by S. T. Bende
“You cannot out-force me. Look at the difference in our masses. Think tactically, Kristia. What can you do that will debilitate me?”
My eyes widened. “You don’t want me to—”
“I want you to find a way to get me off you. Do what you have to do.”
I closed my eyes and raised a knee to his groin. Ull groaned and rolled off me.
“I’m so sorry! You said to—”
He raised a hand and waved at me, turning away.
“I’m sorry,” I repeated.
“That was good.” He rolled back with a grimace. “But if someone is bent on capturing you, they will come back for more. And quickly. Your next step should be to run.”
“If you want I can get some ice for—”
“Run, darling.” It was a threat. “Now.”
I jumped to my feet and took off down the beach. I ran just shy of the shoreline, where I was less likely to be slowed down by soft sand. The water lapped at my heels as I built up speed, pushing off the balls of my feet. A warm breeze caressed my bare skin and every cell in my body buzzed as if someone had turned on a light switch. Movement came so easily now.
Something hot hit me from behind, and I felt Ull’s arms curl protectively around me as he tackled me to the ground. We landed just inside the surf again, and this time the wave crashed over our heads. I sputtered as the water covered my face, wishing I’d had time to hold my breath. The saltwater burned my nose.
“You did not run fast enough, sweetheart.” Ull was on top of me again, and this time he wasn’t hovering. The full weight of his body pressed me into the sand. His legs were tangled up in mine, and his hands cradled the back of my head.
“I thought I did a pretty decent job,” I objected.
“And yet here we are. Again.” He brought his teeth to my throat and bit gently, making my insides churn. I threw my arm around his back and tried to wrench him off me, but he didn’t budge.
“Out-massed, remember darling?” He swirled a slow circle at the hollow of my neck with his tongue.
“I’m not kneeing you again. I want to enjoy my honeymoon, you know.”
I felt Ull’s smile against my neck. “Then think of something else.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.” I protested.
“You are the one who wanted to learn defense. So far we know you are not a fast runner and you have a mean left knee. That is not enough to help you in real combat.”
There was nothing that ruffled my feathers like a challenge. “Fine.”
I dug my fingernails into the flesh on his lower back and scratched a trail from his spine to his hip. He winced.
“That is a start. But for maximum impact dig your thumb here.” He covered my hand with his and placed my thumb just above his hipbone. “Angle your finger downward and jab.”
“I don’t want to hurt you—”
“Do it, Kristia.”
I dug my thumb beneath his bone and he doubled over. “That is good,” he groaned.
“I’m so sorry—”
“Stop being sorry. If push comes to shove, you are right: I want you to defend yourself. Now stand up. We need to work on your speed. I cannot have my wife being outrun by every dark elf in Svartalfheim.”
Chapter Five
BY THE END OF the day I’d nearly doubled my running speed. Ull kept his promise and made sure I could deflect a handful of common attacks, though he insisted that I’d never need to use any of it. He would protect me. Or my bodyguard would.
Visions of my imminent jailer danced in my head and I shoved them to the side. At least for now, Ull and I were completely and totally alone.
I relished every minute of it. Every night at dusk Ull would take me out to the beach. He’d made it his mission to teach me to dance. He worked his way through the old Norse folk dances, and then showed me steps that would have made Fred Astaire proud. One night we waltzed under the stars and the next we practiced the tango. I had to draw the line at the foxtrot—no sense pushing my coordination’s luck, though it was showing no sign of slowing down. And when Ull whipped out the Teton Mountain Stomp, I doubled over laughing.
“What is that?” I hooted.
“One of your folk dances.”
“We did that in fifth-grade gym class. I am not square dancing on my honeymoon.” I clutched my sides.
“Suit yourself. I was just trying to honor your heritage.”
“How about we do the awkward American junior high sway-and-turn?” I stopped laughing and pulled him close, resting my head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pressed his hand into the small of my back. I stared at moon reflecting off the ocean, bathing the beach in a soft glow, and I sighed contentedly.
