IVAR
I knew I should have killed that bastard when I had the chance.
Gasping and frozen to the bone, the newlyweds crawled up onto the bank of the river.
"A-a-are you alright?" Ivar managed to ask between the clattering of his teeth.
Tanaruz nodded, hands wrapped around herself.
"We n-need to make it inside—get warm."
Tanaruz nodded and made her way to the house. Despite everything that had just happened, Ivar could not help noticing the way her white wedding dress, now soaked through with water, clung to every inch of her body, the material practically transparent, giving him far too clear image of her figure.
Get it together man you JUST told her you didn't expect anything.
Yeah, who's genius idea was that?
Gods if the men in of the town heard him, Ivar Lothbrook the fierce warrior, internally arguing with himself, putting his new wife's comfort above his own desperate desires and needs… and gods when she looks like she does now…perhaps I should dunk myself in the cold river again if I want any hope of keeping that promise.
The pair made it inside of the small shack that was blissfully warm from the fire that had been warming the small space since someone from the wedding party came by earlier to light it for the newlywed couple.
This was an old Viking tradition, meant to cut time wasted doing menial tasks on the couples wedding night, so they could get to - other things.
Stop drifting to that subject.
Once he stopped admiring her figure, Ivar realized he had to get to work on getting them out of their freezing cold clothes. Tanaruz was clearly not used to the dangers of cold climates so he would have to take the reins on this one.
TANARUZ
Ivar shuffled over to the shelf that held extra blankets and handed Tanaruz one.
"You have to take off your wet clothes to get warm again, but you can cover yourself with this. I'll warm up some water for you to soak in"
He began filling a large pot with water and placing it over the fire, then he dragged out the large bathtub. Hefting out the tub without the use of his legs, freezing and weighed down by the wight of the water in his clothes, took quite sometime and his own soaked clothes left streaks all over the wood floor, but again Tanaruz had to admire the endurance he showed. He mixed the hot water with the buckets that were room temperature making for a warm bath mixture.
Ivar did all of these tasks with his head down and eyes diligently averted and during that time Tanaruz removed her wedding dress, now heavy with water. She considered leaving her small clothes on but decided that when he said all clothes must be removed to get warm, he meant all of her clothes. She left all of her wedding garments in a soggy pile on the floor and quickly wrapped herself up in the blanket her husband had provided.
…what now?
Ivar turned around to face her from her spot on the bed. His sea blue eyes catching the flames of the roaring fire.
"You should get in first. I'll go in after you have warmed up." he said, never taking his eyes from hers.
Tanaruz considered this proposal, her heart swelled at the thoughtfulness of Ivar and how he could still be so selfless despite the fact that his brother had tried to kill him just moments ago.
So this is real then. Now is the time he could have shown his true colors because up until now he could have been pretending to be someone else to trick me into marrying him. But that isn't who he is. He is someone that cares about my safety and health. He is someone that would not show a moments weakness even on a night like this, to make me feel safer. He is someone that is clearly struggling with the awkwardness of this moment and is selfless enough to let me bath separately…even though I get the feeling he wants to do otherwise.
"We can bathe together." she said before Tanaruz had time to think about what she was saying.
Ivar looked stunned for a moment,
"Are…are you sure?"
Tanaruz nodded.
IVAR
Gods, perhaps I died in that river and this is some perfect afterworld I'm in.
The pair kept their eyes locked on one another as he started to pull at the ties on his shirt and he began to undress. When he came to his pants he hesitated.
This would be the first time Tanaruz would be seeing them naked of the pants he always wore to hide them.
Just do it. She has to see them eventually and for gods' sake, she's completely naked for you right now and just agreed to bathe with you.
Fighting through the nausea that was threatening to make Ivar run out the door, he unlaced the front of his pants and lifted his legs out of them and his small clothes as well.
He watched his bride's face the entire time and for the most part she kept her eyes on his face, but finally her amber orbs drifted to his legs. The delicate features of her face remained still as she surveyed her new husband. Her face gave no clues as to what she was thinking and she said nothing the whole time. It must have only been a minute or so but to Ivar it felt like a century.
