Eventually, the cries died off and snow fell heavier. Bjorn was unrecognizable. Unmoving. She tried to go to him but couldn’t. Which made sense considering she was stuck in a memory. A tear slid down her cheek as a mournful keen rent the air. Moments later a huge black dragon landed over him and leaned its head down until its cheek was against his.
She had never witnessed anything so intense.
So heartfelt.
Something inside her fractured, and she fell to her knees. She needed to go to him…hold him. Yes, his father was there, but it wasn’t enough.
“Bjorn,” she whimpered. “Let me in.”
As if in direct response to her, Naðr Véurr lowered his body more protectively over Bjorn and swung his massive head until one cobalt blue catlike dragon eye narrowed on her. Still on her knees, Sam refused to back down. She looked right back. When red flared in her vision, Naðr released a sharp gust of air and smoke poured out of his nostrils.
“Bjorn,” she cried. Sam leapt up and started through the smoke only to have it dissipate. When it did, Bjorn had vanished as had all evidence of that frightful day.
But of course, it had.
The only person left in the forest was Näv. Everything and everyone else from the memory were long gone into the past.
“He saw me,” Sam whispered, looking around for Naðr Véurr, convinced he still might be there. “Bjorn’s dad knew I was there.”
“Very little gets past my uncle,” Näv murmured as she wrapped a fur around Sam’s shoulders. “Especially not the woman who has haunted his son since childhood.”
Sam was about to speak, but Näv shook her head, brought a skin of mead to her lips and said, “Drink, Samantha. Then you will rest.”
“Pretty sure you told me that before and it didn’t go so well,” Sam remarked.
A soft smile came to Näv’s lips. “Yes, but that was before you had a temperamental dragon drugging you.”
“And I don’t now?”
“No.” Näv continued holding the skin to her lips.
“Where’s Bjorn?”
“Nearby. He is never far from your side.”
She had absolutely no doubt that was true. Sam nodded and finally drank as she tried to come to grips with everything she just learned, with what she discovered about Bjorn. After she’d had enough mead, she scanned the forest.
“Where did Sven and Katla go?” She tried to fight back tears at the memory. “Where is his family now?”
“Alive and well,” Näv assured and sat her down. “What you must remember is that you merely saw a glimpse of the past, Samantha. There was much that led up to it and much has happened since.”
“Well, I would think so,” Sam quipped, not meaning to be sarcastic but growing more and more edgy without seeing Bjorn nearby. “What was all that, Näv? I get that it stunk of deceit and love gone wrong, but there was something more to it. Something I can’t quite put my finger on.”
“No, you put your finger on it.” Näv didn’t meet her eyes as she tucked the fur more firmly around Sam’s shoulders. “It was love gone wrong. And that sort of thing is the best breeding ground for darkness.” Her voice grew whisper soft. “For evil.”
Suddenly, it felt like a lightbulb went off in her head. She knew it was her dragon figuring things out. “It all started here, didn’t it, Näv?” Her eyes swept over the picturesque forest with its tall, sweeping pines. “Somehow, the emotions in this place sparked something.”
Sam closed her eyes, caught in a feeling she didn’t entirely understand.
A glimpse of…time.
Not in the common sense but as something else altogether. People didn’t come and go but were already there, had long died and were being reborn. The past, present, and future seemed to happen all at once though she couldn’t see any one thing clearly.
If her mind wasn’t already boggled enough, in a single instant, Sam’s world shifted.
“Oh, God,” she groaned and pressed her fists to her temples. “I can’t handle this. I don’t want it.”
“Then don’t, Samantha.” Näv tilted Sam’s chin until their eyes met and everything grew less intense. “But remember, someday you will have to embrace it because it is who you are.”
Sam closed her eyes and whispered, “I don’t want this responsibility.”
She was about to say more when something shifted. Something slight but noticeable. A feeling that she somehow already recognized.
Seer magic.
She kept her eyes closed when Bjorn said, “She is my responsibility. I will care for her.”
