Chapter 9

"Do you want me to pay half?" I offered, as Skorpa took out a credit card to settle the restaurant bill.

"No, it's on my management's tab." He grinned. "Might as well make the most of it."

We took a taxi back to the motel and by the time we reached the building, we struggled to keep our hands off each other. Skorpa slid his hand under the back of my shirt as we walked down the corridor, and touched my skin. When we reached his door, he pulled me hard against him and kissed my neck, while he fumbled with the key card and swiped it the wrong way.

"Give it to me." I snatched the card from him and turned towards the door.

He wrapped his arms around me from behind and bit my ear. "I'll give it to you, all right. Get the fucking door open."

Laughing, I swiped the card and the door clicked open. We stumbled, laughing, into the room, and Skorpa switched on the light, just as Gisela and Mildrith passed and turned to look at me with wide eyes and shocked faces. Skorpa hadn't seen them as he grabbed a handful of my hair and pulled my head back so he could kiss me on the mouth. I slammed the door closed and turned to face him. He thrust his tongue into my mouth, rough and eager, crushing my lips against my teeth. I clutched at him, feeling he was already hard as he pressed his body against mine. His hands seemed to be everywhere all at once—stroking and squeezing, tugging at buttons, zips, and clasps. Suddenly, I found myself wearing only my thong and my boots, the rest of my clothes scattered around us on the floor.

"Slick." I giggled.

Skorpa let go of me just long enough to toss his jacket onto a chair and peel off his shirt. Then he jerked me against him again, holding me tight as he kissed me hungrily. I toed off my boots and slid my hands between us to unfasten his jeans. As I pushed them down his thighs and wrapped my hand around his erection, he groaned into my mouth. He broke the kiss again and licked his way down my neck to my collarbone. "I want you so fucking much," he panted.

Even though we'd released some of the pressure earlier, we were no less eager. We quickly shed the last couple of items of clothing and tumbled onto the bed. Again, Skorpa's hands and mouth were all over me—stroking, kissing, licking, and biting, until I tingled with arousal and my body trembled all over. I pushed his hands off me and began to give him the same treatment. I explored every inch of him with my hands and mouth, sometimes soft and gentle with little kisses and licks, sometimes rough, sinking my teeth into his neck, or chest, or thighs, until he moaned and begged.

"Come here," he gasped eventually, and pulled me onto his lap.

I rested my hands on his chest, feeling his rapid heartbeat. "Oh, you want me in the driving seat?"

"You seem like the kind of woman who likes to be in charge. As much as I want to pound you into the mattress right now, I'll leave that until your back heals."

I smiled and guided his tip into me, teasing him as I stayed up on my knees and pinned him down to stop him driving himself deeper. He squirmed and cursed, then gripped my thighs and dragged me down hard onto him. We both gasped and I stayed there, gyrating my hips and squeezing him inside me. Gradually, I started to move again, up and down, until our sweat-slick skin slapped together, and the room filled with our moans and cries of pleasure. I always found being on top the easiest way for me to orgasm, and with the excitement having built up between us beforehand, it didn't take me long. I finished, shuddering, but continued to bounce and grind myself on him for another minute until he spilled inside me. Then I slid off him and collapsed on my side, remembering to be careful of my tattoo.

"Fuck me," Skorpa panted, and rubbed a hand over his wet face.

"Didn't we just do that?" I leaned over and kissed his shoulder. "You know, I didn't expect to be enjoying this quite so much as I am."

"I didn't expect to be getting the opportunity to enjoy it at all." He rolled over to face me and draped his arm across me.

I moved closer and kissed the corner of his mouth, then his jaw. His beard tickled my chin. He tilted his head down and brought our lips together again in a slow, sensual kiss that made my racing heart stutter. Reluctantly, I pulled away and got up to go to the bathroom.

I took a few minutes to pee, wash my face, and freshen up. The film covering my tattoo was hanging off, the tape ruined by my sweat. I took it off and put it in the bin, then borrowed Skorpa's toothbrush to clean my teeth.

I didn't know where things would go from here. I doubted it would be more than a tour fling. I reminded myself that he lived in Denmark, and we still knew hardly anything about each other. I remembered that he had mentioned his wife previously and for all I knew, he could still be married, although I didn't think it likely. He had said he didn't cheat. I was reluctant to ask, though. I felt as if I'd said something wrong earlier, but I wasn't sure what.

I returned to the bed and Skorpa took his turn in the bathroom. When he returned, he applied some Savlon to my tattoo with gentle fingers, then covered it with a dressing before he turned the light off. We lay together, idly touching each other but not really talking, as the aftermath of sex lulled us towards sleep.

