Once Upon a Forbidden Desire, page 51
The Jarl straightened, his interest obviously piqued. Astrid didn’t miss the way his eyes roved over her thighs and breasts before finally drifting upward to meet her own gaze. “So, this is about bed vows.”
“And blood ones,” the troll continued. “Seventeen years ago, I promised you a kingdom beyond all measure of men. Livestock that would never wither or wane. Rivers that would run full of fish. In return, you were to provide me with little but your loyalty.”
“Nay. Six bushels of gold and a child to sacrifice to the sea.” The Jarl’s brow furrowed, and his lips twisted with the pain of a man brought low by his own expectations. “But every bushel was taxed and my wife was barren.”
A cold smirk curled one corner of the Troll King’s lip. “Aye, she was.”
The older man’s eyes widened and, in that moment, Astrid could see the realization ripple across his worn features. It was as though he had finally recognized the fool’s bargain he’d taken on when the thrill of power had hung over him like ripe fruit. For seventeen years, he pledged toil and tilled earth to the Troll King.
For seventeen years, all of Jelling suffered under a debt that could never be paid.
She wondered if her father had consulted a wise woman or the Norns themselves to ensure no child would ever spring from the union between the Jarl and his wife. One could expect nothing less from a troll. Astrid could almost pity the mortal man seething in front of them.
Her father waved his massive hand. “It does not matter now. The time to collect has come and if I do not have my gold nor my gelding by the moon’s lowest point, I will destroy your throne and, in its place, seat one who is worthy to rule both the sea and my fair daughter.”
Astrid bristled at the proclamation. She would be ruled by no male, mortal or not.
The Jarl’s skin paled as he imagined his people swallowed by the sea. No doubt they would be preyed upon by the creatures there. Some devotees of Ran may be saved but most would find themselves prey to the nixies, sharks, and strange slippery things that lingered in the waves.
He licked his lips. “What of this challenge, then? Can we not be spared if my champion can best you in a battle of wits?”
The troll’s eyes narrowed. “How easily one’s fool can become champion in a time of need.” He ran his tongue over his teeth. “Very well. If you wish him to provide payment in your stead, so be it.”
Astrid could feel his words as much as she heard them.
“I will take my leave,” she began, willing her voice to remain calm in the face of danger. “A woman must prepare herself for her wedding bed.”
The muscles in her back tightened when the Jarl’s eyes travelled over her again and she was glad they weren’t alone when his hand twitched at his side.
Her father spoke before her groom-to-be. “Treasure your last moments of girlhood. You will either see a man’s seed or his death.”
Astrid swallowed and nodded, keeping her eyes low and her hands gracefully crossed across her stomach. She had to appear, for all intents and purposes, like the dutiful daughter who had not betrayed her father for mortal flesh and piercing blue eyes.
She took measured steps as she followed the scents of the ocean toward one of the many newly created bathing pools brought to life by the Troll King’s powers.
She was so caught up in the lure of a watery embrace, salt, and sand-warped softness that she didn’t sense an intruder until it was too late.
“Show yourself before my blade displays your innards.”
Jørn chuckled. “Is that any way to greet your thief and lover?”
Astrid’s eyes widened when his presence cut through the dark, and she rushed towards him.
“How did you know where to find me?” Astrid warily asked.
“The wind carried your name as one of its secrets,” Jørn said, motioning toward the sky.
Astrid slapped his chest, though she could not deny how wonderful it felt to have his skin against her palms again.
“It appears you found allies among Odin’s kin.”
Astrid smiled. “I am a woman of many connections.”
“Connections few mortals would possess.”
He traced a few fingers up her throat and around her jaw to pull her mouth closer to his. Astrid shuddered.
“You are not happy to see me?”
Astrid scoffed. “You know I am. A million times over.”
Jørn’s voice grew huskier as he drew nearer and the spider silk bathing dress she wore did little to cover her rapidly hardening nipples. “Then why not show me?”
Jørn moaned as he pulled her into him, allowing his full girth to press against her stomach.
“These waters are sacred!” Astrid hissed, though she wished they weren’t as he boldly lifted the back of her dress. “Were a man’s seed spilled here, a nixie would know in a heartbeat.”
His dark chuckle was not comforting and before Astrid could respond, she was turned and bent over a smooth rock with one foot rested against a slightly higher one for purchase.
“What are you doing?” Astrid gasped.
And another gasp; this time a deep, almost-groan was torn from her when his tongue slid over her womanhood in one stroke. And then another. And then adept fingers parted her folds to allow his lips to suck on the rapidly hardening bud there.
“By the gods, I missed you.”
That was obvious.
He swirled his tongue around her and teased her entrance with his fingers while Astrid did everything possible to make it sound as though she were doing nothing more than cleansing herself of mortal taint.
Her orgasm rose right as the first star began to twinkle out of existence, when her father’s debt would be called. Astrid quickly turned, uncaring of how wanton the action was as she rubbed her ache against his manhood in completion and bit her tortured sob into his neck.
