Tro (Elsker Saga Book 3) (6 page)

“I told you not to start.”

“Actually, I had a better idea.” I traced the outline of his lips with my finger.

“Seriously, Kristia? You can think of something ‘better’ to do?”

“Okay, not better. But…different?” I kissed the corner of his mouth.

“I like different.” Ull’s eyes rolled back into his head as I bit at his bottom lip.

“Well,” I continued, squirming on top of him until his eyes popped back open.

“Darling, if there is something else you would rather be doing I suggest you spit it out. Otherwise I am taking you back to the house immediately.”

“All right.” I kissed his upper lip and propped myself up on my forearms. My hips pressed into his and he closed his eyes again.

“Kristia!”

“Okay. I just thought, since it’s just you and me out here…that maybe…you could show me one of your moves?”

“Oh, I will show you some moves all right—”

“Ull!” I reached back to pull his hand off my bottom. “That’s not what I mean. Teach me just one teensy little thing I could use in a fight. Just for fun. Please?”

Ull’s eyes closed beneath his sunglasses and a small
V
formed between his brows. “Now?”

“Please,” I pleaded, kissing a small trail from his neck down his chest. “I really want to learn. I’ll do anything you want if you just show me a few little things.”

“Anything?”

“Anything.” I kissed down to his belly button, where the saltwater pooled in the small rivet. Ull groaned.

“All right. But it is going to cost you dearly.” He propped himself up on his elbows.

“I’m willing to pay. Now show me.” I scooted back on his legs so I sat up on my heels.

“What do you want to know?” Ull lowered his sunglasses lazily and eyed me with a look that made my insides burn.

“Well.” I paused. “Uh… What am I supposed to do if I’m attacked?”

“You mean if this happened?” Ull launched himself off the chaise, wrapping one arm around my waist and dragging me across the beach. He cradled me in his arms and landed in the froth where the ocean met the shore.

“See? I’m totally defenseless.” I gazed up at him, my back pressed firmly against the wet sand. He hovered, supporting his weight on his forearms.

“I am afraid you are.” Piercing blue eyes locked in on mine. Between the depth of his stare and the heat from his abs, I forgot everything else.

“Um…” I bit my bottom lip.

Ull tilted his head to one side, a small smile playing on his mouth. “Now what did you want to know?”

“I—”

A wave washed over us. The warm saltwater lapped up to my waist then retreated, leaving a film of sand over my legs.

“You were asking me how to defend yourself?” Dangit, it was hard to focus with Ull’s dripping body pressed against mine. Yes, I wanted whatever it was I’d asked about. Self-defense. Right. But there was something else I wanted more.

I bent my knee and twined my calf around Ull’s. I shifted my hips just an inch and stared into those endless eyes. They sparkled in the sunlight. My arms were trapped beneath his torso, so I turned my palms upward to touch the spot where his chest met his shoulders. It was so smooth, so firm, and so very, very warm.

My eyes never left his as I moved my thumb along the line of his shoulder, over his bicep, and down to the crook of his arm. I drew a slow circle inside his elbow and Ull blinked.

“Kristia,” he whispered.

“Yes?” I tried to reach up to stroke the stubble lining his square chin, but my arms were pinned.

“You are not trying to defend yourself.”

“So?” I raised my head and kissed his jaw. “Maybe I don’t feel like fighting you off.”

“Mmm.” Ull closed his eyes as I kissed my way up to his ear. “So if someone came after you, you would just let them do this?”

He swiftly rolled onto his back, forcing me on top of him. He shoved his fingers in my hair and tugged gently, pulling my head back. He kept the other hand just above the bottom of my bikini, firmly pressing my hips into his. I squirmed against the hold, trying to find a way out of his grip. Though I tactically had the upper hand, I couldn’t move.

“Well, I wouldn’t let just
anyone
do this.”

“I should hope not,” he growled softly. He raked his teeth along my throat and paused at the hollow of my neck. “Because if I ever caught wind of someone doing this to my girl, it would end very badly for them.” He ran his tongue along my collarbone. I shivered.

In a lightning-quick move, Ull flipped me onto my back and pinned my arms above my head with one hand. I gazed adoringly at the fierce assassin glowering over me. “And this. What would you do if someone did this to you?”

