Page 27 of Ulf's Destiny
What was?—
A groan, then a moan. Another grunt.
Ulf and Ylva exchanged a knowing look. While they had been in the water, kissing, a couple had taken refuge in the rocks. The reason why was not hard to guess.
“Yes, take it,” a masculine voice growled, confirming their suspicion.
It was imperative to tell the couple they were not alone anymore. Ulf had no intention of hearing any more crude instructions. He coughed. A yelp of surprise was heard.
“Leave,” the man shouted, before cursing between his teeth. “I’m about to… Ahhh, fuck it, yeeees! Let me fill?—”
Horrified that she should have to hear this, Ulf swept Ylva into his arms and ran back to the blanket, far enough away that they didn’t have to find out what the man wanted to fill. What would she think?
To his relief, by the time he let go of her, she was laughing.
“I think we arrived at the wrong time,” she said, shaking her head. “Or rather at the right time for someone.”
“What were they thinking?” Ulf grumbled, struggling into his braies. Hadn’t the two people seen them in the water, or their clothes by the rocks? “Coming to the beach to—” He did not finish his question, not knowing how to do so without sounding rude.
“You mean you think that couples should never want to experiment with lovemaking outside their home or be swept away by the heat of the moment?”
“No, of course not.”
In fact, he thought the opposite. He had been reflecting only a moment ago that he needed a lover who was not afraid of trying out new things.
Like kissing in the sea, while naked and wrapped around one another.
Ylva—and he, as a consequence—had certainly been swept away by “the heat of the moment,” as she’d called it. In fact, he could still feel the effect of their scandalous embrace rippling through him, and hearing the man shout in pleasure had not helped.
Hands on his hips, heart pounding hard, head thrown back, Ulf stared at the sky, while he waited for Ylva to get dressed behind him. For the second time that afternoon, he needed a distraction, needed to stop talking about what he thought lovers ought to do or not, or he would do something foolish.
An idea came to his mind.
“The beach is very flat and rather long,” he told Ylva when he finally turned around. She had placed a hand on his shoulder to signify she was decent once more. Thank the gods, she was fully dressed, as he didn’t think he would have been able to handle the sight of even her naked shoulder right now.
“Yes, it is. What of it?”
“Would you like to take your first riding lesson? I think you would feel safe in such a place. Even if you fell, you would not hurt yourself on the soft sand.”
Her lovely eyes lit up. “Lesson?”
“Yes. We would see the basics.” He could tell she was tempted. Too tempted to refuse. “I will walk and run next to Ratatoskr while you get the feel of what it’s like to actually have control over a horse. We would not canter or gallop. Only walk at first and then trot if you feel good enough.”
She started running to the horse before he could even blink.
“Yes,” she said, her crystalline laugh trailing behind her. “Let’s do it.”
9
Ylva did her best not to show her nervousness but there was no denying that being atop a horse was daunting and Ulf’s powerful gelding, though not as bad as Fáfnir, was nothing like the elegant Doe.
Nevertheless, she wanted to learn. Ulf had been generous enough to offer to teach her and she didn’t want to miss the opportunity.
“Sit up straight,” he instructed, more serious than she had ever seen him. “Place the ball of your foot on the stirrups and lower your heels. Now take hold of the reins. Like so.”
He took hold of her left hand and showed her how to grip the leather reins with three fingers only, leaving her little finger free. She nodded, rather nonplussed that this was one of the first things he should tell her. That she had to sit a certain way, she had rather expected. But who would have thought that there was a special way of holding the reins? However, he clearly knew what he was doing so she nodded and adjusted the grip of her right hand accordingly.
“Ready?” Ulf asked, taking a step back.
