“Who are you?” he asked and scanned the woods behind her and to the sides, making sure she was alone.
“I’m but an old woman.”
He doubted that. Stian had this feeling she was much more. It was a tingling in his body, a tightening of his skin. It was an instinct he went with to stay alive and had served him well.
“You’ve been out here alone for many moons, have you not, Stian?”
The fact that she knew his name was surprising, especially since he knew she wasn’t from the village. He’d grown up around those people until he’d come into adulthood. He knew all the elders, and she was not one of them.
“I know you’re lonely, know you’ve been banished for things that were not maliciously done. I know you have found a great treasure, a woman who may or may not be of your world.” She lifted a graying eyebrow and smiled.
He didn’t question many things, but he questioned his woman and where she’d come from. She was clearly not of his village or area, given her attire, language, and the other items she had in her possession.
He tightened his hold on the handle of his ax, then lifted it and sheathed it at his hip. “You know of my woman and the strangeness of her, of where she came from.” He didn’t phrase it like a question.
“I do, warrior.”
They stood there for a moment, neither speaking after that, but both watching the other. “Is she a gift from the gods?” Stian might not believe in many things, but he did have faith in the gods, in the great Odin, the father of all, and maybe they were smiling down upon him, even after the lives he took.
“Treasure what you have, warrior.” She turned and left him then, and for the entire time she moved through the woods, he watched her. She disappeared through the trees, her small, almost frail body becoming no more.
Stian grabbed the goat and hauled it over his shoulder. Making his way back to the hut, he thought about what the old woman said. He wished he could speak with his female, know where she came from, what she thought, and explain the reasons why he would not let her go.
He got to his hut, tossed the carcass on the ground by the smoke hut, and went into his home to see Agata sitting by the fire, her hands extended as she tried to warm them.
The weather was changing drastically, and he was already prepped, already organized to keep them satisfied, well fed, and protected. He stared at her, desire coursing through his veins, and his cock instantly hardened as she looked at him with this wide-eyed, innocent expression.
He’d refrained from touching her the way he wanted, and although she was still so cold at times toward him, while in bed, she melted against his body.
“Come here, wife,” he said, knowing she knew at least a few small terms in his language. The way her throat worked as she smiled, the fact that she curled her fingers into her palms, and the way she stood slowly, told him that she too felt this intense heat move between them.
When she was close enough, he reached out and wrapped his hand around her waist and pulled her forward until she slammed into his chest. “I want to show you what I want, what I need from you.” Looking into her blue eyes, seeing her hesitancy yet her desire as well, had his cock jerking, growing harder. “I want to show you that you’re mine in the most physical of ways. Sex. Desire.” He leaned in an inch so their lips were only inches apart. “I want to fuck you, wife.”
11
Desire moved through Agata’s body like a train, fast, hard, and violently. She’d only been here for a few short days, knew she had to leave eventually, but also that she’d never felt the kind of arousal she did when with Stian.
It made no sense, annoyed and pissed her off to a point, but the fact remained that she was here for a reason. She just didn’t know what that reason was.
His big hand was around her hipbone, his face so close to hers. He smelled wild, untamed, like the forest that surrounded them. Despite her being here against her will, not even knowing where here was, she admitted she’d never felt this kind of freedom before.
It did feel strange, given the fact that she was in this current situation and had a chain still wrapped around her ankle. She’d even gone looking for weapons, and surprisingly found many, just not in her reach.
What if someone or something had come in here and tried to hurt her while he’d been hunting?
What if she couldn’t get away or defend herself because he had her tied up?
All those thoughts had crossed her mind, but she’d also been able to look out the window and see him still, even as he hunted.
She believed he never went far from her, maybe as a proprietary thing, or because he didn’t trust her. But either way, until she figured out a way to leave, playing along and staying on the side of him that lavished her with this wicked, erotic attention was probably in her best interest.
“This is crazy,” she said to herself and stared at the fullness of his lips.
He leaned in another inch until their mouths touched just barely.
“I should just kick you in the balls right now,” she whispered a little seductively, smiled even. But she was still chained, still unable to get away, even if her pussy was wet at the moment.
Moving back an inch, she lifted her leg and rattled the chain a little bit. He didn’t move right away, maybe contemplating if she’d run, but he finally bent down and undid the ties. When he stood, he took her in his arms, pulled her close once more, and before she knew what was happening kissed her harshly.
She moaned, unable to hold the sound in. He wore this thick leather and fabric coat, the material going down to his ankles. Fur lined the collar, and the scent of him invaded her senses.
She smoothed her hands over his wide shoulders, curled her nails into the fur and leather, and opened her mouth. She wanted to taste him, wanted his scent on her, filling her, consuming her.
He stroked his tongue along hers, sucked on it, and groaned. When he turned them, started walking her toward the pallet, she felt the throbbing of his cock against her belly and almost couldn’t find the strength to do what she was about to do.
I want this, want him, but I have to think about myself.
“If we’d met under different circumstances, I could see myself letting you do whatever you want.” She broke away from the kiss, looked into his eyes, and without thinking about it, she brought her knee up, right into his crotch.
He grunted, his eyes widening for a second, before he fell to one knee and cupped himself.
Agata didn’t wait, didn’t even think about it. She already had her bag packed with her personal items, a few pieces of fruit, and she knew that if she did manage to get away, she might very well die out there in the cold and wilderness.
Taking off out of the hut, she ran toward the right, hoping, praying she was running toward the village. They may not have helped her before, but maybe if they saw her again and she tried to explain as best as she could, that she needed help, they’d take pity on her.
Either way, she had to get away, had to find her way back home.
The underbrush wasn’t frozen yet, but it was hard, cold, and she didn’t have much on aside from the thin shift and leather coat Stian had given her.
She tightened her hold on her purse, knowing she shouldn’t have worried about her personal items, because here, they didn’t mean anything. But Agata couldn’t part with her things from back home, couldn’t leave them behind with that heathen.