Page 22 of The Last Valkyrie (Vikingrune Academy #4)

Chapter 22

Ravinica

I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT to make of anything these days. My mates had returned safely, which I was grateful for, and yet I was more confused than ever.

Arne had the Lepers waiting and standing by, perhaps? Would they meet our call-to-arms when the time came, or would they betray us and fight for the Dokkalfar—their martyr Frida’s wishes all along?

Magnus said the Skogalfar were coming to help. That was great. But at what cost? His blood. How much of it? What did they want with it? How would it affect him, as it had so painfully impacted him the first time when Tomekeeper Dahlia sought to suck all the life out of the bloodrender?

And speaking of costs . . . there was Corym E’tar. My selfishness told me what he was planning would destroy us, our relationship. As much as he consoled me and promised me he wouldn’t go through with his marriage with Zentha, how could I trust it? We had never spoken about something like this happening, or even being possible, before he left for Alfheim.

We should have spent more time planning and preparing for possible threads we’d need to cut and mend. Now, I was caught off-guard, feeling betrayed all over again.

I knew where Corym’s heart lay. It was firmly beside mine, entwined, with our unnatural, otherworldly pull bringing us together time and time again. As an elf, he had a different set of beliefs and morals when it came to marriage, unions, and partnerships. He hardly even knew Zentha.

My human side was rearing its ugly, jealous, suspicious head. Part of me wanted to yell at him, castigate him for going along with Maltor Vaalnath’s plan. I knew it was foolish to ever think Corym would stray from my side—especially given what he said about Zentha’s preferences—but it was also impossible to ignore what he’d agreed to.

Closer to home, Sven had bad news about Salos Torfen, his father. He and Grim reported the alpha of the Torfen pack had been here for five days now, holed up in Fort Woden with Gothi Sigmund. Gods only knew what despicable things they were discussing, and how they’d affect all our futures.

A revolution was needed more than ever. I could see it plain as day. At the same time, this was the exact moment we needed to band together to fight off the dark elves, jotnar, draug, and whatever other beings threatened our lives.

Seems that starting a rebellion and unifying people together is much more complicated and painful than I could have imagined.

I should have been happy, or at least content, with how things were going. There was a lot of good news behind the shocking surprises: Our numbers were being bolstered, and soon we’d be able to fight the enemies with more confidence.

We could employ strategies that had been impossible with only human Vikingruners on our side. The elves were a dangerous lot, beautifully efficient in their fighting abilities. I had trained with them and seen how devastating they could be. The Lepers Who Leapt were tenacious and gritty, willing to sacrifice themselves for their beliefs, and fight for the place they called home. They had just as much to lose as us magical folk in Vikingrune.

I didn’t sleep for shit the night before our scheduled travel to Selby Village. Too much was on my mind. For most of the night, I was alone in my longhouse, feeling forlorn and strangely isolated from everyone. My mates expected me to have all the answers, but I was realizing I was no natural-born leader. Trial and error had always been my way, and in this instance there really was no room for error.

Magnus came to my dwelling first, uninvited but not unappreciated. When he rapped lightly at the door, I scuttled out of bed in my nightgown and let him in.

The bloodrender had a sad smile on his beautiful, gaunt face. “Can’t sleep either, eh?”

I shook my head, wrapping my arms around him and pushing my head against his chest once we were inside. “I don’t know what the future holds, Magnus, and it scares me. I hate being scared.”

“Then let me hold you and take some of that fear from you, silvermoon.” He kissed my forehead, the tall man bringing us over to my bed.

I chuckled. “You’ve already been doing a lot of holding of me in the days you’ve been back, love.”

I could feel the soft rhythm of his heartbeat against my cheek. Draug my ass, I thought. Anyone who thinks this man is “undead,” or anything like the wicked creatures we fought in the Selfsky Plains, has never felt what I feel right now.

His hands tightened around my waist as he sat on the edge of the bed. “I’m always ready for more with you, Vini. I can’t get enough. I’m obsessed.”

I stood over him, looking down at his fair face, his fine features. My fingers traced lines over the scars and tattoos of his forearms, rippling with veins and vascular strength. His crimson hair was dappled silver in the murky moonlight coming through my single window.

“I’m also obsessed, Mag. I just . . .” My words cut off.

