had automatically dressed by the time Xára had retrieved a new chemise and donned it and her gown. He kissed her forehead. “I will meet you in the hall.”

* * *

Xára decided to check on Evie before heading to Jennie’s room. She poked her head in the open doorway of her sister’s door and frowned. Where were Evie and Ulna?

Mayhap they visited Jennie. Xára grinned and bustled down the hallway. Jennie would be so pleased at the news. After all Jennie had done for her, mayhap now she could give back, and nurse Jennie to health. Xára had no doubt Dráddør would allow them both to live at Lathairn. She had married a man of consideration and honor.

So many happy thoughts crowded her mind that Xára actually found herself at the end of the east end corridor near the servants’ stairs and she had to retrace her steps to Jennie’s chamber. Fool she was to be dreaming of her handsome husband and sighing about his departure. He cared for her, he must, and mayhap ’twas no need for him to know the all of her secrets.

He already knew of her father, Heimdallr, and appeared accepting of her half-immortal status. In truth, his brothers’ wives were also like her, the daughters of immortals. Mayhap all would work out. Xára would breach the whole of it with Nyssa and Skatha while Dráddør and his brothers were gone. For cert ’tween the three women, they could find a solution to her plight.

Xára took a deep breath and stared at the grained wood of Jennie’s door. ’Twould all work out as Dráddør had said afore. Her mind clear and more at ease since leaving Touft Abbey, she turned the handle and pushed, but the door refused to open.

Had Lara barred the door?

She knocked on the wood. “Lara, ’tis me, Xára. Open the door.”

Silence.

Xára tried again. “Lara, open the door.”

She listened but could hear naught. Something was wrong. All at once she realized the guards were missing.

Her alarm spiraled. What had Dráddør said? Two guards without and two within.

Resting her cheek flat against the wood, she listened. Normally, even through the thick wood, she could hear the snap of the fire, and the rustling sounds when Lara mixed her medicines as the healer was wont to do constantly. Naught. She heard naught.

“Lara! Open the door at once!” Xára bellowed and the sound of her roar thundered around the hallway.

Mother Mary. Something terrible had happened.

She ran, and with each stride her panic ratcheted. Magnhildur. Godfraid. Néill. The three names kept repeating in her head, over and over, until ’twas a litany, a prayer. She prayed they’d really departed on the dawn tide. But deep in her heart, she knew. Knew that the villains were responsible for the closed door.

Panting, she raced down the stairs, and sprinted to the kitchens. A quick glance showed Evie and Ulna weren’t in the room. She dashed to the hall, spied Konáll speaking with Brökk, and rushed to them. “Jennie’s door is barred from within and her guards gone. I cannot find Evie or Ulna. Something is wrong.”

“Wait here,” Brökk ordered Konáll. “Stay with her. Send someone to find Nyssa and Skatha and Jorunn.”

“Nay. The door is solid and reinforced with iron. ’Twas made to withstand invasion. There is a way to that room from ours. ’Tis a secret passage.”

Konáll and Brökk exchanged a quick glance.

“I will find Dráddør and Tighe,” Brökk said. “You go with her.”

They rushed up the stairs to the master’s chamber.

Xára showed Konáll the trapdoor. “I will come with you. There are many tunnels and ’twould be easier if I show you the way.”

For a moment, Xára thought he would refuse to let her go with him.

“Aye. But you will do as I say.”

“I will.”

Konáll had had the good sense to grab a torch from the hall, and he insisted on going first. But once they were in the tunnels, Xára led the way to where the passageway forked. She pointed to the right. “This way leads to Jennie’s chamber.”

“How many tunnels are there?”

“The cliffs are riddled with them all the way down the coast to Myrtle Harbor. When I was a girl I heard Haakon say ’twas why Lathairn has ne’er been successfully besieged.” They reached the priest’s hole and she frowned.

“What is wrong?”

“I bolted the door to keep Evie from wandering, but now it stands open.”

“Stand aside,” Konáll raised the torch and inspected the door. “Go back a bit. If I shout, run back to your chamber at once.”

Xára didn’t want to obey but she also knew time was of the essence. She retreated and hugged the wall while peering at Konáll who had an axe in one hand.

He burst the door open with one blow.

The light from the window blinded her for a moment.

She heard him curse, but then all was quiet.

Dread weighted her steps as she walked forward and into the room.

Konáll immediately tucked her behind him. “Do not look. You do not want to see this.”

Xára fisted a hand over her mouth for she knew the stench that permeated the room well. “Jennie is dead.”

“Aye.” He spun around and pressed her face into his chest. “Go back to your room through the tunnels. I will meet you there.”

“But—”

“Nay. We have not the time for arguing. Go and do not glance at the room.”

With that he goose-stepped her back into the tunnel, then spread his arms and legs to block her vision. “Go. Make haste.”

What had happened? She knew in her heart that Magnhildur, Godfraid, and Néill had killed Jennie. All the way back to the master’s chamber, she prayed Evie was somewhere stealing a gallop with Ívarr.

Xára poked her head above the trap door in the master’s chamber to find Konáll already there. Dráddør and Brökk were with him.

Immediately as she stood, Dráddør hauled her into his arms. She wanted to stay there forever, but pushed away. “Evie?”

“Is missing along with Ulna and Ívarr.”

“Godfraid has her.” Her heart sank.

“What is this tale Nyssa tells us of virgins and sacrifices?” Konáll asked.

“And why did you not tell me earlier?” Dráddør demanded.

“’Tis not the time, brother. Xára, tell us quickly,” Brökk ordered.

“Jennie told me of it after Néill and Magnhildur fled, after they had stolen my voice. She said a man from the great city has been searching for two half-immortal virgins. That he had been told that the blood from their maidenhood would make a mortal man not only a god, but the leader of all the gods. That Néill would marry me and steal Evie and take us to this man.”

“Hjørdis and Evie,” Brökk said. “Two half-immortal virgins. Néill has them both and will take them to Niketas.”

“Has an Arab trader visited Lathairn recently?” Konáll asked.

“Not while I have been here, but Haakon would know if there have been others while I was at the abbey.”

“Aye. However it appears Haakon has also vanished,” Dráddør stated.

“Haakon?” She pressed a hand to her aching chest. Haakon had been one of the few who had protected her from Néill. But had he? For there had been many times when she had found herself alone with both Néill and Haakon. “Haakon knows all the tunnels save the one ruled by Gná.”