When I woke, it was different from before in that I was facing him, and I knew exactly where I was. Daylight filled the room, and Skorpa continued to sleep peacefully beside me. I slipped away from him to use the bathroom and was contemplating taking a shower, when someone knocked on the door.

"Hey, Skorpa!" Ragnar shouted from outside. "It's after ten. We're rehearsing this morning, remember!"

"Shit," Skorpa muttered, clearly disturbed by the knocking and shouting. I went back into the bedroom, realising there probably wasn't time for a shower after all. "I'm up!" Skorpa shouted back to Ragnar. "Give me five minutes!"

I began to put my clothes on while Skorpa went to the bathroom. He returned with a small tub of Vaseline. "Put this on the tat twice a day and after showers."

"Thank you. I'd better get out of your way. We're rehearsing too, later."

Skorpa caught my hand and halted me. "Are we gonna do this again?"

I pursed up my lips like I wasn't sure. "I'll have to think about it."

He looked surprisingly disappointed as he let go of my hand, and I reached for him again with a smile. "I hope so," I said.

He grinned. "Still teasing me, huh? Tonight?"

I nodded. "See you later." Then I let myself out of the room.

Ragnar waited in the corridor a few feet away, leaning against the wall with his arms folded. He stared at me and grinned.

"Don't you say anything," I muttered as I walked past him.

He chuckled. "Wouldn't dream of it."

When I reached the motel room I was sharing with Gisela, I had to knock as I didn't have a key with me. She let me in quickly and I closed the door after me.

"You slept with him?" she asked at once.

"Well, it wasn't the first time." I smirked at her shocked face. "I was referring to when I passed out drunk and he took care of me."

"So, are you 'a thing' now?"

"I'm not sure. It's probably just a tour thing, but I don't know. We're getting together after the show tonight. I need a shower." I began to strip off my clothes again.

"Let me see your tattoo." Gisela peered at the back of my shoulder. "Wow, it looks so real! I can't say I'd want a spider crawling across my back, but I must admit, he's very talented."

"I know, it's awesome. We're rehearsing at the club today, right? The Vikings are on their way there now."

"Yes, for once we might get Brida joining us for a while other than at the club. Mildrith and I were talking about going for brunch."

"Count me in." I went to shower.

The others came to the room while I was drying my hair. "Apparently, you have something to tell us," was the first thing Brida said to me. "I can't believe you slept with Skorpa! Were you drunk again?"

"No, I was not drunk. I was seduced by his tattoo gun."

Brida smiled. "That's kind of hot, or it would be if it wasn't Skorpa."

"I still think you have dreadful taste in men," Mildrith said. "But if he makes you happy, who are we to judge?"

"It's just a bit of fun," I said casually.

"It seems intense to me, if he's tattooing you." Brida peered at the design. "He's good at it, though. Are you ready? I'm starving."

The five of us went to a diner together, then hung around in one of the motel rooms until the Vikings returned from the venue. Uhtred came to our door to let us know when they were back and I stepped outside to speak to him.

"So, you and Skorpa." He raised his eyebrows.

"Yes." I grinned. "I wasn't even drunk this time."

He laughed. "I told you he was into you."

I snorted as an image of exactly how much Skorpa had been into me flashed into my head.

"Shit, I didn't quite mean that the way it sounded." Uhtred actually reddened a little.

"Can I ask you something?" I glanced up and down the corridor, but no one else was around and the other girls were still in the room.

"Sure."

"Do you know if Skorpa is still married?"

"No, he's divorced. Why?"

"I just wondered. I haven't seen anything about his wife on the Net other than that they got married in 2002, and he told me once that he doesn't cheat so I doubted they were still together, but—"

"No, he's definitely single. You could just ask him, you know."

"Yeah, I said something yesterday that I think got to him in some way. I didn't want to put my foot in it if there was a sore point somewhere."

"Okay. I don't know anymore, though. Ragnar has known him a lot longer than the rest of us. I think they knew each other when Skorpa was still married, but they don't talk about it. Skorpa's pretty secretive about his personal life."

I shrugged. "I'm not snooping. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't about to be painted as a scarlet woman."

Uhtred grinned. "As far as I know he's been single for a long time. He didn't seem to even hook up with anyone when we were touring in Denmark, but that was when I met Iseult so I doubt I'd have noticed what anyone else was doing."

I smiled. "How is she?"

"Better today. She's discovered ginger tea which is helping with the sickness."

"That's good." The door burst open then, and the other girls came out. "You ready?" I asked.

"Yes, let's do it." Brida charged off down the corridor, tapping her drumsticks on the wall as she went.