Page 17 of Mated to the Vikings

The images were brutal but so very real, more so than the carnage I’d seen only hours before. But the fantasy was different than reality. I bit back a laugh. Had there actually been any truth to what my mind was remembering? The masculine scent of the Viking lingered, covering my nearly frozen body, tingling my pussy and keeping my nipples fully erect. I could almost taste his lips as well as the others. I was full of shame and guilt, struggling to understand how I could enjoy such an atrocious thing—being taken and used by several incredible brutes, their hunger unlike anything I’d ever known.

Insatiable.

“Shut the fucking doors!” Greg barked, stamping his snow-covered boots.

The massive doors were slammed shut behind us, a series of locks engaging mere seconds after we rushed into the compound. I jumped, forcing my mind away from the passionate encounter, almost positive I had to be losing my mind.

“You found her. Thank God!” Samuel rushed forward. “We doubled back trying to find you. You just disappeared.”

“Yeah? Fucking against my orders,” Greg’s voice boomed. “You’re lucky the beasts didn’t find the two of you.”

“You lost her. That was your job,” Shane retorted.

I should be completely frozen, but I was so warm inside, as if I’d never gotten lost. I could still see the fire in the cave, the soft pelts against my naked skin. Shake it off. You’re dreaming. Whatever had occurred, I couldn’t tell anyone. They’d think I was nuts or worse.

If Greg found out, I knew he’d want nothing more than to hunt them down.

“She was separated from us. Somehow. Okay? Not my damn fault,” Greg hissed, lifting an eyebrow as he glared at me. “You could have died out there. I told you to stay right with me.”

“I didn’t venture away,” I croaked out, unable to get my mind off the Viking’s face.

“Jesus Christ. Now that we’re all here, tell me what the fuck those creatures were,” Samuel struggled to say as he slid against the wall, his body shaking. “Our colleagues are dead, for God’s sake. They’re fucking dead!” He closed his eyes, banging his head against the frame. He still had blood on his face, the spray lightly covering the caked ice. The reality of what had occurred hadn’t settled.

“It could have been a lot worse,” Greg stated, half laughing as he shoved his pistol into the holster, nodding to the man who’d allowed us inside. “Damn fuckers.”

“Why did you save me and not the others?” I demanded.

Greg snorted. “Because you are worth saving.”

“Jesus!” Shane hissed.

“What?” I shivered, holding my arms as I glanced at the barren-looking compound, blinking several times in an effort to focus. My instinct was screaming the initial attack was only the beginning. The premonition was coming true. We’d been brought into a nightmare.

They would come.

They would take me.

And they would destroy everything and everyone else.

They why did they just let me go? I had no answers.

“You’re late.” The voice was deep and very agitated, penetrating the darkness. The man walking toward us appeared more like a combat soldier, weapons flanking his sides. From what I’d heard, everyone at the facility had been stationed here for almost two years. This particular man was more the soldier of fortune than a scientist. Only his shocking blond hair seemed out of place, hitting just above his collar. Maybe the compound had hired bodyguards.

“Yeah, well, there were some fucking complications,” Greg retorted. “Including one wayward scientist.”

“A lot worse? These beasts came out of nowhere, tearing our companions limb from limb,” Samuel whined, folding his arms as he continued to shiver. “What in God’s name were they?”

Greg sneered. “I told you there were beasts roaming the forests.” He lifted his eyebrow as he glanced toward the mystery man.

“They were human, or at least a few of them were,” I murmured, touching my lips.

“They enjoy the taste of blood as well as pussy,” Greg chortled. “The psychiatrist obviously needs to be checked. Hell, we all do after that shit.”

“Jesus!” Samuel groaned. “Several people died, Captain.”

I glared at the door, half expecting the creatures would force their way inside. I could still hear the wind, rattles of whatever was positioned over the low ceiling, but no primal roars. My limbs remained numb, but the rest of my body quivered from the experience. I must be completely exhausted given I could still sense the creature, the connection we made like a tether of some kind.

We stood in a dingy corridor, walls covered in steel, the floor some kind of woven metal. There was limited lighting, no windows, and as we were guided through a series of passages, our heavy boots clanged on the surface.