She moaned, still trying to somehow prove him wrong about that salve. Her body wasn’t giving her much choice either. She continued to work, panting. Sweat dripped from her swaying breasts, down her back, down her ass, making the licks of the crop sting all the more.
He chuckled again and traced the crop along her ass, watching as she tried to move away. He did it again, then removed the phallus from ass and the block from between her legs. “Now I know you’re wanting, that I won’t hurt you much our first time. But first, I have to lick this oil away, from that sweet pussy, my goddess in chains.”
Gods, but she loved the torment he inflicted upon her so far.
He met her gaze. His eyes were that bluish, grayish, greenish blend, stormy and fierce. “Is this too intense for you? I have a difficult time holding back.” He looked down and gave a nervous laugh, then raked his golden hair from his face. “I seem to have difficulty holding back where you’re involved. I—”
Her head lolled against her arm. She tried to focus her fevered vision on his eyes. “No. It’s intense, but in a very, very nice way.”
Instead of finally getting started, he pressed the end of the crop more firmly against her clit. Her hips followed it, wanting, needing any sensation it would give her, if not release. When he’d tired of this torment, he lowered his head, his breath caressing the sensitive folds, swollen with want. He grabbed her ass, pulling her hips toward his mouth and holding her there. She relaxed completely, knowing this would happen, wanting it so damned badly.
****
Siegfried felt the tension flow from the flesh in his hands, very hot, scarlet flesh. She’d done beautifully. She was full of wild abandon. That did not change in the bed chamber.
He’d sampled men’s harems before, women who had been eager, but none like this. Some of their moans had been artificial. He wanted it real and raw. That was what he had here with Freya. She would have been the jewel of any man’s harem, yielding with such emotion. The internal battles she had didn’t last long at all. Who was he jesting with? Her male friends had not been able to have what she’d guarded for him. She was and could only be Siegfried’s alone.
When he thought she was close to creaming, he paused, massaging her well-punished ass, nibbling at her abdomen.
“Please,” she said again.
“You’ll come when I am ready for you to come,” he said. That would be when he was inside of her.
“Yes, Master.” His poor Freya sounded so lost and needy, but she’d willingly entered Siegfried’s fantasies. It was as if she’d been made just for him. She was so new to this, so untried and still, for the moment, virginal. Yet, her willingness, her desire for him, her lust for what he did to her amounted to something near perfection. That only made her perfect, for him, at least.
But if she were perfect, he’d never have the excuse to punish her. And he’d relish the excuse to punish her, her sex pressed against his thigh, her bottom laid bare.
Freya was lightheaded by the time he unlocked her wrists and released her ankles from the spreader bar. She watched in awe as he gathered her in his arms before she sagged, then laid her on her back. She kept her legs spread, probably imagining what punishment might befall her if she disobeyed.
“Guide me into you, Freya,” he said.
Her hands closed over his cock, and when the aching tip touched her opening, he eased himself into her welcoming pussy. Her eyes closed, lips parted on a pleading moan. He brushed the back of his palm across her brow, wiping away the sheen of sweat from her earlier exertions.
“Are you ready, little one?” he asked.
She met his gaze, wanting to watch his face, and gave him a little nod. “Do it quick.”
His hand tangled in her hair as his hips surged against hers; his other hand cupped a breast, raising it so he could lave the nipple.
Siegfried groaned as her short nails dug into his back and her juices flowed onto his balls. She was hotter inside than when he’d fingered her. And now she was his, he’d claimed her, fully.
“Are you hurting?” He raised his head to look at her.
“Not so badly,” she said, her voice husky. She looked away. “I’m used to pain, remember? I fall at least once a day.”
He chuckled and took her mouth with his own, letting her adjust to the feel of him. Her kiss was fervent, interspersed with small whimpers. His little slave was good with wordless pleas.
When her tension had eased, he began slow thrusts. With a growl, she gave him harder, meeting him thrust for thrust. Her hot cream dripped down his thighs, her muscles clutching at his cock, so tight, so wet. Her gaze was on his face as she screamed her release, his name on her lips. Her body spasmped around his. His cock rode through the storm of delicious release, pushing him over the brink. His cock jerked inside of her, spilling seed into her body. He shouted his hard, furious release. “Freya!”
