Chapter 18

18

T he sound of her name popped her burgeoning panic. Aislinn turned to behold Hakon in the smithy doorway, blinking at her with obvious surprise. His chest was bare, his bath sheet hanging around his neck, and a pair of damp linen braies draped loosely from his hips.

Fresh from the baths.

Aislinn's lips parted, her body overwhelmed by a sudden punch of lust so potent, all thought left her.

Wülf knocked the door wider and trotted inside, unaware or uncaring why his master had stopped in the doorway. He loped up to Aislinn and sat, whuffing for a pat.

"Aislinn?" Hakon said again, voice pitched low.

Not my lady or heiress . She took some hope from that.

"Did you mean what you said?" she blurted, heart thundering against her ribs.

His throat bobbed on a swallow. "About what?"

"About everything."

Aislinn watched in surprise as the uncertainty bled from him, and he somehow stood straighter, his shoulders thrown wide. Already warm, the smithy grew hot as she watched him fully enter then shut the door behind him, sealing them together.

"Yes."

A rumble vibrated through the warm air, and she realized with a gasp that it was him. Purring for her.

In three quick strides, he was across the small distance, his arms going around her to pull her close. Held tight to all that warm, damp chest, Aislinn really had no choice but to press her palms to it and sink her fingers into his flesh.

His hiss of pleasure made her clitoris throb.

"I'm sure," she told him. Not about where this would lead or how it would sustain itself—but him? Absolutely, yes.

That wide chest expanded with breath, as if he'd been waiting to hear those words. "Thank all the gods for that."

Then his lips were on hers and everything was right .

Breathing her own sigh of relief, Aislinn sank into his kiss, his body, his warmth. Her fingers found their way into his hair, and she raked her nails across his wet scalp.

That purr hummed against her lips, and when she gasped in delight, his tongue was there, chasing down hers. He sealed their mouths together in a hot rasp, a moan sounding from deep in his throat as he banded his arms around her back and lifted her off her feet.

Toes dangling, Aislinn kissed her blacksmith for all she was worth.

Fates, what an answer. It wasn't quite what she'd been expecting, but whatever other doubts or concerns she had, they were drowned in the uncompromising tide of her hunger for him. It didn't matter what tomorrow brought—so long as the promises of that night were fulfilled, Aislinn would be satisfied.

So, so satisfied.

"Fates, you feel too good," he murmured against her lips.

"You promise you won't stop this time?"

Another rumble, and to her horror, Aislinn was set back on her feet. She clutched at the bath sheet still around his neck, refusing to let him get far.

"Only if you tell me to," he said, a fascinating little grin teasing at his lips. He pressed that grin into her mouth in a kiss before telling her, "Stay right here."

Aislinn stayed, more so out of bafflement than because she was told to. She watched as Hakon closed up the smithy for the night, shuttering the windows, banking the fires, and closing the metal forge doors, leaving only a small vent at the top of each open for ventilation.

Finally, he returned to take her hand and lead her deeper into the smithy, up a set of three steps, to a door at the rear she'd never been through. Together they entered a dark chamber, cooler than the smithy but not cold.

Not letting go of her hand, Hakon used his other to light and turn up a lantern hung on a peg near the door. Soft illumination fell across his bedchamber.

It was a small but cozy room, with a narrow window looking out into the bailey. No hearth, but this part of the castle was kept warm from the smithy with purposefully designed ducts and chimneys. A wide bed took up most of the space, with a finely carved trunk at its foot. A small table with washbasin and bathing sheets sat in one corner, a well-worn chair with whittling tools in the other.

It was humble. Practical. Best of all, it smelled of him, a rich scent of male and iron and soap.

Muttering in orcish, Hakon backed Wülf up when he would have followed them in, shutting the door with him still in the smithy and Aislinn and Hakon in the bedchamber. Alone.

A distinctly canine huff and groan echoed from the other side of the door, followed by the sound of a big hairy body trudging back down the steps.

Aislinn grinned in amusement, but she couldn't hold it for long. Drawn further into his room, her pulse fluttered in her throat with anticipation.

