Ethan laughed. He couldn’t help it. He was filled with elation.
Bryn’s mouth tightened. She glared at him and slipped her hands between their chests to cover her breasts.
He sighed and reached down to pull the edge of the covers over their nude bodies, although all that was visible of her was sprawled legs. His entire backside had been in full view.
Not that he minded one bit. Theirs was an openly sexual society. Uninhibited by humans’ odd rules regarding modesty.
Her sex clenched again, and his body began to relax, enjoying the feel of her beneath him, of the warmth and wetness that surrounded his cock. “You should leave,” he said, not looking at his men or the sister witches, but at Bryn’s stark gaze.
“Sorry about the door,” Renner muttered.
Their audience shuffled away. The door creaked on strained hinges and several hard pulls finally closed it.
Ethan settled his elbows on either side of Bryn and gave her a nudge with his thickening cock. “There’s more.”
She shoved at his chest. “This is all my fault,” she said, her voice a thin wail.
“How is it yours? I’m here, too. And I think I did most of the work.”
The corners of her mouth turned downward. “I wished I’d never been claimed by Merrick. Last night, when we drew down the moon. I wished it. Wished you were Other. That we could be together. I wished for a child.”
“So many wishes…” He smiled inside. She’d wanted him even thinking he was human. For more than just his seed.
“I’ve put us all in danger. Stupid. Stupid.” Tears gleamed in her eyes.
“Bryn, we can’t fight fate. But I will fight Merrick and anyone else who comes for you.”
Her eyes glittered with unshed tears. She blinked, sending one sliding into her hair. “The echo…” She shook her head. “It was so much stronger this time.”
“Because we were meant to be.” He felt it to his toes. Which was why he couldn’t be concerned about repercussions. About what their lovemaking might bring down on them all.
He pushed back the covering and slid his hands beneath her body, down to the sweet round curve of her ass. He gave it a squeeze and flexed his hips, reminding her they were still connected, and that he wasn’t nearly finished.
“We should join them,” she said, gasping. “Plan for a defense.”
“There’s time for that. Later. We shouldn’t disappoint your Goddess.” He lowered his eyelids. “Are you sore?”
She wrinkled her nose. “I have a tree trunk shoved up my vagina, what do you think?”
He grinned. “Are you too sore?”
Bryn huffed. “This is what it’s going to be like, isn’t it? You lolling in bed. Wanting to fuck morning, noon, and night. I’ve heard tales about you trolls.”
Ethan nuzzled her ear. “And every one of them is true,” he whispered. Leaning on one elbow, a hand still clamped on a soft buttock, he began to rut in shallow thrusts, because she’d admitted she was sore.
But soon the mattress springs squeaked, and the headboard banged against the wall. Bryn’s tears dried as she answered his challenge, raking her nails over his back.
Ethan relished the battle to come—with her, with the hellhound who would track them to the bayou. Trolls were warriors. Born to fight. He’d been made for this. Shaped in rock and sweat just for her.
Chapter Six
‡
The next afternoon, the women gathered in the kitchen to prepare the evening meal. With so many to feed, all hands were needed. Besides, after the previous night’s events, the witches were confined to the house. Orders from Ethan at breakfast. The women had contacted their workers and made excuses for why they wouldn’t be coming in for a few days—relatives from out of town.
And although his assumption of authority rankled, Bryn conceded he was right. It was no longer safe for them outside.
“I don’t see why I couldn’t have gone out on the boat today,” Miren said. “We’d have been out on the ocean, a draugr and two mermen to protect me. Who the hell could get to me there?”