Finally the silence was too much to bear and he mustered every bit of strength he and and asked,
"Should I get in first?"
Tanaruz's eyes returned to his.
"Yes."
TANARUZ
So that is what they look like.
She had never seen Ivar's legs before and she knew it must have taken a lot of bravery and trust for him to have shown her his vulnerabilities.
But if she were being completely honest they were not as horrifying as everyone made them out to be.
They were simply a pair of legs that had no muscle to them. The bones showing prominently under the pale skin of his legs that had never been exposed to the sun.
The women that morning had made it seem as though his legs were a nightmare to behold, twisted at all the wring angles or all of the flesh rotting from the lack of use.
They also presented theories about other things below his belt…but they were wrong about that too.
"Should I get in first?"
Oh right…bathing.
"Yes."
She could not find a source for her sudden brazenness, she was all instinct tonight. She was determined to give into her gut feelings and not let the outside world, logic or fear get in the way.
Ivar moved sideways until he reached the tub. Using his arms he lifted himself into the warm water, the muscles of his upper body rippling as he did so and Tanaruz felt the same rush of warmth to her pelvis that she felt the first night the two had spent in the cabin.
Breathless, Tanaruz rose from the edge of the bed still wrapped in the blanket. She made it to the lip of the tub and stood for a moment before slowly uncrossing her arms from her chest and letting the blanket fall to the ground.
Ivar's eyes took in the sight of her naked body and under his gaze it was as if all of her blood rose to the surface of her skin and warmed her from the inside out.
Unable to take the anxious and heart wrenching feelings any longer, she made moves to lift her leg over the edge of the tub that was opposite the side that Ivar was sitting on when he suddenly uttered in a deep, guttural voice she had only ever heard him use once before,
"No. Not that side."
She looked at him, his usually bright eyes were now dark, just as they had been the night she sat in his lap and they kissed for the first time. She understood what he wanted her to do— sit with her back to his chest.
Working on pure instinct, she slowly lifted one leg after the other into the tub until she was standing in the bathwater facing him. Tanaruz saw Ivar's chest start to rise and with every quick breath he was taking and she took that as a good sign as she turned and started to lower herself into a sitting position between his legs. She settled into is chest as his arms came around her to rest on either side of the tub.
IVAR
Yes. I definitely died and went to heaven.
The Viking prince's heart nearly gave out when his new bride had slowly uncrossed her arms and bared her body to him. Up until then he had only had glimpses and blind outlines from his first night with her. But now she was there. All of her.
And she was all his.
Her perfect breasts tipped with dark brown nipples that ended right above her tapered waist that fit his hands perfectly then flared out to her hips, that were tilted slightly. And all of it colored in the dark honey color of her skin that he loved from the very first moment he saw her.
She moved to sit opposite him in the tub and the idea was so physically painful he blurted out, in a voice deep with lust
"No. Not that side."
He could not just look at her naked and not be able to touch her after. That would be pure torture for him, like placing a feast before a starving man and not letting him eat a morsel.
Ivar nearly moaned when she entered the tub and turned around, giving him a prime view of her round bottom, two perfect spheres he had to resist grabbing.
Tanaruz settled in-between his legs and the small of her back grazed his bradding member for a moment andIvar had to inhale deeply to stay calm.
Gods I want to take her in my arms so much. But that might be taking things too fast/
So Ivar settled for the next best thing and rested his hands on either side of her on the edge of the tub.
The heat from the bath and the heat from each others bodies was making Ivar lightheaded, he could feel the rapid breaths she was taking and they matched his own. His eyes fixated on the delicate curve of her bare shoulder. It was directly in his sight and before he could think too much Ivar moved forward and brushed his lips against her shoulder.
It was the barest touch but he heard the little gasp that escaped his bride's mouth and that pushed Ivar over the edge.
His hands left the tub, his right moving to clasp her jawline and turn her head to bring his lips crashing onto hers and his left grabbing her waist below the water.