The bed was neatly made and laden with blankets, pillows, and furs. For all that he worked with fire and hammer, it seemed he enjoyed soft things, too. She dared to reach out and run a hand over one of the furs at the foot of the bed. Had he brought it all the way from Kaldebrak?

He came up behind her, warmth radiating from his bare chest and raising the hairs at the back of her neck. A big hand slid around her waist to pull her into the rigid line of his body.

Tipping up her chin with a knuckle, he captured her gaze with his serious expression.

"This goes however you want it to, vinya . I'm yours, tonight and all nights hereafter. But if you come to my bed, it's as Aislinn. Just Aislinn. And I am just Hakon."

Fingers trembling ever so slightly, she reached up to cup his face. When he leaned into her touch and turned his face to kiss her palm, she couldn't help but smile.

"That's all I want," she assured him.

Just her, just him. Nothing could be better.

His own smile spread across his face, revealing that dimple in his cheek, and desire curled low in her belly to see it. He was entirely too handsome looking at her like that, the longer hair at the crown of his head falling to his brow, those sooty lashes drawn low over his hungry eyes.

"For now," he said. When she frowned in confusion, he lowered his mouth to hers but didn't quite kiss her. Instead, he ensured she not only heard but felt and tasted his next words, too. "Soon, you will understand you can ask more, much more of me. Anything at all, vinya, and you shall have it."

His promise sank inside her with a terrifying joy. She didn't think she truly understood or grasped his promise, not yet, but to have it at all fed the vulnerable, doubting parts of her. Under his piercing gaze, none of her was able to hide; he saw all and didn't look away.

"I want you," she murmured against his lips. When he would have kissed her, though, she gave him a gentle push backward. "And I want to see you."

Hakon straightened, looking down at her with such desire she thought she might combust. Nodding once, he positioned himself in the center of the room, his bare feet spread, and hands held loosely at his sides.

Swallowing her fears, Aislinn followed him, pulling the bath sheet from his neck and hanging it on a spare peg to dry. Bare and still slightly damp from the baths, his skin almost glowed in the soft lantern light. Two flat nipples were a darker green than the rest of his skin, and shadows danced along the heavy slabs of muscle that formed his chest.

A smattering of hair trailed down the center of him, following the valley between his pectorals and bisecting his abdomen. It disappeared under the waistband of his loose braies, which hung low on his hips and left little to the imagination.

Catching her bottom lip between her teeth, Aislinn touched her fingertips to that glorious chest. She watched in delight as gooseflesh followed in her wake as she traced over his thick waist, and his pulse visibly drummed at his throat. He hadn't the lean, defined abdomen she'd seen in some men like Sir Alaisdair. Hakon was instead wide and heavily built, slabs of muscle on his sides from wielding hammers and iron.

He held perfectly still for her, save for his eyes, which tracked her as she skated her fingers across every bit of flesh she could reach.

It never ceased to amaze her what a joy he was to touch. Softer than she expected, and smoother, it was almost like touching the finest leather, and yet better. The way his flesh shivered or jumped under her fingers was more than flattering, and by the time she'd circled around to his back, her blush was deep and her grin of pleasure wide.

It was Aislinn's turn to shiver with gooseflesh at the sight of his broad, strong back. He was nothing but muscle, two winging shoulder blades making great swooping shadows. She followed the line of his spine, in a valley between the thick clusters of muscles spread across his ribs and hips.

Her fingers strayed into the dimples winking at her from just above his buttocks, and she couldn't help slipping one below the waistband of his braies. It took little effort to slide the damp linen over the rounded swells of his backside, and within one breathless moment, the braies pooled at his ankles on the floor and he was absolutely, gloriously naked.

Pulse beating a cacophony in her ear, Aislinn slid her fingers over the firmness of one buttock before trailing them over his flank and hip and finally rounded his other side to—

Oh, bless his parents and every ancestor.

His large cock stood proud against his lower belly. The thick shaft sprung from a thatch of hair, with heavy bollocks tucked between his thighs. Green, with a large vein snaking up the underside, his cock looked like a handful even for him, the cockhead flared and almost angry looking, already leaking pearlescent spend. He was familiarly shaped but certainly unfamiliarly sized.