“Sounds perfect. Or…” Ull paused. He moved his hands over my bottom and gave a gentle squeeze.
“Or?” Boy, howdy, I liked where this was going.
“Or I could show you how to make it snow.”
“Is that some kinky Asgardian phrase for something else?”
Ull let out a deep, guttural laugh that rang along the beach. “Well, it is now. But I meant it literally. Do you want me to show you how to make it snow?” Ull kept one hand firmly on my bottom and raised the other in front of his face. He waggled his fingers at me. “These things are magic.”
“Oh, I know they are.” I twirled a lock of his hair around my pinky. “Especially that thing you did this morning, when you—”
“That is not what I meant.” Ull did his best to look stern, but a grin broke across his face before he could stop himself. “You did seem to enjoy that.”
My eyebrows shot skyward. “Enjoy seems a bit of an understatement, considering that you could have heard my—”
“Do you want to learn the snow thing or not? Because I am having a change of heart.” Ull squeezed my backside again as his eyes glazed into an inky blue.
“Um…” I bit my lip. “How about you show me real fast, and then we can go with your Plan B.”
“Excellent.” Ull stepped back and held out one hand so his palm faced the sky. He took a breath and the inkiness drained from his eyes. “Sorry, sweetheart. This takes a lot of concentration, and it is easier if I do not touch that.” He nodded to my tush.
My insides warmed. “Fair enough.”
“We gave this a go back at the church. You did well enough—”
“I killed a squirrel,” I whispered. It had been mortifying. Right after our wedding, Ull had tried to teach me to channel my inner winter, and I’d ended up standing in my wedding gown in the middle of a courtyard, cocooning a squirrel in a sheet of ice.
“You did not kill the squirrel. You just…delayed its journey.”
“Because you unfroze it. Poor squirrel.” I closed my eyes.
“No matter. You understand the fundamentals: center yourself in the portion of your head that felt most affected when Odin activated your immortality. Channel the weather pattern you wish to affect, and draw it to the tips of your fingers. Like this.” Ull closed his eyes. He inhaled slowly and brought his fingertips together. After a moment he opened his eyes and lifted his hand, digits still touching. When his arm was at eye level, he opened his palm. A filmy fog circled in his hand. He blew gently and the fog raised four feet overhead. Ull turned his palm down, pointed at the swirl, and drew his hand back. The fog morphed into a thick cloud, and a layer of snow began to fall. It melted when it hit the ground, the moisture turning the moonlit sand from silver to dark tan.
I shook my head. “I can’t do that.”
“Yes you can.” Ull nodded at me. “Close your eyes. And draw your energy to that spot inside your brain.”
Hoping Ull didn’t see me cringe, I probed my brain for the spot Asgard’s Goddess of Wisdom and resident neurosurgeon had drilled with her ridiculously large needle. It was easy enough to find—it was the spot that felt like it had been battered with a searing-hot branding iron, then pummeled with a meat cleaver. My wedding day hadn’t been all sunshine and roses. But Ul
l didn’t need to know the extent of what I’d had to go through to become like him; it would only upset him. Besides, any pain I’d gone through had been more than worth it.
I’d gotten Ull.
“Are you centered?”
I took a moment. “Now I am.”
“Good. Picture whatever kind of weather you want to affect: snow, ice, hail, rain…whatever suits your mood. When you are ready, send that impulse out to your fingertips.”
I squeezed my eyes harder and moved the snow cloud through my body until my fingers felt cold. “I’m there.”
“Now open your eyes and blow the impulse into the air.”
After slowly exhaling I opened my eyes. A fluffy white cloud hovered in my palm. It looked exactly like the one I’d pictured, and for a moment I was so surprised, the cloud flickered in and out of focus.
“Do not lose your connection to it,” Ull cautioned. “If you allow yourself to be distracted it will disappear.”
“I’m trying. I just didn’t think it would actually be there.”
“You underestimate yourself, Kristia. You are capable of more than you know.” Ull crossed behind me. Now his breath was cool on my neck, and his hands were again cupping my behind.
