Of Witches and Vikings

"He said sacrifice..." she said.

I nodded, my cheeks heating as fear tickled within me. It was a game. Some silly, weird, sex...thing. I grasped Sylvia's sweaty palm. Alric came to a stop in front of the fire and Jillian and Kristof were pushed forward. Finally, I noticed the long, narrow tables that were carried along with them. The heavy wooden tables--alters?--were placed on either side of the fire and Jillian and Kristof both moved to one each, dropping down and slowly laying back on them. I realized the entire party had gone silent save for the low drumming that had been joined by an eerie harp.

Alric stood completely still though his eyes flickered around the faces in front of him. Sylvia and I stood in the middle of so many tall men, I was sure there was no way he could spot me. A part of me wanted to push forward, to meet his eyes, another wanted to slink away, to hide from whatever strange thing I'd gotten myself into. The two parts were at an impasse though, and so I stood rooted, hiding from Alric's eyes, but not running.

"Brothers and sisters! Warriors and witches. Shamans and seiðkona. Tonight is Samhain. When we all walk together as equals. Two humble sacrifices are offered tonight. They come with trusting hearts and aching souls. We shall free them." And now deep voices all rumbled around me as they recited with Alric, "And they shall free us."

My eyes widened as I met Sylvia's look. 'What the fuck?" she mouthed to me. I tore my eyes from her to continue watching. Alric pulled a viciously curved dagger from his belt and stepped towards Kristof. With a few well-practiced slices, he tore the large, red-bearded man's breeches away. My cheeks burned as red as Kristof's hair as his large--quickly getting larger--dick was freed. Before I could decide if now was the time to run, Alric stepped around the fire to Jillian. With another quick slice of the dagger, her dress fell away and Alric tossed it in the fire. With a jerk of his chin, the surrounding men stepped forward and proceeded to tie Jillian's and Kristof's limbs to their tables. They stretched both out and my eyes darted back and forth between them. Kristof was huge, muscled with dark red hair covering his broad chest. Jillian had a perfect body, and as I slid my eyes down her large breasts to her thick hips, I found myself chewing on my lip, unsure what emotion ran through me. Her black hair tumbled in shining waves from the table and she arched her back slightly as her wrists were bound. I ripped my eyes from her to find Alric. He'd stepped back again, looking for all intents and purposes like a presiding warrior-king.

His eyes slid cooly over Jillian, then again lifted to search the crowd. Could he really be searching for me? I debated again pushing forward for a better view, and to let him find me. But somehow I stayed rooted in place. I remembered the blonde warrior I'd been dancing with only minutes before and turned my head to find him again. He stood close at my back and smiled as I met his eyes again.

"What is this?" I whispered.

His smile widened as he leaned down to whisper in my ear. "This is your first?" I nodded and he continued quietly. "The sacrifice. They give their bodies to be used tonight."

I licked my lips and turned back to the scene. Both were now tightly bound and helpless. Alric stepped forward again and raised both arms slowly and the slow, rhythmic music swelled as the other instruments joined the drum and harp. Feet began to stamp all around us and I glanced down to Sylvia, but her eyes were fixed on Kristof. And then Alric dropped his arms and the crowd surged forward. I was carried so quickly forward by the press of bodies that I lost Sylvia's hand. Lost sight of Jillian and Kristoff and Alric ahead. I felt a hand on my waist. I was pulled back into the bearded warrior's chest and he grinned down at me as I was pressed forward into another man.

Anxiety shot through me as the breath was pushed from me by the swollen crowd. I cried out, trying to push away from the bodies around me as I began to feel hands grabbing at my waist, my arms, slipping over my stomach. I searched around desperately for Sylvia, but she was too short, impossible to find among the large, armored men. I felt carried by a tide of grabbing hands, leather armor, rumbling voices.

The jostling crowd slowed and I found myself stuck in a pocket. The blonde bearded warrior was still at my back, both hands now gripping my waist tightly. I tried to twist from him, but only found myself pressed against the chest of another Viking. He slipped his hands up my stomach as he leaned into me. I tried to jerk from him, but it was impossible. I was pressed on all sides.

Panic stole my voice and I found myself whimpering as I tried to slither from the clutching hands. Confusion arced within me. Was this what I signed up for? Sylvia seemed happy enough to roll with this strange evening. But I couldn't just give in. My body went rigid as the wrongness tickled across my skin with every touch.