A dash of trepidation only sweetened her curiosity and hunger as she let her fingers trail down, down, down—

She gasped to feel the heat of him on her hand, but it was drowned out by his hiss.

One big hand grasped hers, stopping her exploration.

Aislinn couldn't help pouting up at him, more than a little frustrated in all the best ways. She'd seen her prize, and she wanted it now.

H akon adored the sassy little pout she lobbed at him when he stopped her questing hand. In truth, he didn't want to stop her, but it was imperative that he do this correctly. Already dribbling spend, he wouldn't survive her hands if she grasped him right now.

"Can't I touch you?"

"Fates, yes," he groaned, "but if you touch me there now, I'll flip you on your front and rut you through the bed."

A choked sound escaped her. "What's wrong with that?"

Hakon sucked in a breath. Fates, she'd kill him with those big, luminous, hungry eyes.

He had to do this right—savor. There was every chance this would be his only chance; he trusted her when she said she was sure this was what she wanted, at least for the night, but only time would tell if he could woo her back again. His last rational thread of thought knew he had to make memories to last him.

Still, he couldn't help promising, "Next time, love."

That pout lingered another moment before her brows arched and she stepped forward into him. Fates, if he adored her pout, he fucking loved her flirtatious smile. Running her hands up and down his chest and shoulders, she captured his desperate cock between them.

The fine fabric of her dressing gown rasped in a silky glide against the underside, and Hakon couldn't help another hiss of ardent agony. Filling his hands with that dressing gown, he kneaded it, feeling how her warm flesh gave beneath his fingers.

A low, pleasured hum deep in her throat nearly sent him wild.

Sucking in another breath for strength, Hakon set her back from him a step, earning him another pout. It was his turn to smile smugly at her as his fingers made quick work of the knot at her waist holding the dressing gown closed.

The red fabric slid off her shoulders in a cascade, and he hung it from a bed post. The lantern light rendered the white of her nightgown nearly transparent. His mouth ran dry to see the shadowy contours of her, the thick thighs and rounded hips and feminine swell of her lower belly. Her heavy breasts pushed against the neckline, her nipples puckering against the fabric, begging for his attentions.

Bending down onto a knee, Hakon caught the hem in his hand and began to pull it up over her legs. He watched her face, even as he desperately wanted to behold every precious inch of skin he revealed, to ensure she didn't want him to stop.

She was only about a head taller than him like that, and he had no trouble drawing the nightgown up to her hip. Biting her lip, she looked at him with nothing but desire and excitement. All he could ever want.

Heart nearly beating out of his chest, Hakon lifted the nightgown up her middle. Aislinn raised her arms, and then her nightgown was free and cast onto the trunk.

She stood bare before him, incandescent and far more beautiful than he'd ever dreamed. Wasn't that what she'd said at the wedding—a groom should be worried about fainting from the beauty of his bride?

He did feel lightheaded as he leaned back on his other leg so he could look his fill.

With her soft golden waves falling down her back, he had an unobstructed view of her perfection. Her strong arms were lithe and golden from the sun, and her collarbones two graceful wings just below her throat. A few freckles dotted her chest, and her perfect breasts sat teasing him with their large pink nipples. Her waist nipped in before flaring in wide hips. A neat patch of hair hid her mons just below the slight curve of her belly. Her thighs were perfect handfuls, her calves shapely, and her ankles strangely precious.

It was some moments before he realized he gawped at her as she stood there, and he knew from how she tried not to sway or fidget that it was an effort to stay still and let him look.

"Oh, vinya, " he rumbled, filling his hands with her hips and drawing her to him, "you are perfection."

Her smile was shy, not the same pout or sass from before, but he would take it. Soon, they'd know each other in every way. It was his purpose in life, his duty and his pleasure, to learn her and everything she liked. Always.

Hakon pressed leisurely kisses to her belly, catching hints of her pleasure scent. It was there, thank the gods, but he needed her to drown him in it. His thumbs played across her hipbones as he kissed up her body, to her sternum, then nipped the warm undersides of her breasts.

With a moan, he buried his face between her breasts, breathing heavily of her scent. Perfect, she smelled so perfect. She smelled like home. Like his.

