Viking's Ransom (Viking Ancestors: Rise of the Dragon, #4)

by Purington, Sky

  “No, please.” She met his eyes. “If it’s all the same, I’d like to just sit...like this...with you.” She looked to the shelf of rock at the water’s edge. “Over there where I can feel the rain on my face.”

  Though it was impossible to tell what time it was because of the weather, it felt close to dark. As though there might be a vibrant sunset lurking beyond the storm clouds.

  “You want to...remain in my arms?” he murmured, his words as stunted as hers.

  “Yes.” She was sort of amazed herself considering she barely knew him. At least in this life. “If you don’t mind.”

  “I do not,” he said quickly enough to be flattering as he went to the edge, chanted aside his boots, then sat with his feet in the water. All the while, she stayed on his lap with Floyd curled up in hers. He seemed completely at ease as he lounged against her, and winked at Eirik every so often. She knew it was a natural eye twitch sort of thing for cats to do that, but she swore he did it on purpose. That he had found a friend in Eirik and was willing to keep any extra secrets he might have.

  “Floyd likes you as much as my other animals do,” she murmured, patting her cat as she looked to the sea rather than meet his eyes just yet. Not so close. Not so intimate. “Hell, he rode your shoulder while you fought.”

  “Yes, he did.” Eirik tucked her more securely against him. “It was a...different sort of experience.”

  “Yet you did it.” She couldn’t help a small chuckle as she did, at last, look at him. “No small thing for a dragon.”

  “No,” he agreed, as his lips turned up ever-so-slightly. “But he rode well and did not disturb me.”

  “I’m glad to hear it,” she murmured as their eyes held and she said things she couldn’t help but say. Technically, reiterated considering she had said something similar in the Cave Catacombs in regards to herself. But she meant it even more now. “I’m glad you can be near at least some people now without making them sick...and I’m glad you can be near me.”

  “Me too,” he said softly. “Though it is...challenging.”

  “I can imagine.”

  She couldn’t stop a small smile, overly aware of his arousal, which of course, fed into her own. Nonetheless, she did her best to set aside lust so they could talk because she truly wanted to. She wanted to know him better. Understand him. Because it was becoming more and more obvious based on the random flickers of quickly masked emotion in his eyes, that he was in desperate need of company. Not to say Hel hadn’t been there for him but still.

  “When did it begin?” she said softly. “When did you have to start putting distance between you and your family?”

  “I was around fourteen winter’s old.” His eyes drifted to the sea. “Sadly enough, it happened to my mother first, then my father, then so many more.” He sighed. “It was especially hard when it happened to Emily and Håkon. They started noticing it first in tight spaces, such as small caves and tunnels. It became even worse once the prophecy sparked and you and your sisters began traveling back.”

  “Yet now it looks like things might be changing,” she said. “Do you think that’s because Helheim and Midgard seem to be crossing over?”

  “Maybe,” he said softly as his eyes returned to hers. “I think it has more to do with you...us.”

  “You mean our past life?”

  “I mean our connection,” he said. “Either then or now.” He seemed almost hesitant before he brushed the pad of his thumb along her jawline. She didn’t miss the quickly repressed relief in his eyes that he could touch her despite the fact she was already sitting on his lap. “Though I said it to put another wall between us, I truly believe that the closer we grow, the more drawn the enemy is...Einnar.”

  “Because he’s part of whatever happened to us in our past life,” she said.

  “Yes.” Though he stiffened as Floyd crawled onto his shoulder and settled against his neck, he didn’t push him away.

  “It’s your fault for having such broad shoulders,” she teased.

  Though she had meant to defend her cat, it definitely sounded more like she was flirting.

  “The cat is fine,” he assured though his expression said otherwise. “He is protecting you, and I cannot fault him for that.”

  “Actually,” she mused, unable to stop another small grin as she eyed Floyd lounging against Eirik as though they were old chums. “I think he just genuinely likes you.”

