by S. T. Bende
“Lay back,” Ull commanded. I obeyed. He ran his eyes up my body, pausing when he reached the hemline of my dress. A slow smile played at his lips and my shiver turned to a warm glow. My insides began to hum as Ull raked his gaze along the curve of my hips, over my stomach, pausing again at my chest. His smile disappeared and the inky-blue pools deepened a shade. They smoldered at the low V of my neckline, a look so intense I squirmed under his stare.
My movement broke his focus and he pulled his eyes up to my face. As I watched, my consummate gentleman disappeared and the warrior took over. The veins in Ull’s forearms throbbed as he placed his fists on either side of my waist. His jaw was locked, his eyes steely in their focus. His sights were set on a singular goal—a goal I was suddenly desperate to reach.
“Ull,” I breathed. I reached up to touch his chin. “Please.”
His eyes glazed at the words, and he dropped his head. His lips met the side of my neck. He sucked gently, causing my chest to rise and fall. I hadn’t adequately prepared myself for the intensity of the sensation. When Ull had touched me before I’d been changed, it had felt amazing, but I’d always known he’d stop before he reached a certain point. Now, knowing we were going to see this through…it altered things. My nerves were one thousand times more highly strung, my skin infinitely more aware, and something inside me had given up any illusion of self-control. A six-foot, five-inch Norse deity hovered over me, and I wanted to be his, in every conceivable way.
Right. Now.
My hands flew up to claw at the fabric of Ull’s shirt. Without breaking his kiss he shifted his weight to one fist and ripped his shirt clean off. It sent ripples through the air that brushed my skin as it fluttered to the ground, but I was too distracted to watch its descent. My hands now had total access to the multitude of muscles that made up Ull’s back. There were literally hundreds; I could have spent all night exploring them.
But Ull had other ideas.
“Are you particularly fond of this dress?” His voice sounded thick as he lifted his head. His eyes were hazy; I doubted he could see me with any degree of clarity. I also doubted he cared.
“Mmm.” I wrapped one hand in his hair and pulled his face back to its rightful spot on my neck. His teeth scraped lightly against my flesh and I gripped the sheet in my free hand. God, he felt so good.
“If you like the dress then tell me now.” Ull spoke through a clenched jaw. His mouth had made its way down to my neckline. “Because one way or another, it is coming off.”
I pushed against him so he was forced onto his back. Without thinking, I rolled over, shimmied out of Victoria’s spectacular design, and turned back to Ull. Now I lay on my side in the lacy white lingerie I’d been mortified to receive as a honeymoon gift. Turned out, my flatmates knew a lot more than I did.
“Faen.” Ull’s eyes rolled closed. “You are wearing…that is just…I cannot…”
Ull dropped his head and the stubble of his jaw scratched the tender tissue above my bra. His lips covered the abrasion, hot kisses tracing the lace along the edge. I fisted the sheets, pulling them tight between my fingers to keep from crying out. With a slow exhale, Ull grazed his nose just below the underwire. My entire body shook as the cool air chilled my skin. Every single part of me wanted to belong to him.
As if sensing my thought, Ull shifted so he hovered just on top of me. I pulled him closer, desperate to close the distance between us. He stilled, and I released my grip so I could look at him. When I did, the Asgardian assassin stared me down.
“Jeg elsker deg, Kristia,” he vowed. He stroked my temple with the back of one finger.
I blinked. “I love you too.”
“And I will always take care of you. Always.” The fire in Ull’s eyes sparked something inside of me. My desire burned, slow at first, then building to the point of pain. I didn’t know how much more of this I could take.
“Prove it,” I whispered. Ull’s eyes turned a shade so dark, they were nearly black.
“Gladly.” He covered my mouth with his and I melted under his touch. With a grateful sigh I gave myself over to the unbelievable reality.
I was his.
Chapter Three
AS CONCIOUSNESS SLOWLY OVERCAME me, I felt the filtered sun streaming across my body. I pressed my cheek to the firm surface I was draped across, smiling at the realization it was my husband’s impressive torso. Ull’s thumb made slow circles across the small of my back as I slowly opened my eyes.