Mate.

Nothing would ever smell or feel or taste better than her. Nothing.

Her little gasp puffed against his forehead when he banded his arms around her and stood, taking her up with him. In a moment, he had the blankets and furs flung back and Aislinn laid out in the middle.

She wiggled a little, running her hands over the blankets and sheets, and Hakon rumbled with pleasure at the sight. This was where she belonged, in his bed, beside him.

Hakon swung himself over her, keeping his weight on his hands and knees. His cock kicked against his belly to behold her under him, how she smiled in welcome and carded her fingers through the hair on his chest.

The sight did give him pause, though. She was so much smaller than him. He'd always known this, but somehow, with her laying there beneath him, he acutely understood how he could crush her in carelessness.

Never. Never hurt her, only please.

That was his intent, but this first time, slow. He had to go slow.

No matter what the beast, or the vixen, said.

"Have you lain with anyone before?" he asked. So long as it wasn't anyone he saw daily, he thought he could temper his jealousy.

"Yes, but it's been a long while. And always with a human man." Her hands smoothed over his chest and shoulders as a considering look stole across her face. "Have you?"

"Yes."

"Always with human men for you, too?" she teased.

He snorted a laugh. "An orcess, I'm afraid."

"Hmm." That considering expression returned. "Quite a bit bigger than me, I suppose?"

"Yes."

Lowering himself to her, Hakon couldn't help a groan when her legs parted to cradle him between them. He fell into her body, their forms fitting together so perfectly he needed a moment to catch his breath. The soft give of her body nearly drove him mad, and his bollocks drew up tight in need.

Hakon rained kisses onto her face and neck before asking, "Tell me what pleases you, vinya ."

She made a considering noise, those wicked hands teasing up and down his flanks. "This rutting business sounds intriguing."

He huffed a laugh into the crook of her neck. "Are you ready for rutting?"

Hakon slipped a hand between them, fingers seeking the warm cunt hidden between her thighs. He felt her sharp inhale when he delved down, ignoring her clitoris to instead tease a fingertip against her opening. While she wept for him there, it wasn't nearly enough.

"Not quite yet," he told her, "I've more work to do."

He silenced her protests with a kiss, taking her lips and tongue for his own. Fates, she tasted so good. Distracted by his teasing tongue, Aislinn consented to play his game, nipping his lower lip and tracing his tusks with her tongue in revenge.

One of her thumbs found and circled his nipple at the same moment her lips caught his tongue and sucked.

Hakon rocked forward, cock thrusting against her thigh.

"Fates," he groaned.

He pushed himself back up onto his elbows, granting him a little distance from that wicked mouth of hers. His cock throbbed at her smug expression, and he wanted to see it again.

But first…

Hakon set himself the enviable task of making love to her, one kiss at a time. He started with her brow, following it down to the curve of her cheek and bridge of her nose. He tasted her lips but didn't linger, no matter how she tempted him by curling her tongue around his, and followed the elegant line of her neck down to her throat.

He tasted the hollow there at the base, licking between her collarbones before pressing kisses into her shoulders and upper arms. No part of her was spared—he sat up to kiss her forearm, the inside of her elbow, her wrist, her palm. Every fingertip got a kiss, every knuckle. When one hand had been given its due, he placed it on his shoulder and went to the next, feeling almost drunk on how she watched him with heavy-lidded eyes.

Next, he kissed her sternum, where he could feel her heart beating beneath his lips. Each breast received thorough attention, kisses and nips to the underside and long laves with the flat of his tongue against her pert nipples.

Aislinn moaned and rolled her hips, trying to find a little relief, but he wouldn't give it, not yet.

He could have spent all night there, teasing and playing with her breasts, but when she squirmed again, Hakon made himself move lower. He kissed each rib he could feel beneath her downy skin, then swirled his tongue in her belly button. She shuddered with a laugh, then moaned when he pressed a nipping kiss just above her mons.

Next was a growl of disapproval when he ignored her cunt and instead spoiled her hips and thighs with attention. His tongue teased the hollows of her hipbones and the caps of her knees. He kissed down the line of her shin as he held her small ankle so, so gently. The tops of her feet got a kiss, and so did every toe.

