Heidrek cupped her cheek, his weapon-roughened touch tender, his words low and husky. “I desired Jackie at one time but not anymore.” His eyes softened. “She will always be a close friend, and I will love her as that goes but it doesn’t come close to how I feel about you, Cybil.” The pad of his thumb swept over her chin. “This is different. So different.”
His lips brushed hers.
“No.” She shook her head and put a hand against his chest. “I don’t want words. I saw what’s between you and Jackie and that’s fine. I want to pursue something less intimate… friends, allies, whatever we need to be to keep our families safe.” She pulled away as best she could considering she was trapped between him and the rock. “I want what I mentioned before we dreamt of the waterfall and sword.”
When she tried to duck under his arm, he pinned his lower half against hers. “I do not think you understand, woman. We are already allies and friends.” He cupped both of her cheeks. “And now we are something more.”
Then he kissed her again.
And this time, he wasn’t messing around.
Chapter Eleven
IF HEIDREK HAD learned nothing else when Cybil vanished at the waterfall, it was that he would never be able to let this woman go. And if he did, it might just be the end of him.
He’d never felt such pure, raw emotion like he had when she went missing. Fear. Panic. Anger. It went against everything he had worked so hard to become…against his very bloodline, the Viking, and Seer coursing through his veins.
Yet he felt it.
Her.
More precisely, how everything would feel if she were no longer here.
She might not fully comprehend how strongly he felt, but by Loki’s balls, she would feel it in this kiss. Her body softened against him as he slanted his lips more firmly over hers and did far more than sample her sweet taste. Once again, he felt sharp relief that she was safe, that the enemy or the gods themselves had not stolen her.
It hadn’t taken him long to connect with her essence and locate her. When he did, he realized she had been touched by Thor and how interwoven their destinies truly were. But then, had he not already known that on some level? Why else would their powers have increased when they finally lay together? Because he refused to believe it was for that alone, to morph them into something new so that they could go their separate ways.
Desperate for more, he lifted her and ground against the moist heat between her slim thighs. She was ready for him. Eager. Heavy fog drifted closer and wrapped them more securely in a cocoon of his making, one designed to keep away prying eyes.
“Heidrek,” she groaned as he kissed and nibbled his way down her neck. He had just reached the base of her neck when a fresh burst of lust blew through him and his eyes shot open. A tattoo of a dragon curled elegantly over her delicate collarbone and for a flicker of a moment, he knew it looked directly at him.
It recognized him.
More than that, his inner dragon recognized it…her.
Cybil’s thighs clenched and her eyes shot open as well. “What is this…what am I feeling?” she whispered.
He was about to respond when Bjorn’s voice cut into his mind. “Someone is coming, Cousin. You should return.”
“It is your dragon responding to mine,” Heidrek murmured to Cybil, so aroused it was painful. Yet he felt the urgency in Bjorn’s request so he lowered her to her feet and stepped away. “We must return to the others.”
She inhaled deeply then exhaled, trying to release her own intense arousal as she rubbed where the tattoo had been moments before. “Bjorn’s tense…so is Matthew.” Her eyes narrowed. “Someone is coming.”
He was surprised by how quickly she was becoming in tune with his kin. Though he knew it was good, he also felt a touch of jealousy. He did not want her as connected to them as she was to him. Therefore, he could better understand her feelings about Jackie.
So when she started to walk away, he grabbed her wrist and met her eyes. “You need to know something.”
“What?” Her eyes met his and as always he struggled with what he wanted to say. She had an uncanny way of twisting his tongue and making logical explanation nearly impossible.
“When Matthew awoke from his unnatural slumber, it was with two names on his lips. Yours was one of them. Because he was so concerned about you, I allowed…no, encouraged him to get to you first…to save you. I saw how it would all unfold. I knew you would be safe in his care.”
“All right,” she said softly, and her lips turned down. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I saw another scenario as well. One I nearly followed I was so concerned about you.” He clenched his jaw and gave her the truth. “I grabbed your hand when you were falling, and Matthew saved Jackie.”