And then every hand dropped from me. I suddenly had air to breath and I stood, shaky and shivering as I glanced around with bleary eyes. A dark figured stepped through the broken crowd and suddenly Alric was pulling me against his chest to lead me out of the crowd.

My head spun. Again like I was drunk, the last few moments had felt like I'd swum in the ocean for days.

"Are you all right?" I finally registered Alric's voice. Dipped low in concern.

"I..." I blinked and finally met his bright eyes. "I'm not sure. I feel dizzy," I admitted.

"It's the magic," he said and weaved us through the crowd. We re-entered the large French doors and moved through the now nearly-empty rooms. When we reached the quiet library he finally loosened his grip on me and led me to a leather couch under the windows.

I dropped down next to him, my head reeling. Had he said magic? I shook my head. "Did you say magic?" I said, surprised at the shrillness of my voice now in the quiet of the library.

"Yes." He nodded.

I blinked slowly at him, waiting for the joke.

A smiled tugged at his mouth as he watched me. This close to him again I felt the rush of heat within my chest. It stole my mind from me, just as I was getting it back.

"I'd thought, when you said you were a witch, that you knew about this. That you'd be prepared. I can see I...misunderstood." He looked apologetic. I frowned as I ran back through our conversation at the coffee shop.

"My mom thought she was a witch. But she was nuts." I pulled my hands slowly from his. "Like I think you are." Disappointment sat heavy in me. Leaving my bones too heavy. Of course the hottest guy that ever showed interest in me was batshit.

"You have the blood of a seiðkona. I sensed it the moment I saw you. I don't think your mother was nuts," he said the word like it was distasteful.

VAMPIRE. The word screamed across my vision as soon as he said blood. "Holy shit, are you a vampire?" I blurted as I drew further back from him. Vampires were hot, no one sane could deny that...but I didn't want to be a meal.

But Alric threw his head back with a throaty laugh. He laughed and laughed until he had to wipe a tear from his eye. I slumped, glaring at him now, realizing I was the butt of some stupid joke. "Okay, I get it. I'm an idiot," I grumbled.

His chuckles slowed and he grabbed up my hand again, forcing his face back to an earnest expression, though his eyes still glittered with laughter. "No, not a vampire. I don't think they exist. At least, I've never met one. I'm just a man." He laughed lightly. "Though older than I look. I can sense the magic within you. Seið, it's in your blood. You're naturally attuned with it."

I stared skeptically at him. "And you're just a man and can sense this?"

He cocked his head, smiling gently as he studied me. "Perhaps I'm a bit more than a man. Or less, depending on how you look. But yes, I can sense magic in others. I thought you knew, and were just being coy." He grimaced.

I laughed weakly, still thinking I should extract my hands from his and find Sylvia, but also it was so easy to sit and let this beautiful man tell me I was magical...

"So...what's going on out there?" I changed the subject as I jerked my head back the way we'd come.

He shrugged slightly. "The sacrifice. A...trading of magic. Those of us that need magic to survive come together with those that are thick with it. The sacrifice is like...a magic buffet."

"And you're still insisting you're not vampires..." I said.

He laughed again as he shook his head. "No blood. Just...well, we can go watch if you want? If you're really curious."

I chewed at my lip again as I studied this handsome weirdo. He looked like he actually believed what he was saying. Would it hurt to just play along for the night? I sighed. It would be a good story at least...

"Fine, I should find Sylvia anyways," I conceded.

Alric's face lit with a pleased--albeit slightly surprised--expression and he gripped my hand tightly as he pulled me from the couch. Though I was still convinced he was a bit nuts, I couldn't help my pattering heart at his boyish excitement. He tugged me back through the cavernous house towards the sound of revelry. A few partygoers were still inside though. Most were wrapped around each other, apparently uninterested in the show on the terrace.

The crowd still surged though had calmed from its nearly manic movement of a few minutes before. I registered the sounds. Loud moans, a woman's breathless keening. Alric slipped through the crowd like a knife, they parted around us and suddenly we were front row to the tableau in front of the large fire.

