XLV. Beautiful Little Thing

Eksel closed the door to the longhouse, making sure no one followed them. As he turned to face Elva, he noticed her reddening cheeks and heaving chest. She looked around the space, her eyes wide with anticipation and her fingers twisting together in nervous energy.

He tilted his head as he approached her, fisting his hands beside his thighs. “Are you sure?”

She nodded, though she took a step back as he neared her.

He narrowed his eyes, his hardening cock straining against the fabric of his pants. He would be lying if he said he had not been waiting for this precise moment. He wasn’t sure where he got his self control and how he was able to keep it for these long three weeks.

Sleeping beside her without touching her had been a torture.

Ending his kisses with a hunger for so much more had been a torture.

But the fear in her eyes from the nightmares that plagued her were enough to stop his advances, enough to keep him in check.

“Are you sure, little thing?”

She inhaled, her nostrils flaring and nodded. Still, she took a step back, her lips parting when she noticed the barbaric hunger in his crazy eyes.

He pawed at his cock, it uncomfortably stained against his pants.

Her eyes fluttered down to the area between his legs and her eyes widened further, her cheeks turning a crimson red.

The sight reminded Eksel of her innocence, igniting a fresher hunger in his chest.

“You will need to tell me if you need me to stop,” Eksel growled, stepping toward her.

Elva stepped back, hitting one of the wooden posts and gasped, realizing she could no longer stop the inevitable. She snapped her eyes shut, trying to calm her breathing.

“Elva.”

She pressed her lips together, determined to push past the sour pain that pulsed in her stomach, determined to remove Agnar’s memory from her body completely.

“Elva.”

She snapped her eyes open, gasping when she saw that he stood so close to her she could feel his breath on her face. He reached for her and she whimpered, her body moving in a wave of goosebumps as his fingers caressed her waist.

“Elva. Do you want to stop?”

Elva frowned. They hadn’t even started and yet he was looking at her with all the understanding in the world. She knew he was her protector, and he remained so even in the midst of his own uncontrollable hunger.

He wasn’t Agnar.

He wouldn’t treat her like he did.

And she loved him.

She was his, completely.

She shook her head. “No. I don’t.”

His fingers twitched against her skin and he leaned toward her, watching her as she shakily inhaled. He only managed to brush his lips against her for a mere second before his instincts took over in a bruising kiss.

In a claiming, burning, hungry kiss.

Elva returned his claim with her own fiery kiss. As she closed her eyes, her mind reeled, her head turning dizzy as he stole her very essence, her very breath. He took it all and she willingly gave it all.

She moaned against his lips, threading her fingers through his hair to pull him closer.

She needed him closer.

Eksel growled and quickly hiked up her skirt, pressing his fingers to her warm thigh. Elva gasped, biting on his lower lip just as he hooked her leg around his waist.

The sudden widening of her legs had fear spiking in her chest.

She reeled back, pressing her hands to his chest to create space. She shut her eyes tighter and pressed her lips together while softly shaking her head.

Eksel let her push him away and his eyes widened in a panic as he tensed, watching her features as they pinched tightly. His breath was fast and heavy but he managed to keep himself still.

“I’m sorry,” She whispered, finally opening her eyes to look at him.

The moment her eyes clashed with his, her heartbeat calmed and her body lost its tension.

Eksel’s eyes softened and he carefully caressed her cheeks. “Don’t apologize.”

“I just. I need to see that it’s you.”

His fingers danced across the skin of her cheek, down to her collarbone.

Her nostrils flared.

He gently caressed the skin of her shoulder, down her arm until his thumb lightly ran across her wrist. He brought her hand to his lips and feathered kisses across her fingers. With his eyes carefully watching hers, he pressed her hand to his cheek, letting her finger run across the thick scars.

“It’s me,” He hushed in one breath.

Elva nodded, her breath stolen by such a simple reaffirmation that the man who stood in front of her would always put her first. She smiled at him, her brows furrowing just as an ache ignited in the pit of her stomach.