She contemplated him. “Why did you encourage Matthew?”
“Because he needed that moment with you. He felt he let you down at the forge and needed to know he would not make the same mistake twice. He needed to right a wrong.” Heidrek released her wrist and took her hand. “Though I cannot see it clearly, his future is tied inexplicably with yours and with someone close to you. It is important that his confidence never waver.”
Her eyes held his for a long moment before she nodded. “Then you made the right decision. Thanks for being honest about…” He saw images of Jackie sitting on his lap flicker through her mind. “Why everything went down like it did.”
Only then, when he saw Jackie on his lap through Cybil’s eyes, did he truly understand what a fool he had been. How intimate it had appeared. Shame on him for not realizing sooner.
“Heidrek,” Bjorn said into his mind. “You must return.”
“I did not mean to upset you with Jackie.” Heidrek's eyes met hers. “It was poor of me not to consider how you might feel. How you might see things.”
Their eyes held as she seemed to weigh his words, how genuine they might be. So he continued. “I will always be honest with you, Cybil. Especially when we cannot understand one another through our mental connection.”
Cybil nodded but said nothing more as they returned to the others. Despite how much they wanted each other again physically, he had hoped to talk more. He needed to reassure her that Jackie did not affect him in the least, that no woman but her ever would again.
Several men including his cousins, brother, and Kjar were gathered in a small, tree-covered area against the base of a mountain. Jackie was awake and calm, just taking everything in. She had changed since they last saw one another. Grown in ways he knew had everything to do with his kin, Darach and all they had faced together.
Kjar’s eyes met his as they joined him. “Aella has sent someone to help us journey. She will take us on an unknown trail leading to the mountain’s peak.”
Heidrek felt the shift in the wind. The whispered giggles that floated by his ear. He closed his eyes, breathed deeply and followed the flow of air…the darkness in it. His eyes snapped open. “This is not a good idea, Uncle.”
“But it is the only hope we have of getting where we need to go.” Kjar held out a closed fist. “Take them. Welcome her.”
“There must be another way.” Heidrek touched the hilt of Thor’s blade. “We are protected by the gods now.”
“Who should you welcome?” Cybil said, the amber in her eyes turning to pure fire as she sensed the energy fluctuating around them.
“She is my wife Aella’s first apprentice,” Kjar said. “Her name is Vigdis, and she is uniquely powerful.”
“That sounds promising considering what we’re facing,” Cybil said.
“I agree,” Svala said, a wicked gleam in her eyes as she skinned an animal and eyed Cybil. “Very much so.”
Heidrek scowled at Svala before his eyes met Kjar’s. “And who will control Vigdis without Aunt Aella here?”
“You will.” Kjar nodded, his voice firm as he continued to hold out his hand. “It is time, Heidrek.”
Never was there a more insane, unpredictable
seer born to Midgard than Vigdis. He had disliked her from the moment he met her. But if Aella sent her and Kjar agreed, then he had no choice. He allowed Kjar to pour the old bones and stones into his palm.
The second they hit his skin, Vigdis was able to see inside his soul.
“Yessss,” came a sultry purr as drifting fog materialized into a lithe, stunning woman with long, flowing black hair streaked with white blond and unnaturally big, black almond-shaped eyes. She gripped Cybil’s shoulders and eyed her up and down with interest. “Just look at you, Celt. Just look at you.”
To Cybil’s credit, she did not pull away but narrowed her eyes and remained silent. She was summing up the unusual creature. Gaining knowledge by letting Vigdis speak first.
Vigdis offered a shy, sheepish, half-crazed grin as her gaze continued to roam over Cybil. “Oh, yes, yes, yessssss.”
When Heidrek rolled the stones and bones in his fist, Vigdis hissed and turned reluctant eyes his way. “I am here, You. What is the will?”
