I wipe my eyes. "Look who's talking!"

  They both grin, and Rumi makes a cute pouty face with a pose.

  "Where have you been? Father was sad." Demi’s face hardens in accusation and pain. The pain of seeing his father in pain.

  "I was in the fae realm learning magic," I joke.

  "That's enough hounding your sister. Go get your mother from her friend's house," Father tells the twins and after they give Vidar one last look they dash away. Reminding me of the other twins in this family.

  "Are you sad because you are the only one without a partner, sister?" Simon taunts playfully and I hit his shoulder.

  My family shows me around their new house, and I reunite with Farrah when she returns. It is only Simon's wife I do not meet. I am told she is in a neighbouring town visiting her sister. My family makes a feast for me as we talk about everything we missed.

  When the sun goes down, we say our goodbyes. My family didn't warm up to Vidar all the way but at least they didn't chase us out of there with swords.

  Ruin Me

  Thalia

  Vidar ushers me in the castle and into our wing. We haven't spoken a word to each other since we said our goodbyes to my family. I have many feelings, many thoughts. All shooting in different directions demanding my attention.

  I know he is waiting for me to put him out of his misery, but I keep quiet. He walks me to my door, but doesn't make a move to kiss my forehead this time. I turn first and walk into the bedroom. I tear my clothes off and wash my body.

  Weight that I have carried over my shoulders is sitting lighter.

  My family lives.

  Vidar didn't kill them.

  Tears fall for the last time as I hold my knees to myself. All my anguish was for nothing. Vidar hid the truth from me. But why? He knew how hard their deaths were for me. So why hide the truth from me knowing it would have made things easier between us?

  I loved Samson, but I love my family tenfold. Their murders were the ones I couldn't hide from. But now that's all different. They all lived, married, and found happiness. They moved on, and I haven’t changed at all, still stuck where I was years ago.

  When I finish crying, I prepare for bed. But when I enter the bedroom, I stare at the big bed.

  Before I put much thought into it, I am out the door and headed to the right. I push the door open, and enter without knocking. I find Vidar sitting with a book in his hand. Topless.

  I have too much turmoil to appreciate his godly body.

  His eyes fix on me, but he doesn't say anything. He just moves from the center of the bed to give me space. I climb in without saying anything and slip under the covers. Laying on my side, I close my eyes. A minute later, he joins me.

  Strong hands pull me towards them, and I don't protest.

  "Do you want to talk?"

  I shake my head.

  His lips connect softly with my forehead, and I absorb the tenderness like a sponge.

  I let go of everything. I have no more fight in me.

  I am exhausted.

  "Sleep, my love." His voice carries me to darkness filled with warmth, and in my dreams that night I see him.

  We were back in my family's village, on the mountain where I used to paint. A big lilac like the one in his garden gives us shade and I sit there in his arms, the love of my life, as he soothes my soul with his promises.

  '...And then we will have forever."

  I wake up warm all over and am met by the most beautiful sight I've ever seen. I take in his features.

  The sleeping god of war.

  My sleeping god of war.

  Acceptance of him settles over me. I finally don’t feel guilty for what I feel, because of this soul connection.

  But some things still stand between us. He needs to tell me why he kept everything from me.

  I place my nose in his still-bare chest and inhale his intensely wild and fresh scent. A shiver runs down my spine when he stirs, and his hand moves to my hip. We stay there neither of us moving.

  When I finally look up, his eyes are on me. I see worry. I see regret. I see determination. I see love.

  "You lied to me." I’m not angry, but I need to start the conversation that we should have had last night.

  "I did." He answers simply.

  "You lied to me for a year." My voice is calm.

  I have no more fight left in me. No remaining energy for anger or outburst. Besides, what good will that do now. It's done.

  "I did."

  "You watched me mourn my family all this time."

  Silence lingers between us.

  "Why?"

  He breaks our eye contact. "I hadn't planned it at first. When I found you, I had been too busy trying to get close to you and get to know you. Everything else seemed unimportant.” He pauses and I’m not sure he will continue because almost a minute passes. “You looked at me without fear. Your kindness. I didn't want to ruin what we had. I couldn't tell you. I wanted you to give us, me, a chance."

  He sighs.

  "I am a monster, Thalia. I had to know if you could love me, the real me. Even when you hated the monster I was known to be."

  My slightly trembling hand lands softly on his face and I turn it to me. I don't like it when he looks away from me.

  "It's been eight months, Vidar."

  His eyes close as if relishing my touch on his skin. He covers my hand with his and he rasps, "Would you believe me if I told you it wasn't to harm you?"

  He stares at me and I stare into his very soul.

  "Yes."

  "I didn't want you to forgive me or be mine because of the connection. At first, yes. But when I met you, I knew I wanted more. I wanted all of you. I wanted you to choose to be mine."

  Another long silence stretches between us before I ask, "Do you think things could have been different if you hadn't killed Samson? Couldn't you have found another way?"

  "Maybe. But taking his life was an inevitability. If I hadn't, my father would have sent someone to do it. Celestial rules." He waits for his words to sink.

