Chapter 60 Erik
Erik
Sleep proved impossible. Her chambers called to me. When I found her door unlocked, I didn't hesitate this time.
One look. One touch. That's all it took to ignite the powder keg of tension between us. We came together like a storm meeting sea, desperate and wild, with so much denial shattering like glass.
Steam rises beneath the bathing chamber door where she fled, her body still quaking from the wild release that had taken us both.
I recognized the shadow in her eyes—worry laced with fear, a wall erected against the intensity of what just passed between us.
But I won't let her run this time. My patience has reached its end.
Tonight, those walls she's built will come tumbling down, even if I have to tear them stone by stone.
After the battle with the frost giant, something shifted. She let me save her, let me in. Finally, she's seeing past her walls, recognizing what I am to her—not another warrior using her, but her equal, her mate.
The mead still burns through my veins, but not enough to blur the memory of Bryn's eyes across the feast table—steel wrapped in sorrow.
Odin's words echo: Follow your heart's desire, daughter.
My chest tightens. Let her desire be me.
I wait, sheets still warm from her skin, staring at the bathing chamber door. Each minute stretches like a century, my fingers drumming against silk. The beast in me paces, scenting a doe ready to flee.
I push up on my elbows, muscles coiled—
The door opens. Bryn emerges wrapped in silk, steam curling around her like a halo. My throat tightens.
"Come here." I extend my hand, the space between us suddenly unbearable. "Please?"
She approaches the bed slowly. At the edge, I stop her. "Naked."
A dangerous smile plays at her lips as she lets the silk pool at her feet. Moonlight caresses every perfect curve, and my mouth goes dry.
She slides beside me, and I pull her close, burying my face in her hair. Vanilla and lavender wrap around me—clean, fresh, but still uniquely her.
"Erik." Her voice trembles as she rolls to face me, platinum hair spilling across the pillow, her golden skin luminous in the candlelight. "I just—"
I move before she can finish, pinning her beneath me. I can't bear to hear the rejection in her voice, not after feeling her come apart in my arms, not after tasting her surrender. Her body was made for mine—every curve, every sigh, every tremor a testament to our connection.
The mating bond howls through my blood, demanding. To make her mine for eternity. But I hold back, muscles trembling with restraint. The choice must be hers—a willing surrender, not a forced submission.
"Look at me," I demand softly, catching her chin when she tries to turn away. "I feel your pulse racing, little bird. Your body still trembling from my touch. You can't deny this."
"It's not that simple." Her beautiful magical eyes shine with unshed tears, but that familiar warrior mask starts to slip into place. "I'm not meant for—"
"For what? Love? Connection?" I press my forehead to hers, letting her feel the tremors running through my body. "You think I'm not terrified too? Lifetimes of control shattered by one fierce Valkyrie who won't leave my thoughts."
Her hands push against my chest, but I capture them, pinning them beside her head. Our fingers intertwine automatically, betraying her body's instinct to connect with mine.
"Erik, please." Her voice breaks. "I'll only disappoint you. I'm not—"
"You're everything." I brush my lips across her jaw, feeling her shiver. "Every breath, every heartbeat screams for you. The way you fight, the way you love, that sass that drives me mad—it's all I want. All I need."
"But what if—"
"No more what-ifs." I roll my hips against hers, showing her how ready I am again, drawing a gasp. "Feel this. Feel us. Your body knows the truth your mind keeps fighting."
A tear escapes down her cheek. "I don't know how to do this. How to be..."
"Mine?" I kiss away the tear. "You already are. Just as I'm yours, we will figure it out together."
Her breath hitches as I trail kisses down her throat, tasting the salt of her uncertainty. "You've spent an eternity being the fierce one, the warrior. Let me be your shelter now."
"I don't need—" Her protest dissolves into a moan as I capture her nipple with my mouth, her back arching instinctively.
"No?" I raise my head, watching her pupils dilate. "Your body says different, little bird." My hand slides down her ribs, feeling goosebumps rise in its wake. "Every touch, every kiss—you bloom for me."
"That's... that's just physical." But her thighs part as my hand drifts lower, betraying her words.
I catch her mouth in a searing kiss, swallowing her gasp as my fingers find her still-sensitive flesh. "Physical?" I growl against her lips. "Is that what you call this connection burning between us? This need that consumes me every time you're near?"
