Free Delivering Kadlin by Gabrielle Holly Page A

in the valleys between his muscles, and she traced each line with her gaze. The trail of hair extending down from his flat navel shone the colors of bronze and copper in the flickering light. It fanned out and was thickest between his sculpted thighs. His erection rose from the curls, and Kadlin’s juices flowed when she remembered how it filled her so completely.
    When he made no move to touch her, she reached out to him and stroked his face as if committing each nuance to memory. She caressed his jaw line, then his neck, the rise of his thick shoulders and down his hard arms. She moved her hands to his chest, and when she brushed over his nipples, he closed his eyes. His belly was tight and divided into symmetrical rows of muscle. She traced each furrow before finally taking his hardness in her hands.
    He groaned then bent to kiss her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he lay back on the bed, pulling her down on top of him. His hands roamed over her back while his tongue probed her mouth. She drew up her legs until she straddled him and moved her hips so that she could feel the underside of his shaft sliding over her slick, hardened bud. He kneaded her round backside then rolled over, pinning her beneath him. While he teased her wet opening with his erection, the Viking lifted his upper body and stared down at her. Kadlin slid her hands down his back and grasped his hard buttocks.
    “Love me, Bjorn,” she whispered.
    He pulled back his hips and positioned the thick head over her opening. “I do love you, Kadlin,” he said and then pushed forward.
    He filled her slowly, stretching her inner walls as he advanced. When his pelvis was pressed fully against hers, he rocked side to side, massaging her sensitive pearl between them.
    Kadlin rolled her head against the furs. “Ah. More. Please, more,” she begged.
    He drew back his hips, and she yanked him into her again. Each stroke was ecstasy. Hooking his arms behind her knees, he spread her legs wide, and the tempo of his thrusts increased. Heat rushed into her sex, and she felt herself racing towards completion.
    He lowered his head and sucked hard at one nipple, and that was her undoing. She cried out at the exquisite balance of pleasure and pain, and her hot sheath clamped down around him. Releasing her nipple, he crushed his mouth on hers and growled against her bruised lips as his seed spurted into her.
    He lay atop her while his breathing slowed then he rolled onto his back, taking her with him. She nestled against him with her cheek on his chest and drifted off to the sound of his beating heart.
    * * * *
    When Kadlin woke, most of the lamps had burned out and their bedchamber was nearly dark. She stroked the Viking’s chest, and he flexed his arm, pulling her close.
    “Was that coronet the only thing you had from your family?” he asked.
    “Yes.”
    “How long did you carry it with you?”
    “For a very long time. After my father died, I kept it with me always, hidden from everyone.”
    “I am sorry then that you had to give it away.”
    Kadlin propped herself up on her elbow. “I didn’t give it away. I traded it for our freedom.”
    Bjorn brushed his knuckles along the line of her jaw. “Still, I am sorry. I have no recollection of my family—nothing before Grima found me under the tree. At least, you had something to remember your past by, and now—because of me—that’s gone.”
    Kadlin pulled herself up his body and kissed him tenderly. “Oh, Bjorn, don’t you understand? I, too, was reborn under that willow. My life before you was only loss and loneliness. You have delivered me.”

Epilogue
     
    The first weak light of dawn was seeping over the frost-dusted fields, and Kadlin stood in the doorway looking out over the sleepy farm. The animals would wake soon, and they’d have to be tended to, but this time was hers alone.
    She brushed the hair back from her face then followed the braid down to the tiny amber bead. Despite the chill