Page 19 of Bats Out of Hell (Vikings Rock #1)

A s Kenna scurried to the Great House—a private dwelling now, as Haakon had claimed the entire place, leaving the other Vikings to make their own arrangements around the village—she reminded herself that not only was she strong, very capable, and independent, she was also a queen.

Her people respected her.

And her husband…he loved her.

That knowledge had come to her slowly, but now that it had landed, it was thick and strong and poured through her veins, making her heart beat faster. A queen had a duty to do. A queen had to show inner strength as well as physical strength, no matter what the task at hand.

And now it was time to do just that.

She stepped into the warmth and stood for a moment, letting her eyes adjust to the dimness. In the central trough, a fire had burnt low, the embers glowing. A table was set with jugs and mugs, along with a bowl of nuts and dried berries. Several squat, tallow candles were dotted about and a decorative wall hanging consisting of shells and feathers filled the space beside the large chairs she and Haakon sat on when holding meetings and council.

There was no sign of Haakon or the wanderer.

She discarded her cloak and stepped over a chicken that had escaped its coop and appeared to be nesting by the drying sealskins.

The sound of gentle splashing water caught her attention. It was coming from the bedchamber.

She headed toward it, tucking her hair behind her ears. When she pulled the blanket back she was greeted with the sight of Haakon standing before a roaring fire.

He’d stripped off his tunic and wore only his pants. His feet were bare on the fur rug. For a moment, her attention was harnessed by the width of his shoulders and the thickness of his neck. She smoothed her fingertips over her palms, wondering what it would be like to touch his back, explore every dip and rise the way the light of the flames were doing.

Before him, on a table, was a bowl of steaming water. Using his palms, he scooped some up and washed his now-clean-shaven face, scrubbing at it industriously.

Kenna watched, enjoying the fact that he hadn’t noticed her arrival. Usually, he was aware of where she was at all times. She also liked how he looked without his dark stubble. His jaw was angled, his chin strong and his lips sensual.

After washing and drying his face, he dragged his hair up, piling the long, dark strands on the top of his head. He then began, with the blade, to hack at the hair still hanging around his ears.

“What are you doing?” she asked, quickly stepping forward as several locks fell unceremoniously to the floor.

He turned. “Kenna. I did not know you were here.”

“What are you doing?” she asked again, reaching for his blade and stopping the hewing.

“My hair, it is too long. It’s annoying in this wind. And it catches on my clothes. If I wear battle armor, it will be a hindrance.” He frowned. “Astrid would usually cut it, plait it, get it out of my way. I figured sawing it off would be the easiest thing, as she is not here.”

Kenna stepped up closer and stared into his eyes. “You have me now.” She touched the back of her finger to his face. “I will do it for you, husband.”

“You will?” His gaze was intense and a tendon flexed in his cheek.

“Aye.”

“In that case, I thank you.” He nodded, once, a sharp gesture, then sat on a stool.

Kenna set the blade aside and reached for a sheep bone that had been filed into a comb. Standing behind him, she began to work it through the strands.

His hair was windblown and knotty, but eventually, she had it smooth and as shiny as a hazelnut and hanging down his back.

Haakon sat quiet and still, seemingly mesmerized by the dancing flames before him. Or was it her touch that had calmed the usually restless king?

Now that his hair was manageable, Kenna sectioned off the top into one thick tail that ran from his forehead, over the crown of his head, and to his nape and beyond. She fastened it in several places with strips of thin, black leather.

“Feel,” she said, gently reaching for his hand.

He patted his head. “That is good and tight.”

“Too tight?”

“No, but…but what about this?” He plucked at the loose hair still hanging over his ears. “This is annoying.”

“I will shave that for you.”

“You can?”

“I have done my father’s and Hamish’s many times.”

“Ah, that is good.” He laughed. “I do not wish to be your first.”

Kenna bit on her bottom lip. He would be her first, but not when it came to hairstyling.

“Pass me the lye,” she said. “And when I have taken off the long strands, I will shave it.”

He did as she’d asked and she set to work.