My eyes instantly went to the loudest sounds. Jillian was still stretched on the table. A man knelt over her, hiking her hips up as he drove into her. She bucked against him as she wailed, though she was helplessly pinned by another couple men whose heads seemed latch to her full breasts. Several more were dotted down her body, running their tongues along her neck, down her thrashing legs as they helped hold her down.

I gritted my teeth and glanced up to Alric. He stared down at me, watching for my reaction. I flicked my eyes back to the erotic scene right as the man thrusting into her bellowed as his thrusts grew frantic. As he came, he smashed his thumb against Jillian's sensitive center. She screamed out, her face heating red with her own orgasm. And then the group shifted, another man positioned himself between her legs, pressing slowly into her as he thumbed at her clit.

"Please, more," she moaned out as she was speared again.

I tore my eyes from her to Kristof. He was similarly surrounded by both men and woman. And then shock quaked through me as I registered the woman that straddled him. Her dark skin sucked in the light from the fire as her black mane of hair fell over her shoulders. Sylvia moved sensuously against Kristof. She rode him, her small hands buried within Kristof's thick chest hair. Another woman knelt over Kristof's face, facing Sylvia. As Kristof devoured her pussy, the pretty blonde woman moaned into Sylvia's lips. They rocked against each other and on Kristof. A couple men stood on either side, their eyes dark with lust as the squeezed at Sylvia's and the other woman's breasts and asses.

"Oh my god," I whimpered as I watched Sylvia. Arousal coursed through me, quickly followed by embarrassment. I gripped Alric's hand fiercely as I watched. He stood behind me now and I became too aware of his chest at my back, his breath against my crown.

And then his other hand slid up my back. So slowly he traced along my thin dress. He brushed just the edge of my breast, and then snaked over my chest, up to lightly cup my neck. I swallowed, knowing he'd feel the movement. Then I leaned back into him, letting my head fall back against his chest.

His breath quickened against my hair and the hand on my throat squeezed ever so slightly as he pressed his quickly swelling length against my ass. I shivered as I registered his arousal and his other hand moved to my belly to hold me more tightly against him, pressing me back against his groin. And still I watched the show in front of me.

Back and forth my eyes darted. I wanted to be Jillian, helpless and pleasured in every way imaginable. I flicked my eyes to Kristof. Sylvia was now leaning back, as her back arched, her petite breasts exposed now to the men that crowded the table. The blonde Viking from earlier took her nipple between his lips while others just ran their hands over her, assisting her as she rocked her hips against Kristof. The other woman had climaxed and rolled from the table and Kristof had a brief moment where he was free to watch in awe as Sylvia speared herself on him. And then Sylvia began to bounce faster. She moaned rhythmically as she picked up the pace, her fierce face turned up to the moon as she was enveloped in a climax. She screamed out, rocking frantically against Kristof as the men around her held her upright.

As she slumped, one of the John Snow's from earlier helped her slide from Kristof's still hardened cock. Sylvia melted into him, wrapping her legs around his waist as he carried her towards the perimeter of the terrace. There were dozens of couches and daybeds and cushions spread over the area and John Snow carried Sylvia to one where several other men waited. He dropped to his knees and dropped Sylvia down in front of him. As the men around her collapsed on her, kissing along her neck, kneading at her breasts, she tugged at John Snow's pants, her eyes mischievous.

I realized I'd gone stiff in concern as I watched my friend. My arousal turned to worry as I watched her. But she seemed to be having a great time...The sheer number of waiting men that hungrily watched Sylvia and even me--though Alric's presence against my back deterred them--seemed so dangerous.

My head was still leaned back against his chest, but now I finally peeled my eyes from Sylvia to look up at Alric. As normal, he watched me. It was like we were on an island by ourselves when I met his eyes. Even though I distantly still heard Jillian's cries--now joined by a dozen others--Alric was the only thing that existed.

"Why are there so few woman?" I whispered.

His expression was unchanged as he answered. "There have always been more women with magic in their blood. An imbalance in the universe. Your mothers, they were the first to help my people to survive in Midgard. They found on Samhain they could give us life again. To stay one year. Until the next Samhain when the ritual, the exchange of magic and life force would grant us another year here."

I frowned as I studied him. He looked down at me so earnestly. "I don't understand."

He smiled gently and though I tried to convince myself he was nuts, his belief was making me want to believe. "Your pleasure gives us life," he said softly.

