Page 42 of Entwined in Norway

She nodded and leant to kiss him while he gently took them in his hands, hardly able to believe how soft her skin was. She was beautiful. Perfect. And right now she was his.

Afterwards, they lay in each other’s arms, sated. It was the first time Erik had been to bed with a woman since his accident. Everything in his life was before or after, and there wasn’t much stuff in the after category until now that he could say was better than before. But this was most definitely one of those things. The post-coital glow made him feel optimistic, which was pretty rare these days. He felt like he could face the day, cope with his leg being sore. Hell, maybe today would be a day when it wasn’t.

‘I wish I could call in sick,’ she said.

‘We can’t spend all day in this room.’

‘We could try.’

‘I’m looking forward to helping your brother out.’ He couldn’t spend all day in bed. Now that he’d rested, he needed to keep himself moving.

Ida groaned and flung the covers back.

‘Hey,’ he said, wrapping his fingers around her wrist. ‘Want to stay over again tonight?’

She nodded. ‘I stole more than one.’

He laughed and watched her walk into the bathroom completely naked, any shyness gone now that they’d opened themselves up to each other.

After a couple of minutes, he headed in there too and watched as she rinsed her hair free of suds. He wished the shower was big enough so he could get in there with her, but then she really would be late for work. Instead he held out a towel and wrapped it around her before stepping into the shower and groaning as the hot water ran over his back and chest. He had to bend his knees to get his hair wet and he couldn’t help but smile. It was a far cry from how he’d felt about the exact same experience a couple of days ago.

By the time he emerged back into the bedroom, Ida was dressed with her damp hair caught into a tidy ponytail.

‘I’ve just noticed the troll’s missing,’ he said.

‘You had a troll in here?’

‘It was right there.’ He pointed to the small empty shelf near the door.

Ida shrugged and looked so innocent he was a hundred per cent sure she was gaslighting him.

‘Huh. Maybe I imagined it.’ He rubbed his hair with the towel, then pulled on the clothes he’d wear for helping Mats out, and they headed downstairs together.

Magnus was at the reception desk and looked a little surprised when the pair of them, freshly showered appeared in the hallway.

‘I’m going to grab some breakfast,’ Ida said to him. ‘You don’t have to wait, just leave me a note if there’s anything I need to know.’

‘Okay,’ he said, grinning. ‘I’ve left the usual handover notes but there’s nothing you need to know. Enjoy your breakfast.’

Erik wanted to take Ida’s hand but he didn’t know how she felt about being affectionate with each other when she was at work. It felt kind of inappropriate so he would leave it to her. He followed her into the dining room and let her choose a table tucked away in the back corner.

‘Can I get you both some coffee?’

‘Takk, Linn,’ Ida said, smiling at the waitress who looked at Erik and grinned. ‘Takk,’ Ida repeated and raised an eyebrow at Linn, who then walked off smiling.

‘Is this okay?’ Erik asked. ‘Like, you’re at work…’

‘It’s okay. I’ve never had breakfast with a guest before. It’s weird for them’

He laughed. ‘It is just breakfast.’

‘I know.’ She smiled at him but he didn’t miss the glint in her eye that told him she was enjoying the shock factor. ‘Do you want me to see if they have any of the good pastries left in the kitchen?’

‘Sure.’

After they’d eaten the good pastries along with some fruit and more coffee, they walked into the hall together.

‘I’m not sure Mats is here yet,’ Ida said, reaching for Erik’s fingers with hers.