Vigdis always called he or she who controlled her You and followed The will, never affording her current master the benefit of he or she. While some might think she was a puppet, Heidrek knew better. At some point, she had become enslaved by what he held and refused to honor her captor. If he could free her now, he’d do so gladly.
Anything to avoid this.
Though it was the last thing he wanted to do, he met Vigdis’ eyes for the first time holding the stones and bones. He ground his teeth against splicing pain. It felt as if he was thrown off a ship at the peak of a hundred foot wave only to hit rock. There was no flexibility. No give. As he long suspected, the seer was as hard as stone on the inside.
“What is the will?” she murmured, caressing Cybil’s shoulders in such a loving manner his woman’s eyes started to drift.
“Get us to your home safely,” Heidrek said. “Protect Cybil, Jackie, my kin and warriors before me at all cost.”
“All cost,” Vigdis hissed through clenched teeth, her eyes crossing before they snapped to Cybil and she purred, “I can do that. I will do that.”
Heidrek blew on the stones and bones then pocketed them, claiming Vigdis as his until she was passed onto the next. “It is time to eat, rest then travel.”
The seer’s neck whipped around to the north so quickly her bones cracked. Her eyes rolled back in her head as she whispered, “Travel by nigh, see half the frigh. Travel by day.” Her eyes snapped to Heidrek. “He will play.”
He showed no reaction to the news but felt an acute warning in it as did his kin. Evil kept to the shadows. It thrived in it. What sort of enemy dragon godlike creature preferred the sun? The blinding, wholesome light? It was still several hours until sundown so once again he ordered everyone to eat and rest.
“Take what you will and rejoin us at nightfall, Vigdis.” Heidrek gestured at the dead carcasses already available. “Then we will journey.”
Vigdis eyed Cybil with appreciation one more time before she licked her lips, grabbed a small buck and vanished into the forest.
Men appeared with more meat and everyone set to eating what had already been cooked. Cybil made no remark about the odd seer but joined Jackie. After that, the two kept to themselves and chatted quietly.
It was good that Cybil was able to move past her discontent with Jackie. That she did not let emotion rule her.
Would he be able to show the same strength of character in regards to her growing connection with his kin? The truth was he must. It would only benefit her and his family if their bond grew. The more they understood and anticipated one another, the better equipped they were to protect each other.
Heidrek chewed his meat and eyed his brethren, more disgruntled than ever that there were now four dragon-shifters on this journey. Far too many of a bloodline and species that had so recently faced extinction. He couldn’t send anyone home because he had no real understanding of what waited between here and there.
He had tried to contact his King telepathically but received no response. He sensed his people were all right but felt nothing beyond that. All communication was severed.
His eyes went to Tait and Svala who—rightfully so—made little eye contact with him. That, before anything else, needed to be addressed. Though he remained upset that they had put themselves in harm’s way, anger no longer served purpose here.
“Cousins. Brother.” He gestured to his immediate kin and urged them to sit with him on the opposite side of the fire. “We must talk.”
While there was some distance between them and Cybil, they were close enough that she could join the conversation if she wished. More than that, though he knew she had the ability to hear his thoughts even if he closed them off, he kept his mind open to hers. He wanted her to know she was part of his leadership…part of everything that lay ahead.
As far as he was concerned, she was every bit his equal if not stronger. Would it take time for his people to see her as such? Yes. But he intended that they did, sooner rather than later.
Once they were seated, Heidrek eyed everyone. All were disgruntled but showed it differently. Tait was fidgety and without his usual humor. Svala tried to hide her disgust by dragging her dagger back and forth in the needle-ridden dirt. Matthew kept a steady eye on his surroundings to avoid his brother’s gaze.
And Bjorn? He always handled things one way.
Sternly.
His eyes remained on Heidrek, his support unwavering. He wanted orders and a sense of direction though he had long since laid out what he would do given every possible scenario.
