Page 27 of Baldr's Secret Mate

And that’s where we decided to take shelter for the night.

“This is incredible,” Mist said as I let him start our cooking fire. I sure as hell wasn’t gonna do it again. “This is just like in those books you read to me! Adventurers out on a quest, exploring ruins of an ancient world… I wonder what kind of place this used to be?”

“I’m not sure,” I replied, watching him flawlessly get a fire going with hardly a lick of smoke rising into the air. “But let’shope we don’t have to go exploring ancient ruins… I’m not sure I came prepared for that sort of thing.”

“Where’s your sense of adventure?!”

“I left it at home,” I chuckled. “Along with everything else I own.”

Mist stiffened, his gaze fixed on the flames. “I’m sorry you got dragged away because of me.”

Reaching out a hand, I grabbed his shoulder and spun him toward me, my eyes fixed on his in the darkness that was slowly consuming the forest around us. “Don’t ever apologize for that. If I could do it over a hundred times, I’d get you out every single time.”

He smiled at that. “Thanks.”

“Anytime.”

It took a bit more effort to let go of him than I expected, but I didn’t want to overstay my welcome. I still craved the feeling of his skin against my own and the more time we spent together, the harder it was to keep my feelings at bay. But I clenched my jaw and forced myself to pull my hand away. Instead, I committed to being satisfied just watching him work. In less than twenty minutes he’d burned down our wood, created a glowing bed of coals, and had nestled the sweet potatoes inside.

“There,” he said, brushing his hands clean of soot. “They’re gonna take a little while to cook, but it’ll be worth the wait.” He glanced around the darkening ruins surrounding us. “If we’re gonna stay here for a little while, maybe we should look for a pot or something. There might be one buried in one of these houses.”

“I saw a place further down the river where the woods and the water meet,” I replied. “I thought that would be a good place to camp out until I can get us back to our own world.”

Mist settled down beside me with a nod, his back leaned up against the stone wall. We’d decided to make camp inside one of the old homes that still had most of its walls. There was no roof of course and the tree growing through the center of it would’ve stopped another from being put in place. Still, it kept the breeze out and the heat in. It was enough to get through the night at the very least.

“Any idea where we are yet?” he asked, crossing his arms tight in front of him.

“I’m not sure. This place seems a bit too normal to be the home of the light or dark elves. And it doesn’t feel magical enough to be Vanaheim. I suppose it might be Asgard? But again, it’s really normal.”

“Are those places not normal?”

“Everything I’ve read or movies I’ve seen would lead me to believe they’re either whimsical, magical, or extremely gaudy. And this place seems to be none of those things.” I glanced around us at the ruins. “And I don’t remember any of them having rotting cities. Plus, if this was Asgard or Vanaheim, I would’ve expected to see something incredible and magical by now. But I haven’t even felt anything, much less seen it.” I paused for a moment. “Both places are home to powerful gods.”

“Do you really think we’ll see one?” Mist asked, his face lighting up.

“I hope not,” I replied. “They don’t exactly have the most wholesome reputations.”

I glanced over, noticing he was starting to shiver despite the hot coals in front of us. Reaching out, I patted him on the shoulder and beckoned for him to get closer. He smiled wide, scooted until his hip was pressed against mine, and leaned into me, my arm wrapped over his shoulders.

Mist nestled closer to me, his body warm against my side. I tried to ignore the way my heart raced at his proximity,focusing instead on the practical need to share body heat. But it was difficult not to be hyper-aware of every point of contact between us - his shoulder pressed to my chest, his hip against mine, the brush of his hair against my neck. His earthy scent was strong, and it made my wolf run in circles, chasing his own tail in excitement. At the same time I felt my magic swirl and bubble as if it were spurred into action just by his proximity. It seemed both the wolf and the witch were fixated on this man and I couldn’t blame them. It was taking everything I had not to kiss him right then and there.

“This is nice,” Mist murmured, his voice soft in the gathering darkness. “I've never gotten to sit like this with anyone before.”

I swallowed hard, trying to keep my voice steady as I replied, “Yeah, it is nice. I keep forgetting there’s so many things you’ve never done.” I trailed off for a moment. “I uh… I hope I’m living up to your expectations. You know, as a friend and stuff.”

“You are. And then some.”

Warmth bloomed in my chest at his words and I felt myself lean into him on instinct. Before I knew what I was doing, I pressed a tiny kiss to his temple. About halfway through I tried to abort and make it look like I’d merely bumped him by accident. He didn’t react, but it felt like he relaxed a little more. I wasn’t sure if that made me feel good or terrified. Maybe it was a bit of both.

We sat in companionable silence for a while, watching the embers of our fire glow. The sweet potatoes were starting to smell delicious as they roasted in the coals. My stomach growled loudly, reminding me how long it had been since I’d eaten anything substantial. Less than a day didn’t sound like a long time to go without food. But when I’d teleported several miles, retrieved a spellbook from a painting’s pocket dimension, and created realm gate from scratch in a single day, it was like goingwithout food for a week. All I could say was that I was glad Mist had dug up so many potatoes because I fully planned on eating at least three of them tonight alone.

As we sat there, enjoying each other's warmth and company, I found my thoughts drifting back to the future that awaited us. The vision of my death loomed large in my mind, a constant shadow over any happiness I might find on our journey. I wanted so badly to just let myself fall for Mist, to explore these feelings between us. But how could I, knowing what was to come? I’d thought about it a thousand times that day and still I couldn’t come up with an answer. Just a lingering sense of restlessness.

I must have tensed up, because Mist lifted his head to look at me with concern. “What's wrong?” he asked softly.

I shook my head, forcing a smile. “Nothing.” I didn’t sound very convincing, not even to me.

He frowned, clearly not believing me. “You can talk to me, you know? About anything.”

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