  "And be honest, would he have let you go if I showed up that day, or after. Or when you were married and I claimed you as mine?"

  What would Samson have done if Vidar showed up the following day demanding I come with him? Wouldn't honor have demanded he refuse? What would I have done?

  Would I have chosen to stay with Samson even if my soulmate had come for me? Would I have betrayed Samson?

  Either way there would have been bloodshed. Vidar would have never left me in the hands of another man.

  "He would have never agreed to let me go without a fight. Even if he knew he had no chance. Honor would have demanded he act. He was next in line for the chieftain. More would have perished. And in the end, I would have ended up here...with you."

  "Can you forgive me?" he asks after a moment of silence.

  I nod slowly.

  "I didn't want to forgive you at first, but Vidar our ties were never going to have me free. Eventually I did, even though I didn't know I had. But I did. My soul has always answered to you, my love."

  "You gave me new life, baby bird. I am sorry for all the pain I have caused you. I would take it to my own flesh if I could." He places a hand on my cheek and runs his fingers over the dips and bumps of my face. "I promise to spend the rest of our days making it up to you. I only want your happiness."

  His words seep into my very soul, and they mend every heart break, every disappointment. Every hurt and I am made anew. I am home with my soul mate. The one who is half of me.

  With nothing more standing between us, I move closer, and place a soft kiss on his lips. Fire erupts in my body at the brief contact.

  His hands cover my body, and he secures me, crashing his lips against mine in a demanding kiss. Waves upon waves of pleasure accompany shivers attacking my body. He pulls from me way too soon and I follow him.

  "You are the love of my life, Thalia. Everything I am belongs to you. I will follow you to the depths of the dark realm, I will die where you die. So, I ask you. What do you want me to do?"

  The answer slides out of my lips. "Ruin me."

  I Was Made For Her

  Vidar

  Her words ring in my ears, knocking the wind out of my lungs, undoing me. My heart opens as she stares at me waiting for me to move. But how can I not stare at her.

  For eight years I have chased this woman of mine across the realms. I have trampled over the blood of those who stood in my way. I have created new enemies. And I would do it all again to get to this moment. To have her place her heart, her whole being in my hands.

  She's finally truly mine.

  My already smoldering hunger for her erupts with an intense force and I part her lips with mine. I am dying of hunger for her, but this is about us reuniting, finally making everything right between us. So as much as I want to devour her, I elect to give her all the tenderness I promised her instead.

  All my softness.

  Her body trembles under my touch as my hands roam, needing to feel more of her. I kiss her neck and she cranes it, giving me more room. I suck and lick, needing to remind myself of her taste.

  I have been a man dying of thirst for a lifetime and I will finally be quenched. Her body trembles with her moan and I am drunk with desire.

  I slide her sleeping dress, kissing lower to her chest, until her beautiful breasts make themselves known to me.

  My mouth salivates as my tongue appreciates her perfect form.

  "Oh Vidar." She moans as I suck her, needing her to feel my devotion. I take her other breast my hands and caress, playing with her nipple as it hardens under my touches.

  She is so responsive. Her body putty in my hands.

  Pulling from her, I look down at her half naked body and tear the rest of the fabric keeping me from what's mine.

  She gasps in surprise, but smiles when I remove the offending garment from her body.

  She stares at my eyes. She really likes when my eyes reveal my inner most desires, and from her it is always hard to hide. I was always able to hide that from others but from her, that wasn’t even a battle I intended on winning. Affirming further that I was made for her, and she for me.

  I need to feel and see more of her.

  A growl erupts from me as I take in her body. Her body shudders as her eyes beg me to give her what we both need.

  I lean down and take my time worshiping her body. I kiss, lick and suck her everywhere. Leaving behind my marks wherever I please. Today I stamp myself on her as she will on me.

  She writhes in pleasure under me as I drink her in. My head lowers to where I need most. Her scent, I need more of it. I can't inhale her deeply enough. I feel greedy. I wish I could take her scent and keep it for myself.

  My tongue darts and her hooded eyes follow mine as I lick her bundle of pleasure. I circle and she opens herself wider for me. I growl my approval and she clenches, her body vibrating with mine. I drink, desperate for more.

  She gives me her arousal as I lick the pleasure out of her. Moving my tongue lower, I insert it in her sacred place, and her hips buck. I miss her body as it sings for me.

  I move my tongue in and out of her, going deeper every time. Her hands grab my hair, and she pulls me into her as she rides my tongue, feeding me her and I don’t relent either.

  Her body sings as I strum her wetness and I paddle, taking her higher and higher. She opens her eyes searching for mine. Our eyes lock and I stop to smirk, her last chance to breathe, before I return with a punishing pace.

  "Vidar, I...I..."

  She tips over and I want to stop time so I can bottle this moment.

  This moment is everything.

  Very well worth the wait as she trembles with her orgasm, my name falling from her lips repeatedly. Her song in my head mixes with her moans of pleasure and I become mad with even more want. Want for her.

  I bring her over the edge again and again, memorizing the moans she makes.

  We are communicating and exchanging our need for each other, all the tension and frustration of a lifetime.

