pushed up on his elbows and looked down at her with a tiny smile. “I am. I’ve never made love to a woman without a barrier. Not even when she used her mouth.”
“What?” Stunned at his revelation, she couldn’t complete the thought. “I…I…I thought…”
“I was a virgin?” He smiled down at her as he stroked her cheek. “Oh sweetheart, ten years is a very long time to wait for your true love to show up. I’ve never spilled my seed in or on another woman. I saved that all for you. But that didn’t mean I didn’t do some studying. The way I see it, this is my final exam, sort of like the test to get my transporter’s license. Everything up until now has been training for this moment. If you aren’t both satisfied and pregnant by the time we pull into Stravicsholm, we’ll just run off to your apartment and lock ourselves in until I get it right.”
Chapter 6
Gunnar watched, holding back his laughter as her mouth gaped open and closed like a goldfish. No sound came out initially as she worked her mouth. Eventually she worked up to indignant splutters.
“You— I— Outrageous… Intolerable— How dare you!” She finally got the words out as a shout. “Release me!” she ordered in a truly imperious tone. Too bad she’d forgotten one little thing.
“I dare?” He regarded her with his best arched brow. “You’ve kept us apart for the last ten years. We should have at least five children by now. There is so much lost time to make up for, my princess. And we start tonight. Here. Now.” He leaned over her and punctuated each declaration with a kiss. Moder Freya, but she tasted good.
And felt good too. Her breasts were every bit as full as he’d glimpsed this morning and her nipples poked against the thin silk covering her. Resting on his elbows over her, he couldn’t see her whole body like he wanted to. The question, now, was: did he remove her clothing the civilized way, or the more fun way?
“Do you have more of these long underwear items in your luggage?”
“Why?” she snapped her question back at him.
“That’s not the response I’m looking for. Yes, or no?”
“Yes,” she muttered.
“Good answer. Definitely the preferred one.”
Alarm made her eyes sparkle, even through the ridiculous lenses. “Why?” she asked again.
“Because,” he pushed back until he knelt between her legs, “I’m still trying to decide how to get these off of you.”
He trailed his fingers down her body, brushing over her breasts, watching her nipples grow even harder. Her stomach quivered as he smoothed his hand over it.
“Ticklish?”
“A little.”
No, she couldn’t very well deny it.
He reached for the waistband of her leggings. She folded her legs up and pressed her feet against his chest. A moment before she put power into her legs to push him away, he grabbed her ankles and spread her legs apart.
“Still feisty, eh?” He chuckled in the face of her groan.
“I told you, I won’t make love to you,” she protested through clenched teeth.
“Oh, but you will, and you’ll beg me for it,” he promised her.
“Gunnar, this doesn’t make sense! I’ll make a lousy queen. I can’t do this,” she wailed.
“You can, and you will. The gods don’t choose the unable.”
A strong gust of wind hit the side of the van their transport was cocooned in.
“See? Odin agrees with me,” he told her. “Well, I guess we’ll have to do this the hard way.”
Brown-tinted eyes flew open wide as he reached behind him. Before she could squeal, a lined cuff encased one ankle. It wasn’t much of a struggle before he had her other ankle bound, the ankle cuffs just like the ones holding her wrists. She was securely spread on the bed before him like a five-point star.
Spluttering protests began to come from her again and he leaned over to kiss her deeply. Damn but she tasted, and kissed, wonderful. He felt each kiss right down to his throbbing shaft. Rubbing against the silk covering her sweet body only made him ache more. Maybe he would take her fast this first time. But first, he needed to know…
She wiggled against him when he touched her. Wet, she’d soaked the silk between her legs with her sweet-scented potion. The bucking of her hips became more pronounced as he lingered, stroking her, feeling every contour though the thin fabric. Without much effort he found the point where the seams came together. He was able to work a finger through, breaking the threads holding the pieces together.
Tongue sparring with tongue, he worked his finger through the seam, ripping the material when the thread held tight. Frustrated at the slow progress, he pushed back up to his knees, grabbed the edges and pulled. Her squeal of dismay nearly drowned out the sound of the ripping fabric.
Unable to keep from looking he had to know… ah, she was nearly as dark there as the rest of her body.
“Sun in the nude often?” he asked.
“Every chance I get.”
Smooth. He reached out a tentative finger to touch her hairless folds. “Is this natural?”
“Waxed. Yesterday.” She gasped as his fingers danced over her soft skin.
“I’ve heard of the technique. I think I like it.” He bent and kissed where his fingers touched, his tongue lightly teasing and tasting. “Mmmm, I think I like it very much.” Moaning and writhing indicated she agreed with him.
Still the big question… “Dare I ask? Are you…?”
“My maidenhead is intact,” she whimpered as his finger slid into her. “Go gently. Only my physician has ever touched me there.”
Heeding her plea, he worked his finger in slowly. “Tight. You are so very tight… ah, there it is. So you are a maiden still.” But how innocent?
Fascinated by her smooth skin, he stroked her, watching the moisture seep from her. He used one finger to fondle her sacred passage, a thumb on the tiny bud of flesh nestled coyly at the apex of her thighs.
“So slick and wet, my love.”
Her moan made him smile. Easing his thumb off her clit, he watched as she tried to follow, thrusting her hips toward him.
“Ah, so she knows what she likes. What else does she like?”
“What do you mean?”
“I know the boundaries of my purity, but what of yours? How has your body been used by others, my princess? Has the Lidarian lusting after you tasted your sweetness?”
“I… I don’t know what you mean. I don’t like your implication.”
“There are other ways to fuck, Princess.”
“I didn’t give you leave to use crude language with me!”
He couldn’t help the laugh. “Nory, my pet, you’ve completely missed the point here. You may be a princess to the people, The Crown Princess, but to me, you are my wife. My mate. That makes me your husband. Your Master.”
He watched her eyes fly open wide. “Yes, that’s right, Noreen. The Nordian marriage ceremony still requires you to swear obedience to me. Man and wife. In our household, I own you. Body and soul, my love.”
The shaking of her body as the words sunk in was nearly laughable until he remembered the king’s words. She didn’t know any better and was merely responding to how she’d been raised. Since she was her father’s precious treasure,