  “Does he not fear my dragon then?” Eirik muttered before he clamped his mouth shut and shook his head. “Apologies, woman. This is...Floyd is a struggle for me.”

  “I know.” She kept on grinning and patted his knee. “But you’re doing great.”

  When he looked at her as though she was pressing her luck hoping he and her animals would become besties, she shrugged and felt obligated to remind him. “My time’s limited so if I wanna spend my final days watching my cat lovin’ on some tenth century Viking dragon, well, that’s my prerogative, wouldn’t you say?”

  “It is,” he agreed, his voice back to being bedroom soft. “As much as me not wanting you to go before I do this.”

  Before she could ask him what he meant, he did the last thing she saw coming.

  Chapter Twelve

  EIRIK KNEW HE should not but couldn’t help himself as he cupped Kenzie’s cheek and kissed her. At first, it was soft, sampling, then it became so much more as the taste of her crossed his lips. As her mouth melted beneath his, and their tongues found one another’s.

  When she twisted her hands in his jerkin and groaned, he wrapped his hand into her silky hair and lost himself. She was sweeter than anything he had ever tasted. Even more arousing than anticipated. So much so, that as their tongues tangled and he sank deeper into the bliss she offered, he nearly had her straddle him. He wanted to enjoy being with a woman like this, her like this. But before he could, he was ripped from bliss by a scratchy lick on his cheek.

  “Loki’s cock,” he growled as he pulled back and scowled at Floyd who licked his cheek one more time then proceeded to rub up against his neck.

  “Oh, he really likes you.” Kenzie chuckled and gave him an apologetic, flustered, wholly aroused look. “But trust me, if we were somewhere I knew was safe, he’d be shooed away by now.”

  He said nothing to that mainly because she made sense. This was no place for cats, and he had no way to ensure its safety. As it was, he had no way to ensure anyone’s safety. To make matters worse, here he was taking advantage of someone that he would not protect in the end but instead give to the enemy.

  “I’d say we were taking advantage of each other,” she murmured, catching those thoughts. “I wouldn’t have let you kiss me if I didn’t want you to.” She sighed as her eyes went to the sea. “But as a whole, I think your initial need to keep me at arm’s length was right because...”

  “Because,” he prompted when she trailed off, her eyes a little distant now.

  “It just is,” she whispered as she wiggled off his lap, and left his arms feeling so empty it caught him off guard. It was almost as if she had been in them for far longer. As though she belonged in them and nowhere else.

  Though she said nothing as she plodded to the bed, crawled onto it and curled into a ball, he knew the faraway look he had just seen in her eyes had to do with Vigdis’ words. Or more specifically, Skáld’s.

  The enemy had touched on something that affected her profoundly when he accused her of betraying his flight of dragons. When he said he would find her and take her back. Then the way he had looked at her stomach. The pure hatred. What did he mean he would never allow it again? Because her response implied she knew what he might be alluding to. But how was that possible considering they didn’t know the details of their previous life yet?

  While tempted to ask her, he felt she could use simple comfort far more than words right now. So he rested Floyd against her, covered her with a fur then simply lay beside her and held her. As he did, he realized it was as much for his benefit as hers. Just as it
had been when he held her on his lap. While his constant erection reminded him he wanted far more from her, his inner dragon seemed to understand that his human half was desperate for just this.

  Simple human contact and affection.

  Holding her like this, her back to his front, his arms wrapped around her until her breathing evened and she drifted off to sleep, was almost more profound than kissing her. Though he could do that again and again, this was untouchable. A first. He wasn’t alone in Helheim or even lying on the outskirts of his kins’ various holdings but right here on Midgard, holding a woman in his arms.

  Better yet a dragon.

  He thought of the various dreams he’d had of her over the past few years. He could never see her face but knew who she was. Knew she would come someday. That there was someone out there. Hope.

  And it had been Hel who first sensed it.

  “She will come someday,” she had murmured to him late one night. “And when she does, a whole new world will open up to you.”