And damned if that didn’t make her come again, bucking her hips wildly beneath him. The spasms were just as fierce as before. He kissed her cries from her mouth until the gentle pulses of her muscles finally abated.
Siegfried knew he could not let Nuada Airgetlam or any of Lugh’s stooges have her. Oh, no, she’d not be under another man. This,
this
was his. For now, he’d share a drink with her and then take her again, and he’d take his time. He’d make her wait a little longer, let her explore the depths of lust, let her be consumed with her urges.
She was silent, her fingertips stroking his nape. Had she enjoyed that? Would she want to do it again? Or had he proved too much for her? He lifted himself from her, resolving to ask her over a drink.
Pain seared through him and he fell back atop her. Every muscle in his body clenched and twisted, as if his bones might shatter. He screamed then, hearing the snap of bone.
“Master? Master!” Freya’s frantic cries pierced through the pain before it was abruptly gone, as if it had never been. His antlers and stag legs were back. He was panting, his head atop her breasts.
“I am well,” he said, his voice hoarse.
“Is shifting painful for you?” she asked.
“It wasn’t before, when I shifted to be with you, but this…”
“You blacked out. I heard your bones. That’s not supposed to happen.” What he could see of her face behind the hair was ashen.
He raised his head, moving from atop her to rest beside her. He had to lie on his back each night with the antlers, so he placed his head high on the pillows, so as not to jab her head. Then he snuggled her against his side. “I did collapse, didn’t I? I made a deal with Mimir. He has my humanity, Freya. I only have it for times like we just shared.”
“I wonder if it hurts like that because you don’t control when it is going to happen, at least when you shift back.”
“I’ve controlled very little since I met you. But I am fixing that now.” His eyes closed. He could not stop them. The exhaustion that settled in.
****
Freya nudged Siegfried with her shoulder. He didn’t budge. His heart was still beating strong, his breath warm and steady. Her juices still flowed as she remembered every sumptuous detail of how he had met, then exceeded her fantasies. She wanted him again, was ready for him to expose her to new torments.
She tried waking him up several more times when it occurred to her that he would probably sleep for a good while. To have his body transform like that had to be exhausting.
Freya returned the spreader bar, cuffs, and other items he’d used to the window seat and placed the lid over them. She tried not to look too much at all the other devices. She trembled, wondering how one would use some of the items. She wouldn’t find out until after she fixed Siegfried’s problem.
Before leaving the chamber, she clothed herself in a pale yellow gown of mist and sunlight, then tied his breeches and pulled the coverlet over him. She gave him one last quick kiss. He was going to punish her for what she was about to do. She thought of the salve and whatever was in the chest she had not seen. She’d accept his punishment so he could do this without pain, not that what he’d do to her didn’t excite her.
Freya raced across the deck, trident in hand. She had planned on calling on the golden sea beast of Hedwig’s she’d seen during her swim earlier, but Sun Shimmer was not there. He was much faster than she was underwater, simply because of his size.
“Bright Mane, you
can
call on me.”
The perky voice of the sea serpent resonated through her thoughts.
“No, this is not a task for a slobbering fool. He will only want to play Fetch the Starfish again.”
This lilting voice was very familiar and made Freya smile in relief.
Freya looked over the side to see Enbarr, only he was entirely composed in sea water, a fish tail curling in the water behind him. She dove from the wooden railing into the waves, legs changing to tail as she hit the water. Then Enbarr was under her, his mane flowing around her, becoming part of the water. She held her trident with one hand, his mane with the other.
With Enbarr, she rode on the surface, and he was even swifter than Sun Shimmer. Water spouts rose around them, forming a hall of sparkling spray. Flying fish leapt into upward surges, and a contingent of dolphins appeared on either side, their nickers almost seeming to be a song as their silver bodies formed half-moons above the waves. This was…unique?
“I am He Whose Mane Tames the Winds, Bright Mane. Do not forget it.”
“He Whose Heart Drips with Humility,” Freya said with a snort, then laughed
“I don’t expect reverence from you as only one of three Horn-Kin. You are as my daughter. The others are simply kin. Hecate, maybe a sister. But Wave Walker is more like one of those relatives foisted upon you. In fact, that is exactly what he is.”
