Chapter 10

Vicki woke to heart-wrenching sobbing. Her eyes blinked in her confusion. She looked around her surroundings. Everything was a blur and she wiped tears from her eyes to see better. She was in a clearing, mist was flanking two sides. Ulfr was beside her lying face down in the grass his arm covering his head. He was the one who was sobbing.

“Wolf?” she questioned.

He stirred and sat up slowly, then he looked around cautiously. “Vicki?” he whispered.

Vicki cocked her head. “You’re speaking English,” she said to him.

He looked confused. “No, you’re speaking Norse,” he said.

“What happened?” she asked.

“You don’t remember?” he replied.

“I remember walking with you into the mist. I guess we fell asleep,” she replied. “I had the oddest dream. Everything went back to when I met you in the mist and I remembered everything about being with you, but you didn’t remember me. Only this time it was you who were naked and none too pleased about it. I had a devil of the time finding you clothes—extra muscular warrior size. But before I found you any we managed to have sex a few times, which cheered you up immediately—you dog. Imagine my surprise when I was suddenly a virgin again. I forgot how big your cock felt the first time. And how enthusiastic you are. Thankfully, somehow I was able to talk you into going home with me and we snuck in and grabbed some wine and went upstairs for a handy bottle of lubricant before you indulged in what you wanted.

“I was so happy to have you in my time I thought it would be better for us…for me. In my time the attack never happened. The men didn’t exist anymore. I’m embarrassed to say this, but I wanted to stay in my time and I wanted you to stay with me. It was the sword that let you come through with me; you held it when you came through the mist following me. I dropped it down a well, wanting you to stay forever.

“I took you to meet Daddy in his office and all hell broke loose. You freaked on the elevator. I guess it was too confining, or you have claustrophobia. When the doors finally opened you were such an awful shade of white. The first room in sight was filled with computer electronics. You used your sword to lob off some guy’s head when he used the copier. Good God it was awful; blood was splattered everywhere. I knew I couldn’t take you to Daddy so we snuck down the stairs—all fifteen flights of them. When we got outside you panicked further. You beat up a taxi driver, saying you had heard all about them and how evil they were from what Valerie had said in her stories. You threw a cop through his car windshield, and ran a clown through because you thought he was some type of Loki concoction. You throttled a mime, and you pissed in someone’s pool—while people were swimming in it. Good God, you were such a barbarian,” Vicki said with amazement.

“You were convinced cars were giants, and every woman in scantily dressed clothes were slaves you could screw because it was your right. And airplanes—good God! You thought they were massive winged birds who would devour you. Again courtesy of Valerie. It took me forever to teach you to use the toilet. It’s impossible to toilet train a grown man. You were terrified of the microwave and set the oven on fire. And don’t even get me started on the barbeque and vacuum. You went hunting in the zoo. I thought Mom would have a heart attack when you cooked her prize-winning exotic fish on a skewer in the fireplace—with a dead squirrel and the hindquarters of a mountain goat.

“I introduced you to Trisha, my best friend. You picked her up and said she was as small as a fairy, and then groped her, declaring her not to be a virgin and then suggested she, you and I¼well let’s just say she screamed in fear. When her boyfriend interfered you threw him through the sliding glass door in our house and she fainted.

“I tried so hard to make you fit in, to do things my way. I wanted all of the control and you couldn’t handle it. I finally realized I was hurting you with my selfishness. I felt so bad. I know we need a compromise but by then I couldn’t fix everything that went wrong. I tried hiding you from the police. You had no idea what a cop was. You didn’t understand the word murder, and I couldn’t make you understand. You were positive you had done nothing wrong. You said only cowards hide. Everyone was afraid of you and you were shot in the chest.

“Oh God, Wolf, it was so awful. I lay on the ground holding your head in my lap and you looked so confused and hurt and lonely. I felt I’d betrayed you. I felt I killed you. I may as well have been holding the gun. I lost everything in that moment. And it didn’t matter that we were in my world. I still remembered those men and what had happened to me; the memory wouldn’t go away. You were gasping for air and my tears fell over your face and into your eyes I cried so hard. Thank heaven I woke up and it was all just a terrible dream.”

“I would prefer to forget my dream,” Ulfr mumbled.

“It’s strange, Wolf. The dream was so vivid, lifelike, like it was showing me something. I felt like I had taken away your right of choice when I dropped the sword down the well and I made the decision for you to stay on my own. I felt so strange afterward, all woozy. Your face was surreal and sad when I looked at you and you seemed to change—then went bonkers. You wouldn’t belong in my time that’s for sure, but I need you, and I know I can’t ever go back,” she declared.

“You can’t go back to my time?” Ulfr whispered, looking crestfallen. His cheeks were still wet with his tears.

“I can’t go back to my time,” she said kindly. Her thumb gently wiped at his face, riding it of moisture. “I said my goodbyes to my parents. Dream or not, I realize my home is with you. We will find a way to compromise. I know we can.”

He looked relieved and pulled her close. “I promise on my life I will teach you to get better with your sword.”

Vicki looked around for it. “Where is it?”