Her nails dig into my shoulders as I circle slowly. "Erik—"
"I feel your heart racing." I press closer, letting her feel every hard line of my body. "Feel how you respond to my touch. Your warrior mask can't hide this, Bryn. Can't hide us."
A sob catches in her throat. "I'm scared."
"I know." I gently touch her, pressing soft kisses to her temples, cheeks, and trembling lips. "But I'm here. I'll always be here. Let me show you," I murmur against her collarbone, tasting the thunderstorm beneath her skin. "Let me prove how perfect we are together."
Her hands tangle in my hair as I worship down her body, mapping every curve with reverent kisses.
"I can't—" She arches as I find a sensitive spot. "I can't think when you do that."
"Then don't think." I raise my head, meeting those mystical eyes dark with need. "Feel, Bryn. Just feel."
My hand slides under her lower back, lifting her closer as I settle between her thighs. She's still slick from our earlier passion, her body ready despite her mind's protests. "Look at how your body welcomes mine."
"Erik—" Her voice breaks on my name as I align ourselves.
"Tell me you don't feel this." I push forward slowly, watching pleasure flutter across her features. "Tell me this isn't where you belong."
Her legs wrap around my waist instinctively, drawing me deeper. "I—gods—"
"Your body knows." I capture her mouth, swallowing her moans as I begin to move. "Your soul knows. Stop fighting what's meant to be."
Tears spill from her eyes even as she meets each thrust. "I don't know how to surrender."
"Then let me teach you." I brace on my forearms, caging her beneath me, making her look into my eyes. "Let me love you, fierce one. Let me in."
Her fingers trace the muscles of my chest, feeling each tremor. "I've never..." She swallows hard. "I've never let anyone this close."
"I know." I roll my hips slowly, drawing a whimper from her throat. "That's why this terrifies you. Because you feel it too—how deep this goes."
Her inner walls clench around me, her body's honest response making us both gasp. "What if I'm not enough?" The confession spills from her lips like a secret prayer. "What if—"
I silence her with a deep thrust that makes her eyes roll back. "Feel that? Feel how perfectly you take my cock?" My voice is rough with emotion. "You're everything. Everything I never knew I needed. You're more than enough, Bryn."
Her platinum hair spreads across the bed as she writhes beneath me. "Erik, please—"
"Please what, little bird?" I catch her wrists, pinning them above her head with one hand while the other cups her face. "Tell me what you need."
"I need—" Her words dissolve into a moan as I drive deeper.
"Tell me, Bryn." Forcing those eyes to meet mine. Her walls are crumbling, and I see everything she's tried to hide—the fear of abandonment, the weight of never being enough, the crushing loneliness of standing apart.
"Make me forget everything but this." Her words come out in a desperate rush, punctuated by gasps and soft cries. "Make me forget how to be afraid—how not to be lonely, or rejected."
Her confession shatters my defenses—this fierce Valkyrie finally revealing the wounds beneath her armor. Each word is a hard-won victory over pride, each truth a gift she's never given another.
I cradle her face, wiping tears she'd never let others see. Those mismatched eyes shine with raw vulnerability; her soul is bare beyond flesh. Her pain becomes mine—her father's rejection, lost wings, betrayed friendships, all the cruel weights she's carried alone.
"Look at me, Bryn," I demand softly, waiting until those eyes lock with mine. "You're mine." My hips snap forward, claiming her deeper, harder. "Do you hear me?" Each thrust punctuates the truth she keeps trying to deny. "Mine."
Her body trembles beneath me, pleasure and vulnerability warring on her face. "Show me," she whispers. "Show me what it means to be yours."
Her surrender makes my beast roar triumphantly. This fierce, magnificent creature is choosing me and finally accepting me. The ache in my chest is almost unbearable—eons of loneliness are about to end.
"Do you trust me, little bird?" I breathe against her throat, still moving inside her. "I promise I won't hurt you."
Her answer is simple: "Yes."
I trail kisses up her neck, my tongue finding her pulse point. My fangs descend of their own accord, and with infinite gentleness, I pierce her flesh. Bryn gasps as she clenches tighter, my cock aching inside her.
The taste that floods my mouth nearly undoes me—heaven and lightning, wild storms and ancient power—a sound between a growl and a groan tears from my throat. After years of bagged blood—no warm necks—this—her—is paradise.
Her essence is different from any blood I've tasted. Dani's blood has a sweet undertone of light—Bryn's blood tastes of winter winds and thunder, with notes of wild honey and storm-charged air. It's intoxicating, addictive, and perfect.