Immortals Of Byolla Bay

I’ve never been inside his bathroom before. Keri outdid herself in remodeling the house and this room was no exception. The bathroom counter had his and hers sinks lined with dark blue marble. The floor was a dark and light blue mosaic tile pattern, beautifully done, and there were light blue rugs placed in front of the shower and sink.

The shower was the eye catcher in here though. It was a walk in shower with chrome finishing and a glass sliding door. There was a built into the wall bench and two shower heads. I think this is what they call a two person shower, which made my cheeks heat up at the thought of Rikki in there with me. I shook my head to clear my senses and walked in the shower to turn it on.

That felt like heaven and was just what I needed. I didn’t know what to do with my towel so I put it on the second towel rack. The first one had a dark blue oversized towel hanging on it with a blue washcloth on top to match it.

The silky pajamas felt soft and like satin on my skin, making me feel twice as sleepy. I put the robe on for extra warmth as I opened the drawers in the counter looking for an extra toothbrush and a hairbrush. I found both after a while and found out that Rikki uses cinnamon flavored toothpaste. Not sure why that amuses me, but it did.

I folded my clothes up and put Maggie’s heels on top of them then walked into the bedroom. He wasn’t back in yet so I sat my clothes down on a chair by the door and looked around his room. It felt empty without him here.

A sense of longing that I’ve never known overtook my senses as my brain was demanding Rikki’s presence. It was almost unbearable. I couldn’t fight it any longer so I ran to his bedroom door. I had to find him. But before I reached it, Rikki opened the door with a look of confusion on his face. As soon as I seen him the feeling changed into one of satisfaction and happiness.

“Kinsley are you alright? I just felt... I just... I had to come find you, I couldn’t fight it. I am sorry.” He took me in his arms and kissed me like he hadn’t seen me in years. When he pulled away he put his hands on either side of my face and rested his forehead on mine, with his eyes closed.

“Rikki don’t apologize. Something strange just happened to me, too. I just had an unbelievable need to be in your arms. I was racing to the door to find you when you came in. What does all this mean? If you know what is happening you must tell me, Rikki. Please. I’ve accepted everything you are and I care about you so much. You can tell me anything. You don’t have to hide anything anymore from me.”

He opened his emerald eyes and it seemed that they bored into my soul. “Are you sure you want to know? Because when I tell you, it will change everything, for better or worse. I’ll tell you all my secrets, whatever you want to know, but you need to be sure you really want to know the truth first.”

Looking into his sparkling green eyes, I’ve never been more sure of anything, “I’m positively sure. Please tell me.” He pulled his head back, “Let’s go out on the balcony.”

We walked over to the bench on the balcony and he motioned for me to have a seat. I complied and he continued to stand, then slowly started pacing as he spoke, “My father told you the gist of what we are, but he left out sensitive details he thought would be too much for you at the time being that he just dropped on you that we were immortal Vikings from another realm. I didn’t expect you to take this so well and I can’t put it in words accurate enough to thoroughly explain how proud and happy I am for that. I half expected you to walk out and never speak to me again, which would have slowly killed me.”

I gasped out loud when he said that. I couldn’t imagine hurting him even a little bit much less that bad. He stopped pacing and held a hand up, “I didn’t mean to make it sound like I would literally die, love. Well, then again maybe you not accepting me would actually kill me, I’m really not sure.”

He noticed the look of horror on my face and sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry, Kinsley. I’m rambling and not making sense. I’m just nervous I guess.″

He’s nervous? I didn’t even know he could get nervous. He does everything, even breathes, in purpose and confidence so I always thought he was incapable of feeling such a thing.

“Let me just start back from the beginning, and I’ll fill in the details father left out, okay?” He turned his back to me and rested his hands on the edge of the balcony, “My father stopped his story at how the clans split up. He didn’t tell you that through the generations of our clan, that book has been passed down and every king had been charged with the task of writing our history for future generations to know. It was finally passed into the hands of our current king... My father.” I jumped up from my seat, “Rikki you guys are royalty and you are just now telling me this? Oh man! I need to remember to bow and say yes sir and..”

Rikki silenced me with a kiss. When he pulled back I conveniently forgot what I was going on about. “You don’t have to do any of that to us, love. I am trying to explain to you why.”

I felt my cheeks heat up in embarrassment when I realized I interrupted him. “I’m sorry. Please continue, I’ll be quiet.” He chuckled and turned back to the balcony. I continued standing though.