Her fear was instantly replaced with a need so severe, it thrusted her mind into a foggy mess. She tightened her leg that still laid against his waist until the heel of her foot dug into his backside.

He grunted, letting her movement press his hips against hers.

“Fuck.” He bit back a groan as he involuntarily thrusted closer to her.

Elva threw her head back, keeping her eyes on him, and released a soft moan from her lips.

Eksel ripped his shirt in a rush, releasing his warm skin from its prison. He pressed her hand harder against his cheek and grabbed her other hand, wrapping it around his waist until her fingers danced on the raised edges of the scars on his back.

“It’s me.” He repeated, watching her.

Elva nodded, understanding what he was trying to do. She squeezed her legs together, feeling herself grow wet from his care and his touch.

His fingers dug into her waist and he desperately leaned closer, nipping the skin on her neck. Elva made a strangled noise and it slowly turned into a moan.

He caressed her skin with his tongue, down the curve of her shoulder until he closed his teeth around the fabric of her sleeve. He ripped it apart, letting it fall down her arm and exposing her breasts.

Her skin pebbled in a rushed wave.

He hummed deep in his throat, softly licking her nipple before biting the soft flesh with his teeth.

“Eksel,” Elva whispered.

He lifted his eyes to her, only to catch her watching him with half hooded eyes. Her hair was a mess, like a crown around her head and her cheeks were rosy red. His eyes rolled back at the sight, and he saved the image in his mind.

He sucked her breast into his mouth and she gasped, pressing herself closer to him until she could grind herself against his hardening length.

Eksel jerked harshly at the movement and stepped back, depriving her of her touch.

They both struggled for breath and Elva moved carefully to cover her breasts.

“Don’t.”

A shiver passed through her and she dropped her arms, letting Eksel get his eyeful.

He gripped his hair pulling on the roots. “Fuck, you’re the most beautiful little thing I’ve ever seen.”

The desperation in his voice kindled the fire within her until it was burning her from the inside out.

Her hands moved on their own accord, grabbing the fabric of her dress and pulling it down her skin until it puddled at her feet.

Eksel’s eyes turned dark, his chest heaving as she removed the last piece of clothes and she was bare before him. Her curves were a sensual temptation, rising and falling in the right places. He ran his tongue on the inside of his cheek, imagining the pleasure of tasting ever inch of her.

He could see her lips tremble and the slight shiver of her skin. He took in every crease, every blemish, every flush of skin, every mark on her body down to the small bush between her legs.

He wondered what she would taste like there.

Elva’s skin flushed fiercely with his intense observation. She hugged herself, prepared to step away when he stepped toward her and lifted her by the waist.

“Eksel!” She gasped, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He tugged on her earlobe with his teeth as he carried her and gently placed her on the skins in their room. She pressed her hands into the soft fur, lifting her eyes to watch him as he stood in front of her, his gaze wanting and hungry.

Elva shut her eyes, letting the warmth that covered her cheeks spread down her chest and to the tips of her toes.

“Show me,” He rasped, swallowing hard.

She released a slow breath and fluttered her eyes open. With the reassurance of his hungry gaze eating her up, she slowly parted her legs, letting her knees fall beside her.

He hissed, his hands tensing, his nostrils flaring and his jaw clenching.

His eyes ravaged her, following down the length of her body. Stilling when they reached the hard peaks of her nipples and continuing down to the lips between her legs.

He stepped closer, roughly grabbing her thigh to open her wider.

“Fuck.”

Elva could feel herself turn wetter at the sound of his raspy voice. His eyes ate her up and the complete adoration in his pupils made her more daring.

She reached between her legs, parting her lips with her fingers.

His eyes snapped up to hers. “You’re wet.”

She nodded.

He kneeled before her. Elva frowned, her lips parting, ready to question his intentions when she felt his breath against her inner thighs. She exhaled wantonly, lifting her head higher so she could see him as he neared her.

With one hand still on her thigh, he used the other to grip her ass, bringing her closer to him. Elva cried out, her legs going limp just as his tongue made contact with her pussy.