As another man yelled out as he orgasmed within Jillian, I felt it. The pulse of something. Of heat and arousal and life against my face, my chest, burning into my hands and feet. I tore my eyes from Alric and looked to the fire again. Jillian glowed. Her skin was bright, pulsing golden and burnt orange light as she arched on the table. Another man scrambled between her legs and slammed into her with one smooth stroke, burying himself deep withing her red and swollen pussy. She moaned, flipping her eyes open. Her eyes found me instantly and the manic lust within them startled me. She slid her gaze up, and I knew she now held Alric's eyes as he stood behind me. She tilted her hips invitingly as the naked Viking on top of her pounded into her.

Alric's hands were both frozen, unmoving. One still rested on my stomach while the other lightly held my throat. Jealousy coursed through me as I watched Jillian watch Alric as she was fucked. I tilted my hips back, pressing my ass against him.

Instantly Alric's hands tightened on me. His head dropped down to my neck and his lips brushed my ear. I clenched, need arcing down my body as I felt his breath on my skin. My hands had been hanging limp at my sides, but now I slid them back to press against his thighs behind me. As I'd noticed earlier--leather pants...--his legs were deliciously muscled and the feel of his hard, manliness sent my pussy aching.

"Would you like to go check on your friend?" he murmured against my ear.

My eyes blinked drunkenly as I tried to understand what he said. Sylvia! I shook my blind lust away and looked back to where I'd last seen Sylvia. She lay stretched still on a daybed. A stout, muscled man slowly fucked her while a few others administered to her breasts and other body parts. My cheeks flushed as I watched. Alric's hand slid up my belly, cupped lightly under one of my breasts. Instinctively I pressed back against him again, felt the rock hardness of his manhood against my ass still.

"Or we could go get some air?" he said.

His fingers slid up and then he brushed a large thumb over my nipple. A soft moan escaped my throat. His hand gripped my neck a bit tighter as he moved his fingers more deliberately against my nipple. My dress was thin, silky lace and did nothing to hide my aroused nipples from Alric's insistent fingers. I found myself begin to pant as he caressed gently over my swollen bud. Then he brushed against the skin of my chest exposed with the deep V of the dress. His fingers raised goosebumps where he touched and I found myself shivering in anticipation and need.

"Tell me what you want, Rhiannon," he ordered softly.

I swallowed. My throat was tight and dry. And I found I couldn't force any words out. His fingers returned to my hardening nipple, pinched it lightly through the dress. I moaned again, feeling myself nearly collapsing back against him.

"I think we'll check on your friend," he murmured.

Before I could register his quick movements, he'd turned me and swept me from my feet. He stalked through the crowd, carrying me gently in his arms and I instinctively reached up to wrap my arms around his neck.

"My legs work," I said breathlessly as I clung to him.

His chest shook with a chuckle as he glanced down to me. Pressed against him now, I burrowed my cheek into his neck, inhaling his manly scent and was tempted to dart my tongue out to taste his skin. We broke from the crowd again and I pulled my eyes from him to find Sylvia again. She still lay stretched on the large daybed, though seemed to be taking a small break.

Alric dropped to a chaise lounge next to Sylvia and her admirers, still holding me tight against his chest. My legs draped over his lap as I leaned into him, finally catching Sylvia's eyes. Her face brightened as she registered me and she grinning, pushing on of the men that was slowly running his tongue along her neck from her as she leaned on an elbow.

"There you are!" she beamed at me.

I tried my best to ignore her nakedness and that of the men around her. John Snow stretched behind her, spooning her as he nuzzled his face against her shoulder.

"You're...having fun," I said weakly.

"Are you not as well?" she asked slyly.

Alric's hand moved up my body again to slowly begin to caress along my collarbone. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself Sylvia," he said. I glanced back up to him. He was running his eyes over her body, lingering on her breasts which were now being gently kneaded by John Snow.

Another surge of jealousy rose in me and I squirmed in his lap. Like before, he instantly dropped his eyes back to me, his hands tightening to pull me closer. A smirk tugged at his mouth as our eyes met.

He dropped his head back to my neck, brushed his lips against my ear. Sitting on his lap, the bulge of his arousal was unmistakable. He ran his tongue along my skin, suckling at my earlobe, flicking teasingly against the hollow behind my ear and I swelled with need for him.