Runes & Ruin

Chapter 7

Yrsa was stuck riding next to Finan, he had insisted on staying close by her and had told her to her face "I don't trust you or your witch sister".

Skade had not been surprised to learn that Yrsa was now following Uhtred and Yrsa suspected Skade had known it would happen all along. There was still tension between the two as they pretended to be nothing more than strangers.

Apparently they were riding to save Aethelflaed, the daughter of king Alfred. Finan's voice pierced through her skull as he was talking to Osferth, "Uhtred made an oath to her you see, and now her limp-dicked husband is trying to kill her. we have to run to the rescue." Yrsa responded cautiously "so where is this Aethelflaed?" Finan's gaze snapped to hers "at a nunnery not too far away." with that he looked away and shut down. He refused to talk to Yrsa for the rest of the ride and merely ignored her as if she weren't even there.

Upon arriving at the nunnery Uhtred snuck through a window into the main hall of the church while everyone else, Yrsa included, walked past the guards into the kitchen. Upon reaching the hall they were met with barred doors and a nuns warning of being struck down by god. After a short while they were let in greeted by Aethelfaed and Uhtred. Aethelflead was gorgeous her long mane of sleek brown her and soft feminine features. Chocolate brown eyes and a slim regal figure. Yrsa couldn't help but notice how beautiful and kind she seemed to be, she carried herself like a queen and spoke with grace and charm, she greeted all those in the party and stopped in for or of Yrsa. "We haven't met before. I'm Aethelflaed queen of Mercia." She suck her hand out for Yrsa to shake. Her grip was firm and Yrsa noticed the roughness of her hand and the athletic muscles in her forearm. "A pleasure my lady." Yrsa spoke evenly, she leaned closer "do you wield a sword your highness?" Aethelflaeds face lit with shock before she nodded curtly. " it's a pleasure to meet another female warrior. I mean that wholeheartedly." Yrsa smiled gently and inga chimed in from behind, her mouth set in an impish smirk ; "can't leave all the fun to the men. Besides they can't be trusted these days- far too many cock measuring contests for my liking." At that Aethlflaed chuckled before turning to a nun and asking for refreshments.

They were given food and ale by the abbess of the nunnery. Who was a particularly stern woman, she regarded Uhtred's party with distaste and disgust, skade in particular. Finan joked that she reminded him of his mother but apparently without the wooden spoon in hand.

Night had quickly dawned and the sun had waned away, Yrsa looked round the table and saw only tired faces as yawns mumured round one after another.

She was offered a bed to share with Inga in the women's quarters, however she found herself unable to sleep tossing and turning under the thick,scratchy blanket. Inga roused only once when she kicked Yrsa and told her to "stop wriggling like an earthworm and go to fucking sleep." When Yrsa left the room, she was aware she wore nothing but a thin white top and tight trousers as she walked to the kitchen in the darkness. She wondered if there was any milk or ale perhaps something to send her to sleep.

As she rounded a corner in the dimly lit hallway she bumped into someone, she looked up to see none other than the mouthy irishman. His face laced with surprise and his tousled hair begging for Yrsa to run her fingers through it. He stepped back before his gaze raked over her body stopping at her tits, the cold air had pebbled her nipples and her large breasts were pulled against the fabric tightly. She looked up to see his gaze had darkened as his voice came out a low whisper "it's a sin for you to walk around like that in a nunnery." His musical voice sent a shiver down her spine.

Yrsa allowed her eyes to rake over his body, he was shirtless a cross nestled between his pecs and she was staring at his muscular torso. "What are you doing wandering the halls by yourself she-bear?" his lips tickled her earlobe gently. Yrsa's eyes snapped up to meet him and she was frozen in his gaze, she tried to remember the anger she had felt towards him over the past days but she couldn't. The only thing she felt at that moment was arousal under his heated gaze.

"I couldn't sleep, '' she offered meekly, His eyes danced down to her lips as she spoke. He leaned closer to her and she took a step backwards, In doing so her back hit the cold stone wall and she was caged in by his muscular frame. "why couldn't you sleep?" he drew out slowly, and Yrsa was keenly aware that any fatigue she had felt was completely gone and she was more awake than ever. "I was thinking about why you dislike me so much.'' Her voice came out as a whisper. He chuckled lowly his breath caressing her face. "you know I've been thinking about that too, and i'll be honest grá (love) I'm running out of reasons" with that Finan edged his face even closer to Yrsa's, their foreheads touching and their lips a whisper apart, His thick beard tickled her chin. His arm was propped above her on the wall as his other hand snaked to her hip and his eyes searched over every ridge of her face.

Suddenly they were pulled apart by someone clearing their throat, Finan lept back as if he had been struck by lightning and Yrsa stood taller against the wall. Behind Finan stood the abbess her wrinkled face set in a stern look of disapproval. She spoke in a tight authoritative tone "I must remind you that you are in a house of god" she glanced down to the celtic cross between Finan's pecs before continuing."I think it's best if you both parted ways to your separate quarters". With that Finan scratched the back of his head before jovially wandering back in the direction he had come, not before he smirked at Yrsa. She turned towards the abbess and nodded noting the disapproval plastered over the old woman's face before scurrying back to her room like a naughty child.

Yrsa flopped onto the bed next to Inga and stared at the ceiling, what had just happened? She had nearly kissed the Irishman, the man who had been nothing but rude to her since they met. However she couldn't ignore the ache between her legs, she wanted to fuck him. She couldn't deny the appeal, with all those harsh clipped orders he always gave he was probably bossy in the bedroom as well. At that thought Yrsa felt her lower stomach churn. Yrsa thought back to her past,  she had been with a few men before, however they had always left her feeling empty and unsatisfied. she had never felt so aroused as she had by Finan merely moving to kiss her. This was a dangerous game, she couldn't allow herself to even think about him not with all that was happening. She rolled from her back to her side and snuggled into Inga, who happily obliged and wrapped her arms around Yrsa in a tight cuddle. Yrsa slowly managed to drift off to sleep, all she dreamed of that night was the irishman and his plump lips on other parts of her body.