Page 80 of A Tale of Two Vikings

He kept one hand on her nape and used the other to cup her cheek. He kissed her then, searching, slow and soft. Seeking the perfect fit.

She kept her hands on his shoulders and followed all his signals with her own mouth. She mimicked his movements, shifting and adjusting. He ran the tip of his tongue along the seam of her mouth; she did the same to his. When he deepened the kiss and filled her mouth with his tongue, she sucked him in welcome.

He hadn’t realized that his hands had moved, but they were everywhere, learning the curves and planes of her body. The soft places and the hard. His big palms moved the fabric of her bed rail as he caressed her. Sweeping her shoulders and back. Kneading her buttocks. Testing the smallness of her waist. And all the while, he kept kissing her hungrily.

And, praise the gods, she kissed him back, just as hungrily. And ran her small hands over his shoulders, the flat nipples on his chest, his backside.

“You won’t be sorry, dearling,” he murmured against her wet lips when he came up for air.

“I know,” she said and smiled.

That smile caused his heart to lurch.

He was aroused beyond anything he’d ever imagined, and yet totally in control now. He would go slow. More than anything, he wanted to please Helga as much as himself.

Finally he took hold of Helga’s forearm and held her away from him. Maintaining eye contract, he shrugged out of his braies and took supreme male pleasure in the way her mouth opened in surprise at the size of his thickening. He was pretty surprised himself. Blue-veined ones were rare and to be prized. Leastways, that’s what Toste always said. Then he stepped forward and raised her bedrail up and over her head, leaving them both naked to observe each other.

She was as tall and willowy as a young sapling. Fine-boned, with a narrow waist tapering out to small hips. How does she ever expect to carry a babe there? Her breasts were so small they would not even fill his hand, but they were capped with big pink nipples that made up for any lack in size of the whole. Would she nurse a babe? Would her breasts change then? Do not think of that, Vagn. Do not even think it. Her long, long legs were thin but shapely. Would her sons be long-legged, too? Dangerous thought, that. Her woman-fleece matched the blondness of her hair, but was curly. She was different from the women he’d been attracted to in the past. But better. Way better.

He smiled then.

And she did, too.

With a joyous whoop, he took her by the waist and threw her onto his bed, then landed himself at her side. The bed ropes creaked, but fortunately held.

“You must tell me what to do, Vagn.”

“Nothing. For now. Just let me look.” He waggled his eyebrows at her. “And explore. If there is one thing we Northmen are good at, it is exploring.”

“Comes from a-Viking all these years, no doubt,” she teased.

“For a certainty, my saucy maid.”

And explore he did. With his eyes, his fingertips. And finally his mouth…he had been saving that for last. Well, not last. But he’d been putting off this particular feast. He fingered her nipples, then put his mouth over one of them.

She gasped. “You have no idea how good that feels.”

“I know how good it feels to me.” He sighed at the sweet taste. “Like succulent raspberries they are.” He laved them, and nibbled, and kissed, then suckled and suckled and suckled till it was unclear who was keening in pleasure, him or her.

“I cannot believe that I deprived myself of this bliss for all these years,” she said, pulling his head up by his ears. “Why do women hide this news from other women? Oh, I can see why. Fathers would have trouble keeping their daughters virgin if this temptation was waving in front of them.”

Vagn did not like this train of thinking. He did not want her to think that just any man could bring her ecstasy. “It is not always this good, sweetling.”

“Oh? Is it just you, then, who is so skilled in the bed arts?”

He nipped a nipple with his teeth for her making mock of him. “Yea, just me. And do not forget it.”

She probably would have said more, but he had his palm on her belly now, way down, and he could see that he had her attention…there. He pressed rhythmically several times and watched her face. Her lips parted with wonder, which made him feel…well, wonderful.

“Have I ever told you how much I adore your mouth?”

“About a dozen times,” she said. Then, “Tell me again.”

“I…adore…your…mouth,” he said against her mouth.

“What else do you adore about me?” she asked playfully.

“Your breasts.”