“Drakkar had been the king of one of our opposing clans since Gene was a child. He had quite a powerful selection of warriors. His second in command was almost as wicked as he was. He always carried an evil smile and was with Drakkar everywhere he went. His name was Trygve. When Maggie became of age, Trygve started following her everywhere she went. Drakkar insisted that he was just helping my father keep her safe by sending his most trusted warrior to protect her, but it turned out to be much more sinister than that. Drakkar asked for her hand in marriage and he would unite our two clans, but my father refused of course. Maggie was showing interest in one of our elite warrior’s son anyways, who happened to be a good friend of mine. Drakkar flew into a rage and kidnapped Maggie that night. Her screaming alerted us and we raced after them. Gene reached them first. He broke Drakkar’s legs with a hammer. Trygve was with him, of course, and Gene cut off his left hand before Trygve escaped. My father decided to let Drakkar live and have his deed be known in our history throughout the clans. He would forever be known as the crippled cowardly king. Drakkar vowed revenge, but we didn’t think anything of it at the time. Then one day he appeared suddenly before us in my father’s throne room and trapped us in an unbreakable steel cage. He then called the four clans together and made them join him. He was going to condense them into just one clan ruled by him, and the ones who refused to join would be banished to another realm. No one believed him at first until he enslaved our whole clan, then vanished the clan who sided with us before our very eyes. They were sent here in your world’s year of 800 AD. The two clans left dropped to their knees and declared Drakkar as their king. He left us in the cage that night and that’s when my father had his first dream from the stars. You see, the keeper of the stars is who guides us on our journeys through life and death. The stars also gave us gifts throughout the years, one such gift was the bindende sjel, or soulmate as you would know it as. They let us know who our soul is forever bound to by touch.”

He paused here and let all this sink in. I walked over to stand next to him. He looked down into my eyes, “My father is my mother’s bindende sjel. Do you know how she knew?”

I shook my head and he looked away, “By the fire that spread through her veins when they touched. She actually could not stand the man until that very moment of skin contact. That little moment, that split second in time is all it took for them to know. I felt faint, “Rikki are you saying we are soul mates and that’s why we burn when we touch?”

He looked back at me and had a look of pure emotion in his eyes, “Yes, but we are more than what the human definition of a soul mate is. Bindende sjel literally translates into binding soul in English. That means I’m bound to you for the rest of my unnaturally long life. I will only want you, care for you... and love only you.” I gasped when he said the L word. His eyes grew wide, “I’m sorry Kinsley please don’t leave me. I know humans are scared away when it comes to fast love and you guys like to take things slow, but..”

It was my turn to silence him with a kiss this time. I already knew I had hopelessly fell in love with him, but it took him telling me this before I could openly express it. I don’t understand his explanation of what a bind-whatever is, but I don’t have to know to understand that he is hopelessly in love with me, too.

“I love you Kinsley Preden.” My breath left me, “I love you, too Eerikki Viken, or is that really your last name?” He laughed as he picked me up and spun me around, “Here yes. But back home I am Prince Eerikki, Son of King Tyr.”

I chuckled, “That’s quite a last name. I’m glad you explained this to me. Now I know why I get set on fire with your touch and I understand the unbearable urge to see you I had earlier. So now I guess in human terms we are boyfriend and girlfriend?”

He laughed again, “If you want to go public with it then I’m with you all the way. But I want you to do something for me.” Anything. “What?” He smiled his perfect smile, “I would like to meet your family.”

I nodded, “It’s just my mother. My grandparents are dead. You remember when I told you about the car crash, right?” He inclined his head in acknowledgment and ran his fingers through my hair, “So you have no clue about your father?”

I thought back to the day I asked my mom about him, “When I was old enough to know what a dad was, I asked her about him. She said they dated through high school, and right before mom was supposed to go to college she found out she was pregnant with me. She thought my dad would be thrilled, but instead he told her he got a job in another state and had to move out of town. He told her he would call her when he got enough money to get them a place, but after a while mom realized he lied. He ran off and abandoned us both. She told me his name, but it was a long time ago and I can’t quite remember it. She did say I have his eyes, though.”

Rikki shook his head, “What kind of a man could do that and still have the right to breathe? It sickens me to know that, love. I’m so sorry this happened to you and your mother. By the way, I doubt you have his eyes. They are a unique color and absolutely breathtaking.”

I blushed at the compliment all while trying to stifle a yawn and failed. Rikki scooped me up and placed me in the bed. “Sleep, my love. We’ll talk more in the morning.”

He turned to go to the couch, but I stopped him, “No Rikki, stay please.” He smiled and crawled in beside me, pulling me against him. With our fire consuming every inch of me, I fell into a deep sleep, wrapped in his arms.