While Ivar walked toward the target, I stepped around the side of the house closest to him and hurried toward the road. I’d made it nearly halfway to the road when I knew the jig was up. The merman knew exactly where I was going…or more that I was not staying there with him. It also seemed to anger him, despite his cold treatment of me and my presence. How did I know the jig was up? Oh, that was because the axe my so-called mate had been throwing sailed past me to the left by a good distance, but it was close enough to get my attention. The axe found its target, burying itself solidly into a tree trunk, and I stopped in my tracks.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he thundered behind, his voice betraying a hint of anger and a whole lot of control and authority.
He expected an answer. However, I was less than inclined to give it to him. He had to figure out now I wasn’t a meek little woman who would do as she was told and stay pregnant and barefoot in the kitchen. I was a grown ass woman, fully capable of handling my own shit and making my own choices. I’d left taking orders behind when I’d been discharged from the military.
“Home,” I answered, figuring there was no harm in telling the man the truth.
His eyes narrowed a little as he came to a stop a few feet away from me. His chest and arms had the black Nordic runes of his former life tattooed onto them. When that mixed with his muscles and a light sheen of sweat, I was lucky I was answering anything coherently without being dumbstruck.
“You hit your head and you plan on going wandering around out here until you hope you find your way home?” he asked, though the way he said it was more of an accusation than anything.
His stormy blue-grey eyes bore into mine and the scaled marking along his shoulder shone brightly in the summer’s sunlight.
“That’s exactly what I plan on doing. I’m fairly certain I have a concussion, but I don’t have any typical symptoms of a more serious injury. Trust me, I know my limits. I’ll be just fine at home,” I replied, crossing my arms over my chest defensively.
It was still fresh in my mind this man was supposed to be destined for me, that was big enough news on its own, but he’d also changed my clothes while I’d been asleep. The stakes had been raised and my self-conscious nature was kicking in.
Ivar wasn’t amused with my response. He didn’t plan on responding either. A man of few words…this guy. I didn’t really know that, but it was my first impression.
“Look, I didn’t expect any of this. It’s all quite a shock, but it’s clear, at least to me, you don’t want me…here,” I said, needing to fill the awkward silence with something other than taking his intense glare.
The implication had been clear. He didn’t want a mate. He didn’t want me. I was rejected before he could even get to know me, that was what stung the most.
“You need to stay here,” he insisted, his jaw taking on a stubborn set.
Like Hell.
He was grating on my nerves. The thick-headed Viking would have to learn to listen.
“For what? So you can ignore me? No thanks. I need clean clothes. Maybe a shower. Then I need some time to figure out what the hell is going on here,” I said, straightening my back and squaring my shoulders up to his. “I’m going home. If it’ll make you feel better, I can come back later, after we’ve both had time to think about what this all means. Would you like that? If I came back later?”
At the mention of me returning, his anger and tension eased in his features and posture.
Ivar nodded, “not too much later. My time is limited, you know.”
There it was. The confirmation I needed that all of this had really happened. He had three days…less than three days now before he would have to return to the lake.
Truthfully, I hadn’t really questioned it. On some level, I knew that everything I’d seen had to be for a reason. I wasn’t nearly creative enough to conjure that on my own.
I nodded, acquiescing to his request. He was hard to read, and I felt like after everything I’d seen, I at least owed it to him to get to know him, to see this out. We didn’t have to make any promises, not right now, but I would come back for him.
Ivar looked like he wanted to say more, but he held his tongue. Before I had a chance to ruin everything by saying the absolute worst thing possible, like I feared, I strode to the road and headed in the direction I thought town was. As it turned out, I was right. The town wasn’t far away, and my own rental wasn’t very far from the secluded cabin. My problem arose when I realized along with my phone and headphones, my keys were nowhere to be found. Thankfully, they had my card on record and the rental office could give me a new one on the spot, so I wasn’t locked out of my apartment.
The entire time I spent cleaning up and selecting my clothes, my mind was focused almost entirely on Ivar. His hair was dark brown, and his eyes reminded me of the sea before a storm. If he wanted to, he could break me in every way that counted.
A man…relationships…all of that had seemed far off. Suddenly, I was facing the very person who the gods had selected for me. I’d witnessed his entire life, every painful moment and every elated high. However, I didn’t know him, and I certainly didn’t love him…not yet, anyways. Yet, I couldn’t deny the way he’d anchored himself to my mind the moment he’d rescued me and come crashing into my life.
As soon as I was washed up and thought I had managed to figure out what was what, I found myself heading right back to the cabin in the woods. It was off a dirt road, just outside of town. It didn’t appear to have many neighbors, but there were people near enough if you needed someone. As it turned out, I’d come to around eleven that morning, the morning after I’d had a run in with the lake. Thankfully, I didn’t have any obligations for the day. My counseling group wouldn’t meet for another day which meant I had all that time to get to know Ivar.
