Never-ending.
As ripple upon ripple of pleasure continued to pulse through her, she turned her nose into the crook of his neck and inhaled deeply. He smelled spicy, masculine…taken.
By her.
When her eyes drifted over his shoulder, she froze. What appeared to be ghosts were everywhere. Warriors and animals alike.
“Heidrek,” she whispered into his mind. “What’s going on? Are you in trouble?”
Though clearly reluctant, he pulled away but kept her close as he looked around. “No, I am not in trouble,” he said softly. “They are the Fianna, Fionn Mac Cumhail’s warriors. The animals are his creatures.” His eyes met hers with pride. “They are here for you.”
“Me?” Her brows perked as she eyed them with wonder.
“Yes, you have embraced your godliness, woman.” His hand slid into hers. “Acknowledge them and they will forever be there for you in times of need. They are as much under your control as they are Fionn’s.”
Cybil eyed the rows of tall, muscled wraith-like warriors lined up around the cave as well as the deer, squirrels, wolves, and other various creatures. She shook her head, overwhelmed.
“Simply thank them, Cybil,” Heidrek said into her mind. “All the gods and those of their ilk are to be acknowledged and thanked. That’s all they expect. Nothing more.”
She found that hard to believe but trusted him. Still… “I’m naked and about to thank a roomful of ghostly god…people,” she muttered and wrapped her arms over her chest.
“They are not susceptible to Earthly desires.” There was an edge of humor to Heidrek’s voice as he eyed her. “Regrettably.”
She scowled but felt a little lighter because he was still here…that he seemed to be okay after sleeping with her. But now wasn’t the time to ponder that.
She eyed the ghosts, nodded and took Heidrek’s advice. “Thank you for being here…thank you for supporting me.”
The warriors dropped to their knees and lowered their heads as the animals pranced. Then they vanished and everything stopped. The thunder, lightning, even the ground stopped trembling. She couldn’t stop grinning as her eyes slid to Heidrek.
A small smile hovered on his lips as well. “You have done well, Cybil. I am very impressed.”
She bit back a wider smile as her eyes fell to his renewed arousal. “So what exactly are you impressed by?”
He eyed her for a long moment, his expression growing serious. “You have pulled everything inside me to the surface…everything inside you. We are more than we thought.” A wicked gleam entered his eyes as he pulled her onto his lap. “And you are the true power.” His voice lowered. “You are every inch a queen.”
She tensed at the word queen. Not because he was set to become a king and what he might be implying but because she had spent her life keeping a low profile. It went against her grain to be put in the spotlight.
So she redirected the conversation as her eyes trailed over his strong neck. “It isn’t fading.” Her eyes met his. “Your dragon tattoo is still there.”
“Yes.” He slowly wrapped a lock of her hair around his finger. “And it will not vanish now because of you.”
“I don’t understand what,” she started, but her voice caught when his arousal jerked against her backside in anticipation.
He slid his hand into her hair and tilted her head back. Not rough but gentle and firm in a way that had her squirming as he shifted and brought her beneath him. She stilled, caught in the feel of his body and the way his lips hovered centimeters from hers.
“I am going to take you again, Cybil,” he whispered.
No, not now, she needed answers. Yet she couldn’t seem to find it in her to seek them. Instead, she spread her legs willingly before his lips were on hers again.
They both groaned as he rubbed his erection against her swollen cleft, only heightening her need. Screw everything that didn’t make sense if she could have him again…and again. The whole damn world and everything scary in it could go to hell for all she cared.
“Heidrek,” Kjar’s voice echoed through her mind. “Cybil.”
“No,” Heidrek whispered and kissed her hard. She moved against him, more than ready to pick up where they left off.
“Heidrek.”
This time, Kjar didn’t speak within the mind but nearby. Cybil pulled her lips from Heidrek’s and closed her eyes. “Please tell me he’s not watching us.”
“What, Uncle?” Heidrek ground out. Within seconds, she felt the weight of clothing as he pulled away, miraculously dressed as well in a sleeveless tunic and leather pants.