When all of her had been thoroughly kissed, Hakon sat back on his heels and smiled up at her. She returned it as he began to crawl over her, but it quickly disappeared with an outraged huff when he reached beneath her and flipped her by the hip onto her front.

Flicking her hair over her shoulder so she could scowl back at him, she said, "What happened to this going however I wanted?"

"I said nothing about how quickly," he replied, kissing her bare shoulder. "Trust me, vinya . Can you be good and patient for me?"

Reaching around to hold her throat in his hand to support her head, he felt her half-hearted grumble. "I suppose I've waited this long. What's a little longer?"

Hakon chuckled, but she received a gentle swat to her flank for that sass.

"Not much longer," he told her as her face fell into the pillows with a moan.

Releasing her, he returned to his ministrations. He learned the angles of her shoulder blades and curve of her spine with his lips and tongue. He charted each of the freckles along her back, charmed at the speckles of color along her perfect, supple skin.

When he reached her backside, he couldn't help himself. He buried his face against one buttock and filled his hand with the other. His fingers sank into the plush give of her, and with a groan of his own, he pressed many, many kisses along every curve.

It was a long while before he pulled himself down, to kiss her thighs and calves. The arches of her feet each got a kiss, as did her ankles and backs of her knees.

Hakon lifted up again, already so full. Fates, what he wouldn't give to spend the rest of his days in this bed, gorging on her. He'd kissed almost every bit of her there was and wanted to again, forever, always.

His stubborn mate had other ideas, though.

"And now?" she asked him over her shoulder, her brows arched in that way that made him throb.

He smiled wickedly at her. "Now we see if you're ready."

She opened her mouth to ask, but instead a gasp of delight filled the chamber when he palmed her thighs and drew them apart. He coaxed her knees up, and he rumbled with hunger when it opened her to his questing fingers.

Her scent punched through him, no longer a hint but all-consuming. His chest rattled with a pleased growl, and he couldn't help burying his face between her legs for a taste. Aislinn cried out and bucked as he ran his tongue from clitoris to cunt.

" That, " she groaned, "that pleases me."

He licked his lips when he sat back, grinning to see how she'd begun to tremble.

"I think you're almost ready, vinya, " he said as he came up behind her.

" Almost? " she croaked indignantly.

Hakon rumbled in assent, savoring her moan when he rested his cock between the generous globes of her backside. He watched the shudder run up her spine, and she rocked back into his hips.

The sight of his green flesh against hers nearly snapped the last thread of his control. The leisurely kisses had done their work on him too, lulling him into a haze of softer pleasure—but the taste of her, feeling her cradle his cock so perfectly…

There's not a male alive luckier than I am.

Hakon planted one hand on the bed near her head, and his heart beat faster when she immediately reached out to grasp his wrist. Rocking his cock against her in small, controlled movements, his other hand claimed what he'd been waiting so desperately for.

The pads of his fingers slid through her slick, immediately soaked with her desire. He teased her clitoris for a moment, rewarding her patience, and devoured the sight of her rocking back into his hand, seeking her pleasure, her eyes shut and her lips parted in concentration.

Before she could work herself to release, he slid his finger back to her opening and pushed inside. The first finger met no resistance, her muscles pulling him greedily deeper. The second finger took several slow thrusts, moving with her hips as she chased him down. The third was tight, and he pushed against a ring of muscle before finally feeling her resistance give way.

Aislinn's whole body shuddered and shook, and her head thrashed back and forth on the pillows when he touched a textured patch of slick skin inside her. "Hakon," she groaned, "Hakon, Hakon…"

"Just like that, vinya . Come for me just like that."

Her knuckles went white clutching the sheets, and with a little cry, she came apart under him. She clenched at his fingers, milking them and drawing them even deeper as her hips rolled against him. The wet slaps of their flesh filled the room, and Hakon nearly lost himself to the scent of her release, thick and syrupy.

Seed leaked from his cockhead, beads running over her backside and pooling at the small of her back. Their scents mingled, inciting every primal part of him that he'd tried so hard to put away.