I wasn’t holding my breath on a relationship. I knew his heart had been spoken for and likely still was. I wouldn’t ask for it. But I could be a friend, be there for him in any way I could. If I couldn’t have any part of the man’s heart, then I’d take what I could get for now. With that in mind, I tried to ignore the way my heart began to pound when the sight of the cabin came into view. I sure as hell wasn’t going to admit my eyes were starved for the sight of him and scanned the side yard as I searched for him where he’d been when I’d left. Although, it was empty. A very real fear began to take root in the pit of my belly. What if he went back to the water? What if he’d left and didn’t want to be found?
4
Ivar
She’d come back.
I hadn’t thought she would. I’d even spent the better part of the day trying to prepare myself for that eventuality. What woman would want me? How could she? The world was a different place now than it had been when men like me took what we needed and provided for families with what we could gather from the land or kill with our hands. I had nothing to offer her. That didn’t stop my heart from pounding in my chest at the sight of her.
The shock of discovering my mate had only just begun to wear off. After the woman had lost consciousness with the vision, I’d brought her to my cabin, the one I’d built forty years prior. This land had held my land dwelling since the curse had taken hold with several homes having been built over the millennia. It was land I hoped to share with a family.
Though they were gone, this new woman brought all new possibilities. All of them felt like a betrayal to the life I’d had before. Had I truly paid for my sins? Was there hope for a life? I wanted to believe it, but my life had been a long series of contradictions to that notion. Despite all that, I gave myself a moment with her. Grabbing the blanket, I pulled it higher up her, tucking it closer to her chin. My fingers ached to run through the silken strands of her hair and then I wondered if it was as soft as I believed it was. The back of my hand grazed her cheek with a gentle caress and I couldn’t ignore how badly I wanted her to wake up and look at me with a fraction of the intensity I was feeling right then. It shook me to my core. I�
�d have given her anything she asked for in the moment and that realization scared the living shit out of me. Shooting up from the bed, I’d forced myself out the door, where I’d stayed.
Instead of hovering over her like I’d wanted to, I’d kept my distance while she’d been asleep. I’d convinced myself to stay the hell away from her. A mate wasn’t possible for a man like me. I tried to bring Ingrid’s face to the forefront of my thoughts and I couldn’t. I couldn’t even remember what she looked like anymore and it made me angrier. They’d been stolen from me and I’d spent a millennium hating the gods for it.
I watched as the woman—I still didn’t know her name, ventured around the yard. No matter how hard I tried to ignore her presence, I couldn’t help the way my eyes sought her out instinctually. Everything about her was mesmerizing. Her hips swayed perfectly as she walked. Breasts so ample that they’d fill my hands conjured thoughts so impure I’d have beat the shit out of myself if I’d been another man. My mate deserved more respect than that. Gods, she was stunning. This woman was their gift, their hope for a changed people and a better future. It did little to quell the turmoil within me, but she was intriguing. Her simple movements called to me like it was an alluring dance just for my viewing. She was tall compared to most women, muscular and curvaceous in all the right places. Her hair was dark and wavy as it blew around her shoulders on the wind.
“I didn’t think you’d come back,” I admitted from where I stood in the doorway, watching her.
She jumped, her face snapped toward me as soon as I spoke. My mate was beautiful, I couldn’t deny that. Her fine, high cheekbones made her look regal and fierce. My resolve was weakening as the drive to complete our mating took hold. Mating, that would be the only resolution to the problem. My cock strained against the harsh fabric of my pants as I thought about how I would take her and my guilt for considering it warred for power.
“I’m a woman of my word. If I said I’d come back, I will,” she answered, turning to face me.
One thing I’d noticed was that she didn’t willingly give anyone her back. It was strange seeing it come from her though. That was the type of thing I usually saw from my people, the warriors of the clan. We were the ones who’d seen Death. I’d stared the cold fucker right in the face and told him to suck my cock more than once. I knew that death came when you let weaker beings have your back, it seemed my mate knew this too.
She’s a strong one.
“What’s your name?” I asked, unwilling to let the imbalance of information keep us on uneven playing fields.
“Makenna James,” she answered proudly.
It was an unusual name, but it wasn’t bad either.
“I am Ivar Bjornson. You remember the vision, Makenna James? You’ve seen what I am? What my kind did to the witch and this land? I’ve killed men with my bare hands. Does that bother you?” I asked, knowing my challenge was a test.
I wouldn’t change the man I was for anyone. My past was my past and I wouldn’t hide it for anyone. If she would have me, she’d have to accept all of me or none.
“It doesn’t bother me as long as it doesn’t bother you that I’ve killed men too,” she replied with a shrug.
So, she was a warrior, like me. It all began to make sense.
The hollow ache of empathy gnawed within me for Makenna. Women had a place in battle among my people and the women who had gone to battle with me could cut down a man twice their size with half the effort. That didn’t mean that I didn’t feel for the burden I knew she must carry within her. It was one I was well familiar with myself. It made the nights long and the dark, darker still.
A stiff drink had once been the only thing that quieted the screams I could still hear when I laid awake at night. Those screams, they’d not returned since she’d touched the mate mark. No matter how impossible I thought finding a mate could be, I couldn’t deny the peaceful calm she’d brought with her…not around her, but inside me.