“Uh.” I blinked. If I told Ull what I really wanted to do right now, I’d turn every possible shade of crimson.

“Focus, Kristia.” Ull stared at me. “What would you do if you were trapped?”

“I…uh…I’d…” My cheeks felt hotter than a grizzly in a desert. “You seriously want me to fight you off?”

“If you are so bent on going through with this little exercise, then yes. Give it your best shot. And then, I believe, you promised to pay me for the lesson.”

“Gladly.” I narrowed my eyes and wrenched my arm as hard as I could. It didn’t budge. I tried again but it was futile.

“You are outmaneuvered and I am twice your weight. Try something else,” Ull commanded.

I threw my shoulder into his chest and tried to roll to one side.

“You cannot out-force me. Look at the difference in our masses. Think tactically, Kristia. What can you do that will debilitate me?”

My eyes widened. “You don’t want me to—”

“I want you to find a way to get me off you. Do what you have to do.”

I closed my eyes and raised a knee to his groin. Ull groaned and rolled off me.

“I’m so sorry! You said to—”

He raised a hand and waved at me, turning away.

“I’m sorry,” I repeated.

“That was good.” He rolled back with a grimace. “But if someone is bent on capturing you, they will come back for more. And quickly. Your next step should be to run.”

“If you want I can get some ice for—”

“Run, darling.” It was a threat. “Now.”

I jumped to my feet and took off down the beach. I ran just shy of the shoreline, where I was less likely to be slowed down by soft sand. The water lapped at my heels as I built up speed, pushing off the balls of my feet. A warm breeze caressed my bare skin and every cell in my body buzzed as if someone had turned on a light switch. Movement came so easily now.

Something hot hit me from behind, and I felt Ull’s arms curl protectively around me as he tackled me to the ground. We landed just inside the surf again, and this time the wave crashed over our heads. I sputtered as the water covered my face, wishing I’d had time to hold my breath. The saltwater burned my nose.

“You did not run fast enough, sweetheart.” Ull was on top of me again, and this time he wasn’t hovering. The full weight of his body pressed me into the sand. His legs were tangled up in mine, and his hands cradled the back of my head.

“I thought I did a pretty decent job,” I objected.

“And yet here we are. Again.” He brought his teeth to my throat and bit gently, making my insides churn. I threw my arm around his back and tried to wrench him off me, but he didn’t budge.

“Out-massed, remember darling?” He swirled a slow circle at the hollow of my neck with his tongue.

“I’m not kneeing you again. I want to
enjoy
my honeymoon, you know.”

I felt Ull’s smile against my neck. “Then think of something else.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.” I protested.

“You are the one who wanted to learn defense. So far we know you are not a fast runner and you have a mean left knee. That is not enough to help you in real combat.”

There was nothing that ruffled my feathers like a challenge. “Fine.”

I dug my fingernails into the flesh on his lower back and scratched a trail from his spine to his hip. He winced.

“That is a start. But for maximum impact dig your thumb here.” He covered my hand with his and placed my thumb just above his hipbone. “Angle your finger downward and jab.”

“I don’t want to hurt you—”

“Do it, Kristia.”

I dug my thumb beneath his bone and he doubled over. “That is good,” he groaned.

“I’m so sorry—”

“Stop being sorry. If push comes to shove, you are right: I want you to defend yourself. Now stand up. We need to work on your speed. I cannot have my wife being outrun by every dark elf in Svartalfheim.”

BY THE END OF
the day I’d nearly doubled my running speed. Ull kept his promise and made sure I could deflect a handful of common attacks, though he insisted that I’d never need to use any of it. He would protect me. Or my bodyguard would.

Visions of my imminent jailer danced in my head and I shoved them to the side. At least for now, Ull and I were completely and totally alone.

I relished every minute of it. Every night at dusk Ull would take me out to the beach. He’d made it his mission to teach me to dance. He worked his way through the old Norse folk dances, and then showed me steps that would have made Fred Astaire proud. One night we waltzed under the stars and the next we practiced the tango. I had to draw the line at the foxtrot—no sense pushing my coordination’s luck, though it was showing no sign of slowing down. And when Ull whipped out the Teton Mountain Stomp, I doubled over laughing.

“What is that?” I hooted.