Bjorn was, if nothing else, a strategist. It was part of who he had become when he learned so young that though he was son of the king he would not inherit the throne. He chose to be a stalwart second-in-command. Loyal to his kin and leader whether they were his father or closest friend.
“As you all know by now,” Heidrek’s eyes went from Tait to Svala, “I will not send any of you back and risk your lives. You endangered yourselves enough by coming here to begin with.” He kept his tone serious. “Have you realized the error of your ways?”
“I have,” Tait said without hesitation. When Heidrek’s attention turned to Svala, her eyes narrowed, and she dared him for a split second before she lowered her head and murmured, “Yes, Cousin. It will not happen again.”
Heidrek allowed a long pause, just enough time to let them contemplate their poor judgment before he addressed everyone. “What we face now is truly dangerous, and we must pull together as one. We must set aside our emotions so that we can make it safely to the top of the mountain.” He met every eye. “It is no longer about our petty squabbles but about something far more important. Our people, human and dragon alike, and their safety.”
Bjorn nodded. “I will do whatever it takes.”
“As will I,” Matthew said, his eyes still trained on their surroundings.
While Matthew’s discontent with Heidrek had lessened some when he learned his brother had saved him, there still remained a wide rift between them. One that had less to do with Cybil and more to do with their past. Regardless, he heard the conviction in Matthew’s voice and knew he was unquestionably devoted to their kin.
Tait and Svala nodded their agreement and meant it. However foolish they had been, they were here because they wanted to protect their family. And they would sacrifice their lives without hesitation to do so.
Now Heidrek’s job, his sole purpose, was to keep blood from spilling. Yet he knew it would. Their endeavor was too great and their enemy too vicious. Even so. He lowered his head, murmured a prayer to the gods then thanked his kin. “My blade will always be at your back,” he said firmly. “Never forget that.”
They murmured a prayer to the gods and pledged the same.
Heidrek pulled his sword free and rested it on his lap. “As you all know I came by this blade in an unusual way.” His eyes went to Cybil. “What you do not know is that Thor chose Cybil to deliver it to me.”
All eyes turned her way wit
h a new level of respect. Even Svala’s eyes sparked with interest. Cybil showed no response other than a slight straightening of her spine.
“I do not know Thor’s reasons for choosing Cybil, but I can speculate,” Heidrek said. “For has she not proven herself a great warrior? One who is willing to fight for us? Kill to protect and avenge us?”
“Did you see Thor then?” Matthew asked her, pride in his eyes.
“No.” She shook her head. “I did not.”
Before any could speak, Heidrek shared her dream as well as his. “I believe this is a sign from Thor that Cybil is to be considered a valued member of our people. Therefore, you will treat her as such and spread the word so everyone else does as well.” His eyes met each of theirs. “Do you understand?”
“How can we be certain,” Svala started, but he cut her off.
Though he could tell them that their powers grew as a result of lying together, he refused to put Cybil in such an uncomfortable position. “I am very certain, and that should be enough.” He again eyed his kin, deadly serious. “You will do as I ask?”
All nodded as Bjorn responded, “We will, Cousin.” His eyes narrowed on Svala before they went to Cybil. “You are our people now. We will defend and protect you as you have us, woman. You have my word.”
“Thank you.” Cybil made a point of meeting Svala’s eyes, her gaze firm. “All of you.”
Having said what needed saying for now, Heidrek resumed eating and let the matter drop. Some time later, after he visited with his warriors, he sat down beside Cybil. Back to a rock, knees bent, she stared at the fire.
“You think deep thoughts,” he murmured, his eyes on the flames as well.
“I do,” she agreed. “I think what weighs most on my mind though is your reasoning for sharing our dream about the sword. Why you wanted them to think Thor favors me.”
“I do not think but know.” His eyes went to her profile. “And I think you already suspect the main reason behind my actions. One I have not shared with the others…yet.”
Rise of a Viking (The MacLomain Series: Viking Ancestors' Kin Book 1) Page 16