“Something has happened.” Kjar’s voice grew soft and alarming. Yet she never could have anticipated his next words.
“One of your kin has died, Heidrek.”
Chapter Nine
HEIDREK COULD NOT make sense of anything as he knelt over Bjorn’s lifeless corpse. All he wanted was his closest friend back. Svala was sobbing with her cheek pressed against her brother’s chest.
Dragons didn’t die.
Not his dragons.
Ever.
And certainly not Bjorn.
Never Bjorn.
Kjar rested a hand on Heidrek’s shoulder. “Thor is with you now, Nephew. Perhaps you can bring him back.”
Heidrek closed his eyes and shook his head. Godliness or not, he didn’t have that kind of power. At least not yet. The only person he knew who could resurrect was Jackie.
He tried to reach Bjorn telepathically, but nothing happened. All that Cybil had pulled from Heidrek wasn’t part of this…part of the veil between life and death.
Cybil fell to her knees on the other side of Bjorn and touched him as well, hoping that whatever they had found, her new godliness, could fix this. Maybe she could resurrect now. But no. Her eyes met his, pained as she whispered, “I’m sorry. I have no idea how to…let me keep trying.”
Heidrek frowned and met Kjar’s eyes. “We need Jackie. She is the only one who can help.”
“I’m not sure I can get her here,” Kjar rumbled. “Or that it is a good idea.”
“You must try,” Heidrek insisted. “I need Jackie.”
“You mean Bjorn needs Jackie,” Cybil murmured, still trying to help his cousin.
Kjar’s frown deepened and he shook his head before he started chanting. Heidrek knew that after Erin and Ronan returned to Scotland, great magic was used to separate them from Scandinavia. Whatever was after the Viking dragons was remarkably evil. So what Kjar did now tapped into his god, Heimdall, in a whole new way.
A dangerous way for all parties involved.
Moments later, bright light flashed, and Jackie staggered forward then fell to her knees. Heidrek was by her side in an instant, catching her before she fell flat on her face.
Totally confused, she grabbed onto him, her eyes round as they met his. “Heidrek?”
“Yes.” He expected to feel that same punch to the gut he always felt around her, but it wasn’t like that at all. No, he had far greater concerns. “You are safe. All is well.”
She blinked, trying to ground herself. “Where am I?” She frowned. “I was with Darach a second ago.”
“I am sorry.” He looked at Bjorn’s lifeless body. “We need your help.”
Jackie’s eyes shot to Bjorn, and she froze before she shook her head. “Oh God no, not Bjorn.” When she headed his way, Svala hissed, but Jackie whacked her away as she crouched beside Bjorn’s head, her voice low as she touched him. “Everyone move away. Right now.”
Everybody stepped back as Jackie closed her eyes.
Heidrek kept his gaze trained on Bjorn’s face. Please let this work. Please allow Jackie to resurrect him. Because if she could not, he would never forgive the gods. Ever. Whether he was related to them or not.
Suddenly Bjorn’s body jerked.
Jackie kept comforting hands on him and leaned close, whispering in his ear. Bjorn gasped then drew in air before his hands clenched.
He was alive.
Heidrek’s eyes went to Jackie. She had done it yet again. Brought someone back to life. And he was never more thankful. Her eyes met his as a tear trickled down her cheek and she smiled. “He’s okay. He’s back.”
“Thank you.” He clasped Bjorn’s shoulder and leaned close. “How do you feel, Cousin?”
Bjorn blinked and shook his head as he frowned and murmured, “Confused. Where am I?”
“Worry about that later.” Kjar placed a hand on him. “For now, rest, Nephew.”
His cousin tried to respond but beneath the demi-god’s magic, it came out as a mumble before he drifted off. Heidrek pressed his forehead against Bjorn’s, murmured a prayer of thanks, then stood. When Jackie sat back, clearly exhausted from whatever magic she had used and by being yanked through time by Kjar, Heidrek scooped her up.
“Good to see you, my friend,” she whispered. “I never thought I would again.”
Then she promptly fell asleep.