Outside, the wind lashed against the roof. A door rattled somewhere to the east and she was sure there was an owl perched in the corner of the room again. It moved occasionally and she felt its yellow eyes upon her.

On and on, she worked, her breaths and hand steady. Haakon remained quiet, his fingers laced on his lap and his spine straight.

When she’d finished one side, she started on the other and continued until the skin of his scalp was smooth and hair-free.

“What do you think?” she asked, setting the blade and lye aside.

Personally, she liked it. The look suited him. It was smarter than his wild beast style and showed off the intricate ink that ran from the curve of his jawline to his collarbones.

“It’s good. You’re skilled.” He used his fingertips to explore the shaved area. “I chose a wife well.”

She smiled and studied his neck. “Why do you have this ink here?”

“Here?” He wrapped his hand around his throat.

“Aye.”

“It is so when I am in Valhalla, feasting with the gods, my family and friends will see me from down below. As the Valkyrie raise them up to their new realm, they will see my throat, my chin, and know this is me, for I will have my head raised, feasting and laughing with Odin, Thor, Frey, and Freya. It will be a glorious day and my loved ones will come and sit at my side without delay.”

“You do not wish to come to heaven with me?”

“Heaven…ah…” He touched the boar fang hanging at his sternum. It had become a habit of his when she questioned him and he was unsure of the answer. “If that is where you are going, then aye, that is where I will be too.”

“Not Valhalla?”

“I hope I will go to heaven with you.” His eyes narrowed. “How do you have to die to go there? In battle? At sea?”

“No, you just have to die a good person.” She tipped her head and studied him. “A man or woman without sin.”

“I will have to try harder, then. For sin seems to have followed me around much of my life.”

“You have done nothing that would be considered a sin today.” She reached out and touched the right side of his chest, just below his hard, dark nipple.

He cleared his throat and watched her stroke his skin in a small, circular motion.

“Have you?” she asked. “When I wasn’t looking?”

“No.” His voice was low and dark. “But standing here now, with you looking like the sweetest honey I could ever taste, my body wants to sin in the most delicious of ways.”

Her breath hitched and her heart rate picked up. He had that liquid, passion-infused glint in his eyes again. Had he been thinking about bedding her the entire time she’d been styling his hair?

Part of her hoped he had.

“My mother tells me it is not a sin to lie together now we are man and wife.”

“We are man and wife. That is true.” He pressed his lips together, sucking in a breath as though harnessing control. “But until you want to be bedded by me—”

She spoke before she could change her mind. “I do.” She tipped her chin and held his eye contact. “It is time.”

“Thanks be to Odin, Thor, and my new Christian God,” he murmured.

Suddenly, she was in his arms and his mouth was pressing down on hers. The kiss was fast and urgent and he smelled of soap and tasted of ale. His strength surrounded her and the potent heat of his flesh enveloped her.

“My love,” he gasped. “I have prayed for this day.”

“God will answer your prayers,” she managed as she pressed her hands flat on his chest. “When you are a good Christian.”

“I’m a really good Christian,” he said gruffly as he swooped down to kiss her again. This time, he slid his hands to her ass and squeezed her butt over her pants. He dragged her up against his solid body and a deep groan rumbled from his chest.

“Wait. Wait,” Kenna said, pushing at him. “Slow down…not like…not like this.” She was panting and her knees were trembling. A hunger she’d never felt before had opened up within her and needed sating.

“But…you said…?”

“I know, and I meant it.” She stepped back. “But I am a queen, you made me so, and as such, I will be in control.” She tried to inject authority into her voice. It wasn’t easy with a huge, horny Viking looking at her as though she were his next meal. “So go and sit on the bed and let me come to you.”

Her ass was still tingling where he’d grasped her buttocks and his taste lingered on her lips.

“You want me to go and sit on the bed?” He raised one eyebrow.

“Aye.” She held in a smirk. He’d promised her she’d have to beg, yet he was succumbing to her so easily. “I do.”

“You do know that if you were any other woman, I’d be buried deep by now. Pounding hard.” He paused. “You’d be screaming my name and crying for more.”

“I am not any other woman.” She frowned.

He chuckled. “And don’t I know it.”