“Good morning. Did you sleep well?”
“Sleep isn’t exactly what I remember about last night.”
Ull laughed before examining me. “How are you feeling?”
I thought for a moment then answered truthfully, “Really, really happy. How do you feel?”
“I feel nothing but absolute joy. Last night was the most amazing night I have ever experienced. In fact,” he raised himself on one arm so that his body rested lightly on mine, “I think I owe you a ‘thank you’ for showing me exactly what I have been missing all these millennia.”
I pulled him closer, a smile glowing between us, ending our brief conversation.
Three days later, Ull taunted me from the beach.
“Are you ready to show me what you are made of, Mrs. Myhr? Or were you planning to lounge around all day?” The mid-morning sun beat down on Ull’s unbelieveably delicious torso as he dried himself from his recent swim. Saltwater glistened in tiny pools along his abs, reflecting the light in shimmering patterns. The entire effect was dazzling.
“I believe the purpose of a honeymoon is to lounge around and do very little, so you have energy left over at the end of the day to do more important things.” I raised an eyebrow from my chaise.
“I see. So you are not goddess enough to do both. Is that what you are saying?”
He knew I couldn’t say no to a challenge.
“Fine. Ask me again.”
“I asked if you are ready, Mrs. Myhr.”
“Ready to school you, if that’s what you mean.” I tossed my hat onto the sand and walked toward the water.
“About bloody time,” Ull muttered. “I have been waiting an entire week for you to get around to this.”
“I’m sorry. Have I not been fulfilling my wifely duties?”
“Not this one.” He grinned. “Come on, you have to be a little curious about what you can do.”
Terrified was more like it. So far I’d discovered that my hair kind of glowed, I didn’t trip over my own feet anymore, and being married to Ull was hands down the best thing that had ever happened to me. Being a goddess was exceeding all of my expectations. I didn’t want to push my luck. Besides, learning about the rest of my abilities would mean I’d have to start preparing for Ragnarok, something I didn’t want to deal with when I had so many wonderful distractions on Asgard Cay.
Like the drop-dead gorgeous god standing in his swim trunks, staring me down.
“How about you just tell me what I can do and then we can go back to practicing some of the other stuff we’ve been doing lately? Especially that one thing we did last night. You know, where you—”
“Tempting though that sounds, no. I want to see what my wife is capable of. How about a little race?” Ull was enjoying this far too much.
“Oh, fine. But when I beat you, you have to bow to me and say ‘Kristia, you are the fastest, most graceful, most phenomenal goddess that ever there was.’ And then you have to kiss my feet.” I waggled my freshly-pedicured toes at him.
“All right. And if I win you have to say ‘Ull, Master of my World, you are everything I had ever hoped for and I am so very, very, very, very lucky to have you.’ And then you have to make me waffles.”
“Four verys?”
“And waffles.”
“Deal.” I reached behind me to grab my foot. Stretching seemed prudent. “So what do I have to do?”
“Race me. From here to the edge of the forest and back.”
I gauged the distance. “About a mile?”
“Oh, please. You’re gonna be so embarrassed when you get whooped by a girl.” I talked a big game, but I wasn’t sure even my newfound abilities could get me a whole mile without falling flat on my face. Nineteen years of being uncoordinated weren’t so easily forgotten.
“Bring it on.” Ull drew a line in the sand and crouched behind it. “On your mark. Get set.”
“Go!” I bolted half a second ahead of him, pumping my legs as fast as they could go. Energy coiled in my muscles, letting itself out in a gradual stream of power. The power steadily increased as I moved, thrumming just beneath my skin, as if it had been waiting for me to activate it. With each step I seemed to double my speed, practically leaping off the sand as I ran. I drove my arms back and forth, increasing my momentum. It was nuts. I’d never had this kind of agility before.
