Bonded to the Berserkers

Laurel

Laurel

In the dark woods, the moonlight lit our path.

“Here we are, love.” Haakon crooned as he set me down. He grinned at me as if we’d met in a tavern and he’d wooed me, instead of breaking into a holy sanctuary and carrying me off in the middle of the night.

“Who are you?” I cried. “What is this? Why have you taken me? Why are you here?” I shook, teeth chattering as they did when I was afraid.

He touched a finger to my lips.

“Do not fear,” he said gently. “You’re safe now. We are here to protect you.”

“Then leave us alone,” I cried, remembering my frightened friends.

“We cannot. If you stay behind, a great evil will claim you. It is on its way, even now. Without our rescue, you will lose your life.”

“What?”

A howl went up, an otherworldly sound. A great wind rushed passed us. I ducked against the warrior, huddling in his shadow.

“What was that?” I shivered in the sudden cold, my shift not enough to keep out the chill.

“The evil that seeks you.”

“I don’t understand.” I couldn’t keep from pressing against him.

He rubbed my arms, soothing the goosebumps.

At his touch, my body softened, turning towards his. He towered over me, strapping chest and muscled arms making me feel small and petite, an oak to a shrinking flower. I’d never seen such a powerful warrior. If he told the truth, if I could trust him to protect me, then I need never fear again. I couldn’t imagine anything could stand in his way.

The howl went up again, and I let him pull me closer.

“What’s your name?” he murmured, his fingers finding the curve of my neck and cupping it, holding me against him.

“Laurel.”

“Like the mountain flower.”

I nodded, my cheek pressed against his leather jerkin. I tried to push away, and was only able to raise my head. He wouldn’t let me go. Something hard probed my belly. I tried hard not to think what it was, and ignored the excitement that thrilled through me.

The warrior smoothed my hair away from my face. “You are mine now, Laurel.”

“I don’t know what you want with me.” I was a good cook, and men of the village called me beautiful, but that was not enough to raid an abbey. Was it?

“It’s all right,” he said as the wind tossed the trees above us. The wild weather was no normal summer gale. My spine prickled with unease. Yet when he spoke of keeping me safe, I believed him. In the circle of this giant warrior’s arms, I was in the calm center of the storm. “You can trust me.”

His rough fingers tipped my chin up.

“I—”

My words cut off as his mouth slammed down on mine.

Heat blazed through my body, burning a path from my lips to the apex of my thighs. I clung to his powerful arms, pressing myself into the safety of his body as a storm raged through me.

“What was that?” I gasped when he drew away. The rush of warmth faded a little, leaving an insistent throb between my legs. The ache tightened my n*****s, flushed my skin, and left me tingling, alive. I’d never felt this way before.

I wanted to feel it again.

“That,” he said with satisfaction, “is why you should trust me.”