  She never explained what she meant by that but tonight, holding Kenzie, kissing her, he was beginning to understand. Because a whole new world was opening up. A place he never knew existed. Endless possibilities.

  Until he had to let her go.

  “Maybe I do not want her to come,” he had murmured, as he held the goddess. He knew the feelings between them were not what they should be, that what they shared was merely good friendship, but it was hard to fathom not being with her. “Maybe I want to stay here with you...with our son once he is born.”

  He would never forget the way Hel stilled or the flicker of sadness in her eyes as they met his. Sadness he understood all too well now. Because even then she had known the great divide that would exist between him and their son. The epic distance they would face when they only wanted to be close.

  “You will be with him,” Kenzie whispered in her sleep as she cuddled back against him. “I’ll make sure of it.”

  While tempted to respond, he knew she was sound asleep and simply conversing with him in her dreams. Saying what he needed to hear. Because that’s who she was. A giver. Better yet, a savior. She was incapable of being anything else. She would, no matter how terrified, fly straight into the pits of their dragons' home world to ensure Dagr’s safety.

  And he would have to let her go.

  Or so he kept telling himself too many times to count as the night wore on and thunder rumbled. As her sleep deepened and she was lost to her dreams. Lost to him in a place where even his subconscious could not follow, which alarmed him. Mostly because for several hours her mind no longer brushed his. A mind, he realized, he was already used to. One he very much liked dusting his. It felt like it belonged there. Like it was a part of him that had been missing until now.

  At some point, he must have drifted off because when he opened his eyes, she had vanished. Then seconds later, she reappeared, sitting up in bed beside him, whispering to someone though he swore she still slept.

  “You look like your Aunt Emily.” There was a smile in her voice. “With that black hair and blue eyes. Has anyone ever told you that?”

  What was she talking about? Who was she talking to? But deep down he knew. Thunder cracked, and lightning flashed, lighting the darkened corners of the cave but nothing was there. At least not to the common eye. Yet he knew the truth.

  Someone was there.

  Someone only she could see.

  “No, you don’t look like a girl because you look like your aunt.” Kenzie chuckled, chatting away. “You’re very handsome. In fact, your face looks an awful lot like your dad’s.”

  He barely breathed as he sat up beside her, tempted to shake her out of whatever she was experiencing but at the same time wanting her to remain as she was. Where she was. To keep conversing with who could only be Dagr based on Floyd’s soldier-at-arms stance. The same position Pink had executed when she was guarding the land of the living.

  “Of course I think your dad’s handsome,” Kenzie exclaimed, her eyes alight in a way he could stare at forever. She was a stunning woman regardless but to see her genuinely happy like this only added to her beauty.

  “He what?” She crooked the corner of her mouth. “Seriously? His hair looked like that before?”

  He couldn’t help a small smile. Dagr must be talking about Eirik’s hair before he shaved it to help protect Shea on her adventure. Before that, it had been shaved on the sides then long, braided and pulled back down the middle.

  “Sounds daring,” she said, “and hot,” she thought to herself.

  That Eirik could suddenly hear her thoughts told him Kenzie was starting to sense his presence. That she was between worlds and slowly becoming more aware of this one.

  “I so agree,” she replied to something his son must have said, nodding as she looked to where Dagr evidently stood.

  How was this possible? In truth, it didn’t matter. Not right now. All that mattered was that she could see his son. That they were conversing.

  “I will tell him,” she vowed. “You know how much he misses you, right? How much he loves you?”

  Eirik looked from her to where she was staring wishing he could see what she could but grateful for her words. Thankful she was saying what he could not. Or at least that she could speak and get a response.

  “I'm sensing your dad,” she said softly. “His dragon.” She continued looking at Dagr affectionately. “So I think you and I are going to lose touch soon.”

  She listened to something he said before she nodded. “You got it. I’ll give him the message.”

  Then she promptly closed her eyes, laid back down and resumed breathing deeply, sound asleep.

