Chapter Eleven
A twitch awoke Elle. She opened her eyes, and Thor twitched again. She looked at his still-sleeping face, twisted in anger. For a moment, he didn’t move, and then he shouted and swung wildly. Elle scrambled out of the way.
"Thor?"
He struck out again, rolled over, and fell out of the bed, hitting the floor with a thump.
"Thor!" Elle ran around the bed.
Thor jumped to his feet, his body in a tense, defensive stance. He peered at her through the darkness like he couldn't place her.
"Thor, it's... It's Elle. Remember?"
He said her name uncertainly and blinked several times before relaxing. "Elle. I'm... I'm so sorry."
"Are you okay?" She took a tentative step toward him but stopped.
He stood for a minute gathering himself, blew out a long breath, and sat on the edge of the bed. She waited before sitting next to him.
He hung his head in his hands. She wanted to reach out to him but wasn't sure he wanted her to.
Finally, he looked at her. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"
"No. Are you okay, though?"
He hung his head again. "It's been thousands of years, and still I suffer from nightmares."
"Of what?"
"Everything. The wars. The executions. The fighting. Just... all of it."
"But you're a hero."
He snorted. "Like they said, I ate my goats all the time?"
"You don't see yourself as a hero?"
"I did what I had to do to save my people and my family. But in the end... it was all destroyed anyway."
Elle's stomach squeezed. "Ragnarok."
Thor nodded. "No matter what I did. No matter how many realms I took. No matter how many battles I won, in the end, we lost everything anyway."
"But that was so long ago. Now you've made a new home for yourself and your family."
"But the remaining Asgardians were displaced. Many died. Some ended up here. Others in other realms. But it's not the same."
"Your people are in Valhalla. Paradise. Being cared for by virgins, fed meat and ale until they are content every day."
"In theory, that sounds wonderful, but after a thousand years or more, you start to go stir crazy. At least I did. The peace felt... fake. Forced. In the end, my family and I couldn't handle it."
"So that's why you all went to Helheim."
He nodded. "It was my father's idea, and to be honest, I've never seen him happier.
I've never seen anyone in my family happier.
Even in Valhalla, we were forced to mitigate any problems. But here.
Here we are only responsible for ourselves.
It's the first time I've been free to be myself in my entire life. "
"That's a good thing then, right?" She smiled at him. "Maybe Ragnarok was a blessing."
He stared at her for a moment. "Why did you come to Midgard?"
Elle chewed the inside of her lip. "My... father wanted me to marry a man not of my choosing."
"Why didn't you say no?"
She chuckled, humorlessly. "Where I come from, women don't say no."
"So, you ran?"
She nodded.
"Do you miss it?"
"No," she said too quickly. "I mean... back home, I wasn't allowed to do anything, but here, like you, I am finally free to do what I want.
If I want to eat, I eat. If I want to sleep, I sleep.
No one tells me when or what to do. No one hits me for looking them in the eye.
No one grabs me for voicing my opinion. No one kicks at me to watch me flinch, so they can laugh. "
Thor stared at her with those flashing lightning eyes. "Tell me where you are from, and I will again become the hero people once thought I was, and I'll kill them all for daring to breathe the same air you used to."
She didn't need to ask if he jested. The ice in his voice and in his eyes said he meant it.
Elle swallowed hard. "Thank you, but no. I like who you are now. I'd hate to add to the nightmares by making you do something no longer in your nature."
Thor raised his hand and cupped her cheek. "You are too good for me, Elle. I don't deserve you."
She pulled from his reach. "Don't say that. It isn't true. You don't know me. You don't know who I really am."
He pulled her face back to his. "I know everything I need to. As you said, I'm not the person I used to be. I don't care where you came from. I don't care who you used to be. I'll never let anyone hurt you again, if you'll let me."
Elle's heart fluttered. How had it happened? How had she gotten so attached to him in such a short amount of time? She didn't care. In that moment, she wanted nothing more than to lie in Thor's muscular protective arms for the rest of her life.
"I think I'd like that."
Thor pulled her into his arms, and they lay back on the bed.
She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath before beginning to sing.
Thor's breathing stilled for a moment, and she laid her hand on his chest and continued.
His warm hands roamed her body, and as soon as she finished her song, his lips found hers again.
"Elle, you become more beautiful to me with every passing second."
He kissed her hard.
