Page 24 of Night Fall
Mya’s jaw dropped. Erik laughed at her, causing her cheeks to grow warm. His eyes still twinkled as he said, “I apologize if I did not explain that correctly to you before, but I will make it clear to you now. There is no one––no woman, man, child, or animal––that I have cared for or will care for in the same way I care for you. You are, and will always have, my heart.”
She made a soft whimper as his lips met hers. “I apologize,” she said in between their kisses.
“No need,” he murmured as he opened the bedroom door behind her and moved her over the threshold. Kicking the door shut, he guided her backward to her bed. “If you mentioned any man with fondness in your voice, I would have felt the same as you. I would have tried to kill him too.”
Mya giggled as they tumbled onto the mattress together. Erik spread her legs and fit his hips against her, circling, grinding, drawing a moan from her with the movement she had come to love so much.
“Now, I believe it is time to make you scream, fagr skjaldmær min.”
Something was wrong.
One moment they were packing for the start of their new life in France with Miriam, and the next Erik had been called away by a messenger. At first, Mya figured it was nothing more than a small nuance Erik would need to resolve due to his position as lord. It was a common thing, and with the war brewing between England and France, a village needing supplies or townsfolk rioting in the streets would not be surprising.
But he had been gone for far too long.
Mya packed away her last few belongings and set off to find him. Turning into his chambers, she found him pacing. Her heart fluttered knowing he was safe, but the energy pulsating from him twisted her gut.
“What has happened?” she asked.
He sighed when he saw her, then drummed his fingers along the wooden table. “Our path has been cut off by the war.”
Mya’s eyes widened. “What does that mean? Can we take another path, or will we be unable to leave?”
“We have to go now.” Erik began to pace once again. “It is imperative that we leave during the confusion of the battles between England and France. That will be the excuse used for our supposed deaths and why no one will be able to find our bodies. We cannot wait any longer. If the two countries reach another treaty, we may be at peace for too long, and as lord my disappearance, especially with you and your family, will seem suspicious. King Edward would likely hire spies to investigate, and we cannot let them find us. It must be this way,” he said, as he ran his hand roughly through his hair.
Mya cocked her hip on the side of a table and folded her hands in her lap. “If that is our only option, then it is exactly what we must do.”
“We will be walking through a battlefield, Mya,” he said, arms flinging around his body.
“And,” she began as she took her hands in his, “we will be just fine.”
He sighed at her touch and intertwined his fingers with her own. His shoulders dropped as some of his worry seemed to leave him. “I do not know how you can say that.”
She smiled. That such a strong, protective man who could act so easily, so methodically in the heat of the moment, who planned and took care of so many, could doubt what he had taught those around them never failed to surprise her. While Erik had many who trusted him, he still could not trust himself.
“I can say that, my love, because I have spent the majority of my life around you, and you have been training me and my family for years.”
“But—”
She shook her head. “I know you are concerned that our blood lust will get the better of us, especially if we are caught in the crosshairs of the battle and are forced to fight. I understand that concern. It is a valid one, but you are forgetting one small thing.”
She held her hand to his face, fingers nearly meeting one another to show the measurement. He sighed again at the action, but a small smile ghosted his lips and Mya swore the room brightened.
“And what did I forget, fagr skjaldmær min?”
“You. We will not be alone. We will have each other and you.”
He opened his mouth to speak but she held a finger to his lips to shush him. “I do not say that to mean we should rely on you, nor are we your responsibility. While we may be young vampires, we are old enough to do better. You have taught us to do better, to stay in control.”
Mya patted his chest softly and smoothed the fabric of his tunic. Erik made a small hmm of pleasure as he gathered her closer.
“I know you will always feel that we are your responsibility, and you will always be there for us to rely on should we need it. But you are a leader, my love. Trust us to know our limits and to share when we feel ourselves reaching them. Lead us, and we will follow you. We are not alone,” she said again, “and neither are you.”
He dropped a kiss on her forehead as he held her head to his chest. “When did you become so wise?”
She giggled and tightened her hold around him. “I believe I may have learned that from you too.”
Erik was right.
