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She could belong to no one when her father hunted her down like this. Besides, with the treaty between both kingdoms still intact, she could never be his.

“I will belong to no one but you, Maude. I will suffer whatever punishment the Allfather bestows if it means I am gifted with your affection.”

“I can belong to no one but myself in this world,” she said, but she knew the words were empty. She already belonged to him; he could just never know it. “And what about the treaty?”

“Fuck the treaty,” Herrick growled. “I know you don’t care about that.”

“I have been responsible for so much death and pain,” she whispered, looking up into his golden brown eyes and grasping at the last excuse she could muster. “I don’t deserve to belong to anyone, Herrick, especially not someone as good as you.”

“Tell me how I can prove you deserve more than what you believe,” he begged. He moved his hand from her hip and gripped her hand, placing it over his pounding heart. “Let me love you, Maude. Let me in.”

Maude felt Herrick’s heart racing beneath her fingers and could hear the desperation in his voice.

This was not lust, not something just physical. This man had heard the worst parts of her history and chose to stand with her until she understood his feelings. The hollow space in her chest where her heart should be began to ache and burn brightly, the sensation foreign and uncomfortable as Maude started to name the emotion.

Her heart had been still for so long, so cold and lonely. Herrick had made her feel alive again in the short amount of time they had been in each other's company.

She couldn’t hide that she physically reacted to him, but all the emotional turmoil she had been grasping onto had crumbled the walls she had built around herself.

She had let him in. Every time she lashed out, he stayed put and weathered her anger. She didn’t know how to be anything but the hard monstershe had been forged into, but with Herrick, she felt like she could be the person she was meant to be.

Maude’s sense of self was spinning out of control, and all she could do was hold on to the one steady thing she had in her life.

She took in his ragged breaths, his pounding heart, his words.

I love you, minn eldr.

Herrick still held her one hand against his chest, so she reached up with her free hand and lightly traced over Herrick’s features.

His straight nose, high cheekbones, strong jaw, and, finally, his mouth. Herrick was frozen like he dared not move and break whatever he saw unfolding in her eyes. Maude’s fingers continued their exploration through his hair, the thick curls silky under her exploration.

Keeping one hand on Herrick’s chest, over his heart that beat just for her, Maude put her hand over his jaw, the rough stubble catching on her calloused palms. She finally met his eyes, their golden brown hue molten in the candlelight. He smiled gently at what she knew he saw— her walls finally falling, allowing him into her heart and soul.

Never one for emotional words, Maude did the only thing she wanted to do at that moment. She wound her arms around Herrick’s neck and pulled his mouth to hers.

Herrick needed no encouragement to follow Maude’s lead. He had watched as her barriers fell, had watched as she finally heard what he was saying to her.

Her fingers latched onto the back of his neck as she hauled herself to his mouth, and he responded in kind by gripping her thighs, pulling her up to wrap her legs around him.

Maude kissed him the same way she would fight with him— hard and fast.

Teeth clashed as their tongues battled to taste the other with a fervor that grew each moment Herrick drowned in Maude’s taste. She wove her fingers through his hair as he moved toward the wall, where he roughly pressed her back into the hard surface. In response, Maude’s fingers tightened, and she pulled his head back so she could hover over him, deepening their kiss.

A growl deep from his chest sprang free when she held him in this position, so to even the score, he ground his hips between her thighs where she was completely at his mercy. A moan escaped from her mouth that made Herrick become impossibly harder than he already was. Needing to feel her skin, Herrick sat her on top of the low dresser in the room after swiping all her weapons to the floor. The roaring of his heart dulled the clatter of her blades on the wood floor as he began to peel the clothing from her body.

Maude beat him to the task, though, by pulling his shirt from his waistband and running her hands under the fabric, her fingers tracing his muscled abdomen with a shockingly gentle touch.

Like she was savoring every touch of his skin on hers.

He broke their kiss to pull his shirt over his head, dropping it off to the side while Maude ran her nails down the front of his chest. She leaned forward, placing fevered kisses sporadically down where her nails had left red marks on his skin. Intermittently, she bit down and then ran her tongue over the hurt spot, immediately soothing the bite of pain with pleasure.

Spurred on by her roughness, Herrick grabbed her by the throat and kissed her roughly, drawing another perfect groan from her lips. Not one to be outdone, Maude slipped her hand beneath his waistband and grippedhis cock. His hips bucked at her touch, and Maude smiled against his mouth at the reaction.

Gripping the bottom of her shirt, he tore the loose tunic from her body, leaving Maude only in her leather pants and the band that she wore across her chest.

He took the opportunity to scan her face to see if there were any lingering doubts.

Her face was flushed, her eyes hazy with desire. When she looked at him, he could see that she felt the same way but wasn't able to get there with words yet. She had chosen to show him the tenderness in her gaze rather than speak it aloud.