Heroes (Eirik Book 2) (44 page)
Read Heroes (Eirik Book 2) Online
Authors: Ednah Walters
THE RUNES SERIES READING ORDER
Thank you for reading
HEROES
. If you enjoyed it, please consider writing a review. Reviews can make a difference in the ranking of a book.
Heroes
http://bit.ly/Heroes-Kindle
Heroes-UK
http://bit.ly/Heroes-KindleUK
Heroes-Print
http://bit.ly/Heroes-Paperback
Check out the other books in
The Runes series
(See below) and what book is next in the series. I’ve also included a bonus chapter for
GODS
as a thank you for pre-ordering
HEROES
, Eirik Book 2.
I still have one more Echo/Cora book and Torin/Raine book to release in 2016. To be updated on more Runes exclusives, the next book in Eirik's story, giveaways, teasers, and deleted scenes, join my newsletter.
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For the discussion about the series, join my private page on FB:
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READING ORDER
Runes
http://bit.ly/RunesKindle
Immortals
http://bit.ly/ImmortalsKindle
Grimnirs
http://bit.ly/GrimnirsKindle
Seeress
http://bit.ly/SeeressKindle
Souls
http://bit.ly/SoulsKindle
Witches
http://bit.ly/WitchesKindle
Demons
http://bit.ly/Demons-Kindle
Heroes
http://bit.ly/Heroes-Kindle
Gods, A Runes Companion Novel.
Eirik Book3.
To be released on June 14th, 2016.
PRE-ORDER NOW
Amazon
http://bit.ly/GodsPreOrder-Kindle
Amazon UK
http://bit.ly/GodsPreOrder-KindleUK
NOTES FROM THE AUTHOR
In
Runes,
readers are introduced to three best friends,
Raine
,
Cora
, and
Eirik
. Runes, Immortals, Seeress, and Witches chronicles
Raine’s story
and her journey to fulfill her destiny and find true love with Torin St. James,
a Valkyrie
(there’s one more story left). Grimnirs and Souls chronicles
Cora’s
journey to fulfill her destiny and find love with Echo, a Grimnir. There’s one more story left in their story.
Eirik’s story
ends with
Gods
and I promise you, you won’t be disappointed, so buy your copy
NOW
. It is only fair that Eirik gets the same love as Cora and Raine, and I’m sure by now you have fallen in love with him and Celestia, so don’t waste another moment and pre-order
Gods
coming June 2016. Why did I write Eirik’s stories before finishing Raine/Torin and Cora/Echo?
Torin
and
Raine
are going to need him and his connections in Hel to kick some serious Norn booties.
EIRIK
Celestia was awake. Finally. She was sitting up and smiling. I closed the gap between us and hauled her into my arms. Every time she was under my protection, she got hurt. If I weren’t crazy about her, I’d walk away and stop risking her life. My world was violent and unpredictable, yet I couldn’t imagine my life without her. She was my existence. If I could get away with it, I’d cover her up with damned bubble wrap and never, ever let her out of my sight.
“I’m fine, Eirik,” she said, laughing and squeezing me. The sound of her voice was the sweetest thing I’d ever heard. I was never complaining about her incessant yapping again. Never. “You brought me back. I heard your voice and I couldn’t…” Her voice broke. “I couldn’t stay away.”
I leaned back and cupped her face, my throat thick with emotions. “Don’t cry.”
“I shouldn’t have stayed away. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t say you’re sorry. You are back and that’s all that matters.” My voice and hands shook, but I desperately needed to connect with her. She must have felt the same way because we moved at the same time, reaching for each other.
Kissing Celestia was usually like diving off a cliff into unchartered waters—thrilling and at the same time scary. Her touch filled me with an all-consuming need, like nothing I’d ever felt before. But accompanying it was the partial shift. I could hurt her quite easily in that state. Not just with my scales and claws, but with my fire. I almost singed her clothes a few weeks ago in the forest in Kayville. That was the day I learned I could breath fire while in a partial shift. She wasn’t ready for all that, and the last thing I wanted to do was send her running again. I had to protect her from me, no matter how difficult she made it for me to hold back.
