The Seducer (Viking Warriors) by Jianne Carlo Read Free Book Online

many plans, of alliances being forged and cleaved with each passing moment. I ask that you place your fate in my hands. Give me but five days to set all to right.”
    She shook her head. “Eógan is the new King of Strathclyde, and he is the girls’ uncle. He can take them from me.”
    “Nay. I claimed them, and King Máel Coluim validated my claim.”
    “Will the king not be furious at our deception?” Elaina wished she had never strayed from her little croft in the forest.
    “’Tis the reason we ride to Skjebne on the morn.” Jarvik tucked a lock behind her ear. “By the time we return, all will be readying for the evening meal, and my brothers and their wives will be here. We will spread the tale that you wore a disguise to test my love for you.”
    Elaina snorted. “None will believe such a tale.”
    “ All will believe the tale.” He had the most beguiling smile and perfect, even white teeth. “Cnut the Great and Máel Coluim play a game of Fox and Geese with the border lands. Each one seeks to gain dominance over the other and yet still remain allies. By our marriage, both Cnut and Máel Coluim can claim King Crínán’s lands in the Highlands. ’Twill be a boon for Cnut in their negotiations over the new peace treaty. Trust me, Máel Coluim will prefer to have the loyalty of Cnut’s Viking warriors over the treachery of your murdering uncle, Eógan.”
    His words made sense. The Highlands were rife with tales of Eógan’s cruelty and greed. Elaina pressed two fingers to the sudden throbbing at her temple.
    “Your head aches.” Jarvik drew her back to his chest and shifted to face the open window. He massaged her scalp. “Worry no more. Come, let us enjoy the dawn of a new day.”
    She leaned against his rock solid form. The temptation to leave all in his hands proved intoxicating. What harm would be done if she took but this one moment? All the worries would still be there on the morrow. For so long she had forgone all pleasure for safety. She had been so proud and so determined to keep her maidenhead and have none taint her as concubine that she had allowed no man near her.
    After Elaina’s courses had come, her mother had taught her how to pleasure herself. Mama had insisted ’twas not a shameful act as the church decreed. Elaina had long disdained much of the priests’ teachings after being told she could never reach the Christian heaven because she was the concubine’s daughter. What sort of God doomed a child at birth? She repressed a smile. ’Twas more than gratifying to flaunt her enjoyment of what the church deemed wicked.
    Jarvik slipped his hand under her tunic, and his warm palms cupped her breast. Radiating heat, he smelled of the spring, the leather hauberk he’d worn earlier, and the tang of their joining. She had tasted herself on his lips when he kissed her, and her woman’s honey had flowed with excitement at such a wicked deed. Would it excite him to taste himself on her lips?
    When his thumbs rolled her nipples, her woman’s nub flamed. His rod swelled against her bottom and the temptation to slide her hands behind her back and touch him proved irresistible.
    Jarvik growled, “Nay. Elaina. Do not encourage my lusty fellow. I saw your grimace when I took your maidenhood. And I vowed to leave you alone today.”
    Elaina pivoted. Her hands explored his turgid arousal, and she focused on the thick organ rigid and pulsing in her grasp. “’Tis what you call your rod? A lusty fellow? He is like velvet and iron, and gives off the heat of a forge.”
    Viscous liquid seeped from a slit on the top. She fingered the thin opening, marveling as two more drops trickled over the bulbous crown. “’Tis where your seed erupts.”
    He gripped her shoulders hard enough to hurt. She craned her neck, and her breathing halted. He epitomized the image of a Viking berserker, teeth bared, head thrown back, nostrils flared. The green-blue veins of his thick, corded neck pulsated. Beads of sweat