12. Erik

Chapter 12

Erik

E rik woke in the middle of the night, finding himself and Cherine asleep on the rug in front of the dying fire. Chills had set in, the outside wind finding crevices in the stone-walled manor to sneak through. He picked up the sleeping beauty, feeling protective over her serene nudity, and lowered her into his bed. Once he was sure they were both covered with enough blankets and warmth, he drew her up to him and kissed the back of her head. He fell into a deep, satisfied sleep until the bright reality of the morning.

“Dear Odin, what do we have here?” Rolf’s voice boomed across Erik’s chambers.

He snapped his head up, fighting away the last traces of sleep. Cherine was slowly waking up his arms, but it was too late. Rolf was storming across the room, his footsteps rattling the paintings on the walls. They were caught, and even though Erik knew pleasuring Cherine was part of his assigned duty, he knew Rolf would find some problem with them actually sharing a bed.

“Well, explain why she’s here and not in the room we gave to her,” Rolf demanded. Despite the early hour and the post-siege celebrations from the night before, Rolf looked disarmingly sharp. His darks eyes glittered fervently while his posture suggested he was ready to fling Erik out of bed.

Erik sat up and placed his hand on Cherine’s shoulder, keeping her down. He hoped she’d take it as a sign not to get involved.

Erik wiped at his eyes, trying to wake up. Honesty would probably be the best policy in this situation.

He pretended to look sheepish. “Sorry. We were having a little fun last night, and I forgot to return her. She wore me out.”

Rolf gazed down at Cherine, his brow slowly raising with interest. “Is that so?”

Erik didn’t like that look, didn’t like that tone of voice. It meant Rolf was about to test something, and his tests were always very easy to fail. Erik made his face look as cold and impassive as possible.

“It is. I shall bring her back to her room now. Thank you for waking us.”

He began to get out of bed, but Rolf held out his hand, keeping his eyes pinned to Cherine as she tensed. “Not so fast, old friend. You said she wore you out? I’d like to see if this is true.”

Erik continued to get out of bed and stood naked before Rolf, who didn’t take any notice of his nudity.

“You can take my word for it.”

A lazy grin spread across Rolf’s face. “I’d rather see it for myself.”

Shit. He knew it would come to this. He knew the moment Rolf saw them in something more intimate than sex, he’d want to take Cherine for himself. As powerful as Rolf was, he was sometimes but a child at heart, prone to irrational bouts of jealously. Seeing Erik sleeping with Cherine had proven to be too much, and Erik chastised himself for being so careless. He should have taken Cherine back to her chambers when they had finished. Instead, he craved her touch and needed her company. He’d been selfish, and above all, foolish.

Rolf walked past Erik’s naked form and crouched by the bed, peering inquisitively at Cherine. She stared at him with hard eyes, though Erik could see the fear rippling underneath.

At least, he hoped it was fear.

“My, you’re a beauty even when you first wake up,” Rolf said gently, his eyes drifting from her mouth to her décolletage and back. “Tell me, dear maiden, do you have any faults? I mean, aside from preferring the company of Erik here. By the by, you don’t have to actually sleep with the man. Just fuck him, that’s all.”

He reached for her face and started stroking her cheek with his large, bronzed hands. Cherine took in a sharp breath but held her ground, not daring to flinch nor look away.

“I slept with him because I like him,” she said, a coyness masking the quivers in her voice.

His fingers paused on her cheekbone, and his eyes sharpened. The tension in the room was stretched to the hilt.

“Is that so?” he asked, his tone hard-edged. Erik’s breath hitched, his body tensing, ready to defend Cherine if necessary. He never thought he’d go toe-to-toe with Rolf over a woman, but he couldn’t ignore the now apparent fact that he would.

After what seemed like an eternity, Rolf pried his eyes off Cherine—though not his hands. Those stayed on her cheek, as if they could soak up her beauty through their contact. He looked to Erik and, with a rather savage gleam in his eyes, said, “Erik, come over here.”

“Why?”

Rolf didn’t answer. He didn’t need to.

Erik let out his breath and walked over to him, stopping just beside Cherine. Rolf motioned at his naked cock, his mouth twisted in a smile.

“It’s a good thing you’re already nude. Will make this easier.” He looked back to Cherine. “All right, my beauty, let’s see just how useful you’ll be. Suck this man off.”

Cherine startled at his words, and her eyes flashed to Erik for explanation. He couldn’t say anything but “because Rolf said so”, so he didn’t say anything. In fact, he was a wee bit relieved. He was certain Rolf was going to attack Cherine and have her right there and then, forcing Erik to watch. If this was as far as it was going to go, he could live with that. He couldn’t ignore the fact that this manhood was twitching at the thought, swelling at the prospect.

