Page 26 of Berserkr
"Bad-Tempered?"
I laughed. "It's a joke. When we complete our warrior training, we are each given a title. As the only berserkr in my year, I was seen as more temperamental than the other Vikingar. They always expected me to go full berserkr on them, but my control was superior. I stayed calm, even when they poured itchy sap into my boots."
I smiled at the memory. Those had been good times. My first time in space, learning the ropes on a battleship. My first raid. When my planet had been destroyed, I'd thought it was the end of first times. Now that I had Laurel, that had changed. We'd already had our first kiss and our first mating. Our first meal together. Our first night in the same bed. There were so many firsts still to come.
"Anyway," Laurel continued her story, "I wanted to know what had happened to those missing women. Once I was on board the spaceship, I realised that they weren't actually missing. They were here, with their alien mates. I should have stopped then. But I was smelling a new story, that aliens were real. On Earth, most people don't think you exist. I thought it would advance my career, make me famous. But when I realised that I couldn't prove it, everything fell apart. I was fired from my job. But, most of all, I missed you. I don't know how it's possible to miss someone after only knowing them for such a short time, but I did. I was miserable without you. It just took me a long time to jump over my shadow and admit it to myself. I'm sorry I took so long. I'm sorry I didn't stay. I'm sorry that-"
I lay a finger on her lips, silencing her.
"I understand. Sometimes, in battle, we forget to think. We're so caught up in the bloodlust, in the practised movements of hacking and slashing, that we forget that every battle is different. Sometimes, we have to change our strategy and our mindset."
"Did you just compare journalism with a bloody battle?" Laurel laughed, but she still wasn't quite as happy as she'd been before.
"I am saying that you had other priorities when we met. You didn't intend to meet your mate. But I was. I was fixated on you, too much so. It started the fýst prematurely, before I even met you face to face. I suppose I was too fast, and you were too slow. Now we meet in the middle. What do you want to do now? Do you want to continue working as a journalist? Do you want to learn to raid spaceships? I can teach you to fight."
"I have options? Pam at the agency made it sound like I didn't."
I was going to have some strong words with Pam. "Of course you have options! I wouldn't want my mate to be bored. You can write, you can fight, you can do whatever you want. I'm sure many intergalactic media would love a Peritan correspondent. If you don't want to work, that is also fine. I have enough money for us to live permanently on a resort planet. Although once we have children, we should move somewhere more appropriate. Our own ship, maybe, if you don't want to be around the other Vikingar and their mates. We can travel the galaxy." I stopped to breathe. That was a lot of words. I didn't usually talk this much. "Whatever you want,sæta."
She looked at me with wide eyes. "I have to think. I've been so focused on this one path for so long that I don't want to make decisions without some breathing space."
"You have all the space you need. As long as I'm in it with you."
Laurel laughed. "You take up a lot of space. You're huge, did you know that?"
I flexed my muscles. "Only because you're tiny. I think I will enjoy teaching you how to fight. We will start small, with hand-to-hand-combat only. Axes are for later. Maybe a sword would be more suited to you. And shields. I might even show you the secret ways of the berserkir. And at the end, I will give you your title."
"Laurel the Clumsy?"
"No. Laurel the Invincible. Laurel the Bloodthirsty. Laurel the Magnificent. We will find you a good one."
"I would like that." She smiled at me. That smile warmed my entire being. I could watch her smile all day.
We drank some more mead in silence. I enjoyed that I could be both loud and silent with her. She didn't make me feel like I had to say something just to fill the silence. After emptying my drinking horn, I pulled Laurel onto my lap. She leaned against me, smiling up at me. My cock hardened at the feel of her naked arse against it. She'd not put on any clothes after our mating and I'd been naked already. It didn't seem to bother her. I was glad. She was stunning. I had so much of her body still to explore.
This felt so right. For a moment, I wondered if I was still dreaming.
But no, this was real. Laurel was here with me, forever. And together we'd make our own dreams.
And this is where we leave them to spend some quality alone time together! I very much hope you enjoyed Berserkr. If this was your first encounter with the Starlight Vikings, start the series withVikingrand find out how Njal and Steff met.
