Page 26 of Ulf's Destiny
Ulf could have kicked himself. Why had he said that? Now she would think him either very dismissive of his lovers, or impossibly hard to satisfy.
He was neither, but it was true that his trysts with Revna had failed to give him what he had hoped to find in a woman’s arms.
At first, he had thought that his poor performances were responsible for his dissatisfaction. His primed, young body had not allowed him to make the most of the moment, as his release had come too quickly. This, though expected, had lefthim with a sense of guilt. Later, as he’d learned to control his pleasure better, he had wanted to experiment and make up for his initial clumsiness. But Revna had not been open to any of his suggestions. Not once had she asked what would please him. Even worse, she had refused the pleasure he’d wanted to give her.
He had been denied the opportunity to try the things he had fantasized about and thought would happen as a matter of course between two willing lovers. There had been no suckling, no stroking her intimately, no kissing anywhere other than on the mouth. She’d only ever allowed him to take her body, and though she never seemed to reach her own pleasure, she had not agreed to do anything to remedy the situation.
“Don’t you want to be satisfied?” he’d asked, bewildered. Wasn’t that what all women, all people wanted? Surely she knew she deserved the same release as him and could get it if he applied himself to the task properly, as he had every intention of doing?
“But Iamsatisfied.” And the most bewildering thing of all was that she had seemed to mean it. What sort of upbringing had she had that she thought what they were doing was satisfactory? Had she never touched herself and found out that there was more to be had?
“Well, I’m not satisfied,” he’d countered. “I know I can make you erupt in ecstasy, I can explore every inch of your body and make you enjoy my caresses.”
She had looked at him as if he were deranged for even wanting those things and he’d known there and then that she was not the woman for him.
Odd to think that his love life had been less satisfactory than that of a woman who had been a slave. Odd and dispiriting. But he remained convinced that he was not deranged for wanting more out of lovemaking than single-minded thrustingand selfish release. He only had to find a woman who agreed with him. An adventurous woman, who was not afraid of baring herself or kissing unsuspecting men out in the open.
“I think it’s time to go back to shore,” he forced himself to say.
It was either do that or resume their kissing. And if he kissed Ylva again, while they were naked, while her legs were wrapped around him like a vine and he was hard, he would surge inside her. There would be no stopping him. And this time, he knew he would get all the satisfaction he had imagined and more. Here was the wild, honest, mutual interaction he had dreamed of. The only problem was, he could not allow himself to succumb. Not here, not with someone who had been through so much so recently.
“Wait. Before we go, I just…”
Instead of finishing her sentence, Ylva licked his shoulder in a long, luxurious swipe of her tongue.
Ulf threw his head back and let out a growl that sounded animalistic to his ears. What was the woman doing to him? Hadn’t she guessed he was perilously close to impaling her onto his straining hardness? Apparently not. She thought he would not react to the feel of her tongue on his naked skin.
“Fye!” she spat. “Utterly disgusting.”
She made a grimace—and Ulf burst out laughing. Her innocent comment had mercifully broken through the haze of need threatening to overpower him.
“What’s disgusting? The water, I hope?”
She frowned, as if not sure what he was asking. “Yes, the water, what else—oh Lord!” she cried out when she realized how her words could have been construed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to suggest thatyoutasted?—”
“I know,” he soothed, touching the tip of her nose with his. “So… The sea is saltier than you expected, I take it?”
“Yes. Much saltier. I won’t be doing that again.”
“Pity.”
She smiled. The light coming from the sun behind her was bathing her hair in a cloud of gold and joy made her eyes sparkle. No woman had ever been more alluring than her in this moment.
“Please carry me back to our clothes,” she whispered, hugging him even tighter in preparation.
He swallowed. The idea of carrying her out of the water in that position seemed very intimate. Having her in his arms in the sea, with the water flowing between their bodies, was one thing. Outside, she would be plastered against his skin and nothing would stop him from feeling her smooth, cool flesh and the heat between her legs.
Bloody, bloody hell. This, just when he’d thought he had himself under control once more. The woman would be the death of him. Well, she had almost been his death, in a real sense, so he supposed he should not be surprised.
“Are you sure?—”
“Yes.”
The walk back to the beach was as trying as he had imagined. The small, pert, perfect breasts he had glimpsed for a blessed heartbeat were pressed against his chest, the pebbled nipples poking against him in scandalous invitation. Her hands were gripping his shoulders and her secret heat against his raging groin was torture. Still, he walked as slowly as he dared, desperate to prolong the moment.
Eventually, there could be no more delaying. Ulf deposited Ylva back on her feet and after one last, lingering look at her beautiful face, turned his attention to the clothes at his feet. Keeping his gaze averted, he handed the shift and dress to her, then picked up his own garments.
A grunt, coming from behind the cluster of rocks to his left caused him to freeze before he could put one leg in his braies.
