#more or less...

"Oh, thank Odin! Another day without Astrid's cooking," Snot muttered in relief.

Rolling his eyes at his cousin, Hiccup followed Astrid in a hurry. At first, he thought she might have heard Snot’s comment and be angry given the hast she seemed to be in. But when he finally caught up to her at the stables, she was still in a good mood – surprisingly good even.

"So, we’re doing the patrol?” he asked carefully, his lips twitching. 

“Yep,” Astrid replied as she saddled Stormfly, smiling. “And you better hurry. I have plans!”

Having an idea about what those plans could be, Hiccup wasted no time in following her. They had their routine for checking the island down, each inspecting their set of beaches and other spots a ship or boat could land on. 

Once he was sure nobody who wasn’t supposed to was on their island, Hiccup flew to their usual meeting place: a well-hidden cave in the side of the mountain. Stormfly was already waiting outside, greeting them with a happy trill. That meant Astrid would already be waiting for him, too. Smiling and with his heart pounding in anticipation, Hiccup went looking for her. 

Since their friends knew that he and Astrid were a couple, kissing her every now and then where they theoretically could be seen around their huts wasn't much of an issue anymore. But doing more than kissing where any of their friends could barge in on them at any moment wasn't something either of them felt comfortable with. Especially the twins had no sense of privacy whatsoever. It had been Astrid who'd discovered this cave and had first brought him here. By now, it had become their regular hideaway – complete with blankets to cover the hard ground and to keep them warm.

“So, what are these plans you have?” he asked, looking around the dimly-lit cave to find her. There was a hole in the ceiling, but even with dusky light falling in, it was considerably darker than outside. Astrid approached him from the side, and all he could make out was that she’d apparently already taken off her shoulder pads before he got thoroughly distracted by her mouth on his own. 

“You’ll see,” she mumbled against his lips. Her hands were in his hair before Hiccup could even react, and he didn’t resist as she pulled him over to the pile of blankets. It would have been pointless anyway. Gods, he loved how strong she was.

Within no time at all, he was sitting on the ground, Astrid straddling his hips without any hesitation. Once, there had been more insecurities between them, but by now, most of them were gone. His arms wrapped around her, held her close as her fingernails scraping over his scalp made his whole body tingle. With every passing moment, their kisses grew firmer and more hungry, little gasps for air the only sounds echoing off the walls. 

His hands wandered beneath her tunic, caressing her sides, hot over bare skin, and ventured on to her breasts. Rough thumbs rasped over sensitive nippels, and as always, it made her moan and press more firmly into his touch. Oh, yes, all shyness and awkwardness between them had faded long ago. They knew how the other one looked naked, had touched and explored each other’s bodies thoroughly, knew which small and innocent-looking gesture could make the other one hot and aroused. 

And, Gods, did he love her, every part of her. Her fierceness, her beauty, her strength. She always knew what she wanted and wasn’t ashamed to let him know in no uncertain ways. With her hands firmly buried in his hair and her back arched into his hands on her breasts, her hips ground down against his growing erection, searching, demanding. His trousers became uncomfortably tight, pulsing against where he could feel her so hot against him. 

Eager to feel more of her, Hiccup let one hand glide down between them. Only now did he notice that she’d also taken off her boots and leggings before, but it didn’t really surprise him. When it came to the physical aspects of their relationship, Astrid was just as eager as he was, maybe even more. 

She let out a needy moan when his hand caressed her thigh, slowly wandering to where she really wanted to be touched. Then it was on him to moan when his fingers found her bare and wet beneath her studded skirt, his cock twitching in its confinement. Hushing it to wait a little longer, he began to play her body like he’d done so many times before. She would make it worth the wait; she always did. 

Slowly, he caressed her, fingers gliding over sensitive skin and occasionally brushing or pinching her swollen clit. Too slowly, judging by her impatient whining, her hips grinding down even harder in search of his touch. But Hiccup drew it out, watching the beautiful Valkyrie writhe in his lap. He just loved to stoke that heat inside her, to push her higher and higher, until watching her fall apart in his arms became the ultimate reward. 

