There was control in the surrender of one's self, she thought idly. Her watergalderreminded her of floating in a deep pool of still water— she could kick up and be at the surface whenever she wanted to, but she could also choose to remain suspended.
"Now, Maude," Dahlia coaxed.
At the Elven's prompt, she pushed her awareness into Dahlia's blood until she could feel every path through the Elven's foreign body. She traced her veins with a mental finger all the way through the four chambers of her heart, through the lungs that inflated, and then finally into her other organs.
"You really need to eat something, the sugar levels in your blood are bordering on cranky," Maude said quietly before withdrawing, grinning at the Elven in front of her.
"Excellent," Dahlia replied, her mirrored grin spreading from cheek to cheek. "And you're right, I am famished."
"There is some bread and fish above that some of the other sailors caught and cooked up," Herrick told her from where he lounged against the wall.
Dahlia nodded her head and left them alone in the low lighting of the crew's quarters.
"I thought you were navigating with Hakon," Maude said, raising an eyebrow at him.
"He can handle it on his own for a while," Herrick replied, his lips tilting up in the corner.
Ever since the iron had been removed from his throat, he had recovered most of his strength and all of hisgalder, thank the Allfather. While the need to return to his home and protect it was still present, at this moment, he looked at ease in his skin for the first time since they had rescued him.
Following his lead, Maude leaned against one of the support beams in the middle of the open space, keeping a healthy distance from him.
"And you just came down here to spy on my lessons?" she asked, picking up her boot and resting it on the beam as well, her knee propped up in front of her.
"Something like that."
For a moment, they just stared at each other until Herrick pushed himself off the wall and came to stand in front of Maude. Before she could realize what he was doing, vines wrapped around her wrists as Herrick pulled them up the low ceiling.
"You beast," she seethed as she tried to break free of her bonds. "There are easier ways of getting into my pants than binding me with vines. Just because you've got yourgalderback, doesn't mean—"
He cut her off with a deep kiss as his hand wrapped around her jaw, tilting her head up until she was exactly where he wanted her. He kissed her until all she could taste was summer berries exploding on her tongue, muddling her mind like the sweetest of wines until he almost had to hold her up against the beam she was bound in front of.
"Of course there are easier ways," Herrick whispered as his mouth traced over her jaw and down her neck to where her tunic rested on her shoulders. "But this was the only way to get you angry like this. You always turn the most delectable shade of burgundy when you're angry with me."
One of his hands had dove into her hair, tilting her head to the side so he could better nip at the sensitive skin behind her ear. In a last-ditch effort, she tried to bring her knee back up to his groin to get him to back up, but, as usual, he knew her moves well and shoved his thigh between hers.
Her skin heated at the thought of the last time they had been in this position. Back in Logi, beneath the ground in the tunnel Sigurd used to connect his house to the fighting pits, Maude and Herrick had had their first of many battles of wills.
As if he remembered, too, Herrick brought his mouth back up to hers as if he needed to taste her desperation for him. That was different from the last time, and he took painful measures to remind her of that as his free hand started to pull at theties that held her vest together until it hung open in front of her. Slowly but surely, Herrick made his way down her captured body until she was trembling with need.
"Tell me what you want,minn eldr," Herrick said, his voice huskier than before.
Maude tried to find the words she'd known her entire life, tried to string together a sentence that made sense, but ultimately, she landed on, "I wantyou."
It was all she needed to say before Herrick unleashed himself on her.
43
Gods, Herrick could die of his need for this woman.
When Maude had disappeared below deck with Dahlia, he knew she was going to train using her watergalder. He wanted to give her some space to work freely as she was not one to fail with an audience. But as the sun arced over them and dipped toward the horizon, they grew closer to when they'd beach the ship before sneaking into Veter.
There was no way to know what they were walking into in his kingdom, so Herrick decided to act on his need for her while he still had the luxury of doing so.
Slowly, he traced the tip of his nose down the side of her exposed neck, pressing his lips to the bared skin of her shoulder as his fingers pulled the edge of her tunic up over her head, tracing the curve of her waist and hip. Maude's breathing staggered a bit as she reacted to his touch, the sight almost as stunning as she was.
Unable to fully remove the tunic she wore, he let the rest of it hang over her shoulders, further restricting her arms. She gave him a breathy moan as he gently grasped her nipple, the tight bud sensitive as she sucked in her breath and arched into him. Kicking off her boots to the corner, he unlaced the ties of her leather pants, pulling them down over her muscled thighs until she could step out of them. Unable to avoid tasting her already, he traced his tongue down her exposed legs, her skin breaking out into goosebumps where he carved a path up to the apex of her thighs.
Her breathing increased in pace as he got close to her center. When his fingers dipped into her soaked core, a rumble sounded from his chest at how ready she was for him already. He swirled his fingers around her clit once, twice, before withdrawing again.