The soft thud of footfalls on sand pounded just behind me, so I dug in my toes and lowered my head, bearing down with all of my strength. The trees got closer and I skidded to a stop just in time to hear the god behind me do the same. I turned and ran hard in the opposite direction, feeling the wind on my face and the sand kick up behind my heels. This was amazing.
I reached Ull’s hand-drawn finish line at the same time he did, and I fell to the ground, peals of delighted laughter ringing across the sand. “That was fun!”
“You cheated.” Ull sat next to me and wiped a strand of hair off my forehead. “You know what happens to cheaters.” His eyes smoldered.
“No way! I want to do that again. I had no idea I’d be able to run like that. What else can I do?” I sat up on an elbow, eager to learn more.
“Do you enjoy swimming?”
“Depends on if there are any sharks.”
“Kristia, sharks cannot kill us.”
“But they could hurt us,” I pointed out. If my skin tingled every time Ull touched me, I didn’t want to know what shark teeth would feel like.
“I will keep the mean old fish away from you, sweetheart.” Ull teased. “Other than an unnecessary fear of sharks you like to swim?”
“I do.”
“Well, I do not know if I mentioned this, but we can hold our breath for a very long time.”
“Like how long?”
“About two hours. Our physical makeup is similar enough to humans that we do require air eventually, but our genetic components are so streamlined we need a lot less of it than mortals do. Just like you need less sleep now than you did as a mortal.”
“That’s been beneficial this week.” I nudged his arm. “Stop smiling.”
“Sorry.”
“But I’m a lot hungrier than I ever was as a human. Why is that?”
“You are using a lot more energy than you ever have before.”
“You’re terrible.” I swatted the back of his head and he laughed.
“Well, there is that. But I literally meant you are using more energy now that you are a god. Our heart runs an average of forty beats per minute higher than a human heart because our bodies perform so many additional tasks. Immortality takes a lot of energy, so your body requires a higher calorie intake to function efficiently.”
“I’ve never noticed Inga eating as much as I have this week.”
“Inga is sneaky.” Ull shrugged. “She does not like to stand out any more than she already does, so she does the bulk of her eating away from humans. You will see—now that you are a goddess, she will start eating more in front of you, too. She can pack in more than Gunnar.”
“Skinny little Inga?”
“Do not let her fool you. Inga is a lot sturdier than she looks. I am sure she has told you she can beat us in fencing.”
“She may have mentioned it once or twice.” Or fifty times.
I stared at the sea foam, losing myself in the rhythm of the waves lapping at the shore. Even the tiniest noise sounded so clear now, from the water pulling away from the shore, to the sand crackling under the weight of the ocean, to the tiny crabs scuttling across the beach. It was easy to get distracted. But when Ull placed his hand on the bare skin above my bikini bottom and rubbed a small pattern with his thumb, my attention snapped back to the god in front of me.
“Do you want to try out the coral reef? It is really quite beautiful, and you will not need a snorkel. Unless you are too scared…” Ull taunted me again.
“Bring it, Myhr. I’m still waiting for you to kiss my feet.”
“There would be no competition, my sweet, inexperienced wife. I can hold my breath a full three hours.” He patted my hand consolingly as he tossed his shirt onto the sand. “You will catch up eventually. I have much more practice than you.”
“That’s right, because you’re ancient.” He sure didn’t look it. The sun glinted off his tanned chest, and his bare skin glistened with faint drops of sweat from our run. His impressive musculature was highlighted by the fact that he wore nothing more than cardinal colored swim trunks.
“I do not feel old today.” Ull laughed. “Shall we?”
He jogged into the water and turned to me, looking every bit the god he was. Even if I weren’t dying to try out my new abilities, I would have followed him absolutely anywhere.
I peeled off my cover-up and stepped into the water. “Lead the way.”
Ull’s face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. He was so adorable when he was happy.
“If you like snorkeling so much, why haven’t you gone since we’ve been here?”
“I wanted to go with you. I have never had anyone to do these things with before.”
“What things?”
