Page 31

She swung her legs over the side and started to drop to the deck, the rushing air blocking out Herrick's reaction to her sudden jump. All too soon, the deck began rushing up at her, so she pushed her hands down in a swiping motion to move the wind beneath her so she would land easily.

Instead, ice sprung from her palms and formed a slide from where she had been free-falling toward the hard floor of the deck.

Too startled to control her movements, Maude yelped as her hip slammed into the ice ramp, causing her to go sliding toward the helm where Yuri was watching with an amused look on his face.

Elven bastard. She cut off her connection to her galder, and soon, the ice ramp ran out, but not before it forced her to slam into the door that led down into the lower deck.

She groaned as she tried to pick herself up from the cold wood beneath her, the slightly damp feel of it making her shudder.

As she stood, Maude could see that Herrick was still making his way down to her, following her yet again.

At her rise in anger, the ice ramp liquified and crashed onto the deck, soaking the few Elven and rescued vitki who were curious about the woman making a fool of herself and had come to investigate the commotion.

As soon as Herrick's feet touched down on the deck, Maude spun and ran for the captain's lodging that she had woken in.

The faces that passed her were blurred, but she noticed Liv speaking with the vitki who had wrangled the vines that allowed her to go after Bryn when they were in Logi.

Then saw her sister passing out clean clothing to the rescued vitki , who hadn't had the chance to clean up yet.

Her complexion was a bit green, but she held a brave face for the citizens she had tried to protect for so long.

Maude did not slow her pace until she was within the confined space of the tiny room below deck.

It was empty now, giving her the space and privacy she craved in her rising anger.

Her peace was short-lived, though, as Herrick burst into the room shortly after her, his chest heaving with the effort he expended to chase after her.

His golden eyes were harsh in the darkness of the cabin, their usual glint of humor long disappeared as he stepped closer to her .

Widening her stance, Maude reached for the dagger strapped to her thigh as her breath caught. As usual, her heart and her mind were not in agreement when it concerned Herrick Kolbeck.

Taking a second to really look at him now that they stood before each other alone, Maude ran her eyes over his stalking form.

Standing in his trousers and loose linen tunic that showed a bit of his upper chest where she noticed the hateful iron band that remained fastened around his throat for the first time.

Maude tried to swallow the hunger she knew was sparking in her gaze even as her wary curiosity sparked.

Herrick's hair was loose around his face, the curls longer than the last time she had seen him, and his arms were loose at his sides, his fingers twitching as if he was holding himself back from reaching out to her.

"Are you going to fight me, minn eldr ?" he asked softly, his head tilting to the side a bit as he ran his gaze down her body and back up again. "You know I'm always willing to go a few rounds with you."

"Don't give me a reason to fight you," she responded, her eyes firmly on his. "Did it occur to you that I might need a minute alone? That maybe I went to the top of a mainsail to get away from everyone? That—"

Her words were cut short when Herrick surged forward, his hand wrapping around the side of her jaw and neck, his thumb positioned under her chin to tilt her head up.

This close, he seemed to tower over her despite the fact that they stood eye to eye.

She moved to step back out of his grasp, but he only wrapped his other arm around her waist, pulling her into his chest. She brought the dagger up to rest underneath his chin, the point digging into his skin enough for him to pause.

"We're not done here," Herrick growled, his fingers moving to thread themselves into her unbound hair.

His eyes flicked to her mouth, heat enveloping his golden irises and causing her desire to flare. But she couldn't allow herself to be swallowed up by him again, not when it meant he'd get hurt just by being near her. She pulled back sharply, his grip loosening enough to let her go.

Facing the window to get a face full of ocean air rather than the rain-soaked soil that belonged to him, Maude said, "Yes, we are."

Stepping around him to get to the door, Maude felt her fingers brush against the smooth skin around Herrick's wrists.

She paused for only a second, trying to pull herself away from what she knew she would see when she looked down.

Burns around his wrists and small fingertip-sized marks dotted the inside of his arms, the flesh there purple and swollen.

Before her body could catch up to the fury that spiraled in her mind, Herrick spun and pinned her against the far wall next to the door. His cool touch soothed her raging anger, forcing her to come back from the fiery pits of her rage that she was more than happy to drown in.

"That wrath in your face is why I know we aren't finished," he whispered against her cheek, his breath tickling her ear.

Her body arched into his, her hands finding a will of their own as they ran up his abdomen to his shoulders before tangling with his hair.

Herrick ran his hands down her sides, his fingers worshipping every dip and curve they came across.

Her skin broke out into chills as his fingers continued their exploration of the band of skin that had shown itself between her tunic and waistband.

"The way you're reacting to me is also a good sign," he went on, pausing to run the tip of his tongue up her neck.

She gasped, her fingers gripping his hair harder.