“Thank you. But that is not helping me focus.” I nodded to the cloud, which was now practically transparent.
“Right. Sorry.” Ull stepped back. “Now let it go.”
I stared at my palm and brought my lips together in a loose O. With a gentle breath I pushed the cloud up until it hovered a few feet away. “Now what do I do?”
“Now you activate it.” Ull gestured with his finger and I copied the movement. A flurry of thick, white flakes fell from the cloud, melting on the sand next to Ull’s significantly prettier ones.
“My snowflakes look like drowned cotton balls.” It was hard not to sound dejected.
“But you made snowflakes,” Ull pointed out. “It is not easy to learn this skill, and you produced precipitation on your first attempt.”
“I nearly killed a squirrel on my first attempt,” I corrected. “This is take two.”
“Regardless, you have done well.” Ull clapped his hands together once, and our clouds disappeared. “Would you like to try again? Maybe something like this?” He took a breath, then sent a beam of ice onto the sand. He waved his hand in a circle until a small frozen pond appeared. “Fancy an ice skate?”
“Uh, no. Not the best idea for me.” Even with my newly enhanced agility, ice-skating would be pushing my luck. One did not simply forget nineteen years of sheer and utter lack of grace; not even when one became Goddess of Winter.
“Care to make a pond, then? Or are you scared of that too?” Ull crossed his arms.
He knew me so well. “Oh, it’s on.” I closed my eyes and drew all the cold I could muster to the tender spot in my brain. Then I pushed it to my fingertips. They felt cooler this time, almost uncomfortable. The feeling built until I couldn’t take it anymore, and I pushed my hand away from my body. “Ouch!”
My eyes flew open as sheets of ice shot from my fingertips. They coated the sand in a thick blanket, creating a frozen surface that was a tenth of the size of Ull’s. When the ice stopped flowing, I cupped my hand to my chest, rubbing to stop the burn.
“Darling.” Ull stepped in and raised my hand to his lips. He sucked each finger in turn, rolling his tongue across the pads until the pain was replaced by a much more pleasant sensation. “You did well.”
“Um…” My eyes rolled closed as Ull kissed my palm. “Was it supposed to hurt?”
“It has been a long time since I learned this skill, but I remember it being uncomfortable the first few times, ja. It will get easier with practice.” He sucked gently on the inside of my wrist. “Would you like to try again?”
I opened my eyes and watched his lips move against my skin. “Um…yes?”
Ull looked up from his ministrations with a raised brow. “Am I distracting you?”
“You know you are.” I pulled my arm away from his mouth and pointed a few feet away. “Maybe you’d better stand over there.”
“Whatever you like, darling.” Ull stepped aside and folded his arms. “Try the snow again. And ground yourself. The more firmly you are rooted to the earth, the easier it will be to channel the elements.”
“Easy as that, huh?” I closed my eyes and focused. This time when the cloud left my palm, it emitted thick, fluffy flakes. And once the sand was covered in fresh snow, my palm felt cool, but the burning sensation was gone.
“Very good Kristia,” Ull praised. “Again?”
I nodded and repeated the motions, this time sending a tiny blizzard that dusted the shore from Ull’s feet to the water’s edge.
“Well done.” Ull ran a hand through his hair. “Are you ready to retire for the evening?”
“Not quite. I want to try the ice thing again first.”
“Ah.” Ull crossed to my side and wrapped his arms around my waist. “As you saw, ice can be tricky. Try drawing your power from here.” He placed one hand on my stomach, just below my belly button. I shivered.
“Okay.”
“Now close your eyes,” Ull instructed. “Center your mind. And pull from this.” He pressed gently against my skin, and I jumped. A frozen stream flew from my palm to the sand, creating a tiny sheet of ice on contact.
“Woah,” I murmured.
“Mmm.” Ull rubbed his nose along the back of my neck. “Not bad. Care to try again?”
“Okay. But it’s kind of hard to focus when you’re doing that.”
“Right.” Ull stepped to the side and crossed his arms again. “I will behave. Go.”
