Eleanor Ch. 13

"Where could she have gone Ragnar?" Bruni asked quietly, leaning closer to his friend as they moved silently through the grass, scanning the ground for any evidence of escape, fighting, anything.

"There are bodies here Ragnar, two Gauls." Bruni whispered bending slightly to be sure they were dead.

Bruni felt the desperation well in his chest. He needed to find her, ensure she was safe. His mind was in a marathon with itself as he thought over what the Gaul had said in his dying breath.

Eleanor loves me?

He could barely bring himself to believe it. He was overjoyed, he loved her, he wanted her, he wanted her for his wife. To be able to touch, and hold, and kiss her for the rest of his life; to sleep beside her, make love to her, and watch her bring their children into this world. He wanted that, he wanted all of it.

But it was a future he would never be allowed.

Desperation turned to sorrow as a pain grew in his chest, a stinging ache that no rub could dissuade, as he realized that she would never be his.

A snapping to their left had them turning sharply, swords drawn and crouched slightly in the grass so as to gaze through the thinner tops, see the enemy and not be seen. Signaling to Ragnar to move forward, Bruni kept his footfalls light, barely making a sound as they moved towards the edge of the grass, closer, and closer to the targets.

He could see them now, two figures hunched close to the ground, the sway of the golden grass keeping them from his view until he was but a hairs breadth from them. It was then he felt the pain in his chest intensify, as relief washed over him.

Stepping from the grass, Bruni halted as two swords came towards him with deadly intent, barely able to brush past Eleanor's even as the foreign woman's cut a small gash through his arm; but he didn't care, he barely felt it as he collapsed to his knees and pulled Eleanor tight against his chest, burying his stubble covered face against the hollow of her neck and breathing deep as her hands pulled him closer.

"We were coming to get you." He felt her whisper against his cheek as he felt her lips brush against him.

"We need to get out of here Bruni." Ragnar said quietly, managing to startle the small foreign woman who had been oblivious to his approach. "Come, let us go quickly."

Ragnar reached a hand out to the stranger and spoke in French to her. "I am Ragnar, this is Bruni, and you already know Eleanor?"

"Kailara." She accepted his hand and strength to left her to her feet, as they moved back into the grasses and away from the derelict walls, the silence now a stark contrast to the screams of an hour passed.

"We move North, I instructed Nikolai to take our boats further to the next bay, where we can hopefully get away from here safely." Bruni said, keeping his arm around Eleanor's waist as they crept through the grass.

"How long will it take?" Ragnar asked after translating for Kailara. "It is alright, I understand him. We traveled substantially through the Norse lands; your people are more receptive to those of us practicing the eastern ways."

Bruni smiled lightly at her before answering Ragnar. "We should hopefully be back on the boats well before nightfall. But we must really push on once we get away from here, we need to cover a lot of ground."

They walked in silence for quite a time, concentrating on covering the ground that ran from the grass through the woods, and not stumbling. The slight winter chill that still blew past them was a welcome relief to their exertion as they approached the steeper hills that sheltered the next bay.

"Ragnar, how is Kate, did she have the babe?" Eleanor finally asked, feeling guilty for not inquiring about her friend before now.

"Actually no, it settled down just after you left." Ragnar smiled at Eleanor's horrified look, "Please Eleanor, do not fret, I am glad you came and got me, if it had been the real thing she would have wanted me there."

"I caused this." Eleanor stopped dead, Bruni stopping with her as she tried not to cry, pulling her forward to keep her walking as she spoke. "If I had not rushed off, we would be on the boats; we would not have been captured."

"Eleanor, you did the right thing."

Eleanor yelped as she lost her footing on the rocky path, slipping from Bruni's grasp and falling to her hands and knees on the path, the ripped tunic coming open without her hand to hold it together.

Hearing Bruni gasp over Eleanor's prone body, Kailara tugged on Ragnar's arm, motioning him to move further up the path from them, to give them some privacy.

"Eleanor, what happened, who did this to you?" Bruni asked quietly, his voice shaking slightly with the barely controlled rage at the sight of the bruises over her breast. Bruises that were shaped like a large hand. "What did they do Eleanor?"

