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CHAPTER EIGHT

Myra

Dimly, a part of me was ashamed that I was showing my emotions so readily. I should remain in control at all times, especially after the ordeal I’d just watched Avaleen go through.

But…Vartok was different. In the last few days, as we’d become closer, I’d shown him plenty of emotion. What’s one more? I didn’t care what he thought of me.

Did I?

Luckily, he didn’t pull away, he didn’t act outraged at having a bawling female in his arms. Instead, he made sympathetic noises, rubbed my back, and told me again and again what a good job I’d done.

Eventually I ran out of tears. Or mayhap I was just too exhausted to cry more .

I pushed myself away from his chest, swiping the heel of my hands across my eyes, trying desperately to pretend that I didn’t need his calming strength.

“I…I should go inside.”

“Nay,” he said sternly, pulling me back toward him. “Were ye no’ listening? The other women will have the chance to help care for yer sister, while ye care for yerself.”

Was it shameful to admit how much I craved that sense of command from him? The knowledge that I didn’t have to make the decisions, didn’t have to be strong, because he was. Vartok took command and responsibility, and ‘twas a relief to sink against him once more.

“I do need to rest,” I admitted.

“First, ye need to relax.”

And with that, he lifted me into his arms. I was too drained to protest, even when we reached the hot springs.

He stripped me of my clothing—I tried not to notice how good he was at undressing females—and lowered me into the largest, warmest pool.

As the sun rose over the loch, he washed me, his strong fingers digging into stress-tightened muscles and making me groan.

Truthfully, I was half-asleep already, riding a wave of bliss and relaxation just as strong as yesterday—nay, last night—nay, this was a new day, ‘twas the night before last that I was here in the springs with him.

I yawned hugely as Vartok lifted me from the water and dried me with my chemise. I expected him to dress me again, but instead he just wrapped me in my cloak and lifted me to his chest .

I was asleep in his arms before he returned me to Avaleen’s cottage.

‘Twas a beam of sunlight, peeking through a shutter, which woke me. I hummed in pleasure at the slow awakening, stretching beneath the covers, reveling in the feel of the heavy mattress beneath me. I never slept nude, and ‘twas a rare decadence?—

Wait .

My bed was a cot, canvas stretched over wood. And there were no shutters near it.

My eyes flew open, and I realized where I was a moment later. I gasped and sat up, yanking the quilt to my chest in a too-late attempt at modesty.

I was in Vartok’s cottage—Vartok’s bed , and that shaft of sunlight told me I’d slept most of the day away.

Avaleen needed me, and I’d been sleeping! Aye, ‘twas a good sleep, one I hadn’t experienced in…well, years. But I should have been with my sister. Instead, Vartok?—

As if my thoughts had conjured him, the door opened, letting in fresh midwinter air, and Vartok backed in. When he turned, I saw his arms were full of bundles, and he grinned at me.

“Awake already? I figured ye might sleep for hours still.”

I was already trying to kick my way out of the covers.

“I have slept too long! I need to get to Avie?—”

Vartok stopped me as he sat beside me atop the mattress, a plate of sweet-smelling sausage rolls in his hand .

“Hush, love. Yer sister is fine, the bairn is thriving with all the attention she’s receiving. The females in this village love Avaleen, remember, and have been pleased to help care for her.”

My shoulders slowly eased as I eyed him—and the sausage rolls—with suspicion.

“I suppose ‘twas arrogant to assume I needed to be there. Are those Nan’s sausage rolls?”

“Aye.” His boyish grin was adorable. “She is the best at making them.”

He set them on my lap then bounced up to snag another plate.

“And cheese from Amma, and Mkaalad sent a flask of uisce beatha .” His eyes were twinkling—not just the hint of green, but with mischief as well—as he turned back to me. “I told him ye didnae need any excuses to get drunk again.”

“I am not going to get drunk,” I protested, just as my stomach rumbled loudly. I sighed. “Although I suppose I ought to get dressed and enjoy some of this bounty your clan members sent you.”

“Sent ye , Myra. They’re all grateful ye’re here with us.” He bent to untie his boots. “And nae need to get dressed just to eat.”

I eyed him. “What are you doing?”

He was grinning proudly as he kicked off the second boot and padded barefoot across the cottage to sit beside me again on the bed.

“I’m joining ye. Breakfast in bed, as ‘twere. ”

Scooting up so I could brace my shoulders against the headboard, same as he was doing, I tugged the blankets more securely around myself, feeling…well, not exactly foolish at being in his bed, but mayhap…presumptuous?

“Vartok, you do not need?—”

With a snort, he popped a piece of cheese into my mouth and winked as I chewed.