She was no longer in the forest with Näv.
“The moment you brought her here she became my responsibility too, Bjorn,” Katla said. Someone held a cold cloth to Sam’s forehead. She assumed it was Katla based on the proximity of her voice as she kept talking. “As you know, a responsibility I have long expected.”
Though tempted to open her eyes and tell them she was awake, Sam was too curious for her own good. What had happened between that frightful day and now? Though Sven acted as if he was only talking with his father for the first time since childhood, it was clear Bjorn, and Katla had stayed in touch. In fact, they were together in the carving in Håkon’s tunnel, weren’t they?
“I did not bring her here,” Bjorn bit out. “I would never do that to her…or you.”
“Even so, here I sit nursing my nemesis back to health,” Katla whispered. “The woman of your dreams.”
Oh boy, this was starting to smell like a Shakespearean play. And she was beneath the hands of the woman who might very well prefer to see her dead. Thanks but no thanks.
Sam shot up and shoved Katla aside, her eyes on Bjorn. “I’m fine.” She scrambled away. “I was just faking it. At least most of it.”
Katla’s brows drew together, and her expression grew fierce. “How dare you.”
Samantha was about to respond when Bjorn growled, “Enough, Katla.”
Sam held her hands up, ready to issue a solid Karate chop, but froze when Katla’s scowl turned to a small grin then an outright chuckle. “She really is quite excitable, is she not, Bjorn?”
What the hell? Was she dreaming again?
Bjorn shook his head, his eyes anywhere but on Sam. “She is frightened. Wouldn’t you be if Näv had shown you our past?”
“It was awful,” Katla agreed, following Sam when she scrambled away. “But that was over a decade ago, Samantha.” The woman cocked her head, a warm smile blossoming on her face. “In the end, the evil king was killed, and I remarried.”
What? Sam knew her eyes were about to pop. “Then what was with the act in the woods before I got to see your memories? You didn’t seem too fond of Bjorn.” She shook her head, eyes flying to Bjorn. “And what about that whole son-hates-his-dad-for-abandoning-him thing?”
Katla filled a goblet and handed it to her. “Unfortunately, that last part was genuine. Sven is not fond of his father.”
“That’s too bad,” she murmured, looking between them. “Yet you two are okay?”
“We have been for a few years now,” Katla said.
“That is why she was in Håkon’s carving,” Bjorn said, putting voice to her earlier speculations. “Unbeknownst to her current husband, she will always be welcome amongst my people…her people.”
How forward thinking of them. “But I got the impression Håkon still thinks you’re married.”
“He knows the truth of it,” Katla said. “Because he considers me an aunt and I spend time with Bjorn, it’s simply how he sees things.”
“Ah,” Sam murmured, wondering just how much time Bjorn spent with his former wife. “It sounds like he knows you pretty well.”
Katla gave Bjorn a knowing look before her eyes met Sam’s. “Not so much lately but I have tried to stay in contact when I can. And Håkon often spends time with Bjorn in the mountains behind the Fortress, so I see him there.”
Sam’s skin began to heat as she envisioned their clandestine meetings. Becaus
e if they spent time together when Håkon was there, you knew damn well they did when he wasn’t. She frowned as her thoughts percolated.
“Bjorn and I are only friends, Samantha,” Katla said softly. “He is incapable of anything else, and I am married.”
Incapable? What did that mean? When Sam’s eyes met Bjorn’s, he was scowling yet again. “What is that?” she asked him, feeling more and more irritable. “Why do you always look at me like you wish I weren’t here?”
“Because you were only ever supposed to be fictional,” Katla murmured. She seemed to sense something and began ushering Samantha toward the back door. “That was safe and easy. Just like I was for Bjorn at one point in time.” The next thing Sam knew she was out in the cold with a fur tossed her way, and a door slammed in her face.
“You know where to take her Bjorn,” Katla called softly out a window. “Remember to stay quiet and away from your son. I don’t want him growing confrontational and stirring up trouble.”
