Her words were cut short when Herrick surged forward, his hand wrapping around the side of her jaw and neck, his thumb positioned under her chin to tilt her head up. This close, he seemed to tower over her despite the fact that they stood eye to eye. She moved to step back out of his grasp, but he only wrapped his other arm around her waist, pulling her into his chest. She brought the dagger up to rest underneath his chin, the point digging into his skin enough for him to pause.
"We're not done here," Herrick growled, his fingers moving to thread themselves into her unbound hair.
His eyes flicked to her mouth, heat enveloping his golden irises and causing her desire to flare. But she couldn't allow herself to be swallowed up by him again, not when it meant he'd get hurt just by being near her. She pulled back sharply, his grip loosening enough to let her go.
Facing the window to get a face full of ocean air rather than the rain-soaked soilthat belonged to him, Maude said, "Yes, we are."
Stepping around him to get to the door, Maude felt her fingers brush against the smooth skin around Herrick's wrists. She paused for only a second, trying to pull herself away from what she knew she would see when she looked down. Burns around his wrists and small fingertip-sized marks dotted the inside of his arms, the flesh there purple and swollen.
Before her body could catch up to the fury that spiraled in her mind, Herrick spun and pinned her against the far wall next to the door. His cool touch soothed her raging anger, forcing her to come back from the fiery pits of her rage that she was more than happy to drown in.
"That wrath in your face is why I know we aren't finished," he whispered against her cheek, his breath tickling her ear.
Her body arched into his, her hands finding a will of their own as they ran up his abdomen to his shoulders before tangling with his hair. Herrick ran his hands down her sides, his fingers worshipping every dip and curve they came across. Her skin broke out into chills as his fingers continued their exploration of the band of skin that had shown itself between her tunic and waistband.
"The way you're reacting to me is also a good sign," he went on, pausing to run the tip of his tongue up her neck.
She gasped, her fingers gripping his hair harder. Her heart was pounding away furiously beneath her fatemark as Herrick continued his slow torment. Feeling its frenzied cadence, Herrick leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her chest over the soft linen covering the damning runes there, where the sound of her beating heart must have been the only other sound in the room besides their breathing.
"I just can't figure out why you keep running from me,minn eldr."
Maude blew out a heavy breath, her eyes flashing open as she remembered the entire reason for bolting.
"Because I amfuriouswith you," she said between clenched teeth.
Herrick chuckled harshly before swooping down to wrap his hands around her thighs, lifting them until she straddled him against the wall.
"Just like I am furious withyou," he snapped.
They were each brimming with their anger when that heated spark entered Herrick's golden eyes again. Maude's focus flicked to his mouth for just a moment, but it was enough to spur Herrick on as he surged forward and kissed her.
She sunk into Herrick's kiss, the wildness and desperation from both of them leaking into the action. He swung her to the small desk in the corner of the room, their tongues colliding like they couldn't bear to go another moment without tasting the other. As soon as Maude's ass hit the hardwood, she tore her lips from his and glared at him.
"Why do you keep chasing after me when I am trying to protect you, youmoronicbeast?" she snarled, her hands going to his tunic and lifting it from his waistband.
He grabbed her wrists and brought them behind her back, holding them with one large hand. The motion forced her shoulders back, the bite of pain in them welcome if it meant she would forget her need for this man.
Her hopes were dashed when his hand settled under her jaw again, his thumb tilting her chin up while he placed feverish kisses up her throat.
"You don't get to decide that I need protecting," Herrick said against her ear as he made his way back to her mouth, but not before he tugged on her earlobe.
Releasing a groan at the pleasure that shot down her spine and into her core, Maude wrapped her legs around Herrick's hips and pulled him closer until she could feel that impressive length against her.
"Fuck," she gasped as Herrick ground his hips over her center.
"And you don't get to be the only one who's angry anymore," he continued, ignoring her exclamation.
Hand still on her jaw, Herrick tilted her head down before moving to wrap his fingers around her throat. His fourth finger lay on her pulse, the rapid beat of her heart being translated to Herrick in real-time.
Before she could get wrapped up in his piercing gaze again, Maude bit out, "Why are you so pissed off? What could I have possibly done—"
"You died," he cut her off, speaking between clenched teeth. "And you left me behind,minn eldr,when you know I will follow you to the ends of this world and into Hel herself. So I get to be angry with you even when you are, by the grace ofthe Allfather, in my arms because holding you as your heart stopped beating? The sound that guides my very soul? That was the most excruciating thing I've ever had to feel, and I will not allow it to happen again."
Maude stopped struggling against Herrick's hold as he bared his very soul to her. She couldn't help but flick her eyes to the burn scars on his chest that had begun to peek through the loose tunic.
"The burns?" Herrick said, his voice low and empty for a moment as he noticed where her attention had gone.
She flinched.