“Well?” Rolf snapped, and Cherine stiffened to attention. “Pleasure your Erik, my beauty. Get him off. Milk him dry. And do it well. You’ll need to impress me.”

She bit her lip and cast a downward glance to Erik. “I’d ask if it was something Erik wants, but I can see that it is.”

With a remark like that, he couldn’t be sure how Cherine was taking it. Was she repulsed? Scared? Turned on? Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to dwell on it. Rolf was growing impatient, his jaw twitching in annoyance. Cherine needed to get going, fast, or she could be due for a lot worse.

Erik reached down, grabbed her by the shoulders, and dragged her to the edge of the bed. He couldn’t trust her to take control now. He looked deep into her eyes, trying to tell her that things would be all right if she just did as she was told. Even with that, he put his hand at the back of her head and made a fist in her hair. She let out a little moan at the pain, and her eyes flashed at him. He had seen that look in them last night. She was going to be just fine.

She reached forward with one hand and made a circle around his cock with her thumb and forefinger, slowly stroking him back and forth. Erik wondered if this was one of the things she and her ex-lover, Marc, had practiced over the years. He was about to find out.

With her eyes latched onto Erik’s like she was stuck in a trance, she lowered her full lips over his dick, the crown already weeping with pre-cum, and began sliding it inside her wet mouth. Erik nearly came from that first contact. Practice or no practice, Cherine absolutely knew what she was doing.

Rolf made a noise of appreciation, but Erik didn’t dare look away and break his concentration. He kept eye contact with Cherine, her intense gaze adding fuel to the fire that was burning inside him. Each long stroke of her hands and suck from her mouth brought a new sensation. She went from tongue teasing the slit on his swollen head, sucking out any remaining pre-cum, to lightly running her teeth down the hardened ridge on the underside.

“Don’t forget his crown jewels,” Rolf whispered lustily, watching only a foot away from them. Cherine took her mouth off his cock and began to lightly tease Erik’s balls with her lips, slowly lowering them inside her mouth and out again. He’d certainly never had that done before. How lucky was he to have found such an eager student?

“Stroke with your fingers, just behind them,” Rolf added. Erik closed his eyes as her wet fingers began to rub the area between his balls and his ass. The pressure inside was building fast and hard, and he wasn’t going to last much longer.

“Your mouth,” Erik whispered, his cock twitching from the blood-flow. “Let me fuck your mouth.”

His eyes closed as Cherine took him in her mouth again, but she kept her fingers rubbing that spot. He slammed his cock into her dripping mouth as hard as she could take him, drawing it in and out of the warmth faster and faster. His balls drew up into him, and he grasped her head, tugging hard at her hair to keep her in place as he came. He moaned loudly, grunting through the orgasm that shot a full load into her mouth, which she promptly swallowed up.

When she was sure he was done coming, she delicately slid him out of her mouth and wiped herself with the back of her hand. Erik wasn’t sure what was up or what was down, and he wavered on his feet until he had to lean on the bed.

“Well,” Rolf said slowly, and Erik suddenly remembered they weren’t alone. He would have felt a tad bit embarrassed for coming, and coming so hard, in front of Rolf, but the endorphins were still running on a rampage through him.

“You’re quite the woman,” Rolf went on. “I can see why Erik is so taken with you. Naturally, we can’t let him have all the fun, can we, my beauty?”

Erik caught his breath and eyed Rolf. Was this it? Was Rolf going to take her for his own pleasure now?

Rolf reached forward and gently placed his hand on the side of her cheek, moving her head over to face him. “I want to see what he tastes like.”

He leaned in and gently kissed Cherine—closed-lipped at first, and then they both opened for each other, and Erik could see his tongue gently plying her. A murderous wave of jealousy ran through him, making his hands ball up into fists.

Rolf slowly pulled back, his eyes drooping with desire, searching every corner of Cherine’s face. She was so painfully beautiful to Erik, and it was only natural that Rolf saw it too. He knew he had no real reason to be jealous—he always knew Rolf would take her in the end—but he couldn’t help it. Cherine didn’t deserve Rolf, no matter how much bigger and more powerful he was, no matter how well he could treat her. Erik had kinship with Cherine; Rolf would only want something physical.

Although, as Rolf stood, still watching Cherine, Erik could see the strange tenderness that possessed the giant beast of a man. For all his big, broad glory, his devilish eyes, bronze skin and long black hair, there was something almost sweet in the way he looked at her.

And, interestingly enough, that worried Erik too.

“My beauty,” Rolf said with a soft smile, “I am not done with you. I want you in my chambers tonight, right after dinner. Erik will bring you.”

He shot Erik a look that cemented the deal then quickly turned and walked out of the room, leaving Erik and Cherine alone. A cold chill rattled the windows, and Erik thought it might as well have been his heart.

Erik would have to deliver Cherine to him tonight.

But would Erik get to stay?