"As long as you don't rain ash down on me. Or the Norns. I would upset them at your own peril."
"There is an issue of what to do with all the ash."
Walking over to the bed, Hel sat down on the edge and stroked across Balder's bare stomach, feeling the muscles contract underneath.
"Nanna is marrying that blacksmith," he said.
"Does that bother you?" Hel asked.
"Being thrown over for a human is never a balm for the pride."
"You were thrown over because you were in love with someone else."
"Well, if you insist on being practical," he said, tugging her back to bed.
"Do you regret how things turned out?"
"Not for a minute. I do regret that you have to leave me every time you come. Will you come tonight?"
"I don't know. You will simply have to wait and see," she teased.
"Leave me to worry what you do with young men at your beck and call."
Hel smiled. In fact, they had been little more than a nuisance most of the time. "If it makes you feel better, I offered them to serve Aegir. I am sure his daughters are amusing themselves with them."
"Good," Balder smiled. It did please him.
"Do you really feel threatened by a group of human younglings? Granted, they were very handsome." But woefully and tediously annoying.
"Of course not. I simply don't want you getting distracted if the journey here seems onerous."
It was Hel's turn to smile. "No one could outshine you, my darling. Now I must go."
"About Nanna, though," he said and Hel rolled her eyes. The last thing she wanted was to speak about Nanna. It was still a sore topic, even as the women essentially didn't feature in their lives now, with her new human family. "She has refused to take one of Idunn's apples, saying she will live a human life and then die as was always intended."
Blinking, Hel stared, completely uninterested.
"Which means she will eventually come to you," he filled in.
"And you wish me to not place her down in Nastrond?"
His hand snaked up her thigh, distracting her as he fully intended to. "I simply wish you would treat her as you would everyone else, and not to visit the past on her."
"Do you think me so spiteful?"
"You are spiteful."
For a moment, Hel was set to argue, but he was right and it would be ludicrous to disagree. The idea of torturing Nanna a little was perhaps appealing, just because she'd had what really belonged to Hel—and hadn't deserved him. "Fine," she conceded. "I won't torture your stupid former wife." Much. Maybe she would let her linger a little longer than usual before claiming her, hopefully in sheer agony. The woman deserved it for being insipid and incurably dull. Why Balder had ever taken her as his wife, Hel would never understand.
Giving him a kiss, she drew her hand out of his grip and stepped away. "Now, I really must go. I've got people to kill," she said lightly. If she didn't hurry, she would still be here when the sun came up. Brilliant sunshine and summer insects were not pleasant when you were the goddess of death.
"Be nice," Balder called as she walked out of the room.
"When am I not nice?"
"Every moment of the day."
"Like when I do that thing I do with my tongue?"
"You are the nicest person that ever walked the world, and I love you," he said with a broad smile, tucking his hands behind his head.
With a smile, she blew him a kiss and left before he truly did distract her.
The End
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Other books by Camille Oster
Dark Court: The Summons - With her husband’s death, Ashra must represent the Greve family and her son’s interest at the court of the conqueror who had invaded her lands and enslaved her people. Not all want to see her their midst and will do everything in their power to see her fall. Roisen Lorcan is one who isn’t known for his love of the conquered Solmnite people and his eyes are firmly on the Greve lands, and the opportunity to strip them off her.
In the nest full of vipers that is Raufager’s court, Ashra must fight for her son’s future and inheritance, while keeping the predators from their door. The liege likes to keep his lords and ladies close and distracted by vicious court games, where survival is never guaranteed. Still grieving for her beautiful husband, Ashra she must learn to play their games better than all the others, and avoid the clouded fate that befell him.
https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Court-summons-Camille-Oster-ebook/dp/B01MY8II9B/
The Haunting of Hawke’s Moor – A Victornian Paranormal Gothic Romance - Victorian London shows little mercy when divorce leaves Anne Kinelly destitute and abandoned by her husband. Her bleak future is avoided when the merciful actions of her solicitor results in a stroke of luck, finding a house forgotten and left in probate by previous generations. The desolate moors of Yorkshire is to be her home as she tries to revive an abandoned house where the wind whispers around the window sills. Before long, Anne discovers that the warnings given to her by the people in the area may be more than the superstitious nonsense. As the brutal history of the house and its founder, Richard Hawke, reveals itself, Anne discovers that there may be more entities in the house than just herself and her maid.
https://www.amazon.com/Haunting-Hawkes-Moor-paranormal-romance/dp/1521417016/
Unrequited - Not everyone deserves love. For some, love comes unwillingly and refuses to stay, leaving devastation in its wake. The Chartrices own the demonic Parisian underworld and they rule with an iron grip, destroying everything that stands in their way. Brothers Castran and Tarquin, and father Adaeus, are ruthless and supremely equipped to force their will, stamping out any dissent with cold efficiency. Some see them as villains, but their rule keeps order.
But there are some things strength cannot overcome, especially the unbidden emotions that promise more than a life of single-minded determination and isolation. A glimpse of something more, something soft, can undo the coldest of hearts. Still, a villain is a villain, and the fates are cruel.
Three interlinking stories trace the effects of the most insidious of enemies, love, on a family that allows no weakness.
https://www.amazon.com/Unrequited-Camille-Oster-ebook/dp/B01ANE6C8G/
Sequence Effect - Gwennie Elders doesn't regret for a moment the debt she took on to extend her grandmother's life, but when running into trouble with repayments she had to resort to drastic actions to save her family's business and apartment. It would only be a year of her life and she'd be unconscious throughout--to awaken debt-free and able to resume her life as a baker on the city's ground level, hemmed in by the towers where the wealthy and privileged lived. But there are no easy and options, and although she emerges from her servitude debt-free, her family's business and her means of support fleeted away while she was asleep, forcing her to seek a means to support herself in the coming war.
https://www.amazon.com/Sequence-Effect-Camille-Oster-ebook/dp/B00JPBBZM2/
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