The taste of her after weeks of worrying about her, begging her to come back, and scolding her when she hadn’t, went straight to my head. I tried to be gentle, but I was like someone who’d been deprived of all his senses and gotten them back all at once. Her touch, her taste, and her scent heightened my feelings so much that it hurt to breathe. I wanted to devour her.
Celestia whimpered and I froze, sanity returning. I’d gone into a partial shift and my scaly hands were gripping her too tightly and leaving welts on her cheek and her stomach.
Damn! Three of weeks of learning to control the shift had gone out the window. Cursing, I tried to pull back, but she wouldn’t let me. She latched on to me, pulled me down to her, and rained kisses all over my face.
“Dimples—”
“You pull away from me again, I will hurt you, Eirik Baldurson.” She was smiling, so I knew it was an empty threat. “It’s been three weeks. Show me why you wanted me back.” Then she grabbed my hair and pulled my face to hers. The kiss she laid on me was an invitation I couldn’t refuse, but I set the pace and reeled in my dragon side, my scales and claws receding.
I slid a hand under her pajama top, intending to ease it over her head, but she impatiently pushed my hands away and yanked it off. My stomach hollowed at the welts on her skin. They weren’t healing fast enough. I lowered my head to kiss the red marks, and soothed them with my tongue. Celestia hissed as though I’d scalded her. Loving her response, I got bolder. I kissed the half-moon scar on her chest before claiming her lips again.
“That’s enough!”
I wasn’t sure who spoke, but the annoyance and sharpness of the voice penetrated the fog in my head. I glanced up and caught the dreamy grin on Celestia’s face. She couldn’t have been the one who wanted us to stop.
“
Stjärna mín
,” I whispered, stroking her cheek. The marks were still there. Damn it. How could be with her when I kept hurting her? “You are mine. Always.”
“Always,” she whispered.
“I said enough,” the grating voice said again, sounding closer. “You have five minutes, then I want you out of her room, young man.”
I glanced over my shoulder at Genevieve, Zack’s mother. The woman had made it clear she didn’t like me the few times our paths had crossed. Finding me all over Celestia wasn’t going to win me brownie points either.
“I’m leaving the door open, so both of you can cool down. Shameless,” she muttered, stomping away. “Right under my nose.”
Celestia tried to suppress laughter, but I felt its effect in every cell of my body. How I’d missed that twinkle in her eyes and the sound of her laughter.
“Your aunt hates me.”
“She’ll love you as soon as she learns what you mean to me.” She reached up and caressed my cheek. “I’m so sorry for staying away for so long.”
Guilt ate at me. She’d left to escape the pain caused by my family and my negligence. I moved to lie beside her and rested my hand on her stomach. I hated seeing those welts on her skin, yet I didn’t want to use my artavus on her again. It might mess up her transformation. She needed her own, forged specifically for her.
“I’m the one who should be sorry for not protecting you. I should have been there to face my grandmother. I should have known she’d follow your energy. So I don’t blame you for getting angry or running away.”
“But I didn’t run away and I was never angry with you.” She sat up and reached for her shirt. “I did something stupid and now I have to deal with the consequences.”
“You tried to save my sister, Dimples. There’s nothing stupid about that. Still, I swore to be your protector and failed you. Again. That’s something I must learn to live with.”
She gripped my head and peered at me, not masking her annoyance. “Don’t ever say you failed me. You couldn’t be in two places at the same time and you brought me back. Your words, Eirik. Knowing you needed me.”
Had she heard my declaration of love? Maybe I’d spoken too soon. “I should have opened a portal and kept an eye on you while destroying her camp.”
Celestia grinned. “Your tail at Niorun’s and your head at your grandmother’s camp? You’d be tailless and I happen to love your dragon whole, thank you very much.”
“My horn is chipped,” I reminded her, knowing that she was letting me off easy and loving her for it.
“I love the imperfection.” She sighed. “Please, let’s not focus on the past.”
“But, I want to know what happened between you and my sister. Trudy won’t talk to her even though Einmyria explained what happened and how our grandmother controlled her.” Celestia winced. “You don’t want to talk about this.”
“Not now. Just hold me.”
I did and she nestled in my arms, but I knew we’d have to discuss my sister. The tension between her and Trudy was getting to my mother and I wanted everything to be perfect, so I could focus on my number one—Celestia.