  I have waited a lifetime for her, and I won't let her off this bed until she understands what it is I feel for her.

  She grabs my face. "My love, I need...more. You. Please."

  My painfully hard length hardens even more. It's a miracle it hasn't torn a hole in my clothes.

  With a smirk, face dripping from her releases, I move to hover over her, and she pulls my face to hers, and licks her own arousal from my face. My whole body vibrates as a long low growl escapes me.

  "Vidar, I need you. Please."

  Her hands travel down my body, and it’s like I am being licked by fire. She lifts my tunic in haste before grabbing my breeches. Helping her, I kick them off.

  She licks her lips as she takes me in, her approval and desire on display. Her hands reach for me, and I close my eyes as my chest rumbles. I shake my head. I need to hold myself. I need to focus. But she is making it harder and harder not to spread her open now and take her like I want.

  She strokes me in her hands as if she's fascinated by me. And I keep my eyes closed, trying to rein myself in.

  She moves closer, almost pressing her lips to mine. "May I?”

  Thalia

  His eyes flash red then back to the burning orange, before he blinks and lies on his back. He looks like he is barely hanging on, barely holding back.

  I don't want him to. I want him to ravage me like he wants.

  My hands touch his skin and I explore his hard body. Leaning in, I explore everywhere with my tongue. I need to taste him, all of him. I lick him down to his shaft. Then I take it in my hands.

  I stare up at him as I lick his overflow. I want to know what he likes, what he hungers for. He rewards me with another growl, and I know I am on the right path. I lick again, up and down, savoring each twitch and vibrating growl before I take him in fully, devouring him.

  My lips part around him as his hands find my hair. I suck him up and down letting him direct me, letting him teach me what he likes and his body pulsates under me.

  His pleasure echoes in my own body, and it feels incredible.

  I increase my rhythm when his hands loosen. His body vibrates harder, and a feral growl emits from him, eyes turning red before I feel his essence in my mouth.

  It feels like pure ecstasy, joining in his pleasure as my body erupts, and I clench as we share the moment.

  I climb on him after the moment subsides and I kiss him, drinking from his well of life and I am reborn.

  He flips us over and I open for him. My body hums in anticipation. I pull him close, deepening the kiss. Needing to go deeper and deeper into him until I am lost to the land of the living. I want to drown in him until I don't know where I begin, and he ends.

  I feel his girth in my entrance, and I only want more. There is no holding back, I just need him.

  The fire in his eyes stirs my very soul. With our foreheads linked, he sinks himself into me and I exhale.

  The universe has finally aligned and everything is made right.

  He starts moving in and out and we breathe into each other, sharing everything. We breathe into one another as he strokes me. The pleasure blinding, his pace increasing.

  "Oh Vidar, oh."

  His body vibrates with a low growl as he pounds into me.

  "Thalia, I love you... I love you..." His hands pin mine to the side of my head and we sink deeper into ecstasy.

  "I love you, oh goddess, I love you..." I moan.

  I babble as we go higher and higher. It feels like we've come full circle. And it is better than last time.

  As we pour into each other, I feel my pleasure and his. We are truly one.

  "Ohhhh...." We say in unison as we fly over the edge, leaving this plane of existence and we become residents of ecstasy land. I feel him fill me and I close my eyes.

  We pant into each other as we travel through our joyride.

  "I love you, Vidar."

  "I love you, Thalia."

  After we have come down, I move to get off the bed so I can get us both a cloth to clean up, but he growls and doesn't let me go.

  "Love, I need to get the cloth."

  He smirks. "You think I will let you leave this bed after the long years without you? I have waited many lifetimes for you. You are not leaving this bed, Queen Thalia."

  He brings our lips together again and we ride again and again. And again...

  And again.

  Home

  Thalia

  Vidar takes my hand as we head downstairs for the first time in three days. My soul smiles when I remember the last three days and how it's been beyond perfect and how we've been in our bubble of love.

  Vidar has kept me in bed all this time, only allowing bathing and eating. He has had Bhalar bring our meals to our wing three times a day.

  I also learned that he can communicate with his servants through the mind link. It explains a lot of things I couldn't understand.

  Vidar and I have been on top, next and under one another for three days and I finally convinced him for us to go outside.

  I had to bribe him by promising I'd paint a portrait of us together. This after telling him he couldn’t see the big portrait of us. Which he wasn’t pleased with. It was a fierce negotiation, and he had refused my initial offer, but after I sweetened the deal, he couldn't refuse me. We ended at a compromise with me painting both of us.

  A place holder. Something to look at in the meantime, he had said.

  A kiss lands on my cheek and my soul smiles.

  "Are you thinking about me?" He grins at me.

  "Um, no. I'm thinking about the food we are about to eat. I'm famished." I shrug playfully.

  "Oh, really?" He smirks and pins me to the wall, staring me down with nothing but mischievous intent. He dips his head but before his lips make contact with my skin, a throat clearing disturbs us.

  Annoyance flashes on his face, but I just chuckle and go around him to find an embarrassed Bhalar knitting his meaty hands. Looking everywhere but at us.