TANARUZ
The second Ivar's hands touched her body, every nerve in her skin could feel the heat from his hands and all of the warm water around her body and each droplet of water that slid down the surface of her skin and Ivar's hard member against the small of her back.
She turned around to face so she was kneeling in the tub over Ivar's legs and their kisses grew deeper, their gasps and moans louder and their touches grew more desperate. Just like the night they had run from King Harald they were so wrapped up in each other trying to touch every part of each others bodies, but now with the warm water around them and without any clothes to impede any discoveries.
Ivar's hot mouth had moved to the sweet spot on her neck where it met her shoulder and his hands were grasping and pulling at all of the curves of her waist and her hips and thighs and that alone was enough to make her heart race but it was when his hands ventured to cup her breasts and she felt his rough fingertips slide over her already pert nipples that she threw back her head, arching her chest even further into his greedy hands and moaned.
He then let out a growl that at any other time Tanaruz would have worried about but the heat burning between her own hips matched his passion and he finally broke away from her neck and jerked her back by her biceps and looked at her with his dark, hazy lust-filled eyes and said in a strained, deep voice,
"Get on the bed. Now."
Tanaruz let out a few more pants until she quickly rose from the tub, Ivar's eyes watching her the whole time as she made her way backwards to the bed.
Tanaruz had only just climbed into bed and had turned around when Ivar was suddenly at the foot of the bed crawling his way up.
His hand closed around one of her ankles and he parted her legs.
Kisses were against the inside of her left ankle, the sensitive back of her knee, then the soft inner part of her leg, as Ivar slowly made his way onto the bed and onto her.
The kiss to her inner thigh sent a rush of wetness to her core and her breathing grew even more heavy, Ivar locked eyes with her and planted the softest of kisses to the juncture between her thighs.
"Ahh!" cried Tanaruz and before she could utter another sound he was suddenly face to face, his naked body completely on top of her, his arms enclosing her in their radius and muffling her cries with his mouth on hers.
This kiss was searing in its heat and Tanaruz was practically vibrating with nervousness and excitement, she could feel Ivar's hot and hard cock pressing into her thigh.
The heat between her legs that had been mounting all night was unbearable now, she broke away from the kiss and held Ivar's shoulders as the couple looked each other in the eye. Ivar traced her jawline with his fingertips, moving down from one ear, to her chin moving up, pressing against the soft swollen skin of her lips, down the center of her throat, to the cleft between her breasts, paving the way to her bellybutton and finally his large rough hands found the most intimate part of her.
His deft fingers probed the damp folds of her sex until he brushed up against something that made her whole body jerk and she let out a soft yelp. Ivar quickly returned his hands to either side of her body, much to her disappointment.
Supporting all of his weight on his hands he looked her in the eye again and said between pants,
"If you need me to stop, just tell me."
This made her even more nervous. She had been told at a young age that a girl's first time is often very painful but again she gave into the needing feeling between her hips and nodded her head against his neck and shoulder.
The very tip of Ivar's manhood pressed against the damp lips of her opening and Tanaruz let out a little wimper that was drowned out by the growl and groan of Ivar as he pushed down and sheathed himself inside of her her completely.
A strangled cry left her lips and she gripped his shoulders tighter.
"Gods…you're perfect." Ivar panted out before he began to gently rock in and out of her.
IVAR
No ritual, no battle, no victory had ever felt as good as it did to push himself into his bride.
Gods she is so wet and tight and perfect around me.
Her small cries of pain, pained him for a time but they also managed to add to his lust and spurn him on even more. He quickened his pace unable to fight the urge to slam himself into her and soon her cries turned into moans and gasps.
The lush curves of her body soon arched upwards to the rigid angles of his own body and with a few more frantic thrusts he spilled his seed into her.
They remained panting pressed to each other until Ivar realized he might be crushing his new wife and he gently pulled away from her and gathered her limp body into his arms.
A.N.
...Please please please forgive me for the delay! Welcome to all of the new followers and thank you so much to those of you that have supported this story despite my crazy updates!