He was hot and throbbing against her but maintained control, pulling them out of the water and up a small path into a small alcove where they could not be seen.
“You told me you would help me destroy your father,” Jørn said with a final grunt, spilling his seed into a patch of high grass by the rock.
“I will, but you need to pay attention. The Troll King is observant and will be searching for signs of treachery.”
A twig snapped above them and they stopped to wait for whoever it was on patrol to pass.
“Your first task will be to find the fish that carries my father’s heart. It will be hidden in a simple fish like a herring or trout, but he will present you with much more exotic offerings.”
“With hopes that I will choose what is unfamiliar.”
Astrid nodded. “Did you have stories of gods, dwarves, and trolls during your youth?”
“Trolls never stray far from home.”
She smiled, happy in the knowledge that she had chosen a learned lover, indeed.
“He is of the North Sea and feasted on herring as much as any man.”
Her brief moment of pride was short-lived, and her hands curled around his shoulders. The moon had already inched past its highest arc and the troll would be calling for them soon.
“Your second challenge will be to name the Jarl’s bride. My father will send 50 nixies, all as beautiful and similar to myself. If you can choose me out of that lot, the Jarl’s life and village will be saved. But if you cannot …”
“Then we all die.”
Astrid wrapped her hand around his and led him to a small gazing pool. “Fortunately, you have already seen me.” Her lips quirked into a sly smile. “And known me.”
“And then?”
“Should you be able to recognize me out of the women who share my visage, the challenge will be won.”
“How will I know it is you, then?” Jørn asked, his voice low.
Astrid smiled and pushed her lithe body against him. “Have we not shared pleasures? Has my silken hair not run over your very flesh? Have my fingers not clutched your beaded beard in rapture? Does the scent of me not still linger on your tongue? You will know me when you see me, Jørn of Saevil, and I will give you many daughters and sons.”
A flush of clouds temporarily blocked the moon’s light, right as Astrid’s chaperone rounded the corner below in search of her. She quickly detangled herself from her lover’s arms and scurried down the small path leading away from the alcove to greet her.
“You smell of men,” the nixie hissed.
“As do you. Mind your affairs and prepare me for the troll’s test.”
A large table was dragged to the center of the village, and a flood of platters quickly filled it. Beautiful snapper koi as large as Jørn, large roasted eels, a heaping plate of shining fresh herring, and at the very end a young woman slowly turned a large sunfish on a spit.
Astrid looked on, trying her best to hide her smile while Jørn surveyed the table in front of him.
He played the role of confused fool well. Sometimes hovering his hand over the koi before snatching it back in mock confusion. To the average onlooker, only the most exotic and beautiful fish would be worthy of her father’s heart, but her lover knew better and carefully hoisted the platter of herring into the air.
One nixie collected his prize and held it until the final moments of the ritual.
The Troll’s teeth flashed when he growled, and Astrid could sense his annoyance. Things weren’t going according to plan so far. He waved his hand, and a bevy of women began their approach, each one more beautiful than the last. Black-haired beauties with eyes like emeralds. Blond temptresses with eyes the color of sapphire and indigo. And finally, a voluptuous woman with fiery red hair that reached her ample bottom while barely covering her curves.
“Come daughters of the brine!” the Troll Emperor shouted above tittering and frightened shouts. “In a few hours’ time, you will partake in all of the flesh you desire. But first, our champion must find the Jarl’s bride.”
The women all lined up before him, Astrid included.
Jørn walked before them slowly, and she closed her eyes to quell her hammering heart. She could hear her own breath, could feel the way the maidens of the ocean swayed and rocked like their home. Her limbs tingled and her hair stood on end.
The lives of the villagers and her lover hung on this moment.
Jørn passed her once, then twice, and each time she caught his gaze and willed him to see past whatever glamours the nixies possessed to recognize her before finally brushing his thigh with the tip of her fingers.
He stopped then and turned to face her and his hands ghosted along her flanks before her father’s voice cracked over the crowd’s hushed murmurs.
“Time grows short, human. Make your choice.”
Astrid’s eyes met her lover’s and she whispered. “Do you know me, little clever fish?”
Jørn smiled, and she ached to press her body to his and allow him to claim her in front of everyone present.
He turned to face the Troll King and Jarl, who both looked on with impatience.
Jørn’s hand clasped gently around her wrist to give it a soft squeeze before he hoisted her hand into the air. “Though there are many fair maidens here, none are as worthy to be called the daughter of the sea king as she.”
The nixies gasped, and Astrid lowered her gaze.
This was the moment of truth. Her father had been bested for the first time in hundreds, if not thousands, of years. The ground shook as he thundered toward them and his breath, a combination of wood rot and murk, washed over her.
“What kind of trickery is this?” the Troll bellowed.
Jørn stepped forward, partially blocking her from her father’s view. “Has the contest been won?”