Dumbfounded, Sam shrugged him off as he led her into the forest.
Who was Bjorn? Just when she thought she had him figured out, the universe threw her for a loop and said, “Guess again, Sam!”
“What’s going on?” she said. “Are we in danger?”
“Keep quiet,” was the only response he gave.
A good ten minutes later, only managing in utter darkness because he led her, they ended up in the last place she expected. A small cave nestled beneath a huge pine. Super. What was with him and caves?
“Why are we here?” she said as he led her inside. “Aren’t there any cottages available?”
“No,” he grunted as a small fire sprang to life.
“Somehow I find that hard to believe.” She planted her hands on her hips. “I don’t understand. If you and Katla are friends, aren’t you welcome here?”
He shook his head. “Not by those in charge.”
A shiver raced up her spine at the look in his eyes. Somehow this place haunted him.
“Come,” Bjorn said. “I will warm you.”
When he wrapped his arms around her, Sam did the opposite of what she should and melted against his heat. Aggravated with herself, she started to push away, but he held on tight.
“It might have been a long time ago but I just watched your family get torn apart,” she mumbled against his chest. “And seeing something like that doesn’t fade all that fast.”
Bjorn offered no reply, but his heart thudded heavily.
Sam swallowed, tempted to wrap her arms around him but still gun-shy over their recent past. Stoic as ever, Bjorn made no movement save his ever-handy token erection. Though she knew what Näv showed her had happened over a decade ago, she still found his arousal in poor taste so she put a little more effort into shoving him away. This time, she was successful.
Their eyes held for a long moment. As usual, she couldn’t read a damn thing he was thinking. How damaged was he from that day? What did he truly think about her having witnessed it?
Bjorn almost seemed like he was going to say something but evidently decided against it as he strode to the corner, moved aside a rock and grabbed a satchel as well as several furs and two skins. He spread the furs on the ground, handed her a skin then proceeded to pull items out of the satchel.
Sam sniffed the liquid and kept watching him.
“Drink,” he said under his breath as he set down a crude plate, what looked to be a block of cheese, some slivers of dry meat and slices of bread.
“No,” she said.
His eyes met hers. “Why?”
“Because every time I do, you drug me,” she said bluntly. “And I’m sick of it.”
Bjorn considered her for a moment before he nodded, said, “Suit yourself,” and started eating.
Just like that, they were back to normal. He was despondent, and she was clueless.
Exasperated, she plunked down beside him. Time dragged on as they ate in silence. She wanted answers. She wanted to understand him. And she was growing impatient. Tired of waiting for him to communicate she finally spoke up. “Am I allowed to talk yet or are we going to keep pretending real life doesn’t exist?”
Before he could respond, she put a finger to his lips, leaned forward, narrowed her eyes and whispered, “And by real life, I mean the screwed up reality I’ve been in since I met you.”
Sam might feel for him and all he had been through, but this lack of talking and not understanding him was far past wearing thin. She knew as their eyes held that Bjorn sensed she was about to blow.
What he said next, however, really took the cake.
“Stay here and lie with me, woman. All will remain well enough.” His eyes stayed with hers. “Or follow me out of here, and go to the last place you want. See the truth.”
Huh? Sam frowned. Why was he so cryptic? Why so vague? Did he mean sleep next to him or have sex? Because his way of speaking left a lot of room for interpretation. Done with it, she shook her head only for him to grab her wrist.
Their eyes locked.
He had been clear.
She had a choice to make.
Stay or go.
But Sam had decided over a year ago that she made the rules. She laid out the choices not the other way around. And right now, she needed to test something. She needed to know if all this confusion with him led somewhere. If so, where did she fit in? Was Bjorn somehow her destiny? She couldn’t imagine it but there was only one way to find out. Take control. Get some answers. If not one way then another.
So she straddled him and cupped his cheeks.
“No, woman,” he managed to get out one last time before she shook her head, and murmured, “Yes, Bjorn,” then kissed him.