Ulfr looked too. It was gone. “Maybe Odin demanded a price to pay for our different looks into the past. It had been a gift, getting us together. Perhaps because we both destroyed the sword with our own wants it was doubly damned and taken away,” he said, pondering. “Maybe this is Odin’s way of allowing us a new choice now. Odin sent you to me. He then took us from each other in the cruelest of ways. Or maybe we took each other away in cruel ways. By allowing us to choose our own paths we were injured. Though Odin let it run its course, he could no longer stand our suffering and once more interfered in our best interests.”

Ulfr then knelt on his knees before her and cupped her face. He looked so earnest and sincere, she smiled at him.

“I won’t ever take you hard again. I will be patient and gentle. You never have to be touched by Hott again either.”

“Well that sucks. In my dream, our sex was just as amazing as it has always been. And I like your brother; he’s always very gentle with me. What did you dream?” she asked curiously.

His eyes shifted guiltily. “It showed me that you need to be taught to use your weapon.”

An eyebrow rose. “Must have been one hell of a dream,” she said.

“More like a nightmare,” he mumbled.

“I don’t think I want to know,” she said grimly. A disturbing thought occurred to her. “Wolf, if I don’t have the sword, how can I go back with you?”

“I don’t know, and if you do come back will we be starting over?” he said. “I don’t want to second-guess a god. I have no idea what else he has in store for us. I am hoping he thinks we have learned our lesson.”

Vicki shuddered with the thought. She would be terrified to see Falkor, knowing what was coming next. Would she have the memory of it and be able to stop it from happening? What if she had no memory and it happened anyway? Her chest filled with fear. She looked at Ulfr who also looked worried with his own thoughts.

“No matter what happens, I will make you a new sword, little Valkyrie,” he promised.

She nodded. She was a strong woman. She would face her fears. “Valerie said she was pregnant with Biorn and was allowed to return with Hott.”

Ulfr reached to wrap a strong hand around the back of her neck, then he pulled her face close for a kiss. Their heated breath mingled while their tongues danced. Ulfr felt so warm and welcoming and she felt hot everywhere. Her heart filled with such relief at being able to touch him. Seeing him dying and bloody had been heart-stopping. She pulled at his clothing while he slowly stripped her. He suckled a breast, kneading the other, rolling her nipple until it hardened. She whimpered, then groaned loudly, wanting him. Ulfr pulled away and looked at her with concern.

“Am I hurting you?” he asked.

“No,” she said in surprise.

He looked relieved.

Ulfr lay back and pulled her on top of him. She guided his thick cock to her heat and slid down on him, wiggling her hips. She felt his hands lightly resting on her hips. She moved back and forth over him slowly. Her hands were on the ground on either side of him, her fingernails digging into the grass. She threw her head back and gasped when he carefully thrust up higher into her. They rocked against one another. The entire time Vicki remained on top. She was a bit surprised; she had expected him to pull her under him long ago and ram his delicious cock into her hard. But he was being gentle. It was different and sweet and she enjoyed the feeling of being in control.

They both came at the same time and Vicki slumped over him. “Wolf?”

“Hmm?”

“Did I somehow emasculate you or something in your dream?”

He looked pensive and appeared to be choosing his words carefully. “I took all choice from you.”

“I took your choice away, too.”

He turned his head and looked sad. “I wanted you to love me as I love you. I felt I knew what was best and in the end you were hurt.”

“Worse than before?” she asked quietly.

“Yes.”

He looked wounded and she knew what had happened to them both in his dream had been devastating. “I do love you,” she said.

He pulled her to his chest and she fought for breath as he crushed her within his powerful arms.

“I will never hurt you again,” he swore.

“It wasn’t me in that dream. You’ve never hurt me and I’m not afraid of you,” she said.

“Praise Odin for that. But you are right, it was lifelike. You looked so broken; that image will haunt me the rest of my life.”

Broken? Vicki wondered just what that meant. How had he hurt her in his dream? There was no way she felt he would ever strike her in anger to break her bones in this reality or another. She struggled from his grasp and pulled her clothes on. She stood and held her hand out to him.

“It’s time to go home.”

Ulfr rose and dressed. He took her hand and led her into the mist. His arm wrapped around her tightly. He looked to the sky. “I have learned my lesson, Odin. Please forgive me. And if that other Vicki does in fact exist, please heal her; it’s not her fault I’m a dumb ass.”

Vicki’s eyes rose in surprise when he said the last words in English. Her self-assured warrior seemed the one who was broken. Then a thought occurred to her and she wondered if he had broken her spirit in his dream so she would never take up arms…and she wondered at the cost. From the look on his face it must have been a high price. He hugged her tighter.

The mist swirled round and round her. It slipped into her nose and puffed out her mouth. It was an eerie invading sensation of being frisked by Mother Nature. She could taste time and was surprised with the idea. Ancient had its own unique flavor. It reminded her of her great-grandmother’s old chest and all its treasures. The creaky antique box was filled with long ago artifacts and such an interesting aroma. She felt her body and mind tumbling back, back and to her relief she was allowed to return with him.

The mist cleared and once more she smelled the clear familiar scent of snow in the air. She cuddled closer to Ulfr when the nip in the air flowed into her lungs replacing the ancient odor of time. Her hand settled onto her belly. She wondered if she would have Ulfr’s daughter or son. It didn’t matter; boy or girl the babe would have awesome protection from both its father…and mother.