Free Tro (Elsker Saga Book 3) by S.T. Bende

mind?”
    “One round. Winner has to make dinner.”
    “Fair enough.” I crossed in front of Ull and drew my sword. “Get ready to get cooking.”
    Ull narrowed his eyes. “Pretty confident there.”
    I tossed my hair over my shoulder. “Oh, it’s on.”
    I lunged for Ull’s chest but he blocked my jab. He swung his sword in one hand, driving it at my side. I jumped back. Then I swiped my blade in a diagonal arc, forcing Ull to step to the side. With his footing off-balance, I swung again, nicking the skin on his forearm. Crimson liquid bubbled at the surface, and dripped onto the pale sand. I threw my sword down and ran to his side.
    “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! I hurt you!” I put my fingers on the wound to stop the bleeding. When I pulled them away, the blood was gone. “What the—”
    “Sweetheart. Our skin heals almost instantly. Do you really think I would swing this thing at you if I could hurt you?” He held up his sword with a raised brow.
    “Oh. I didn’t realize…”
    “But now that I have you here…” Ull’s eyes shifted to my favorite shade. He wrapped his arm around mine, pinning me against his chest. Then he lifted his sword to my shoulder with a lazy smile. “Checkmate,” he breathed against my ear.
    “What? No. That is not fair.”
    “It is perfectly fair. You disarmed yourself. You came running to me. If you ask me, this is an all-out surrender.” Ull flicked his sword and it sliced the thin strap of my negligee. My hands flew to my chest just in time to stop the silky fabric from falling. Ull’s chest vibrated against my back as he chuckled. “You want me to do the other one or do you admit defeat?”
    My breath hitched as Ull ran his nose along the side of my neck. “I want a rematch,” I demanded. Only it came out as more of a question.
    “Oh, do you?” Ull raked the bottom of my earlobe with his teeth. “Well I am the winner. And I want something else.”
    He dropped his sword and clotheslined me behind the knees. In one swift move I was cradled in his arms, his mouth crushed against mine. My fingers wrapped around sweat-streaked strands of blond hair, pulling him closer. Ull’s tongue probed the front of my teeth and I parted my lips to let him in. He tasted like pine, and mint, and sweat, and I sighed as his tongue massaged mine. When he pulled back to suck on my neck, my eyes rolled back in my head.
    “You always get what you want, don’t you?”
    “No.” Ull didn’t look up from his ministrations. “But I will spend the rest of my existence making sure that you do.”
    With characteristic determination, Ull held me to his chest and ran for the house. And for the rest of the morning, he stayed very, very true to his word.

 
     
     
Chapter Seven
     
     
    DESPITE MY EXHAUSTION , or maybe because of it, I’d slept like a hibernating bear since we arrived on Asgard Cay. I had no memory of slipping into the dream, but one minute I was wrapped safely in the arms of the God of Winter; the next I was in an ornately-decorated hall somewhere far from my happy place.
     
    The air felt cool against my bare arms, the silent chamber thick with the quiet of a sleepless night. Not even a cricket stirred outside the oversized windows. It was unnatural. Something about the room made me feel like I was in an earlier era, though I had no way of knowing for sure. A breeze blew against my legs and I glanced down with a groan. Apparently I’d decided a lacy, blue nightie made for appropriate travel clothes.
    Fabulous.
    My knees gave out beneath me as a furious roar rang through the space. I dropped to the ground, scraping my thighs on the rough stone floor. Heavy footsteps thundered outside the room, and I scrambled on my knees to dive on the far side of an enormous cupboard. My shoulder struck a basket of blankets someone had placed against the wall, and I threw one over myself to avoid being seen. Then I lifted the blanket just enough to peek out. I kept my face to the ground