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Her eyes widened, and she floated to me, placing her splayed hands on my chest. Her touch grounded me. This was real. I had to believe it, or my soul might break again.

She frowned and swallowed hard before speaking. “I’m sorry it took me so fucking long to believe you⁠—”

I slammed my mouth against hers. Quieting her proved harder than I thought, because even with my lips on her and my tongue inside her, she groaned and whimpered. I forced myself to pull away and look at my wife. “Don’t do this again, Skald. It is the fault of the gods. They wanted us to forget. They needed you to forget so you would not damn Midgard again with something akin to vampires. This is on the gods alone.”

“And now I am a god.” A crease formed between her brow. “I’m the monster and you’re the human.”

“You could never be a monster.”

“I’m in Odin’s role. With time I’ll be able to command Valkyries and assign tasks to the other gods, and I want none of it. With power comes greed.”

I tucked a stray tendril behind her ear. “But you’re not Odin, and you can choose to reject all of that. You are a god and human. You are Myrah and Lux. You are mine, and that’s all that matters. Turn around, and I'll wash those negative thoughts away. I’m the only one who can make you forget, so let me.”

Perhaps a little too roughly, I gripped her arm and flipped her, forcing her wet body against mine so I could relish in her curves and touch every dip and scar as I ran my palms down to her waist. She’d always liked it this way…rough. When her head fell back against my chest, my desire spurred on.

I cupped water in my palm and brought it to the crown of her head to remind her she was my queen. Massaging water through her hair, I washed her scalp and inspired a moan from her. My hands worked the back of her neck, and then brushed over her collarbone and chest, with the pads of my thumbs following gentle circles. I applied just enough pressure to wipe the grime of life in Midgard away.

“Harder,” she whispered. Oh, fuck.

This couldn’t be real; I had to be dreaming. I held onto her too tightly, making sure as much of my body as possible was touching her so that she couldn’t slip away. My fingers found every tight muscle across her shoulders and in her sides where her torso curved. When she melted into me, I worked harder, digging into the knots in her back and bending to work through the tension in her thighs. I kissed her back, letting the water wash over me as I sank beneath the surface. Heat surrounded me. With the relief of the warmth, and our bodies slick and clean, it took everything within me to resist brushing my fingers over her core, and then spreading her open. But now wasn’t the time for my need.

She was a god, and I’d worship her. I’d only touch her as her body's subtle cues invited.

After I washed and massaged her, pressing my lips to her stomach, her shoulder, her forehead, she turned and mirrored the way I touched her with her hands on my shoulders.

“You don’t have to,” I breathed.

“I want to.”

I smirked. Stubborn woman, just like the girl who forced me to fight her for the chance to learn her name.

I couldn’t help but groan while her hands were on me. Relief and wanting and peace pulled me under as if I’d dipped beneath the surface again, unable to hear and feel anything but the water, the living entity of it, the quiet. Suddenly, the silence grew overwhelming; the stillness turning into a dreadful echo of my time in the ether.

My eyes flew open, and I wrapped my arms around her, burying her face in my chest. “Lux,” I panted.

“What’s wrong?”

“This is real, right?” I asked, like a fucking idiot, but I had to hear her say it. “You’re actually here?”

“I’m here, Drak.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “It was torture being able to hear you and reach out to you, but never with you.”

“I’m here,” she repeated.

I kissed the crown of her head, her wet hair warm against my lips. “I’m broken, Skald.”

“You’re whole again.”

“Your power was perfect. You restored me, but becoming a vampire will always haunt me.”

“I know, Drak. I saw the cracks in your soul. Your choice to shatter your soul isn’t something you can just forget, but it doesn’t have to torment you. What was it that you told me before? ‘You were scared, not evil.’” A laugh escaped me, but no joy came with it, not with the memory of my vow haunting me. I was only nine when I swore to become a vampire and overthrow King Roderic. Just like Lux shouldn’t have had to hide from executioners, I shouldn’t have watched the king lick the blood off my dead father’s face. “You don’t believe me?” she asked.

I pulled away to look at her. “I believe you that I wasn’t evil as a child, but is it evil to say I’d do it all again if it led me back to you?”

Her lips parted, unreadable eyes searching mine. Fuck. Did I say too much?

Never. She deserved the truth.