Her heart was pounding away furiously beneath her fatemark as Herrick continued his slow torment.

Feeling its frenzied cadence, Herrick leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her chest over the soft linen covering the damning runes there, where the sound of her beating heart must have been the only other sound in the room besides their breathing.

"I just can't figure out why you keep running from me, minn eldr ."

Maude blew out a heavy breath, her eyes flashing open as she remembered the entire reason for bolting.

"Because I am furious with you," she said between clenched teeth.

Herrick chuckled harshly before swooping down to wrap his hands around her thighs, lifting them until she straddled him against the wall.

"Just like I am furious with you ," he snapped .

They were each brimming with their anger when that heated spark entered Herrick's golden eyes again. Maude's focus flicked to his mouth for just a moment, but it was enough to spur Herrick on as he surged forward and kissed her.

She sunk into Herrick's kiss, the wildness and desperation from both of them leaking into the action.

He swung her to the small desk in the corner of the room, their tongues colliding like they couldn't bear to go another moment without tasting the other.

As soon as Maude's ass hit the hardwood, she tore her lips from his and glared at him.

"Why do you keep chasing after me when I am trying to protect you, you moronic beast ?" she snarled, her hands going to his tunic and lifting it from his waistband.

He grabbed her wrists and brought them behind her back, holding them with one large hand. The motion forced her shoulders back, the bite of pain in them welcome if it meant she would forget her need for this man.

Her hopes were dashed when his hand settled under her jaw again, his thumb tilting her chin up while he placed feverish kisses up her throat.

"You don't get to decide that I need protecting," Herrick said against her ear as he made his way back to her mouth, but not before he tugged on her earlobe.

Releasing a groan at the pleasure that shot down her spine and into her core, Maude wrapped her legs around Herrick's hips and pulled him closer until she could feel that impressive length against her.

"Fuck," she gasped as Herrick ground his hips over her center.

"And you don't get to be the only one who's angry anymore," he continued, ignoring her exclamation.

Hand still on her jaw, Herrick tilted her head down before moving to wrap his fingers around her throat. His fourth finger lay on her pulse, the rapid beat of her heart being translated to Herrick in real-time.

Before she could get wrapped up in his piercing gaze again, Maude bit out, "Why are you so pissed off? What could I have possibly done—"

"You died," he cut her off, speaking between clenched teeth.

"And you left me behind, minn eldr, when you know I will follow you to the ends of this world and into Hel herself.

So I get to be angry with you even when you are, by the grace of the Allfather, in my arms because holding you as your heart stopped beating?

The sound that guides my very soul? That was the most excruciating thing I've ever had to feel, and I will not allow it to happen again. "

Maude stopped struggling against Herrick's hold as he bared his very soul to her. She couldn't help but flick her eyes to the burn scars on his chest that had begun to peek through the loose tunic.

"The burns?" Herrick said, his voice low and empty for a moment as he noticed where her attention had gone.

She flinched.

"They were nothing compared to the agony I've been living in, knowing you were gone from this world. I'd burn under the force of a thousand fires if it meant I would get to hold you again."

Her throat clogged. His statement was so ridiculous, but he was telling the truth.

"Kiss me, beast," she whispered, unable to find her voice. "Be angry with me, rage at me for everything that's happened to you since Dagsbrun if you want to. I can take it. Just kiss me."

He did not hesitate.

His hand drifted from her throat to the back of her neck as he hauled her to his lips.

The sweet and tender Herrick was not present as his fingers tangled and tightened in her hair.

A quick, sharp intake of breath was all that escaped Maude as she found her hands free from his hold, his grip going to her ass.

Maude ripped the shirt from Herrick's body and reached for his trouser strings just as he reached for the leather bodice that she wore around her waist and over the top of her tunic.

Herrick's skilled fingers tore through the laces with ease, the restricting clothing dropping away behind her.

Just when Maude managed to get the strings of his trousers loosened, Herrick pulled her forward and off the desk so he could tug her leather leggings down.

A sharp knock came at the door before it started to swing open, the dim light from below deck flooding into the heated space where Maude and Herrick were seconds from devouring each other .

"There's a ship—," Bryn began to say as she entered the room but was stopped short as she caught Maude hastily retying the strings on her leggings and Herrick pulling his tunic back on.

Hazel eyes burned into Maude as they flicked between her and the General of Rivers, the only betrayal of her sister's surprise.

"Get dressed. We're all gathering above," Bryn said, clearing her throat as she threw a leather vest that had a hard plate of metal sewn into it to Maude, now unfazed by the state of undress they were in. "There's a ship heading toward us."

"What colors are they flying?" Herrick asked as Maude turned to strap her weapons back onto her hip.

Bryn paused before saying over her shoulder, "It's one of Father's ships."