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That’s brave of her.
I’m not cold but I’m not going to pass up on this chance and I step inside. She cowers in the corner, her gaze fastened on the ground and she looks so small in my fur. It makes me want to wrap my arms around her to make her bigger and stronger. Her hands clutch my fur and they’re shaking and her breathing’s erratic, condensing like smoke in the cold air.
“It’s dark in here,” I rasp and I take out my lighter from my back pocket. The flicker warms the room and more importantly it lets me see Valkyrie clearly. Not that much is on display. She’s always covered up and I don’t even know the shape of her. Don’t know if she’s pear shaped or an hourglass or a triangle...but I bet whatever her shape, it’ll feel lovely in my hands. Her hair is a rich chocolate and sometimes she curls it and sometimes she wears it straight. When the sun hits it, her tresses shine like copper and it’s been my new favorite color ever since we met.
Her eyes dance back and forth and I have to give her credit for being so adamant on keeping up the law. She won’t look at me but then her eyes can’t help but to sway and they land on the tattoo on my torso. I relish under her intense stare, my skin heating up and my muscles swell. My body brims with the power I want to pour into her and watch her lap it up.
When she realizes I’ve caught her watching me, she gasps and turns around so fast her long skirt sways around her boots. She’s probably scolding herself right now for her misstep, telling herself how bad she’s been but my lips curl. I like this side of her. The one that doesn’t mind breaking a little rule here and there.
“Valkyrie,” I rasp and she twitches, letting out a pant. I’ve never said her name before, only in the dark when I’m alone and then it was only whispered. Saying it out loud while knowing she wouldn’t respond would have been too painful. “Pretty, little Valkyrie...,” I add with a wolfish grin and she shakes under the fur.
Those frail shoulders of hers tremble and she whimpers when she hears me prowling.
“Why did you turn around?” I stalk closer. “I like your eyes on me. You can look all you want.”
“You’re not allowed to talk to me,” she breathes and she’s whimpering now but then she inhales, “and it’s you who looks. You stare at me all the time, always watching, always probing me with your gaze...”
I do probe her with it. Eye fuck her because it’s the only thing I can do without getting my throat slit. Swallowing, I walk so close I could bury my face in her hair if I wanted to and it takes a ruthless amount of willpower to keep my hands to myself. I feel like a savage before her and she makes me painfully aware of how much harsher my nature is compared to hers.
“Do you know why a male stares, Valkyrie?” I say and she shivers, refusing to answer, refusing to encourage me. “He does it when he wants a female. When he wants her to know she’s his.”
“Stop this madness,” she mewls. “You can’t talk to me that way.”
“There’s nobody here.” I straighten, looking down on her and the size of her is both endearing and worrying. Will she ever even be able to take me? “I can keep a secret.” I grab her arm, whirling her around. Her eyes flare when I bore my gaze into hers and push her up against my chest. “Can you?”
CHAPTER THREE
Valkyrie
Tilting his face to the side, Iversen repeats the question. “Can you keep a secret, Valkyrie?” This time though, he strokes a piece of hair away from my face and my knees slash. I’ve never..., my lips pinch from the shock..., I’ve never been touched that way by a man.
And I’ve never been manhandled either, held so tightly or so close against my will. Emotions boil in me. This isn’t against my will. It’s what I’m supposed to think. I’m supposed to recoil, or defend my honor and safety but I can’t. One look into those pale eyes of his and I tremble like a shield maiden in front of divinity, of the very thing she naturally worships deep inside of her and my womb clenches.
“Answer my question, baby.”
Fever wreaks havoc in me and I pant. Nobody has ever talked to me this way and I don’t know what to do. I’m helpless and defenseless and utterly entranced. Iversen is my spindle, the one that I, the mob princess will prick my finger on because I’m drawn to him like a lodestone. I cannot stop, cannot look away or walk because he’s just that magnetic.
And just as forbidden.
“I shouldn’t encourage you,” I breathe and his eyes flash when my lips part. He licks his own as if he wants to put his tongue against mine and entwine the two together and my cheeks heat. I’m so inexperienced, so out of my element that I feel like I’m on the verge of bursting out into tears.
“Don’t look so scared,” Iversen rasps and I try not to tremble. “I would never do anything against your will.” His eyes lower to my throat as if he’s trying to track the beating pulse. “Do you still not want to encourage me?”
“They’ll kill you,” I whisper. “And it’ll be my fault...”
“I’ll be careful. Never leave any bruises or marks on your fine skin or kiss your lips too hard.”
I twitch.Kissing?I mewl, squirming because Iversen’s intensity is coldblooded, as merciless as a sword and as precise as a swordsman and it cuts me right where I’m the most tender. In my feminine heart, my feminine emotions that still feel so innocent compared to his. When I struggle to form any words, a frown forms between Iversen’s brows and there’s something about his gaze that makes me want to weep.
“You do not want me then,” he says in a low voice as if the whole world just came crashing down on him. “Don’t you ever want me as your male, princess?” He takes a firmer grip on my arms. “What do I need to do for you to want me?”
When I don’t reply, he lets go of me and when he withdraws he looks so wounded. I’ve never seen a warrior like him seem so defeated and its humbling. My heart aches and I try to reach out with my hand but I’m too weak and I lean against the wall, struggling to regain control.
“Iversen,” I whisper and he whirls his head around, his eyes piercing into mine and it feels like he’ll conquer battlefields for all eternity, as long as I’ll be waiting there in the end to reward him. It’s the first time I’ve ever said his name. I’ve just crossed a line and entered dangerous territory but it feels good on the other side. That’s where he is and I don’t regret it.
“Yeah?” he says huskily and I shiver.
“Thank you for what you did.” I straighten, regaining my strength and I don’t have to lean against the wall anymore. “At the funeral.” I drag a breath because Iversen is watching me so intently, he’s not blinking. “You were brave for standing up to my father.”