“Any of this.” He held out a hand.
“Running? Swimming? You must have done this with Gunnar and Inga.”
“When we were younger, I suppose we did. But it was never for fun. It was always part of some training regimen Thor dreamed up, or one of Inga’s ridiculous challenges to prove she was as strong as we were.” He shook his head. “Like we would ever doubt her.”
Suddenly it hit me. Ull’s childhood had been full of so many adult experiences. He’d never gotten to be a kid. He’d lost his dad, learned he was going to die, struggled to fit in to a new family with a seriously scary stepfather, spent most of his time with Olaug instead of Sif, and worried that his mom might disappear in battle just like his father had. This was the first time in his life he’d ever gotten to…to…
“Ull.” I reached out and touched his massive bicep. It took everything I had to retain my train of thought. “You’ve never played before, have you?”
Ull shrugged. “Not particularly.”
“And you’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“You have no idea how much.”
“Then enough talking. Let’s go.” I splashed him in the face.
“You should not have done that, sweetheart. Now I have to get you back.” He stalked slowly toward me, a naughty twinkle in his eyes.
“Only if you can catch me.” I splashed him again and dove under the water before he could get me back. I squeezed my eyes shut as I started in the direction of the coral reef, thinking the saltwater would burn. But after a moment I chanced a peek. I was surprised to discover the water felt no different to my eyes than air. If anything, my vision was even clearer beneath the waves, and I stared at the passing fish as my arms made determined strokes through the surf. I’d never swam in the ocean before; the waters of Northern Oregon, even in the summer, were far too cold for a lightweight like me. I expected it to be much choppier, but the reef seemed to keep the waves at bay.
When I sensed Ull approaching from behind I doubled my efforts, kicking as fast as I could. It was a nice surprise to find my legs were more powerful than I’d thought. I quickly outpaced Ull. My arms pushed the waves behind me stroke by stroke, and before I knew it I’d reached the reef. My human body would have taken three times as long to make the trip, if I’d been able to swim that far at all.
A hand gr
abbed my calf, stopping me just before I could touch the coral. I turned my head to find Ull waggling a finger at me underwater. I shot him an innocent look and he released my leg, letting me float to the surface. We popped up together, laughing.
“And how do you propose I get you back?”
“I can think of a few ways.” I tipped my head back and wiped the hair from my eyes. “But I believe you promised me a tour of the coral reef.”
“I did, but…” Ull swam closer, and wrapped an arm around my waist. The teensy blue bikini I wore wasn’t going to provide much protection from an amorous god. “What kind of warrior would I be if I let you get in two attacks without retribution?”
“Um…” I bit my lip. “A very, very sweet one?”
“Not my style, sweetheart.” Ull treaded water effortlessly. I wrapped my legs around his hips and tried to sink him. “Nice try. But I am so very much stronger than you.”
“For now.” I kissed his nose. “I’m still new at this, remember?”
“I know.” Ull lowered his mouth to mine and pulled me closer. Now we were skin to skin in the warm water. I rested my palm against his chest, feeling his quickened heartbeat beneath my hand. He let out a low moan, the vibration reverberating through his torso. The sensations were overwhelming, even to my newly-enhanced brain. I pulled back breathlessly.
“Is your idea of getting me back giving me a heart attack?” I teased, slowly unwrapping my legs so I could tread water of my own accord.
“Hardly.” Ull’s breathing was uneven, too. “We can head inside if you prefer.”
“Ull.” I laughed. “You promised to show me the coral reef!”
“Is that really what you want to do right now?”
“Um.” I thought for a moment. “Yes. It is.”
“As you wish, Mrs. Myhr.” Ull dove beneath the water, surfacing thirty feet from where he’d been. “You coming?” The impish twinkle was back.
I swam after him. It was amazing to see Ull so carefree. He’d laughed more in the past week than in the nine months I’d known him. He paddled effortlessly along the surface as he waited for me to catch up, occasionally using his pointer finger to flick water in my general direction.