When he felt like keeping her waiting any longer might cause him bodily harm, he gave in though. With practised ease, he slipped two fingers inside her and stroked her in the way he’d learned she liked best, fingers inside her curled as his thumb kept stroking her clit. Astrid arched her back with a lewd little cry, rolling her hips to ride his fingers more potently, and Hiccup was once more awestruck at how beautiful she looked like this, caught in the throes of passion, even in the ever-growing darkness of the night. So free and unrestrained, almost ethereal even as her hair, usually a rich gold, seemed to glow silver in the moonlight.

He knew that she was close when her fingers dug deeply into his shoulders, those last moments always so intense that he nearly came just from watching her. But instead of urging him to go on as she usually did, her hand suddenly dropped down to his. 

"Wait," she gasped.

Hiccup stilled instantly. "Did I hurt you?" he asked, worried.

Astrid shook her head. "No, you didn't," she assured him breathlessly, then bit her lip. "It's just… I'm ready for more."

It took him a heartbeat to cotton on, then he gasped, his eyes widening. "Are… are you sure?" 

No matter how often they'd been here now, how much time they'd spent exploring each other… they'd never gone the full way so far. Getting naked, exploring each other, and making out was one thing, but taking that last step to more was something else altogether. For Astrid to bring it up now…

“Yes, I am,” she breathed, her face softening into a lovely smile even with the flush of arousal still lingering. Her hands came around to cup his face, her eyes gleaming in the silvery moonlight. “I’m sure of this. Of us! I love you, Hiccup. And…” she paused, biting her lip again and averting her eyes for a moment. “And my answer will be ‘Yes’.”

Hiccup’s eyes widened even more before his face split into a broad grin. He hadn’t asked her to become his wife, not yet. It wasn’t because he had any doubt; he knew for a long while now that she was the one for him. But he’d wanted to give her time to adjust, to let their relationship grow before they made it official. To not rush it. 

This now, though… Astrid wouldn’t agree to have sex with him, to risk getting pregnant, when she wasn’t sure about their future. And honestly, it was so Astrid to take the initiative and indirectly propose to him instead. 

With joy bubbling up inside him, he buried one hand in the hair at the back of her head, pulling her down into a scalding kiss. At first, she giggled against his lips, her joy matching his. But then, she caught up to his mood, her tongue stroking along his own and moans vibrating through them both. Gods, she was irresistible!

Kissing quickly led to more making out, and Hiccup had almost forgotten her words and what they meant, distracted by her body grinding against his, when Astrid pulled back and rose off his lap. He rather missed her warm weight, but couldn't really complain when she threw him a heated look.

"Undress for me, will you?" she said in a husky voice, nodding at the bulge in his trousers. 

Hiccup obliged quickly, groaning when she was back in his lap before he'd even had time to kick his leg and prosthetic free of the fabric. Her hand wrapped around his cock, squeezing and stroking, making his eyes roll back into his head. It felt wonderful, her hand small but firm, finding all the spots that turned him into a trembling mess without even looking. 

When she stopped, Hiccup didn’t have it in him to protest. He could only stare as she positioned herself atop him and slowly sank down his shaft, his entire world condensing down to nothing but Astrid so hot and tight around him.

. o O o .

Astrid had expected their first time to be intense. But none of her uncountable fantasies about this moment could do justice to reality. 

She felt so full. 

Stretched by his fingers before and arousal slicking up the slide, it didn’t exactly hurt. But he felt so big, certainly longer and wider than his fingers. It took her a few deep breaths to adjust to it, time in which she and Hiccup just clung to each other, trembling as he seemed to feel equally overwhelmed. 

“Oh, Gods,” he groaned, his fingers twitching at her back as he held her to him. “Astrid, you…”

He trailed off and, unable to find any suitable words herself, Astrid bent down to place a hard kiss to his lips, her hands buried in his ridiculously soft hair. Odin, how much she loved him! That he’d never urged her to go further, the honest surprise about her plan, and the disarming joy in his eyes as he’d realised what she’d been saying. She wanted him, all of him, forever.

Once her body had adjusted to him inside her, the stretch and fullness not as overwhelming anymore, she started to move. It happened purely on instinct, grinding herself against him and savouring the feeling of him moving inside her. It felt strange but, oh, so wonderful. When she ventured on to moving herself up and down his length, Hiccup was quickly lost for coherent words. His face was a beautiful mask of pleasure with his eyes half-closed and his lips parted, soft moans and whines leaving him at her every movement. Astrid loved seeing him like this when they made out, but this time, it was so much more. She could feel him so deep inside her, deeper than his fingers… deeper even than just the physical connection, in a way. They were one. 