He waited as long as he could, but her noises and the feel of her coming on his fingers shredded the last of his control and his sanity. Before she'd entirely recovered from her release, he rolled her onto her back.

Looming over her, he used a hand to guide his cock through the hot, throbbing lips of her cunt. Coating himself in her slick. Branding her desire into his skin. Imprinting her scent in his mind.

Fates, yes. He wanted everything.

She watched him with those sultry eyes and her lower lip caught by her teeth as he worked. He held that gaze, drowning in the golden glitter of her eyes, as he soaked himself.

Her cunt throbbed against his cockhead, and that was it. Hakon couldn't take any more.

Notching the head at her entrance, he pushed an inch inside before falling over her. She welcomed him with open arms, her thighs cradling his hips and ankles locking at the small of his back. As if he'd try to get away. Never, he never wanted to part from her. She was stuck with him now, forever.

He was hers.

" Vinya, " he grated against her cheek as he sank deeper.

He pushed inexorably on, not quick and brutal like he wanted, but unstoppable nonetheless. Aislinn threw her head back, and he kissed the long line of her throat, feeling her moan vibrate under his lips.

Even with all the preparation, she was still so tight it stole the breath from his lungs. He burned to move faster, to buck and thrust and fight his way home, but he made himself press on slow and measured.

The tendons in her neck stood out in stark relief as she panted heavily beneath him. Her fingers were claws, sunk into the meat of his shoulders.

When he'd sheathed half his shaft inside, he made himself stop and ask, "All right?"

She nodded once jerkily, but he didn't resume. The sight of tears glittering at the corners of her eyes almost sent him into a panic.

"Aislinn—"

"It hurts but good," she murmured.

"Good?"

"So good ." She took a handful of his hair and yanked. "Don't you dare stop."

That was all he needed. Hakon angled her hips up with a hand on the small of her back. She gasped when he much more easily slid in another inch, and Hakon held her still as he worked himself in steady thrusts until, finally, thank all the gods old and new, he slid inside to the hilt.

Body shaking, Hakon could hardly believe he was buried deep inside his mate.

An orcish curse fell from his lips at the sight of her around him. It was almost obscene, her pink flesh spread so wide, the dark green root of his cock disappearing inside her.

Exactly where I belong.

Falling to his elbows, Hakon was no longer thought or word. He was only motion, hips thrusting inside his warm, soft, perfect mate. She met every thrust, hips rolling in tandem. Their slick dripped between them, coating his thighs and making the most obscene, delicious sounds.

They shared breath as their bodies rocked together. She followed him up and he chased her down, a perfect rhythm that stole the thought from his mind and the breath from his lungs. A sheen of sweat rendered her luminous in the low light, and he lapped at where it pooled in the hollow of her throat.

His pace grew faster, the bed creaking beneath them as he hunted the release that'd haunted him since he'd first met her. His hand was nothing compared to her, would never be good enough again. No one would. He was ruined for anyone, anything else.

"Perfect," he rumbled, "you're perfect."

"Hakon!"

He consumed her plea, sealing their mouths together just as he sealed his cock inside her on a downstroke. Lifting her a little higher, he angled her just so, ensuring his cock caught against her clitoris with every thrust. She clenched tight as a vice around him, her heels digging into his back as her rocking hips stuttered and grew frantic.

Aislinn's head thrashed on the pillows, and he felt the powerful ripple of her release. Hakon buried his face in her neck and let go, pouring himself inside his mate. The wet slaps of their furious lovemaking were nearly lost to his blood rushing through him and the hard beat of her heart at his ear.

He immolated in her arms, heated and reformed again.

She made room for him inside her, and as he collapsed into her arms, they molded together. Like links of mail, he heard the mate-bond snick into place, his center realigning around her.

She would be his, one way or another, but now, at this very moment, he was hers. For always.

" Th'rat rus tenyar, " he rumbled in orcish as he thrust one last time. You have my heart.

He didn't know if she heard it over her release; he barely remembered saying it as the throes of climax consumed him. It didn't make it any less true, though. And when, many moments later, their bodies had cooled a little and their heartbeats began to slow, Hakon's resolve hardened.

I will have her for always. He kissed that promise into her skin.