“Do you know how to throw an axe?” I asked, needing to find some middle ground while I figured out a way to traverse the murky waters with Makenna.
Her surprised face betrayed her inexperience. Makenna shook her head and her brows furrowed together like she hadn’t understood the question before laughing awkwardly.
“No, can’t say that I have,” she replied, her brows knitting together in bewilderment.
Shaking my head, I stepped down from the porch and strode toward her. Her eyes roamed over every inch of me as I came closer. Biting her lip, a coy grin began to upturn her mouth. It was the sexiest thing I’d seen in ages. Fuck, probably centuries. Lust coursed through me, urging me to take her right then and there, breaking the curse forever.
Like a damn animal. I was better than that.
She stepped aside when I reached her and followed behind when I headed for my target. I heard her stay back and wait as I fetched the axe from where it was stuck. The axe stuck out of the cut up, beaten board I’d fixed to the tree. It wouldn’t last much longer; however, it would hold for what I needed it to. My fingers wrapped around the smoothed, worn handle of the axe and with a sure, steady jerk, I hefted the tool from its perch.
I’d been wielding axes since I was strong enough to pick one up. Even on a battlefield, I’d brandished a beautiful double-bladed axe I’d forged myself. It wasn’t romantic. I wasn’t that type of man. I wouldn’t have even known where to begin wooing her if I were so inclined. But axes, that was something I knew. It was a start and if there wasn’t a spark between us, I would go back to the lake knowing it really had been a trick all along.
I had nothing else to lose by risking a chance on Makenna.
Walking back to her, I watched as she tugged a band from around her wrist and pulled her hair back, securing it with the band. She looked like she was all business, yet I didn’t miss the excited glint in her eyes and the ghost of a smile as I carried the axe back to her. It seemed Makenna James was the type of woman who liked to get her hands dirty. I liked that. A lot.
“Here,” I said, handing the axe over to her.
She didn’t flinch and groan like I half-expected her to when she took it from me. Then, she held the axe in front of her reverently and took me by surprise. Makenna looked me in the eyes and cut away all the bullshit with her candidness.
“I saw everything, but I think you might already know that. You’re an ace with the axe, I saw that too. But you don’t know much about me,” she pointed out shyly, chewing on that bottom lip like she had been before. “I’ve never thrown an axe before. Will you teach me how?”
I hadn’t known what I’d been expecting to talk to her about, or what I thought she would say, but that wasn’t it. Her big doe eyes were gazing at me, hopeful that I’d relent to her small request. I should’ve walked away and turned her down flat. That would’ve been the smart thing to do. No one would get hurt that way. No one could be hurt like the pain I’d caused my family and myself. I didn’t want to risk putting another person through this Hell. However, the nagging what-if remained. It was the loudest and clearest thought I could fully comprehend.
What if this really is my second chance? What if I’ve finally paid for my crimes and the Gods felt it fit to release me from my bondage?
“Why do you want me to teach you this? What use could you have for a skill like this in your soft world? I know this can’t be the reason you returned here today,” I deflected.
I could tell from the surprised expression on Makenna’s face she wasn’t anticipating my questioning of her.
“Honestly? I don’t have a reason to learn it. It’s a hobby for some people, but I’ve never been one of them. When I saw…what I saw…I knew how good you were with one and this is strange and new for both of us, I certainly have no clue what I’m doing or what happens next. You don’t have to teach me how if you don’t want to. I’m not here to make you do anything against your will. I was just hoping it would break the ice, so to speak, and get things rolling,” Makenna confessed, crossing her arms
over her chest defensively.
I’d noticed she did that whenever she became noticeably uncomfortable, which was often because she wore her feelings on her sleeve.
“I’m not saying forever right now, but I’d like the chance to get to talk to you and know you a little better. I hoped you would want the same thing,” she finished, snapping her mouth shut and looking away like she hadn’t meant for the last bit to slip out.
She didn’t know what to do, that was something I could understand and relate to. When she’d seen the mate mark right away and touched it before I could react, it had thrown every plan and thought I’d had about my life and this curse right out the window. I didn’t have a map anymore and we were aimless together, expected to figure it out just the two of us.
“I’ll give you what you ask for, but I can’t promise more. I’m afraid that part of me that would be yours to claim died a long time ago,” I explained resolutely.
I spoke my truth, ensuring that the woman would carry no false hopes about a future with me. We’d been cursed for a reason. Maybe it was better that we stayed that way.
“Then I guess I’ll take what I can get,” she replied, with an easy shrug. “So, how did you get as good as you are with an axe,” she asked timidly, filling the silent void to distract me from her discomfort.
People these days…no one understood the value of silence. It all had to be big, noisy, and flashy all the time. Two people can’t occupy the same confined space without the need to fill the silence with idle chatter. I’d watched how it had changed over the years. It wasn’t a trend I’d followed. Silence had been my companion for far longer than any being alive; it suited me.
Warrior’s Kiss- Mountain Mermaids Page 3
