Losing It: A Collection of VCards (25 page)

He chuckled. “You’re crazy.”

“So you think this is, uh, a bad idea?”

He wiped water from his face, blue eyes narrowing. “Drop your hands.”

Swallowing, I lowered my arms. He studied me through lowered eyelids. I always loved that look on him. It was sexy. Tonight, the look made me nervous. I wondered what he was thinking about. Maybe my breasts were too small. My hips too wide. My stomach…

“You take my breath away, Freckles. You are perfection. Every inch of you.”

Whatever insecurities I had disappeared. He turned off the water, swept his wet hair away from his face and turned. I didn’t have time to look at him because he scooped me and anchored me to his chest. His body was so hot the droplets of water on his body didn’t feel cold.

His eyes searched mine. “Are you sure about this?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“There’s no going back afterwards.” He set me on the bathroom counter, grabbed a towel and wiped parts of me he’d made wet. Then he focused on his hair and his chest, his sapphire blue eye locked with mine. Blue flames leaped in the depth of his. I was dying to look down and see all of him, but he had me mesmerized.

“Do you understand?” he asked.

I stared at him like an idiot, not exactly sure what we were discussing. I was busy remembering the first I saw him shirtless. The sheer perfection of his chest and abs.

“We’ll be linked forever,” he said, flinging the towel aside.

Was that what we were discussing? “Deeper than we already are?”

“Much deeper.” He lifted me, walked to the bedroom, and gently lowered me to the bed. When he straightened, I got my fill of him. No, I’d never get my fill of him. All of him. He was magnificent. He stood there without an ounce of shame, his eyes cataloguing every inch of me, too.

“You’re beautiful,” I said.

“Not compared to you,” he whispered in an awed voice. “Not in all my centuries have I ever seen anyone like you.” He bent his head and kissed me softly on the lips, stretching beside me. “I want you so much. Need you. Ache for you.” He punctuated words with kisses down my chest. “You have no idea how long I’ve been fantasizing about this.”

“Me, too.”

“I think I’d like to hear about your fantasies.”

My entire body flushed. “Only if you tell me yours.”

“Oh I plan on living them with you, starting tonight.” He nuzzled my neck. “My hands will, from now on, belong to you.”

I giggled, held on to his head as he moved lower and kissed each nipple. He pulled one into his mouth and sucked hard. My body exploded, cries of pleasure escaping my mouth. I arched into his mouth as he lavished attention to one breast, then the other.

I was still catching my breath when he continued to my stomach. Watching him, knowing where he was headed nearly drove me out of my mind. His hands gently nudged my legs apart, and I stopped breathing. The flicker of his tongue against my most sensitive spot sent explosive sensations through me.

I moaned his name.

His eyes held mine captive, watching my every reaction. His mouth relentless, hands reaching up to cup my breasts. Not sure what to do with mine, I gripped the pillows underneath my head and hung on. My body trembled as he teased and pushed me beyond the point when all that mattered was him. Then he was gone.

“No-oo,” I wailed. “Please.”

“Soon.” His eyes met mine. The look in his eyes said he loved me and he needed me. He ripped a foil and slipped on a condom, his eyes not leaving mine. “Next time, I’ll take you all the way.”

My mind was slow processing things. “Next time?”

He chuckled. “I told you there was no going back once we do this. I’ll be under your skin.” He settled between my legs. “You’ll want me all the time. I’ll have to go into hiding or walk around with an artavus to rune you and knock you out.”

I giggled, punch drunk with love and the rightness of him. Of us. Then I felt him at my entrance. My heart pounded with excitement. This was it. The moment he and I became one. I lifted my hips to meet him, but he withdrew. His eyes grew fierce as though he was in pain.

I reached up and stroked his face. “It’s okay.”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he whispered achingly.

“I want this. I want you, Torin. Please,” I begged.

He closed his eyes tight. When he opened them, they had darkened into the stormy blue of the Atlantic. “I love you, Freckles. With every breath I take.” He eased inside, filling and stretching me. Then he paused and swallowed. “I wish I didn’t have to—”

I pushed up against him, showing him I was ready. Sweat coated his skin. His eyes, locked with mine, burned with a light I’d never seen before.

“Okay. I can do this. You’ll be okay. You must.” He thrust his hips and the pain rippled through me, taking my breath away. He kissed me. “I’m so sorry, luv. So sorry.”

“It’s okay.” We were one. Finally. Torin was mine now. Completely mine. I wiggled, trying to adjust to the feel of him, and he groaned.