Chapter Nine
BJORN HAD BEEN to Loki’s Hel and back since they arrived at Katla’s kingdom, but all of it vanished the moment Samantha’s mouth met his. He had waited more than half his life for this moment.
To see her, touch her…kiss her.
He reflected back on the first time he saw her on Mt. Galdhøpiggen. The sense of recognition he felt. The powerful draw. The equally strong need to push her away. He didn’t want this. He did not want to go down another road filled with nothing but heartache.
So he fought it.
Ignored it.
Denied it.
Yet here they were.
There was an old saying in dragon lore. “Love thy dragon. Hate thy enemy.”
It had always seemed like a simple statement. But now he wondered. As she dug her hands into his hair and rolled her pelvis against his, he thought maybe it derived from a long-lost dragon relative who had dealt with a woman like Samantha
“Love thy dragon,” took on a whole new meaning. It likely referred to this inescapable pull he felt toward her as he made no movement, as he refused to return her kiss.
And, “Hate thy enemy?” That could very well be a warning. Don’t think of your enemy when it came to a woman like this. Because the moment he thought about Samantha kissing the enemy dragon, jealousy flared and his will-power snapped in half. Unable to stop himself, he kissed her back.
What happened after that had nothing to do with loving dragons or hating enemies.
No, it had everything to do with what he had needed since he met her.
Samantha.
Everything that made her the woman she was from her unruly flaming curls to her errant attitude.
“No,” she whispered against his lips, her hips squirming away even as she pressed closer. “Like you’re so good at saying, Bjorn…no.”
He pulled back and met her eyes. They were full of lust. Need. And denial.
“No,” he confirmed gruffly though he wanted to continue. He wanted more than just a sample. Her kiss was different. She was different. And his inner dragon needed her as much as he did.
Samantha closed her eyes. “That was…” She shook her head and released a shaky breath. “I’m not sure what that was.” After a deep inhale, her eyes shot open, and she whispered, “
What is that?” before she buried her nose against the crook of his neck and inhaled deeply again, grinding her center against his more-than-ready cock. “You smell so good.”
Bjorn closed his eyes and frowned. While everything in him wanted to believe Samantha really felt that way, wanted him like that, he was starting to have his doubts.
If he didn’t know better, Näv was up to her tricks again.
Samantha didn’t truly want to be with him. If anything, this was a combination of Näv’s games and his dragon allure. Because if nothing else was true, his dragon was trying to draw her closer by any means necessary.
“Like marshmallows and cinnamon,” she murmured as she nibbled her way up his neck. “You smell like something I can’t quite figure out but it’s sooo good.”
Tricks.
All tricks
“It is not real.” He pulled away and met her eyes. “None of this is right.”
“I guess I’d have to agree.” Samantha frowned and searched his eyes. “But I get the sense we’re talking about different things.” She sighed. “One thing’s for sure. Sex isn’t going to fix it. I’ve gone down the whole sex-fixes-all route before, and it never works.”
Bjorn frowned. He wasn’t entirely sure what she meant by sex fixing things. As far as he knew, they didn’t have something to fix because they weren’t together.
Yet.
Disgruntled by where his thoughts were going, his frown deepened.
“You told me I could follow you outside and get the truth.” He almost pulled away when she cupped his cheek. “I want the truth.”
Bjorn wondered, did she really?
He wanted…simplicity.
But defined lines and well-formed realities had never been his. And if what he had sensed was true since he first entered the Forest of Memories, they wouldn’t be hers either. Life as a Gateway Seer did not sound easy.
And that hurt him.
For her.
Unfamiliar with aching for someone outside of his kin, Bjorn was caught in limbo. A strange place made of what he wanted and what he knew was very likely. A flicker of hope where he should remain realistic. Everything had been perfectly clear until Samantha showed up. Until the woman from his dreams finally had a face.
Vengeance of a Viking (The MacLomain Series: Viking Ancestors' Kin Book 2) Page 12