Marley was just stepping out of the shower when Gunnar entered their bath—naked, aroused, and pissed off. Well, it wasn’t as if she hadn’t expected that. She’d gone for a run this morning without him. It didn’t sound so bad if you didn’t know that Joshua had called and told Gunnar that information had reached him that the bratva meant to kill both Peyton, Joshua’s mate, and Marley.

Her over-protective Viking had responded by completely forgetting she was beta to their pride and had proven her mettle in the bratva’s failed attempt to attack and kill everyone at Hammerfall. What the bratva had meant to show as a display of their power had instead reduced those involved to a laughingstock. It was well-known that some of those who had repelled the assault had been women.

Gunnar fisted her hair and without saying anything, dragged her back into their bedroom. Holding her in place by the waist, he bent her over and landed a resounding swat to her right butt cheek. The speed of sound had nothing on the speed of pain that radiated out from where his hand had struck. She had pissed him off royally and he had no intention of taking it easy on her. A second, third, and fourth smack landed in rapid succession, each one causing pain to bloom and flash through her system.

The worst part wasn’t the pain from the actual blows. She could feel his fear barreling down the tether. The guilt for having caused him to feel that just to prove a point she really didn’t need to prove gutted her. As he continued to rain his displeasure all over her ass, the pain increased, but also lit an intense arousal that blossomed into pleasure.

Marley barely had time to breathe before Gunnar dragged her to their bed, pushing her face first into it and sliding her onto it. He pulled her back, so her knees were positioned on the edge as he stepped between her legs. The plum-shaped head of his cock parted her labia and she gasped in pleasure as he pressed in. He was enormous and was not repressing the nubs all along its length.

Instead of shoving himself in, slamming his hips into her punished ass, he impaled her slowly, allowing her to feel every delicious inch of him. When he felt like he was resting against her cervix, he allowed the barbs to unfurl, preparing to score her inner walls as he drew back. The spanking combined with knowing how much she had upset him made her want him to punish her in this most intimate way, as well, but he seemed in no particular hurry now that he was balls deep.

He pulled back, allowing the barbs to do their job and make her moan before thrusting back inside. He repeated the motion and she writhed in his hold, but he had a sure grip on her hips and was reminding her that beta or not, he was her mate, and he was her alpha. Withdrawing until he was almost all the way out, the barbs raked along her tender flesh in an almost ticklish manner before he rammed home again.

Marley purred, moaned, and sighed, reveling in the way he handled her. She offered him not only her ass for his discipline, her pussy for his pleasure, but her submission to his will.

“Yes,” he groaned as he retreated before increasing the strength of his grip and surging forward, possessing her completely.

Marley yowled as she orgasmed, her pussy shuddering and trembling all along his hard staff. Gunnar held himself still, allowing her to ride the crest and aftermath of her climax. He began to withdraw, the barbs digging deeper furrows in her inner walls before he thrust hard up inside her, causing her to squeal and squirm as she climaxed a second time. Over and over, he allowed the barbs to flatten as he surged forward, only to allow them to protrude and stiffen as he drew back, scoring her tender flesh again and again.

She felt the instant he let go of any semblance of a civilized man. Instead, the Viking shapeshifter came to the fore as he began to pound into her—deep, hard, possessive. He fucked in and out with a feral frenzy, hammering her pussy as his cock found the sweet spot deep inside her as she cried out.

Gunnar leaned over her, covering her back with his chest as he rode her with ruthless intent, seeming not to notice or care that she barely had time to catch her breath between the onslaught of relentless orgasms that threatened to consume her. Her body was tight with anticipation knowing the thrusting would become more brutal as he strove to reach his own release. He surged in and out, growling at her—the sound and the emotion that drove him, flooding the tether so that all she could do was yield to his possession.

Harder and harder he pounded into her until finally his body stiffened and he ground himself against her, his cock pumping his seed as he came. It seemed as if it would never end. She could feel its warmth coating and soothing her ravaged pussy until at last she had milked him dry. Gunnar remained hard against her, catching his breath, reluctant to be parted from her, finally withdrawing.

“I will have them send up breakfast and tell the pride we will be indisposed for the day,” he growled.

Marley crawled up to the head of the bed and slipped under the covers. “Yes, Krigsherre. Will it help to soothe your ire if I apologize and tell you I won’t do it again. I thought I had to prove something to you, and we both know I didn’t. Forgive me, Gunnar. I love you.”

“See that you remember that. Question my regard or my feelings for you, Sengeslave, and you won’t be able to sit or walk for a week, much less shift and go for a run.”

“Gunnar?” she knew she was on the verge of tears, which was ridiculous. He’d spanked her harder; hell, he’d fucked her harder before.

He tilted his head and groaned. “Don’t do that to me. You slay me when you cry. Of course, I forgive you. I can do nothing else. But don’t do it again.”

“Okay, but…”

Before she could finish, he was at her side, kissing her face and purring to her softly. “I love you too, Sengeslave.”

Laying cradled on his chest, Marley reveled in not only the feelings of love and lust that seemed to be a permanent state of being where he was concerned, but absolutely confident in the belief that nothing and no one could ever separate or defeat them.