His fingers lifted her chin to look at him, his heart breaking at the two small tears that escaped her. Sinking to the floor, he pulled her to sit in his lap as he pulled back the sides of the tunic.

"Did they hurt you Eleanor?"

Catching his meaning, Eleanor shook her head, cuddling into his chest, her hands curling into the edges of the linen shirt he wore. "He tried..." was all she could say, the words sticking in her throat when she heard the growl emanating from deep inside Bruni's chest.

Pulling her close, Bruni could not keep from her, he needed this, and he needed her. Damn the consequences.

Tilting her bruised face up to him, Bruni lowered his lips to hers, the faintest brush of lip against lip at first, a little closer as she moved her bottom lip against his. Careful of the slit split from where she had obviously received a blow, Bruni brushed harder this time, his tongue coming out and gently licking over her dry lip, releasing a beautiful moan from her mouth, and her back to arch in his arms.

He needed more. Fuck, he needed her. Standing with her still in his arms, Bruni stalked off the path, and into the grass, laying her down amidst the lush greenery, watching the angel before him lie beneath him, receptive, and beautiful with her hair spread behind her like a fan of spun gold, her eyes shone vivid green as he lay beside her.

As she bit her lip, Bruni leant in to sooth it, running his tongue across the blush, before her own came out and tentatively stroked his own. This is what he wanted, he had craved to kiss her since their lips had brushed so scarcely on the boat, the night she was singing to the stars, by Freya he wanted to do more to her, wanted to claim her, be the only man who touched her like this; brand himself onto her senses, and her to his.

Keeping a tight reign on his desires, Bruni satisfied himself with just kissing her, taking the pleasure of the moment of having those arms around his neck, her lips against his own, her body pressed so intimately against him. He needed her, he wanted her.

He loved her.

He would fight for her.

Eleanor felt her breath leave her when Bruni leant against her body, his warmth, his touch, stealing away her senses until she could scarce remember anything before that moment; anything before Bruni.

She wanted more of him, she wanted to be back in the shallow cot on his boat, wanted the ebb and flow of the sea lulling them as she rested against his chest, soothing them while they kissed like this; moving her hands down the hard muscles of his back, Eleanor arched up to him, the need to be closer to him was clawing through her skin, making her ache for him.

Eleanor shifted her hands beneath his tunic, her fingers smoothed across the ridges of muscle of his stomach, tickled by the light hair that covered him, shocked by the radiating heat of his skin, and the hard shaft of his manhood nudging against her belly through his tan leather trousers.

"By Freya, Eleanor." Bruni gasped against her now kiss-swollen lips as her fingers brushed his straining erection before he stood from her. "I have to get you back to the boat."

Bruni almost laughed as her expression changed from drowsy lust to slightly crestfallen, and pulled her upright to meet him in a kiss that molded his body to hers as his tongue plunged into her, tangling with her own. Leaning to whisper at her ear, Bruni smoothed his hand through the rip of her tunic and down to the soft folds between her legs, wet with desire.

"I do not wish to take you on enemy territory in the grass. I want you in a bed, surrounded by furs..." Bruni moved his finger to settle between her folds as he paused, "where I can pleasure you properly."

Running his finger up and over her clit, Bruni held her mouth close against his shoulder as he played tight circles over the small bud, muffling her gasps as he played harder, faster, dipping his finger back into her wetness to pull the silky fluid back over her clit. Kissing her neck, he rubbed her hard, smiling as she splintered apart, her screams like the sweetest music to him as she shuddered in his embrace.

Removing his fingers from her heat, Bruni brought them to his mouth, savoring her sweet taste on his tongue as she recovered from her orgasm. Pulling the edges of her tunic closed, he fastened them with a pin, before lifting his sleepy woman into his arms, and striding back up the path. They needed to get to the boat sooner rather than later. Though not from the threat of the enemy. His erection was raging painfully against the material of his trousers, demanding sating, demanding to be encased in Eleanor's tight depths.

Yes, he needed to get to the boat. Now.