She laughed, the sound ragged and bitter. Why had he said that? Did he know what she’d done when she’d escaped the council? “There you go again, making me laugh.”
“I’m not so bad, am I?” he asked softly.
“You’re a draugr,” she said, grimacing. “A sea-draugr at that. The fucking ghost of a dead sailor.”
“Now, you know that’s bullshit. Draugrs were never human. Some ancestor got his jollies walking in some poor dead man’s skin so he could fuck his wife.”
“Did you ever do that?”
“The worst I’ve done is leak under a pretty girl’s door so I could ogle her in her tub.”
“Pervert,” she whispered, smiling again.
“Now, aren’t you glad I haven’t any scruples?” He pressed a kiss against her temple. “Baby, would you like me to end this? For me to go?”
Glad he’d offered her a choice, she shook her head. “Not before I come. Make me come, Renner.”
“Since you asked so sweetly…” He rolled, coming over her, retaining their connection.
Something she was glad of, because she would have felt oddly bereft. Instead, he was deeper, and his thick, long cock somehow felt harder and more insistent, or maybe it was just that her channel was growing more engorged and crowding around his shaft. Didn’t matter why, she needed him to move. “Renner.”
“What, baby?” he asked, rising on his elbows, his fingers smoothing her hair from her cheeks.
How did she ask this without him taking advantage? “Can we pretend?”
His gaze narrowed for a second, and then he nodded. “That we’re in love?”
She liked the way his voice grew raspy. Almost as though he was feeling as off-kilter as she was. “Yes. Just for now.”
His smile was a little sad, but he nodded. “We don’t have to pretend. For now.”
She bracketed his face with her hands and lifted her head, the kiss she gave him filled with all the confusing emotions roiling inside her. Relief flooded her. Desperation seared. As he began to move inside her, she forgot everything but the joy he brought with churning hips and sharp thrusts. His movements were as rhythmic as waves crashing against a beach. Steady, relentless thrusts that pushed her closer and closer to the edge.
“Baby, let go,” he said before crushing her mouth with another deep kiss.
And she slipped over the edge, her arms falling limply to the bed, her body arching beneath his.
A rap sounded at the door. Miren opened her eyes, blinking against the light from the overhead fixture. She lay on a towel on the floor, her knees splayed.
Renner lifted his head from her sex and withdrew his fingers.
She didn’t know whether to spit or cry. The dream had been more real than she’d known. Thank the Goddess, he hadn’t claimed her with his cock.
She shoved him away and leaned against the side of the tub. “I’ll be out in a minute,” she called out, her voice hoarse. Then to Renner, she gave a harsh whisper, “What did you do?”
“I promised you pleasure,” he said, his expression set.
“You know this isn’t what I wanted.”
He gave a sharp shake of his head. “No, you wanted the choice taken from you. For you to wake and find out that I’d sealed the deal.”
She gave a more violent shake of her head. “No.”
“Now who’s the liar?” He rose and stepped into the tub. “They shouldn’t know I was here.”
Could they already know? Had she shouted out loud when she’d come?
“Miren…”