He intended to sit and hold her until she awoke but saw the look on Kjar’s face. Better yet, the fact that Cybil was no longer here. He frowned and eyed his uncle, caught between the elation of saving his cousin and sensing trouble he wasn’t familiar with.
“Your men have hunted and are cooking now.” Kjar held out his arms. “Give me Jackie. I will care for her while you…” his uncle pressed his lips together, “while you thank another woman who tried her best to save your cousin.”
Heidrek looked at Jackie. “She did so much.”
Now Kjar downright scowled. “As did another.” He took Jackie. “See straight, boy, and move past your lust for this one.”
The word ‘lust’ jolted Heidrek and his eyes widened. “I do not lust after Jackie. Not anymore.”
“Cybil doesn’t know that.” Kjar’s eyes met his. “And I’m not sure I do either.”
Heidrek frowned, his eyes going from Kjar to Jackie. “You do not really believe that, do you, Uncle?”
“Perhaps.” Kjar’s voice remained firm. “Did you not lie with Cybil to pull out not only your own powers but hers? And when your kin was lost to us, your mind could only focus on getting Jackie here rather than coaching Cybil to embrace her new powers.”
“I lay with Cybil for more than that,” he began, but Kjar shook his head and interrupted.
“You only coupled with Cybil to save your kin.” He turned and walked away, throwing over his shoulder. “Or so she likely assumes.”
Nothing was further from the truth. He had wanted Cybil the moment he connected with her in Maine, from the moment he felt her essence. Yet somehow Kjar’s words haunted him. He had been convinced Jackie was his type of woman. Soft-spoken. Tempered. Yet Cybil was nothing like her.
No, she ran more rebellious.
A dare-devil.
Cybil wasn’t soft-spoken or tempered. She was insightful yet wild. She embraced creativity then challenged it.
Images flashed through his mind of her fighting on the shore. In all his long years of battling, he had never seen anything like it. She spun, ducked, twirled and became something far beyond magic when she fought. He remembered when she clasped the throat of the man kneeling at her feet.
She wanted that moment.
What made it more intense was that she wanted that moment because the man was of the tribe that killed Heidrek’s sister. Her every thought was of revenge and vengeance. He had never been so mesmerized. So dumbfounded.
She was a true warrior.
His warrior.
He found her sitting with her back to the wall and her eyes trained on the pool they had so recently been in. Her gaze never left the water when she said, “Bjorn will be okay, right?”
“He will.”
“Good.” When he headed her way, she shook her head, voice soft. “I gave you what you needed, Heidrek. Let me know when we’re on the move again.”
“You misunderstand,” he started, but she cut him off, her voice still alarmingly soft.
“I misunderstand nothing.” Her eyes met his, emotionless. “It’s been a rough day. We’re all tired.”
Fire flared beneath his skin, and he wanted to close the distance. She belonged to him in a way he barely understood. In a way she did not understand. Yet the look in her eyes was damning.
“You think I love Jackie,” he said softly.
“I know you do.”
He wanted to pull her into his arms and deny it, but he would be lying. He did love Jackie…didn’t he? At least he had a few short months ago, and it was hard to believe something so intense could fade so fast. Yet when he saw her again, it was different.
Everything had changed.
Confused, not used to dealing with this type of thing, his eyes stayed locked on Cybil. He was surprised to find her mind closed off to him. He should sense everything she was feeling, but no. It seemed she now had the ability to shut her mind off to him.
And he did not like it one damn bit.
The truth was he did not love Jackie.
Not anymore.
Frustrated and unable to voice his emotions, he said, “Thank you for trying to save Bjorn,” then gestured to the satchel. “There is a blanket in there. You should come eat soon.” Then he strode away.
Not far but far enough.
Heidrek slid down against a wall and stared at the waterfall. Only now did he realize how out of control things still were. He might be in better possession of his powers, but he couldn’t seem to focus on that fact in the least. All he could think about was how much he wanted Cybil again.
And again.
The feel of her, the taste. The sounds she made, the way she blew apart.