“So do as I said.” She pointed to the bed. “King Haakon.”

His left shoulder lifted in a half-shrug, then he turned and went to the bed. In the shadows of the corner, Kenna spotted the yellow gaze of an owl. It seemed they’d have an audience for their first time.

He paused and shoved at his pants, revealing his pale buttocks and the dimples in his lower back. “Like this?” He turned, unabashed that his large cock was swelling and rising from his patch of dark hair.

The size of it chipped at her courage and she locked her knees to stop from turning and running. What was the point? He’d only chase her. She’d pushed him too far now.

A booming clap of thunder brought her back to her plan.

“On the bed,” she ordered again as she reached for the belt that held her tunic close to her waist. As she slowly freed it, Haakon sat with his back straight against the carved, wooden headboard.

He looked so big and brooding, turned on and anticipatory. A sudden new thought popped into her mind: she hoped she would live up to his expectations. He’d been desiring her for weeks.

Could she do this?

Resisting the urge to break her eye contact with his, she tossed the belt aside. Next, she opened the buttons on her twill, woolen tunic, revealing the rise of her breasts poking up from the red binding she wore when riding.

He was utterly still, drinking her up, following her every move.

With the tunic gone, she pushed at her pants, stooping to remove her leather shoes.

When she straightened wearing nothing but her breast binding, Haakon swallowed noisily, his Adam’s apple bobbing low and then his chest filling as he took a deep breath.

His attention went to the juncture of her thighs and he fisted the sheets.

“You are impatient, husband,” she said, pushing away the thought that he was only just in control of his lust. It was like him grasping a hair to hold his weight, or standing on thin ice. It could easily snap and he’d be consumed by his passion.

“What hot-blooded man wouldn’t be impatient?” He kind of grimaced and gritted his teeth. “You are a temptation too much to withstand.”

She laughed softly and reached behind herself to undo her breast binding. “You are doing so well.”

“Not for long.” His cock bobbed and he reached for it, held it tight in his fist, and with his thumb toyed with the ring piercing at the end.

Summoning courage, Kenna walked forward, slowly, rolling her hips with each step. The way he was looking at her made her feel more beautiful than she ever had before, as though she really was, in this moment, the center of Haakon’s world.

And for some reason, that added to the sense of power she had always stoked within herself. It felt good. He made her feel good.

“You want me to take this off?” she asked, loosening the binding.

“ Ja . I want to see you naked, for the first time, like this in the light of the fire.” He frowned and shook his head. “You are more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.”

“You must have thought that to wish to marry me.” She let the binding drop to the floor.

“ Ja , but I’m sure many a man has had disappointment on his wedding night.” Haakon’s gaze slipped to her breasts.

Her nipples were tight and tingling.

“But not me,” he murmured. “You were worth the wait.” He released his cock and reached for her waist. “Come to me.”

She allowed him to pull her onto the bed, then she sat astride his thighs, her hands on his shoulders and his erection between them.

“I want you more than I have ever wanted a woman,” he murmured, looking up into her eyes.

“As it should be.”

“And I will never want another.” He held her right breast and brushed his thumb over her nipple. “Until the day I die and beyond, my body will only join with yours.”

Heat spread from his touch, down to her belly, to her pussy. “Unless a beautiful woman rides into—”

“No!” He downturned his mouth. “Only you, my Valkyrie, my queen, my wife, that is my promise to you.”

She leaned forward and brushed her lips over his. “But how can you be so sure? How were you so sure from the first moment?”

“I just knew,” he whispered. “The gods had spoken, all of the gods, yours and mine. In that moment, new life came back to me and I saw your face I knew that I would always be bound to you.” He paused and sat forward, crushing his chest to hers and cupping her face. “If I am a river. You are the sea I rush to. If I am the dawn, you are the birdsong I long for. If I were a scattering of stars, it would be you, the moon, I would long to be with.”

“Haakon,” she managed, hardly believing her ears. The wild monster she’d found on the beach wove words with skill and each one had sewn itself into her heart.

“I love you,” he said. “Please, let me show you how much.”

“Aye, aye, you should do that.”