I had had the most wonderful dream. It had started as a nightmare, but then… Then it turned into something completely different. Everything I wanted was given to me. Something I had had to hide and do in the shadows had been done out in the open under the stars. I had made love to a man. A fierce and almost supernatural man. And we hadn’t been hiding. We had just given in to each other. I desperately wanted the dream to be real, as I sighed and smiled.

I opened my eyes and expected to the see the sword and shield my father had made for me, hanging under the ceiling, but instead I was looking up at a very strange ceiling that definitely wasn’t mine. This ceiling was made of wood and mine was made of grass. This wasn’t right.

Someone sighed next to me and I froze. I slowly turned my head to the side and there was a man. Next to me. There was a man in my bed. And it wasn’t my bed.

And then it hit me. Last night had not been a dream. It couldn’t all be real right?

I jerked up and the motion woke up my uh… Bed mate?

He opened his eyes and they were startling black. I could clearly remember them from last night. How he had looked at me.

I immediately ran my fingers over my throat. There were no sores, so it couldn’t have been real right?

I stumbled out of the bed and he frowned at me before tossing the furs aside. I had to get out of here! I had to go home!

“Hey… Hey!” he said as I stumbled towards the door. “Stop!”

Before I knew it he had turned me around and pressed my back to the door.

“You can’t leave. Not now.”

“I-I c-can leave,” I stammered.

“No. Please listen. Just for a second,” he said with a heavy accented voice.

I don’t know what drove me to not fight him. Maybe because I… I remembered last night, and I felt different. Something was different inside of me. I couldn’t describe what, but there was just something different.

“At least until it becomes dark. Then… Then you can leave. Yeah?”

I narrowed my eyes a bit at him. “Yeah.”

“Right...” he murmured and slowly let go of my shoulders. Then his gaze travelled down, and he swallowed something, the side of his mouth twitching.

“You were saying?” I said and folded my arms over my chest, less than impressed.

He smirked and flicked his eyes up, meeting mine. His smirk was quick to fade as he sobered though. “You died.”

“What?” I snorted and walked around him, back to the bed. I grabbed the furs and pulled them around me. Didn’t seem like being bare as the day you were born bothered the stranger as he turned around, facing me. My turn to swallow hard.

“You died but Death chose to give you new life.”

“Hel sent you?” I gasped.

“Hel? No.” He softly shook his head and crouched down in front of me. “Your gods are not real. But there are gods that are. I was sent by one. By Death. She chooses to give a second life after death to the deserving and you… You deserved it more than anyone.” He lifted his hand and very gently cupped my cheek. “You’re a creature of the night now, Frej.”

Air lodged in my throat and I think my heart stopped. And not just because of what he was saying. But because of his touch. His hand was so warm.

“And I’m your deity. I gave you my blood so you could heal.” He leaned forward, his fingers sliding up on my head. I hadn’t even realised my hair was gone before he touched my scalp. “I fed on your blood as you fed on mine,” he whispered, slowly closing the gap between our lips. “You’re fully healed now.” He moved in and softly pressed his lips against mine.

I sighed and wanted to live in this kiss for eternity. Which was ludicrous. He was a stranger. He hadn’t even told me his name.

He didn’t give me a chance to question him either. He grabbed my hips and shifted me further into the bed, slipping the furs off me. His fingers dug into my thighs and spread my legs. I leaned back, my back hitting the furs under us. I gasped as he settled down between my legs and started kissing my throat.

Everything was spinning in the most delightful way. I never wanted this man to stop touching me.