Astrid knew that he was close when he let out a desperate groan, muffled against her neck, and his hands dropped to her hips, slowing her down. But she didn’t want to go slowly. She wanted more, needed more. Thanks to his thorough foreplay from before, she could already feel her orgasm rising too. So she fought against his hold, moving faster and dropping herself harder onto his cock, one hand sneaking down to play with her clit and get herself off quicker. 

Her orgasm hit her harder than expected, Hiccup’s arms around all that held her upright. Clenching around his thick shaft felt so much better than just his fingers, the heat of throbbing flesh. There was an odd sting at her neck, but she couldn’t pay it any mind. In fact, all she could do was cling to him, her blissful outcry echoing off the stone walls.

. o O o .

When Astrid came, writhing in his arms and with that lewd cry on her lips, Hiccup wasn’t able to hold out any longer either. He’d meant to pull out and not take a risk, he really had. But the heat of her contracting muscles around him and the sharp pain of her fingernails in his skin were more than he could take. He came only seconds after her, buried deeply in her soft body, his mouth pressed to her neck to muffle his own scream.

When he came to, Astrid was trembling in his arms. At first, he wanted to pull back and make sure that she was all right. However, it took him only another moment to realise that she was shaking with giddy laughter, her face buried against his neck and her arms holding on tight to him. 

“That was… Oh, Freya, that was incredible,” she gasped, nuzzling his jaw. “Now, I’m a little mad we waited so long.”

Hiccup chuckled, his arms around her tightening. He couldn’t agree more. “We have all the time in the world now,” he murmured back, placing soft kisses to her neck and shoulder. “And I love you, too.”

. o O o .

Over an hour after they’d left the clubhouse, Hiccup and Astrid joined their friends again. There were soft smiles playing around their lips, their hands joined with interlacing fingers. Hiccup wondered whether what they’d done was noticeable to the others in any way, in the soft looks they threw each other maybe, or in the way they moved even more in synch than usual. But he quickly dismissed the thought again. Maybe the others suspected that they’d done more than just the patrol flight. But they certainly had no idea how much more. That and the unspoken promise that had come with it would stay their little secret for a while longer.

“Oh, great, our lovebirds made it back,” Snot commented dryly, grimacing. He mimed throwing up, but not even Astrid was in the mood to react, memories of their shared time in the cave still buzzing within them. 

Tuff leaned back in his seat, arms lazily folded behind his back. “See? There was no need to worry or go looking for them after all. Although, now that you’re back… What took you so long? I get that you’re exaggeratedly thorough with these patrols sometimes, but this must have been a new record, even for you.”

Hiccup glanced at Astrid just as she looked at him too, and if the heat on his cheeks was anything to go by, they both had the same kind of blush on their faces. 

“Oh, it was just… such a beautiful night, you know?” Hiccup hastily explained. “With the clear sky and the moon and stars...”

“Yeah,” Astrid jumped in. “We just flew around for a while, for fun.”

“For fun?” Tuff exclaimed, staring at them in utter bafflement. “I didn’t think you even know what fun is.”

Groaning, Astrid rolled her eyes.

“Ohoho, I know what you’re talking about,” Fishlegs threw in, grinning. “Flying through the night, that’s so romantic! You guys are so cute!”

Hiccup and Astrid shared another glance. They’d agreed on this early on; they’d rather their relationship wouldn’t affect their life here on Dragon’s Edge too much, let alone become a solid conversation topic. But if their friends thought they’d just taken a romantic flight through the night… well, that was better than them knowing the truth. 

“Yeah, cute,” came a deadpan comment from Ruff. She had a smug smirk on her lips, her gaze firmly on Astrid.  

Hiccup frowned at her, wondering what she was referring to. When he followed her gaze though, understanding hit him and his eyes widened. There, on Astrid’s neck, was a prominent love bite blooming, one that definitely hadn’t been there before. 

“And that’s all that took you so long, I totally believe you,” Ruff went on. “Just a romantic moonlit flight for sure…”

. o O o .

Well, now we know where that phrase came form. 😁

* - . - * - . o O o . - * - . - *