Chapter 17

Freya

   It was one thing to have actually said yes, but it was another thing entirely when I followed Caden. He took my hand in his as we walked towards his cabin, the cold air sending goosebumps down my spine. 

When he opened the door, the air inside was still, and smelling of cedar and old parchment. Caden didn't reach for a torch. Instead, he struck a single lamp. The flame bloomed, casting long, flickering shadows that painted the timber walls in honey and gold. 

It was a small space, intimate and pressing, and suddenly the lack of noise made my heart hammer against my ribs.

He didn't rush, he didn't even move toward the bed. He just stood there, watching me, until the distance between us felt like a physical weight. Then, he stepped in.

His hands were large, calloused from work, but they were impossibly gentle as he cupped my face. He tilted my head back, his thumbs tracing the line of my jaw, and then he kissed me. It wasn't the desperate, fumbling kiss of the dance floor. This one was slow and almost like a promise. It felt like he had all the time in the world to learn the shape of my mouth and if that wasn't the hottest thing ever, then I had no idea what else would suffice. 

When my hands found his chest, I expected to feel the same steady, immovable calm he always projected. Instead, I felt his heart, thudding fast and hard against his ribs, a frantic rhythm that mirrored my own.

“You’re shaking,” he murmured against my lips, his breath hot and sweet.

“I’m not,” I lied, though my fingers were trembling as I bunched the fabric of his shirt.

“It’s okay if you are,” he said, his voice dropping into a low, gravelly register that made a shiver race down my spine. He kissed me again, deeper this time, his tongue tangling with mine until my knees felt weak.

Then, he led me to the edge of the small bed. We sat there for a moment, our knees touching, the only sound the crackle of the lamp. He took my hand, his thumb tracing slow, deliberate circles over my knuckles, grounding me.

“Freya,” he said, his eyes searching mine, dark and intense in the low light. “Tell me to stop, and I stop. Right now, or even an hour from now. You’re the one in charge here.”

“I don’t want you to stop,” I whispered and it was actually surprising how my voice was steadier than I felt.

He reached for the heavy toggle of my coat, his movements fluid and careful as he eased the garment off my shoulders, letting it pool on the floor, and for the first time, I felt truly exposed. 

But the way he looked at me, not like I was a prize or a piece of property, but like I was something precious, made the nerves melt into a slow, syrupy heat.

I reached for the buttons of his shirt. My fingers were clumsy at first, but as the fabric gave way, revealing the hard, warm planes of his chest, a surge of hunger replaced the hesitation. I wanted to feel his skin against mine. I needed the friction.

When we finally lay back, the mattress was narrow, forcing us together. Caden was a weight above me, solid and real, but he kept his weight on his elbows, never pinning me down. 

“Freya….” He started, but he never got to finish because I captured his lips in a searing kiss. His eyes widened at first, since he wasn't expecting it, but the minute my tongue darted farther into his mouth and he moaned, I just knew I'd hit the spot. 

He adjusted accordingly, his fingers pushing my hair to the side and massaging my scalp. He tasted of mint and wine, and like the greed he'd struck inside me, I lapped everything up. 

“Do you like this, Freya?” His voice was a low whisper as he trailed his mouth down my throat, sucking at the skin at every chance he got. 

“I do.” A moan slid past my lips, my hips bucking off the bed, and when he pulled back so his eyes could ask the questions his mouth didn't, I pulled him even closer. 

 As Caden's lips moved over my ears and my neck, I couldn’t help the ghost of Thorne that tried to flicker in the back of my mind. 

Thorne had been a man of efficiency. Sex with him had been nothing more than a transaction, a duty performed on his schedule, with his pleasure as the only compass.

 He never asked, he only took while Caden was the complete opposite. He was tuned into me like a predator stalking the wind, but his intent wasn't to kill, it was to please. 

He felt the way I tensed when his hand brushed my hip, and he slowed down, soothing the muscle with his palm before moving again. He listened to the hitch in my breath, the small, broken sounds that escaped my throat when his teeth grazed the sensitive skin of my neck.

“Tell me,” he breathed, his voice a dark command against my skin. “Tell me what you want, Freya. Anything.”