“You made him Horn-Kin because of those prophecies?” she said.
“Yes. If he will help defeat Shadow Stalker, then I have no choice. He has my protection, and the protection of all the other unicorns as well. When he rode me, I put my mark on him, visible to only other unicorns. You’ve had this mark since the day I first nuzzled you.”
She adored when Enbarr talked of cute horsey things, like nuzzling. She clasped his neck in a tight hug.
“I have to caution you, yet again, my loud-mouthed Bright Mane, you cannot let too many know of our relationship. You must not speak the name Daughter of Shadow and Frost or She of the Lightning Fangs, lest Shadow Stalker come for you or Wave Walker. I am to live on Avalon now, with Shadow Weaver. Avalon is the safest place in the Otherworld, and I will be close if you need me.”
“Enbarr, I still don’t know what a Shadow Stalker is exactly. It is someone who uses Oblivion. But what makes him a threat?”
“Shadow Stalker wants power for himself. Loki uses Shadow. It was Shadow on the demon blade that branded your face. Those are the kinds of twisted things Shadow does. What happened in Folkvang, only to a greater extent. So, it should concern you. It is the same thing Wave Walker fights against, but of a grander scale.”
“Freya? Uh, where the hell are you going? I was on my way to the boat to grab a drink with you.” She turned to see Hedwig heading toward them atop Sun Shimmer’s big head. The sea beast’s eyes rolled in opposite directions, the goat-like ears drooping beneath a mop of orange-yellow hair. A forked tongue lolled from the side of his mouth, dripping a steady stream of drool.
“Hedwig.” Freya gave the Sea Witch a wave. “Glad to see you alive.”
“I’ve got that Berengar person for you, out of the catacombs while you were all with Loki. I hate Loki. I was supposed to be the one carrying off Pompey.”
Freya’s heart leapt at the news. “Berengar? How did I forget? Hedwig, where is he? How is he?”
“Your mother is taking care of him,” Hedwig said, and Freya relaxed. “Where are you headed?” Hedwig opened a flagon at her hip, and Freya smelled white wine.
“Going to see Mimir,” Freya said, then explained the situation with Siegfried as quickly as she could.
“Why did he pay a price?” Hedwig asked. “Why didn’t he simply take the Wisdom? He’s a pirate; he’s supposed to steal shit. I told Hecate that. But she said there wasn’t time.”
“You’re supposed to pay the price,”
Enbarr said.
“Mimir, a rock giant, intimidates most.”
Hedwig rolled her eyes. She rested her elbow on the kelp-like strands of Sun Shimmer’s hair, looking down at the two.
Enbarr immediately lifted them up on a water spout to be slightly higher than Hedwig.
Hedwig ignored the height difference. “Enbarr, I’ve been there. I thought to myself, if there’s a big pile of Wisdom, the Sea Bitch needs some of that. Especially with all the stupid Otherworld men trying to get in my panties. But maybe I didn’t need the Wisdom, because I am the only one who ever seems to have realized that the Well has one guard. That’s all it takes, being able to count to one. Mimir still has bodily functions, so I waited until he left and got me my drink. I didn’t pay a damned thing. Didn’t get any smarter either. This was before it didn’t work with Woden, or else I just wouldn’t have bothered.”
She gave a smug shrug. “I’ll go with you. You need the Sea Bitch, it is obvious. You can thank me later. Sun Shimmer, go to the
River Queen.
Let them know where we are, just in case there is some kind of trouble. Enbarr, were you really going to let her go into Jotunheim alone, considering you’re hiding?”
“She could have flown to Mimir. I would have been nearby.”
“You realize how lucky you are that I lost that bet, right?” Hedwig dove from Sun Shimmer’s head, tail flashing in the sunlight.
****
Siegfried awoke to find the strangest thing. Freya was not in his bed, but a shirtless Balder was. Fortunately, the bard was only sitting on the corner. Disturbing.
“I was assisting to clean some fish,” Balder said. “Didn’t want to spoil my tunic. That’s when I saw Freya jump into the sea. I came to check on you and found you unconscious.”
Had he frightened Freya away? He might have pushed her too much. She hadn’t said anything when he’d been done with her. Perhaps she realized she didn’t want this or did not want a man who would be half-stag most of the time.