He lightly shushed me with a hum, reaching up to take my chin in his thumb and forefinger. “Quiet now, love. It will be okay. You can trust Corym. You know you can.”

I nodded, gulping through a tight, constricted throat. It wasn’t like Magnus to placate me, to touch me so tenderly. He was an expert at it when he wanted to be, yet he’d always been more dominating and in-charge around me.

I remembered my first time with him in Mimir Tomes, so many long months ago when we had fucked like ghosts in a graveyard during our study sessions—back when I’d hardly even known the man.

Now I knew him as intimately as any of my mates. He was strong-willed, cool under pressure, and showed a shocking lack of emotion at even the most troubling times. It should’ve come as no surprise that he was ready to calm me in moments of crises.

Reaching down, noticing the thick bulge running across his thigh the longer he touched my skin through my thin shift, I straddled Magnus’ hips and outlined his cock through his pants.

Smiling down at him, our expressions saying everything that needed to be said, I sat on his thighs and pulled his cock free. He lifted my gown over my head at the same time, admiring my breasts as they bounced down firmly in front of his face.

He closed his eyes and gently licked my nipple, hardening it into a stiff point, while I casually lifted myself and grabbed his hard dick beneath me. My fingers ran over the studs running up the length of his shaft, teasing him like he teased me.

We both groaned, and then I settled down on his cock, already wet and willing. I gently rocked my body against his, pressing my tits against his face as I rode the bloodrender on the edge of my bed.

We embraced, marinating in the mutual lust, the soft heat of our bodies sliding against one another as my ass rose and fell along his shaft and his hands guided my hips. He didn’t take control, letting me dictate the rhythm and tenderness of our coupling, letting me grind against his cock until he had bottomed out and filled me.

It was five minutes before my next mate came into the longhouse, as if he could scent the sex wafting through my door with a sixth sense. And he very well could have, since it was Sven Torfen who stood in the doorway.

He watched for a moment, saying, “Thought I might find you in here,” as if it wasn’t a silly thing to say. It was my house, after all. Or is he talking about Magnus?

Neither of us replied, lost in each other’s eyes and the torrid kiss that seared our lips together. When we finally pulled back, we basked in the sticky strands of saliva connecting our lips together.

Hands massaged my shoulders, my spine.

I whimpered when Sven lightly kissed the nape of my neck, peppering more kisses along my shoulders and back. His hands descended and gripped my ass, and he helped me along as I rode Magnus, lifting and wobbling my ass in the bloodrender’s lap.

I glanced over my shoulder and couldn’t see him directly behind me, but noticed his clothes had been discarded in a heap in a corner of the room. A moment later, his scalding-hot cock pushed against my backside.

Magnus took the hint and reclined, bringing me falling forward on my hands and knees, arms framing his face, as he went onto his back across the bed. His tattooed hands pried my ass apart, showing Sven his prize.

The wolf shifter took no time to stuff himself inside my asshole, like he was meant to be there—like he lived there. My whimper turned into a mewl as his thickness spread me wide, my two hung mates making me feel fullness I’d never get over. Contentedness rifled through my body with a surge of adrenaline and dopamine.

Like Magnus, Sven didn’t dictate the rhythm, even with him standing behind me, mounting me in a dominant position.

As the dull pain of his cock spearing my hole fell away to something dreamy and blissful, I threw my ass back into his hips, clapping my cheeks against him. Magnus moaned and bucked his hips to drill his cock into my pussy from below, making me see stars when I closed my eyes.

Arne and Grim arrived a few minutes later, getting the surreal memo that something was going on at my place. It seemed we were all of a like mind, realizing we would be sailing off into the unknown tomorrow and had to hold onto our reality and cherish these moments every chance we could, because we never knew when it would all be taken from us.

Unlike our last time together, when my mates had been content with fucking each other like wild animals just as much as they fucked me, I was the center of attention this time.

I marveled at the way they could move around each other like professional Twister players, arms tangling and untangling, cocks rubbing together as they filled my holes. Everyone was silent, only the sounds of our flesh and moans echoing off the walls of my longhouse.

It was torrid moments like these that reminded me why I had nothing to fear. My men were my lifeblood here, and I trusted them implicitly. Our love had become unconditional, no matter what deals or negotiations we had to make to get what we wanted outside these walls.

The wood elves? The Lepers? The marriage? It all meant nothing in the grand scheme, when I was the entire world of these men.