“Love, I promised to teach ye about pleasure, aye?”

Chewing, I nodded mutely.

“ Pleasure isnae just about sexual release. Last night, in the pools, ‘twas pleasurable, aye?” He didn’t give me a chance to agree, before handing me a still-warm sausage roll.

“And there is little more pleasurable than waking up leisurely after the sun is already in the sky and having a Ma—have someone take care of ye.”

What had he been about to say?

I bit into the roll a little too enthusiastically, and my eyes fluttered shut on a moan of enjoyment.

“See?” he chuckled. “All sorts of pleasure. Eat up, lass. I promised Nan I’d keep ye here until sunset. That’s when she agreed to go rest in her own cottage and allow ye to take over sitting with Avaleen and the bairn. They’ve named her Ella, by the way.”

I might have expected to tear up at the knowledge that our mother’s name would live on. But sadness didn’t fill me. Instead, ‘twas a deep sense of rightness .

Avaleen and Ella were right where they belonged.

And mayhap…so was I .

So I was smiling when I opened my eyes and waggled the sausage roll at him.

“You might just be right, oh great teacher.”

Was it my imagination, or was that regret that flashed in his eyes before he looked away?

Whether ‘twas or not, his good humor was back as he crossed his bare feet at the ankles, propped up his shoulders, and began to update me on what I’d missed during my nap.

When he described Mkaalad’s ineptitude while giving my niece a bath for the first time, I found myself snorting with laughter.

The fact that Vartok used a sausage roll as a demonstration device didn’t help.

But soon enough, the meal was through, and I was deliciously comfortable and warm. I didn’t want to leave his bed, but for certes there was something I could be doing. Still, when I went to swing my legs off the mattress, he stopped me.

“Where do ye think ye’re going, lass? Did ye no’ hear me? I’m under my grandmother’s orders to keep ye here until sundown.”

I found myself blushing. “Surely she didn’t mean to keep me in your bed!”

He just shrugged, his hold on my wrist changing until he was caressing the inside of my arm with his thumb.

“Nan kens all sorts of things. She likely suspects the truth.”

Oh Lord, the woman I respected most in the world would think the worst of me!

Would she? She loves Vartok, and knows that you do as well ? —

Wait.

I did not love Vartok.

For months, I’d hated him. He angered me. He frustrated me.

He pleasures you .

Aye, well, he was only doing that because I’d asked him, because I’d made a bargain to become his student. Aye?

“Myra?” His voice was low, sultry. “What has ye chewing on that lower lip of yers?”

“I—What does Nan expect us to do for the next four hours?”

That green spark in his eyes suddenly flared, became brighter, as his grin turned wicked.

“I can think of a few things.”

Well, it should be no surprise that I forgot how to breathe at the promise hinted in his heated look.

With the meal cleared out of the way, Vartok tugged on my wrist and I fell toward him. I might have resisted, had I wished to. But I didn’t wish to. And when he held my gaze and placed my hand on his belt buckle, I knew what he wanted.

My fingers barely shook as I loosened his belt and helped him shrug from his kilt. He wanted to join me under the quilt, but I stopped him.

‘Twas my first time not just being able to feel him but see him as well.

“Can I?—?”

Luckily, he knew what I was asking, because he smiled a little ruefully and leaned back against the pillows.

“Learn anything ye want, pet.”

I did.

‘Twas my turn to touch him . I did my best to mimic the way he’d touched me in the hot springs two nights ago; the soft caresses and the gentle scratches. I couldn’t tell if they affected him as I’d been affected, but touching him now ? ‘Twas almost as arousing as having him touch me.

And then I reached his cock.

Oh Lord, his cock.

Vartok sucked in a breath when I wrapped my hands around it, marveling at its length.

‘Twas ridged, just as I’d heard from whispered giggles among my friends, but a darker green than the rest of his skin.

As I dragged my palms over him, I imagined what ‘twould feel like, to have each of those ridges sliding into my core, and I shuddered.

I wanted that.

I wanted him .

‘Twas not until he spoke that I realized I was bending forward, my lips parted…

“Myra, nay,” he rasped, his large hand coming to rest on the back of my neck. “Nay.”

I turned to look at him, pretending to pout. “But you have tasted me . I heard your seed is spicy, and I wish to judge for myself?—”

His groan interrupted me, as he flopped back against the pillows .

“We are here for yer education, aye, but more importantly: yer pleasure . Lass, if ye put yer mouth on me, I willnae last.”

“Well, that seems as if ‘tis a you problem.”

With a sudden growl, he reached for my ankles.