They made love several more times before falling back to sleep as the sun began to rise.
* * *
Thor awakened to a knock on the door. He rolled over to find Elle already dressed in her uniform, shoes in hand. She walked to the door and opened it a crack.
She spoke in hushed tones to someone on the other side, then closed the door. After a minute, she turned back and spotted him.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I tried not to wake you. You didn’t sleep well, and I wanted you to be able to sleep in."
"To be honest, I don't sleep much. To me, this is sleeping in."
She gave him a quizzical expression. "How sad. One of the things I've loved the most since I've been here is sleeping."
He chuckled. "When you're as old as I am, you will find sleep to be more necessity, less luxury."
"Well, for now, I'll take my luxuries where I can." She smiled and sat at the table to put on her shoes.
"You headed to work?"
She nodded. "Not as long as yesterday, but I do have a six-hour shift."
He didn’t like the idea of her working around the rowdy Midgardians. He wanted to tell her to stop and let him take care of her. But she needed to stand on her own two feet. Needed to learn to be her own person, and he couldn’t selfishly take that from her because he wanted to protect her.
"You're gonna be off in time to go to my dad's family dinner, right?"
She stopped tying her shoes. "Are you sure you want me there? I mean, it is a family thing."
"Of course, I want you there. If for nothing else, then to distract my family from pestering me with questions about how I'm doing."
Her lips twisted into a wry smile. "Oh, so you're using me as a diversion?"
"My father, brothers, and cousins were never able to resist a pretty face."
She cocked an eyebrow. "What about you?"
Thor smiled. "Luckily, I have you, and I don't have to resist."
She chuckled and crossed to the bed. He swung his legs over the edge and pulled her to him. The scent of her clean hair enveloped him as he kissed her. He didn’t want her to go. Didn’t want her away from him. Wanted to take her down to his place and keep her there forever by his side.
He kissed her, and she raked her hands through his long hair and leaned into him. A sharp knock sounded on the door, and she groaned and broke away.
“I need to go.”
“Stay.” He couldn’t hold the plea from his voice.
Her brow creased, and she bit her lip.
No. That wasn’t right. She needed her independence. He had to let her have it.
“It’s okay, Beautiful. You go to work, I’ll see you tonight.”
“Are you sure?”
He nodded and then kissed her again. “I don’t want to make you late.”
She smiled. “You would be worth it.”
Thor spent the day working on his dad's bike. Time flew, and before he realized it, it was time to pick up Elle. He'd not looked forward to something in so long that the sensation left him anxious.
Anxious? He'd never been anxious. Not before battle, not before ceremonies, not before anything.
But somehow introducing Elle to his family made him anxious.
Not because he was afraid they wouldn't like her, how could they not?
But because he was afraid they would do something to scare her off.
And he would do anything, go anywhere to keep her. Even if it meant leaving his family.
Thor walked through the portal to Midgard and jogged up the stairs. Heimdall nodded to him as Thor headed to the lofts. When he got to Elle's door, he found it open.
"I'm telling you, this isn't a good idea," said someone.
"Why?" Elle asked. "Thor and his entire family will be there."
"Exactly."
"I can't be safer anywhere in Helheim than with the entire family of Norse gods."
"That's not what I mean."
"I can't be afraid forever, Val. You brought me here to have a life. That's what I'm doing. Would you rather I fell for a Helborn or something else?"
"Of course not, it's just-"
"What? You're going too."
Thor knocked on the door, and it swung inward.
Val turned to him. Both she and Elle wore beautiful, expensive dresses and heels.
Elle's red hair had been pulled off her neck, and her crimson dress showed off her flawless peachy skin.
It hung off her shoulders and swathed her curves in satiny sumptuousness.
Maybe they could skip the family dinner. He wasn’t totally sure he wanted his brothers to see her looking like that. It had been a long time since he’d had to fight his brothers; it would be a shame to have to hurt one of them tonight to keep them off her.
Val eyed him for a moment and then strode from the room, stomped down the hall, and disappeared down the stairs.
"She doesn't like me," Thor said. "I'm not used to that."
"Don't take it too hard. She doesn't like anyone."
He wondered what made her angry. Had she been through the same things Elle had?
"Are you ready?" Elle asked.
Thor nodded.
She walked to the door, and he bent in and kissed her cheek. "You look amazing."
She smiled. "Thank you. I wasn't sure if it was too much."