“One of
your
folk dances.”

“We did that in fifth-grade gym class. I am
not
square dancing on my honeymoon.” I clutched my sides.

“Suit yourself. I was just trying to honor your heritage.”

“How about we do the awkward American junior high sway-and-turn?” I stopped laughing and pulled him close, resting my head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pressed his hand into the small of my back. I stared at moon reflecting off the ocean, bathing the beach in a soft glow, and I sighed contentedly.

“Sounds perfect. Or…” Ull paused. He moved his hands over my bottom and gave a gentle squeeze.

“Or?” Boy, howdy, I liked where this was going.

“Or I could show you how to make it snow.”

“Is that some kinky Asgardian phrase for something else?”

Ull let out a deep, guttural laugh that rang along the beach. “Well, it is now. But I meant it literally. Do you want me to show you how to make it snow?” Ull kept one hand firmly on my bottom and raised the other in front of his face. He waggled his fingers at me. “These things are magic.”

“Oh, I know they are.” I twirled a lock of his hair around my pinky. “Especially that thing you did this morning, when you—”

“That is not what I meant.” Ull did his best to look stern, but a grin broke across his face before he could stop himself. “You did seem to enjoy that.”

My eyebrows shot skyward. “Enjoy seems a bit of an understatement, considering that you could have heard my—”

“Do you want to learn the snow thing or not? Because I am having a change of heart.” Ull squeezed my backside again as his eyes glazed into an inky blue.

“Um…” I bit my lip. “How about you show me real fast, and then we can go with your Plan B.”

“Excellent.” Ull stepped back and held out one hand so his palm faced the sky. He took a breath and the inkiness drained from his eyes. “Sorry, sweetheart. This takes a lot of concentration, and it is easier if I do not touch that.” He nodded to my tush.

My insides warmed. “Fair enough.”

“We gave this a go back at the church. You did well enough—”

“I killed a squirrel,” I whispered. It had been mortifying. Right after our wedding, Ull had tried to teach me to channel my inner winter, and I’d ended up standing in my wedding gown in the middle of a courtyard, cocooning a squirrel in a sheet of ice.

“You did not kill the squirrel. You just…delayed its journey.”

“Because you unfroze it. Poor squirrel.” I closed my eyes.

“No matter. You understand the fundamentals: center yourself in the portion of your head that felt most affected when Odin activated your immortality. Channel the weather pattern you wish to affect, and draw it to the tips of your fingers. Like this.” Ull closed his eyes. He inhaled slowly and brought his fingertips together. After a moment he opened his eyes and lifted his hand, digits still touching. When his arm was at eye level, he opened his palm. A filmy fog circled in his hand. He blew gently and the fog raised four feet overhead. Ull turned his palm down, pointed at the swirl, and drew his hand back. The fog morphed into a thick cloud, and a layer of snow began to fall. It melted when it hit the ground, the moisture turning the moonlit sand from silver to dark tan.

I shook my head. “I can’t do that.”

“Yes you can.” Ull nodded at me. “Close your eyes. And draw your energy to that spot inside your brain.”

Hoping Ull didn’t see me cringe, I probed my brain for the spot Asgard’s Goddess of Wisdom and resident neurosurgeon had drilled with her ridiculously large needle. It was easy enough to find—it was the spot that felt like it had been battered with a searing-hot branding iron, then pummeled with a meat cleaver. My wedding day hadn’t been all sunshine and roses. But Ull didn’t need to know the extent of what I’d had to go through to become like him; it would only upset him. Besides, any pain I’d gone through had been more than worth it.

I’d gotten Ull.

“Are you centered?”

I took a moment. “Now I am.”

“Good. Picture whatever kind of weather you want to affect: snow, ice, hail, rain…whatever suits your mood. When you are ready, send that impulse out to your fingertips.”

I squeezed my eyes harder and moved the snow cloud through my body until my fingers felt cold. “I’m there.”

“Now open your eyes and blow the impulse into the air.”

After slowly exhaling I opened my eyes. A fluffy white cloud hovered in my palm. It looked exactly like the one I’d pictured, and for a moment I was so surprised, the cloud flickered in and out of focus.

“Do not lose your connection to it,” Ull cautioned. “If you allow yourself to be distracted it will disappear.”