He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the rock, thinking about what Kjar had said. That Heidrek used Cybil to tap into their powers. But the demi-god knew he’d had no other choice. It had to happen. And it did. Yet he felt a niggle of guilt. Had Cybil become not a woman to him, but a conduit of his own curiosity?
No. He shook his head. She was very much a woman and a beautiful one at that. She knew why they needed to couple. The reasons were plain and simple. But it was more than that. They had both wanted it. Damn, did they want it. They’d made more than music, hell, they had moved the heavens. Literally.
He ran a hand through his hair and frowned. Was there love between them? He may have felt love for Jackie, but now he wondered if it wasn’t an illusion. Because he knew deep down, she couldn’t be his in the end. Not with the timeless connection between the MacLomains and Brouns.
Yet part of what he felt had to be real or else the magic of the tapestry would not have worked. He would not have had the power to trap the Celtic gods.
But love...
Though Naðr was lucky to find love with Megan, Heidrek always wondered. It seemed too good to be true…too easy. He envisioned a more realistic picture for himself, especially once he learned he was more than human.
That’s when he knew he wanted something different.
Though he appreciated what his father and Veronica had found in each other, he wanted a purer definition of it. He wanted to see love then take it. Be aggressive and assertive and have control over it so that he didn’t fall into the sort of unstable relationship his father and birth mother had shared.
He didn’t want to share love with a woman and have her turn against him. So if he could control love, he could direct it. And if he could direct it, it would be his forever.
But life didn’t work that way.
Heidrek knew from a young age but still struggled with the idea that he might be able to manipulate things. Emotions. That he could keep the pain of loss away. He rested his arms on bent legs and held his head in his hands, wondering if he’d ever make it out of this confusing maze he consistently dragged himself into.
“I’ve decided avoiding each other isn’t going to do much good,” came a soft voice before Cybil sat down next to him and handed him a chunk of meat and a skin. “Not if we intend to protect our families.”
Heidrek murmured, “Th
ank you,” before he took a few gulps of mead and eyed her. “I am sorry if I hurt you, Cybil. My thoughts were only on saving Bjorn. I did not mean to…”
When he trailed off, not sure how to phrase things, her eyes met his. “I know. And I get it. I would’ve done the same thing.” She sighed. “And I shouldn’t have been jealous. I’m not the sort to run jealous, and I don’t like it. So I’ve decided not to.”
Her eyes went to the waterfall. “Sleeping together to ignite our powers was the right thing to do for our families, but it doesn’t need to go beyond that, Heidrek. I think it’s probably best that it doesn’t so that we can keep our minds clear.”
While he appreciated her logic, he rebelled against the idea of not having her again. “My mind is clear enough, woman.”
But it wasn’t. Not at all.
“No, it isn’t.” Her eyes returned to his. “I didn’t mean to intrude, but when you walked away, I opened our connection again…so I know what you were thinking.”
Heidrek was surprised that she had the ability to shut off and reconnect their minds without him even knowing. It said much about her new powers. And he wasn’t sure he liked it. If for no other reason than that it was harder to protect her when he couldn’t follow her thoughts. “Please do not shut me out again, Cybil.”
“I’ll try not to,” she said softly, her eyes still on his. “I’m sorry about…the things that happened to you when you were a kid. That your real mom was awful.”
“I am long past that,” he said with as much conviction as he could muster.
Cybil said nothing but chewed her meat and turned her eyes away. So now she knew how his youth had affected his view on loving a woman. How harmful it could be if not watched closely. And though he had been eager to find something like what his father and Veronica shared, he realized how downright wary he truly was.
Even so, there was something comforting about Cybil. About the way she was handling this. He liked that she didn’t press him for more information. She could. Some women might. But not her. She didn’t pry.
Then again, his thoughts likely gave her a good sense of what he wasn’t saying. Regardless, she could question those thoughts if she were so inclined. Yet she chose to remain silent as they ate together and enjoyed an easy companionship.
Rise of a Viking (The MacLomain Series: Viking Ancestors' Kin Book 1) Page 13