  Though desperate to wake her and find out what happened, what Dagr had said, he just couldn’t bring himself to do it as her face smoothed into a peaceful slumber. Would she remember her conversation in the morning? Or would it slip away?

  His eyes went to where hers had just been, and he spoke to Dagr as he had been doing for years now. He spoke to someone he could not see but knew heard him. “I am glad you made contact with Kenzie, Son. She is a good person...a good friend.”

  He inhaled deeply, rested back against the crude wooden headboard and continued on as he had so many times before. Because though he only saw Dagr once a year, his son could see him anytime. He could hear him anytime. So he spent the remainder of the night and early morning talking to him about everything going on. Or the parts he thought necessary.

  Hel told him he should speak to their son of adult things because he was a demi-god and would understand even at a young age, but Eirik preferred to keep their relationship as normal as possible. To speak of things a father and son would. To make him as much a part of his life as he could. So he spoke of their tribe and people over the years. About day-to-day happenings in their village. He brought him as close to his kin as possible through words so that he might have a connection he would not have had otherwise.

  So that he knew he belonged.

  By the time pre-dawn lit the pale blue sky dappled by black-bellied clouds, Kenzie was curled up beside him again. Floyd had shifted and was now draped over the headboard sound asleep.

  Though he knew he should wake her so that they could get going, he couldn’t bring himself to do it just yet. He wanted to stay this way for as long as possible with her warmth against him. Her sweet scent all around him.

  As if she fully agreed, she inhaled deeply and nuzzled closer before she stilled then shot up in bed. Her eyes swept around the cave as she clearly tried to figure out where she was. What had happened.

  He touched her arm and spoke softly. “We are still in my lair, Kenzie. All is well.”

  She blinked a few times before her eyes met his in sudden alarm.

  “No, it’s not, Eirik.” She shook her head. “I shouldn’t have fallen back to sleep.” Her eyes widened on him. “We need to go back to Helheim.” She frowned and shook her head again. “No, not Helheim but Níðhöggr’s Realm.”

 
; He frowned, his heart in his throat considering his son had visited her last night. “Why? What’s happened?”

  “Us I think,” she whispered, her eyes concerned. “Whatever’s happening between us is bringing Midgard and Helheim closer together.” She swallowed hard. “Dagr sent a message, Eirik.” Her eyes met his, grave. “He says the veil between worlds is getting thinner and that Hel needs your help.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  “I CANNOT ACCESS Helheim,” Eirik growled between clenched teeth before he shook his head and tried again and again with no luck.

  She understood his distress because she felt it too. But she also got the sense that Dagr wasn’t in harm’s way quite yet. That Hel was staying one step ahead of Einnar, who seemed to be tracking both Kenzie and Dagr, which made his exact whereabouts unpredictable.

  “I think your son knows you can’t access Helheim,” she said. “That’s why he said we need to go to Níðhöggr’s Realm.” She gave him a pointed look. “Which means that’s where Hel’s heading.” If she knew what was good for her, she wouldn’t touch him but couldn’t help herself as she squeezed his hand in comfort. “He’s okay, Eirik. He didn’t reach out because he was in immediate danger but to let us know we need to get moving.”

  He nodded and sighed as he looked at the others, who had remained silent up to this point. “We must leave then.” His eyes narrowed on Magnus. “You cannot travel with us. I cannot afford to have my dragon magic drained.”

  “He is here because Hel wanted him here,” Vigdis reminded. “Do you not trust in your goddess then, dragon?”

  “I am returning to Skáld’s Domain,” Magnus said, his eyes narrowed on the sea. “Though not inclined to trust it yet, the weather seems to be changing at last.”

  Kenzie looked to the mini-breaks between dark clouds and frowned. “So the weather’s been crappy since the war began?”

  “Yes,” Leviathan said, pleased as he looked to the ocean. “But it seems we will soon sail once again. Fly above the waves once more.”