On that note, Corym came to my dwelling within a few minutes of Arne and Grim. He was the last to arrive, perhaps out of shame over what he’d done in Alfheim, or fear of how I might retaliate.

But when he arrived, I took Arne’s cock out of my mouth and smiled at him across the way. “Come to me, my love. Join us.”

My command brooked no argument, and Corym was naked and radiant within seconds, eager to join our intensely intimate session. I heard him let out a great sigh of relief, knowing he wasn’t in the doghouse, and he strode confidently over to the bed.

I was on my side, with Grim’s large frame in front, impaling me on his massive size, while Arne took my ass after Sven needed a breather.

Corym went on all fours and crawled over the sprawling bodies on the floor and across my bed, finding the center of the prize between the sandwich—me—and hugging me in his warmth.

He flipped himself around, his long blond hair tickling my skin, and then stuffed his face into my pussy between mine, Grim’s, and Arne’s thighs. His tongue honed in on my clit and vigorously licked, laved, and rubbed.

I moaned, my eyes rolling back as a new orgasm took root in my belly, ready to explode. When I opened my eyes, Corym’s cock was bouncing above me, curving upside-down, an inch from my cheek as he feasted on my pussy like his life depended on it.

I took him in my mouth, wrapping my lips around his bulbous head and slick, velvety shaft. Slightly lifting my face, I enveloped him in my warm wetness. He groaned, pumped his hips, and sent his cock careening to the back of my throat.

Gagging, spit trailed down my chin and lips. His balls rested on my face, gently smacking my nose as he thrust up and down, face-fucking me.

I twitched from a sudden climax, both my holes filled and sealed shut. Adding Corym to the mix, with his masterful tongue and eager ministrations, made it impossible to hold back.

My throat flexed, clamping around his shaft, and he let out a long drawl. It took less than five minutes to suck the cum out of his heavy balls and thick cock, and I came at the same time as my elven lover.

Like to see Zentha do that , I vaguely thought to myself, snickering in my head.

Magnus was right. I had nothing to worry about. We all had to make lies and plans we didn’t want to in order to succeed in this war against our enemies. This was no time to be meek or weak. I knew it couldn’t have been an easy decision for Corym to make.

As long as he never leaves me, I have no fear about Corym’s intentions. He will always do the right thing by me, because he loves me.

Taking my five mates together in the dead of night, a few scant hours before we were meant to sail off the Isle for the first time in a year—and the first time together—opened my eyes to the truth of the situation.

No matter how things panned out regarding the academy, the war, and our enemies . . . I would always have these five men. My personal life and relationships were not things I needed to burden with more anxiety. Gods knew I was anxious enough about everything else going on already!

When Corym was done pumping his essence down to my belly, and I was finished coughing and swallowing him, Magnus and Sven were ready to go again. The creaking, rocking bed slowed for a moment as my mates instinctively took new positions, new cocks to fill my holes, and the gangbang continued with new warmth and bodies to hold against me.

I led the entire way, rolling my ass back against Sven while Magnus’ studded cock plowed my pussy and brought intense sensations fluttering through my womb.

I ended up on my belly, comfortable in a planked position, prone on my bed. I demanded all my men take me one after the other, because I couldn’t get enough of them. Just like Magnus had said, I was simply obsessed, addicted, and always needed more of them.

I was surprised they could match my insatiable libido and high sex drive. They didn’t need to be coddled—even someone like Arne, who loved being coddled and told what to do. My men submitted to me, loved on and in me, and took their turns running a magnificent train that left me panting, coming, and mind-addled.

When it was all said and done, we were panting heaps of flesh on my bed, wrapped around each other, some of us fallen off to make room for others on my cot. Grim, for instance, was too large to fit with more than two others on the bed.

But we made it work. And that was the point. No matter what happened, no matter who received the attention in that moment, my men knew that their turn would always come. They just needed to be patient, understanding, and see that I loved them as much as the men next to them.

The patience, the understanding . . . they were something I had always struggled with. But with this family I’d found, I didn’t need to struggle with it any longer. They had my back and I had theirs.

Whether on the battlefield or in the bedroom, us six disparate, different people—bastards, orphans, outcasts, rebels, aliens, spies, fighters, alchemists, runeshapers, revolutionaries —would always find one another, and we would always succeed when we had each other.