‘I still need to inspect your legs.’ He slid a hand beneath the hem of her tunic, caressing the skin beneath. ‘Mmm, just as I thought. They definitely need some attention.’
She tipped her head back, closing her eyes in pleasure as he bent his head and started to kiss his way up her legs, beginning with her ankles and gradually moving up between her thighs. She felt her pulse quicken, arching her back as his tongue played lightly over her skin, kissing and licking and nuzzling.
‘Danr...’ She moaned in frustration.
‘You need to get out of these damp clothes,’ he told her, lifting himself up just when she thought she couldn’t bear the tension any longer. ‘Here, let me help.’ He drew her tunic up over her head. ‘There. Much better.’
‘But it’s cold.’
‘Not for long.’ He grinned, tearing his own clothes away faster than she would have imagined possible. ‘Trust me.’
‘I do.’ She sighed with satisfaction, relishing the warmth of his body as he lay down over her again, wrapping her legs around his waist to draw him even closer.
‘Sissa...’ He slid one hand behind her back while the other moved between them, stroking gently into the curls between her legs. ‘I want you to be ready.’
‘I’m ready.’ She pressed her hands against his chest, tracing the shape of every corded muscle. ‘I’ve had to wait, too.’
He gave a low growl, skimming his lips against the side of her throat as he lowered himself against her, pushing gently but insistently at the entrance to her body. Instinctively, she tilted her hips, adjusting the angle and then... She gasped as he entered her, holding completely still as her inner muscles protested. There was a sensation of pain, so much so that she almost changed her mind, and then pleasure gradually returned again, more intense than before. She was aware of him holding still, too, waiting for her to give permission to continue, and she lifted her head, letting her tongue twine with his as she rocked her hips back and forth. They started to both move together, almost leisurely at first, then in a longer, deeper rhythm, a series of smooth glides that made her feel relaxed and tense at the same time. As the pace increased, the tension built even further until all her muscles seemed to clench simultaneously, her stomach contracting to a single coiled point that was both pain and pleasure at the same time. Then heat overwhelmed her, a bursting, blissful feeling accompanied by a trembling sensation that swept away all rational thought and pulsed in hot waves through her body, tearing a cry of release from her throat.
‘Danr,’ she called out and he gave an echoing cry, not quite distinguishable as a name, more like a guttural moan as he stiffened and then shuddered against her.
She closed her eyes, gasping for air and letting her racing heartbeat return to normal as he lay on top of her. He’d been right about one thing. She definitely wasn’t cold any longer. On the contrary, her body was covered with a thin sheen of perspiration.
‘That was worth waiting for.’ Danr’s voice was muffled against her shoulder. ‘Did it hurt you?’
He started to move away, but she tightened her arms and legs around him, holding him in place as she stroked her fingers across his back.
‘Sissa?’
She opened one eye to find his face just above hers, his expression so anxious that she almost laughed.
‘Why are you still talking, Norseman?’ She smiled lazily instead.
‘Because there are some things a man needs to know, especially from the woman he’s just made love to. For the first time.’
‘There was some pain at first.’ She sighed contentedly. ‘But it passed.’
‘And the rest?’
‘What do you think? The rest was everything I could have imagined.’ She gave him an arch look. ‘And I imagined a lot after our wedding night. But it was even better than that.’
‘It was?’ He grinned and rolled on to his back, pulling her with him. ‘Good. Because I had a hard time restraining myself just now.’
‘That was you restraining yourself?’
‘You have no idea. Next time you won’t be so fortunate.’
‘When will that be?’
‘Ideally, I’d ask you to give me a few minutes, but you might be sore for a little while.’
‘And your brother will be coming back soon...’
‘That, too. In that case, I’ll try to contain myself, but soon. Very soon. I have three years of catching up to do and we’re just getting started.’
Chapter Twenty-Five
‘Farewell, Brother. Good luck.’ Danr enveloped Brandt in a bear hug as they stood on the wooden jetty of the sea loch. It had been two days since they’d returned with Sissa from the other side of the island, bedraggled but unharmed, to the immense relief of everyone in the village, but Hilda especially. Now Knut’s longship was manned and waiting to carry Brandt north to Katanes and the mainland. ‘Try not to lose your temper.’