A sound like tumbling gravel emanated from the troll’s jaw. He could decide to go against his own tradition or accept defeat. Either decision would become the stuff of legend among men and elves.
Cold crept up her spine and a frightened hush descended over the village square until only the sound of crashing waves and squalling gulls carried over the gathering.
The Jarl broke the silence first, his voice like a sharp whip of wind. “Quickly! Has my champion bested you or not?”
The Troll growled and Astrid dared to look into black eyes as deep as any cavern.
“No man or god has ever taken what is mine, unless it is my will that it be taken.”
Astrid licked her lips but continued to meet his gaze despite her churning gut. “You wished me to find a husband in Jelling. It appears your will has been fulfilled.”
Jørn’s body turned rigid against her as the Troll King leaned down to bring his massive head close to his. “I will scour Yggdrasil to find out which god aided you, boy. And when I do—”
“Perhaps your scouting will need to wait for another day,” Jørn replied, and he motioned his head toward the horizon. “The moon’s journey has just about ended. We all know how trolls fare in the morning sun.”
Astrid sucked in a sharp breath as, sure enough, the first hints of pink dawn were creeping over the waters beyond Jelling’s shore. The sea that once rushed up mud-soaked avenues began its slow regression, leaving trails of seaweed and pearlescent shells behind it.
The Troll King huffed and brought himself to his full height. His subjects did not need an order, not when the moon ruled over them all and had already called them back to the depths. Astrid was sure that, were time on her father’s side, he would have found some way to renege on the challenge. With every second that passed, though, he was at risk of turning to stone.
Their eyes met, though she knew it was not for the last time. The troll turned and lumbered toward the rocky shore before sinking beneath the waves with his retinue.
“I may not be able to provide you with the fineries of your palace,” Jørn said softly from beside her.
Astrid turned and glared at him. “After all of this, is that what you think of me? As some spoiled sprite incapable of living off the land?”
Jørn smiled. “I only spoke out of honesty. I wish us to avoid strife for the rest of our days.”
“That may be quite the challenge.” The Jarl’s voice came from behind them. They found themselves surrounded by the villagers and remaining men and elves who could not join her father in his realm.
Jørn’s eyes narrowed, “If you think I intend to hand her to you, you’re mistaken.”
The Jarl raised his hands in surrender before stroking one roughly over his haggard face. “I would be a fool to try.”
Astrid frowned, “My father promised me to you.”
“I am old.” His eyes slid to Jørn, who stiffened beside her. “And easily bested by a younger mind.” He sighed, “Besides, the Troll King will not forget this defeat and I fear he will return one day.”
Pale, watery eyes scanned the horizon in a daze before he rapidly blinked as though forcing back tears. He motioned for Jørn to stand in front of him and clasped the younger man’s forearms with his hands.
“As I have no heir and you have proven yourself capable of both cunning and bravery in the face of insurmountable odds, I will bestow Jelling on you. On both of you.”
Gasps rose among the villagers and Astrid didn’t miss the fear that entered his kinsmen’s eyes. They were strangers and she the daughter of a troll at that. It would take time to garner their trust.
“If the Troll King does return,” she began, raising her voice above the concerned murmurs to convey strength. “We will stand before him to protect all of you!”
It was a shallow promise for a people battered by the sea and hewn from stone. She was uncertain how much time they would have before her father’s schemes began anew.
The Jarl nodded and squeezed Jørn’s shoulder. “You must join us in the longhouse. There is much to discuss.”
The crowds began to disperse, and wary villagers and kinsmen slowly made their way back to their homes. Astrid closed her eyes as Jørn embraced her. She bathed in the feeling of the sun heating her skin and the wind tickling the hair around her face. She may have lived much of her life alone, but she wasn’t alone any longer.
“Do you think you’re up for it?” she asked softly.
“Hmm?” Jørn’s lips kissed the shell of her ear before drifting down to touch her cheek and neck.
“Ruling this village and the daughter of a troll?” Astrid replied with a gentle laugh.
Jørn turned her to face him and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her fully against him. His eyes danced and his boyish smile set her entire core ablaze at the possibility of what the days ahead could hold for them.
His voice was low and decidedly wicked.
“Challenge accepted.”
DANI MORRISON WRITES STEAMY, ADVENTURE-PACKED, dark fantasy and sci-fantasy romance. Looking for banter, cheeky heroines, sexy heroes, and breathtaking romps through multiple worlds? Visit the rest of her catalog at https://danimorrison.home.blog.
IDYLLWILD
(Cernunnos, Lord of the Wild Things)
MARIA VALE
SMOLDERING
Idara is a Demonkeeper. Inside her are bound Lust, Obsession, Fear, and other uncontrollable demons that might distract the staid and hardworking citizens of Summerhouses. Then one demon is bound to her that is not like the others. One that is very wild and very, very angry.
“Idyllwild” contains a threat of rape, drowning of would-be rapist, and a memory of animal blood from sacrifice.
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