2. Rune

RUNE

S taring down at her icy, clear blue eyes, I’m lost and found all at once. This little sprite of a woman will be my undoing. I don’t know how I know this, but something inside me screams that she’s about to change my life.

Her breathing has picked up since her tongue touched my palm, and as I search her crystalline gaze, I see energetic lust battling with her common sense. We met an hour ago, and she’s wondering why she’s so attracted to me while forgetting the danger at her back.

The truth is, it’s the danger right in front of her that could be the problem. I’m the one who won’t let her leave. I’m the one about to trap her inside my cabin because she made the unlucky decision to show up on my land.

Leaning forward, I bury my nose in her neck and inhale deeply. Cinnamon and frost. Flicking my tongue out, I lap at her throat like an eager canine marking its territory. She tastes just as she smells but with a hint of cranberry. My three favourite things.

“Rune?” The way she breathes my name has my dick standing on end as a deep rumble works through my chest cavity.

“Yes, little one?” I keep my voice soft by sheer iron will when all I want to do is ravage her and ignore any possible protest she might have. Elementally, this woman belongs to me.

“The bear…” She moans when I nip the beating pulse on her neck.

“Not a problem. He’s an asshole but harmless.” The animal has been living on my mountain since birth and encounters all types of people; not once has he ever harmed anyone. He just likes to chase them. Normally, I’d be the one scaring him off, but today, I allowed his aggression to be used to my advantage.

“How do you know? They kill people!” Her hands have made their way to my chest, and I dig into her further as the bear pounds on the door.

“Just do.” I pull back slightly to see her cheeks are rosy and her eyes are closed. Her body follows after me as I keep pulling away. Gripping the front of her zippered snowsuit, I bring her with me. “Let's get you out of this.”

Before she can argue, I begin removing her many, many layers of clothing, chuckling when I realise how many there are. “You are not from the cold weather climate, are you?”

Kneeling in front of her to remove her boots seems to have rendered her speechless. Her big blue eyes stare at me, darkening with her lust. I glide a hand up her calf and the inside of her thigh, working to remove the snowsuit until she answers me.

“Alaska, born and raised, actually.” That surprises me. “I was in Seattle for a few years, though; travelled the world, too. I semi-moved back to Polar Bear a few years ago when my sister had a baby.”

“You’re pretty young for all that adventure,” I point out with a frown. There’s too much danger in the world for an innocent woman like her.

She rolls her eyes at me, and I have the urge to swat her ass as I stand, emphasising my impressive size again. “I’m twenty-five, so not that young, and a photojournalist. It’s what I do.” I like this even less.

“Where?”

“Where have I been?” I nod. “All over, really. The wars in the Middle East, Sudan, and Ukraine most recently. Mexico, Jamaica, and Eastern Europe.” War-torn countries. Popular human trafficking areas.

“You are either brave or foolish. Perhaps both.” Her casual shrug annoys me because she shouldn’t be so cavalier about her safety.

“Someone needs to tell the stories happening to the innocent people. Nobody really wants to listen.” I can admire that without liking it.

“So, what are you doing here, then? There is no war, no possible trafficking or conflict. We are simple Greenlandic folk.”

Lifting two sweaters over her head leaves her in nothing but a sports bra that does not hide her peaked nipples. Her eyes are so focused on my face that, at first, she doesn’t realise when I lift my hand to circle one nipple with a gentle finger until I move to the next.

Her breath catches, but she forges on with her answer. “I’ve decided to change trajectories in my career, and I heard a rumour that the last Viking descendant of Erik the Red lives here and that at Christmas, he plays Santa to the children of his village.”

My gut churns with disappointment. A gorgeous woman like her, of course, that’s why she’s here. I don’t know why I thought otherwise. “This is true,” I confirm. It’s obvious she already knows it’s me she’s looking for. “What is it that you want with this descendant of Erik the Red?”

Her pupils are so dilated, I’d think she were high, but she’s filled with desire. Her body screams with need while her pheromones infiltrate my brain chemistry, and all I want is to toss her over my shoulder and have my sinfully wicked way with her.

Her tongue moves slowly across her lips before she blurts out what neither of us expects. “To have his babies.”

Her mouth forms the most perfect ‘O’ as a grin spreads across my face. Satisfaction replaces the hurt from moments ago, and I strip off my sweater and boots before unbuckling my belt.

Taking full advantage of her utter shock, I hike Chloe over my shoulder and carry her off to my bed. Fuck niceties. Fuck dating and discovery. She wants a Viking; she’s damn well going to get herself one.