“Don’t move, please,” he begged and covered my mouth with his, his tongue thrusting into my mouth one second and the next sucking on it hard. “So warm and tight. So perfect.”

Then he slowly withdrew and sunk. Nothing we’d done before had prepared me for the waves of sensations flowing from my core. I moaned, and he froze.

“Did that hurt?” he asked, his voice shaking.

Seriously? If he stopped again, I was going to engage my runes and snap his neck. Too bad, as I’d have to wait for him to recover. I kissed him. “It was incredible. Do it again.” He did. “Again” He moved all the way out and came back in. “Oh, that was even better.”

He chuckled, the sound vibrating me in a totally delicious way. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”

Now he was being cocky, and he had every right to be. Each movement was amazing, a toe-curling and heart-stopping delight.

“So perfect. You were made for me, Freckles.”

No,
he
was made for me. I copied his movements, kissing parts of his body I could reach. The faster he moved the stronger the sensations. He engaged his runes.

“Engage your runes,” he ordered. “All of them.”

The sensations grew in intensity when I did. Then he went into hyper-speed and something weird started to happen. His feelings became mine. The sensations flowing through him, the pleasure he felt, I did too. It was beautiful.

His eyes widened. “Hel’s Mist! I can feel you, Freckles. All of you.”

Tears rushed to my eyes as my body started to disintegrate. His movements grew faster and faster. The wave hit both of us at the same time. Then he arched his back and yelled my name just as I called to him. We held on to each other, both of us shaking as our runes glowed and appeared to connect.

Torin was right. There was no going back. I couldn’t wait to do this again.

***

NORNS

The three Norns stood around the bed, their faces older than time, skin of indeterminate color translucent, and eyes so old and wise shimmering with anger. They watched the sleeping lovers.

“Once, I would have severed their bond. But three times?” the tallest one snapped. Then she glared at the shorter one to her right. “You said this wouldn’t happen, that they wouldn’t seek this kind of connection for another five to six months, and that we had time to steer her to our side. This changes everything.”

“It complicates our job, that’s all,” the shorter Norn said. “We can still keep them apart and weaken their bond.”

“How?” the first Norn asked. “Her elemental powers were strong and tonight, it flowed into him. Three times. Four if you count out there near the forest. They’re linked now. She’s beyond us.”

“Not if they don’t remember what happened tonight,” the third Norn, who hadn’t yet spoken, said. “The more they seek this kind of union, the stronger their link becomes. If they don’t remember, they won’t seek it and the link will slowly weaken and die.”

“With their memories gone, we can keep them busy. Too busy to think about this type of bonding again,” the first Norn said. “How brilliant. Thank you, sisters.”

She closed her eyes and entered Raine and Torin’s heads. Methodically, she selected the memories to erase. Then she replaced them new memories. “There. Done. With the Immortals on their way and the witches stirring, they will be too busy to think about ever doing this again.”

The three Norns grinned and melted in thin air.

***

A special message from Ednah:

I hope you enjoyed reading Raine and Torin’s first love scene. Norns are the bane of their existence, but Raine and Torin’s love grows stronger every day. They also have amazing friends who support them, so the Norns will not win this battle.
Runes
, the first book in the series, is presently free.
Witches,
the next Runes book will be released end of February 2015. If you want to be notified, join my
mailing list.

About the Author

Author Ednah Walters writes about flawed heroes and the women who love them. From her international bestselling
Runes
series (which focuses on Norse mythology and legends) to her Guardian Legacy series (which focuses on the Nephilim, children of the fallen angels. Whether she’s writing about Valkyries, Norns, and Grimnirs, or Guardians, demons, and Archangels, love, family, and friendship play crucial roles in all her books.

NA Runes spin-off Grimnirs (Grimnirs and Souls) can be read as part of the YA Runes series. There are clean versions for those who are uncomfortable with swear words and sex scenes. When not writing YA and NA books, she writes contemporary romance under the pseudonym E. B. Walters.

You can visit her online on:

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Blog

Her websites:

YA
And
Adult Romance
.

If you want to know about her new releases, join her
text alert
and mailing list.

The Runes Series
is read in this order:

Runes
(Free)

Immortals

Grimnirs

Seeress

Souls

Witches
(Pre-order Now)

Guardian Legacy Series

Awakened (Free)

Betrayed

Hunted

Forgotten (on pre-order)

Contemporary Romance Series

Slow Burn
(Free)