Blood & Fire

Chapter Twenty- One | The Joining

ONE WEEK LATER...

Their eyes met and Meryna's quickly narrowed with disdain at the woman standing at Rorik's side. Rorik's fist clenched instinctively; the muscles of his lower arms flexed. He swallowed hard, his mouth suddenly robbed of all moisture. Meryna retreated, her long silky curls whipping behind her as she set for the longhouse.

Once inside her chambers, she removed the thick fur lined cloak encasing her body in warmth. She gathered the material in her arms and placed the cloak on the wooden chest at the foot of the bed. The door creaked then clicked shut behind her. She continued to move about the room as if she didn't notice his distinct presence.

"Meryna!"

"Shouldn't you be with your betrothed?"

Her voice was filled with venom, but she couldn't disguise the hurt that lied beneath it. Her spine stiffened and she clasped both hands over her arms, all in a vain attempt to steel herself against him. Rorik approached her, his steady footsteps falling in sync with her heartbeat. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up on end when she felt his breath graze the top of her head. Rorik inhaled the sweet scent of her hair.

"Astrid is the price I had to pay to save you. I promised to protect you. I am a man of my word, Meryna. And I would do it all again to save you from him. He sealed his fate the day he dared to lay a hand on you."

Rorik's voice faltered. Meryna turned around slowly. Tears glistened in her bright irises. The image of Eadric pinning her down, muffling her screams with forceful kisses flashed in her mind. Rorik gently reached his hand up and stroked her cheekbones with his thumb. He soothed the painful memories surfacing. The same callused hands that ruthlessly wielded weapons and crunched bones possessed such surprising gentleness.

"He didn't touch me. I mean he did touch me, but not in the way you think."

Rorik's eyebrows drew together. His thumb froze, halting the lazy circles he had been drawing against her soft skin.

"What are you saying? I saw you in his bed, Meryna."

Red hot anger surged through him at the thought of Meryna exposed and frightened in Eadric's clutches.

"He would have laid claim to my maidenhead if you had been but a moment later. I'm still a virgin." 

Meryna looked up at him from behind thick lashes, eyes glistening. She exhaled a shaky breath. Her fingers wrapped around the outside of his hand. She turned her face into it and placed a deep kiss in the center of his palm.

A fire ignited behind Rorik's eyes. She swallowed hard. Her heart began hammering in her chest as she watched him become unhinged. Then, she gasped as he scooped her up into his arms without warning, but he silenced her with a deep kiss. Rorik savored the taste of her plump lips as he carried her to the bed. Her gasp turned into a sensuous moan that filled his hungry mouth and hardened his cock.

Gently, he laid her in the middle of the bed. She leaned up on her elbows and watched him with lustful eyes as he undressed at the foot of the bed. With one swift motion his tunic glided up his chiseled torso and over his head. Meryna devoured his taut corded skin with her eyes, sparks beginning to flicker deep in her belly, replacing nerves and uncertainty. All she felt now was pure want.

He unsheathed his throbbing erection with one forceful tug of his trousers. Meryna's mouth gaped open, unable to hold back or mask her reaction. Rorik chuckled, reading the worry evident in her face. She offered him a hesitant smile. It was the only invitation Rorik needed. He wasted not another second and climbed onto the straw mattress. With his knee he gradually separated her legs. She parted them for him willingly. Her center began to throb at the contact and the promise of what was to come.