Page 7 of Valkyrie Restored

But it wasn’t to be. He softened his kiss and then pulled his hand and lips away before stalking to the deck without looking back.

As I watched him absentmindedly go about tasks, I knew what I needed to do. I had to invite her over even if he stated he didn’t want that to happen. It was the only way we’d ever get to the bottom of what was going on.

After placing the fishing rods I’d left on the deck in their stands, he stuck his head through the open door. “I love you. And I’ll take care of that later.” He motioned towards me as he smiled. But the smile didn’t quite meet his eyes like it should have, yet I returned it, not wanting him to see how our discussion affected me.

Later he’d said, but I wondered how manylatersI had left with him.

5

Elin

Despite my loveof the woods, I avoided them for almost a week. Instead, I stuck to my garden and took long walks along the public beach access points.

The bear.

I wasn’t scared of it—or at least I wasn’t during the encounter—but something wasn’t right. Daisy and the group of older men playing cards at the store said that bears weren’t around these parts. And everyone else that I spoke to confirmed it. Yet I wasn’t an idiot. I knew what I saw. What I encountered.

Besides my normal nightmares, I now woke with the roar of the bear echoing in my head. So besides not walking in the woods which messed up psyche, ruining my zen, I was sleeping even less. I stopped looking in the bathroom mirror after my shower because I knew the bags under my eyes had their own bags. Not even my eye creams could successfully hide them. A fact, pointed out to me just yesterday when I dropped off another batch of products with Daisy at the store. She’d given me one look and I’d had to bite my lip to keep from spilling all my problems.

A flash of sadness and hurt crossed her eyes when I shrugged and said that I was fine, just adjusting to the increasing sunlight coming into my bedroom window. It added to my guilt, but I couldn’t tell her all the stuff that rattled around in my brain, keeping me up. Many of it, I had no answers to which would have only transferred some of the worry onto her shoulders. She was that type of friend.

The only person I could talk to appeared to be ghosting me. Not that him and his husband were around that much normally, but for some reason, it seemed like he was actively avoiding me. I could have sworn I saw him twice during my shore walks and a few more times when I worked in my garden, but each time he disappeared before I could say anything.

Not that I’d know what to say. Somehow going up to him and saying, “You know that bear that we saw in the woods the other day. The one that everyone says couldn’t possibly be a bear because there are no bears here, did you feel anything weird about it? Like is crackled with static electricity?”

Yeah, I didn’t think that would go well.

It didn’t help that when I closed my eyes before falling asleep or even during the day when my mind wandered, all I saw was my hot-as-sin, grumpy-ass neighbour. I saw the way his muscles moved, how his hair blew around his face and shoulders in the breeze like those old bodice ripper romance covers. And most of all, I could still feel the heat from his body that wrapped around me when he stood in front of me, questioning me. In my daydreams, I could feel the way his large hands would roam over my body, mapping each line and crevice. The pleasure it would bring when his smooth lips would press against mine. The heat we’d produce made me pant.

Obviously I’d gone too long without companionship of a sexual nature. I didn’t want a relationship because I had too many holes in my mind from my previous life. In the hospital and even afterwards, I watched too many romance movies and read too many books where the woman or man had amnesia, ended up falling in love only to discover that they already had a significant other. A person that they already loved and who loved them. Their heartache ripped my heart into shreds, and I vowed I’d never do that. So no relationships for me. Only sex. But living in a small community like this, and with winter the way it was, I couldn’t just go out and find a stranger to fill my bed. Nor did I want to mess up any friendships—potential or otherwise—by hopping into bed with a local.

This meant I spent time in my shower.

A.

Lot.

Not that it helped. The ineffectiveness of my personal pleasuring device and my special showerhead left me worked up and wanting. Not a combination I wanted. And when you added that to my sleepless nights, my lack of time spent in the woods rejuvenating… yeah, my mood made me unfit for company.

Especially the company of the non-broody, ruggedly handsome, male partner of the neighbour in question when he walked into my little workshop after knocking on the doorframe.

When I first met them—my closest neighbours—I’d noticed in passing how attractive both were, but once I understood that they weren’t just business partners, but also married, I’d pushed all thoughts of them from my mind. Or at least I thought I had, not having seen them all winter and for most of the fall. But after running into one of them in the woods and now, to have his husband stand in the doorway, filling it while the sunlight casted a warm glow around him, I wondered what had been wrong with me when I met them.Shit. I really need to schedule a trip into Winnipeg.

“Elin, right?” The soft, Scottish burr of his voice washed over me, sending a delightful shiver down my spine.

“C-correct, but, but I’m sorry I can’t remember which one you are.”

He smiled from ear-to-ear with a twinkle in his green flecked, brown eyes as he stepped into the space, filling it with his fresh, musky scent. “No worries, lass. Our names are not common, so we tend to have to repeat ourselves multiple times. Besides, the few times we met last year, it always seemed like you were a little overwhelmed with moving in.” He leaned his hip against my large, wooden worktable and held out his hand. “I’m Arran and Hurrit is my partner. I believe he rescued you from a bear the other day.”

The feel of his lips against the skin on my knuckles brought a flush to my cheeks. Between the teasing tone of his voice to the smooth move of kissing my hand, he had me flustered and unable to think straight. “Oh. Uh, yes, I mean, he did, I suppose.” The twinkle in his eyes faded as they widened at my statement.Craptastic. You weren’t supposed to say that,I berated myself. Of course Hurrit saved me from the bear—the imaginary bear according to, well, everyone—even if I hadn’t felt like I was in danger from the bear at the time. Now, I wasn’t so sure. Or at least my dreams weren’t. But after spending the past week wondering about my mental stability, at least I had confirmation that it had indeed been a bear in that clearing with me… and Hurrit.

Not wanting to explain the reason behind my statement, I snatched my hand back from him—the one I hadn’t realized he continued to hold—and began to chop up some of the stinging nettles on my worktable to boil in water for an infusion.

He continued to lean against the table and watch me. It took all my concentration to keep from cutting myself under his scrutiny. The silence between us lengthened, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. From under my eyelashes, I let my gaze roam over him. While Hurrit was tall and lanky with long, lean muscles, Arran was tall and broad with wide shoulders, a weightlifter’s chest, and strong, powerful thighs. I’d need to see them side-by-side to be sure, but I doubted there would be more than an inch or two difference between them in height. Something I didn’t recall taking note of last year.

After slicing all the stinging nettles and prepping two other piles of garden shoots to be used later, I worried about why Arran remained silent. Starting to feel uncomfortable, I blurted out, “Is there something I can help you with?” I closed my eyes and dropped my head at the briskness of the words. Why was I acting like this? People didn’t fluster me. Not even hot, sexy men. Goddess knew I’d met enough of them during my travels around the world for the past few years as I attempted to discover who I was—other than the name and bank account I woke up with in the hospital.

“Actually, there is.” He batted his eyes at me. “While our business is slower during this early spring season, Hurrit and I wanted to invite you over for supper. We would have done it last year, but the fall and winter tend to be busy times for us at our northern lodge.”

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