The question hit me like a physical blow. I realized, with a sharp pang of grief, that no one had ever asked me that. I had spent my life doing what was expected, what was demanded, what was necessary for survival.

“I don’t know,” I managed to say, my voice breaking.

“Then show me,” he whispered. “Just move. I’ll follow.”

I took a breath, closing my eyes, and let Eliza’s steady pulse in the back of my mind merge with my own. I reached up, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him down, showing him exactly how much of his weight I wanted. 

Slowly, I guided his hands towards my boobs, and when he pinched my already sensitive nipples through my lacy bra, I hissed in pleasure. 

“Freya….”

“Don't stop.” It was more of a command than anything else and he knew it. His eyes darkened then, and when I hoisted myself up for a couple of seconds, he understood.

In the blink of an eye, he freed my boobs from my bra and when his gaze landed on my perky breasts, he let out a low growl 

“You're so beautiful.” He muttered more to himself than anyone else. “Absolutely gorgeous.” 

Heat raced down my spine as he sucked on my nipple, his finger flicking the other nipple like his life depended on it. 

When I arched deeper into him, he took initiative and used his teeth, scraping the already taut bud like that was his life's mission. 

Caden's movements became bolder and more demanding. Once he was done assaulting my boobs, he didn't stop placing kisses till he got to my core. 

He pushed his nose into my pussy, the lacy fabric a slight restraint, but he didn't let that stop him. In one fluid motion, he pulled it off and dove right into action. 

His tongue found my clit first, licking and sucking like a man starved. Then he pushed his tongue deeper inside me and my vision clouded. 

“Fuck, you taste so good.” His words sent vibrations through my body. “I knew you would, but gods this is a discovery.”

I barely got the chance to respond as he swirled his tongue around, pushing me closer and closer to an orgasm. 

“Caden…” Pleasure churned in my lower belly and it only intensified when he slowly eased two fingers inside me. 

I almost lost it then. With his tongue still working his magic, his fingers started thrusting in and out of me, and hitting just the right spot. 

Moan after moan hit the roof and just when I thought I was going to fall from cloud nine, he pulled out. Completely. 

I mourned the loss of heat from him, but it didn't last long. In a flash, he'd stripped himself of his clothes, his cock springing free. My mouth watered at the thickness of his cock and I just knew I was in for a long ride.

“Hold still.” He murmured, self control and restraint leaking through his voice. “And if you want me to stop, just let me know.” 

I nodded frantically, desperate for his cock inside me. Caden pumped himself once, the tip glistening with precum, before he slowly inched into me. 

He threw his head back as he let out a deep growl, my pussy clamping down on his dick like a fucking vice. We stayed there for a couple of seconds,until he started moving again. 

He made sure to maintain a steady rhythm, his cock slipping out and filling me up over and over again. 

“You feel so good, Freya.” He leaned in to kiss me, whilst swallowing every moan he pulled out from me. “so warm and tight” 

I wrapped my legs around his waist, wanting to be closer to him. The scent of our arousal hit my nose and I just knew I wasn't going to last long. 

“Caden, I..”

“Yes, Freya.” Each thrust sent goosebumps racing down my spine, but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. “That's it, take it. Let it all out.”

That did it for me as I came, my release hot and searing all around me. He followed a couple of seconds later, and I took it all like the good girl I was. 

Later, the silence in the cabin was different. It was heavy, comfortable, and warm.

The lamp was burning low, the oil nearly spent. I lay with my head on Caden’s chest, my skin still tingling from the salt and heat of him. His arm was a protective weight around my shoulders, his fingers idly playing with the ribbons Petra had woven into my hair. 

I could hear his heartbeat, slow, steady, and finally at peace. I looked at my hand resting against his tan skin and realized, I had chosen this.

I hadn’t been traded for a peace treaty, I hadn’t been married off to settle a debt or secure a border. I had walked into this cabin on my own two feet because I wanted the man inside.

The feeling of autonomy was more intoxicating than the golden drink Mira had served and before the wick of the lamp finally flickered out, I let my eyes close, drifting into a sleep that felt, for the first time, like it belonged entirely to me.