Valkyrie's Sacrifice (Academy of Immortals 3)

“I’m not sure I know what that is, but if you mean it’s just our natural, primal instincts, I agree.” He runs his nose along my neck, inhaling my scent. It’s a weird thing he does, a disturbingly sexy thing. “I smell them—Armin and Rupert, mixed with the sulfur and brimstone of this gods-forsaken place. They’re fully bound to you now.”

My skin prickles in anticipation and my heart pounds with his touch.

“But you’re right, the loss of Miya is severe.” He kisses my neck, then my jaw, and covers my mouth with his as he walks me backwards into the tiny cabin, slamming the door behind us. “It’s weakened your power.”

“You can smell all that?”

“How do you think I found you down the alley back in the fourth circle?”

“You smelled me.”

He nods, pulling at the lacy straps of my top and kissing my shoulders. “You have a distinct and specific scent, Valkyrie. Zero fear. All power. With a delicious blast of sex.” I laugh, because he’s ridiculous and I have no idea if he’s telling the truth or not. “Oh, and a hint of vanilla.”

“What do we do?” I ask as my knees hit the edge of the bed. “How do we go forward a warrior down?”

“You don’t think I’m man enough to make up for Miya?” He pulls off his shirt and drops his trousers, revealing his very aroused and ready length. I reach out and stroke the velvet tip, making him shudder. Every ounce of bravado melts away.

“I don’t,” I tell him, running my finger down his chest. “Miya was very powerful in his own right. Strong and commanding.”

His eyebrow lifts. “And what about me?”

“You? You’re dirty. Ruthless. Ridiculous. You’re the one that makes me feel when I’m lost. You’re the one that pushes me harder than I think I can go. You were the first, Marshal, the one that drew me out when no one else could.” He peels off my top and slides off the bottoms, nudging me back on the bed. I wait for the switch to flip, for him to lose control—to consume me—but he seems intent on going slow, which is more disarming than I ever would have imagined. “Maybe you and I have been bound together a lot longer than I realized.”

Lightning flashes outside the small circular window, brightening his face as I cup his face and he kisses me. Thunder follows, rolling across the sky as he crawls over my body so that I’m beneath him, arching my back to get closer. His hand slides down my side, over my hip, caressing a finger down my inner thigh. I run my hands over his sculpted muscle, feeling the quiver of desire. With his tongue hot against my breast, Marshal brushes my core with his knuckle, eliciting a groan from deep in my chest. He smiles down at me, wicked and amused.

“What?” I breathe, wondering what’s entertaining him so much.

“I knew I’d get you to admit that you wanted me.”

His arrogance, along with the sway of the boat, spurs me into action, using my strength and his distraction to flip him on his back giving me the upper advantage. He doesn’t miss a beat, reaching for my breast, running his thumb over my peaked nipple, grinning wildly. I rake my nails down his chest and he growls in delight. I lick my way down his body, teeth grazing his belly and hips. I stroke the fine hair leading downward and he squirms against me; hot, hard, and ready.

I need Marshal, I want him, but he’s right. I had to admit that he’s a part of this. I have to claim him, not the other way around. Lifting up, I take him in whole, in one quick plunge. He pushes up and wraps his arms around me, kissing me as he stretches my insides, filling me with his size. I roll my hips, and he pulls me to him, hands trailing down my back. It’s intimate, our faces inches apart, our breath mingling as we move.

The storm outside grows, the swells of water crashing against the side of the ship. Rain pounds overhead and thunder and lightning split the sky as we make love, actual love, for the very first time.

There’s a point where it’s too much, it’s all too much, and his movements, they brings me over the edge. My body trembles, and I drop my mouth to his shoulder, muffling my groan against his skin. Marshal holds me against him and rolls us back over, driving himself deep inside. It’s then that I hear the words tumbling from his lips, the chant of my name, the profession of his devotion, the final, guttural swearing to protect me until his last breath.

It’s then that he thrusts a final time and warmth spreads through my body, pulsing in my veins and stretching across my limbs. The boat continues to rock in the storm, but Marshal has stilled over me, mouth inches from mine, eyes connected. We’d had sex before, but this was something different. A release—a melding. We both knew it.

Another bolt of lightning zings past, making my hair stand on end. We look out the small window out at the raging storm outside.

“So I guess that thunder and lightning wasn’t the gods celebrating our union,” he says reaching for his clothes.

“No. I don’t think so.”

He tosses me a satchel, inside are my leathers. “You had these the whole time?” I glance down at the silky undergarments on the floor. “Where did those come from.”

He grins. “I may have taken a few liberties with your clothing while you were asleep.”

“Pervert!” I sling the bag at him, but he catches it in one hand, bending to kiss me hard on the mouth.

“Yeah, but I’m your pervert.” He tugs on his pants, tying them at the waist. The storm continues to rage, growing more intense by the second. “Get dressed, Valkyrie, something tells me we’re about to enter another circle.”

I peer out the window trying to see anything in the pounding rain. There’s only one Immortal left, only one ring to pass out. The God of Death is out there somewhere in that violent, raging storm.

And I’m going to have to figure out how to get him back.

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