Ignoring the insanely beautiful deity staring me down, I closed my eyes and focused on the spot in the middle of my brain. Then I pulled all the power I could manage from my center, and released the energy through my palm. When I opened my eyes, the tiny sheet of ice had grown to the size of a tennis court. It was nearly as big as the one Ull created.
“Kristia Myhr.” Ull slow-clapped his approval from two feet away. “I am impressed.”
“I kind of am too,” I admitted. “I was afraid I was going to freeze a crab or a seagull or something.”
“You understimate yourself.” Ull closed the distance between us and peppered a trail of feather-light kisses along my forearm. Where my skin had been cool just moments before, it suddenly felt like it was about to combust. “Now may we go inside to celebrate?” Ull used the tip of his tongue to draw a small circle on the inside of my elbow. My knees buckled, and he caught me in his arms.
“Mmm, yes please.”
“Your wish is my command.” Ull marched toward the house with determined strides. Now that his mouth wasn’t touching my flesh, my head began to clear. There was so much I still needed to learn if I was going to be of any use come Ragnarok. Maybe we shouldn’t be spending so much time…honeymooning. Maybe I was being selfish.
“Ull,” I ventured, hesitant to break the mood.
“Yes.” Ull didn’t stop walking. We were ten feet from the porch steps.
“Would you be up to another training session tomorrow? With weapons, maybe?”
The V between Ull’s brows popped and he skidded to a stop. “You ask this now?”
“I’m just worried. I’ve only just learned the weather thing. And I don’t know a whole lot about how to defend myself,” I hedged.
“You are doing fine. Your hand-to-hand training was more than sufficient. Besides, I thought we agreed that I would look after you.”
“We did. But you know me. Luck favors the prepared, right?”
Ull stared at the house. The French doors leading to the bedroom were mere feet away. “You are anxious.”
“A little,” I admitted. “I just feel like there’s some piece I’m missing, and when it finally comes together I’m afraid it’ll be too late.”
“Too late for what?” Ull rubbed his thumbs against my hips.
“I don’t know. That’s what’s bot
hering me. And until I figure it out, I want to make sure I’m doing everything I can to take care of our family.”
“It is not your job to take care of them.” Ull looked me square in the eye. “They will take care of you. You are brand new to all of this. Nobody is expecting you to jump in with both feet.”
“I am,” I countered. “It’s what I’ve done my whole life. I don’t go halfway on anything. It would make me feel better if I had at least one weapons lesson under my belt. Please?” I wrapped my arms around his neck and blinked up at him. Then I shifted in his arms so my bottom pressed lightly against his hips.
“Holy Helheim, Kristia. That is not fair.”
I pressed harder.
“Kristia!”
“Will you do it?” I asked.
Ull let out a low growl. “You know I will.”
“Thank you.” With a smile, I rested my cheek against his chest. His heart thudded steadily against my ear.
“One lesson. That is it. But you know it is going to cost you.”
Ull lifted me so I could wrap my legs around his waist. Then he dropped his head to my neck and made a series of bites that sent heat spiraling down my torso. My eyes rolled closed as the bites moved lower. When they reached the neckline of the dress Victoria had designed, I dug my fingernails into his neck. Ull ran his nose along the edge of the fabric, letting out a slow breath that made my skin feel like it had been raked with an electric prod. Every nerve ending was almost uncomfortably alert.
Ull slowly dragged his nose back and forth along the fabric until he came to rest at the low dip of the V-neck. He kissed the swollen flesh, then lifted his head to meet my hooded eyes. “You willing to pay, Mrs. Myhr?”
My nails grazed the top of Ull’s back, drawing small circles along his spine. “Name your price.”
Ull broke into a slow grin. His eyes moved from the French doors to the sand. “Faen,” he swore. “I am not going to make it.” He lowered me onto the sand with one hand, and ripped his shirt off with the other. Then he moved over me, so I could feel the heat coming off his chest in waves. Hot bejeebus…
He chuckled. “Name your price, eh?”
