Chapter 6

A few weeks later. Indra and Laurin are sitting on a bench outside the castle, admiring the alluring rose garden. It's early morning and the first rays of the sun trickles down over the dew-soaked leaves on the clusters of flowers making them shimmer like blushing diamonds. Here and there, Emerald Green dragonflies dart through the air on hasty wings. One of the dragonflies’ lands on the bench next to Indra, seemingly basking in the morning light alongside her. The sea below the mountain reflects the suns bright rays temporarily blinding them where they sit. The peace she feels in this present moment is stronger than the longing for the revenge she plans for Lucifer. The sight is simply breathtaking and Indra catches herself feeling amazed at the raw beauty that the world and this landscape have to offer.

Laurin hands her a cup of warm herbal tea that smells almost as wonderful as the nature surrounding them. There is no immediate danger and therefore she allows herself to relax and enjoy the sheltered beautiful scenery for a while. The herbal tea tastes spicey and earthy.

Her problems will have to wait until she can deal with them. She still wants revenge on Lucifer for everything he's put her through, but first she needs to rest and regain her powers.

Through the corner of her eye, she sneaks a peek at Laurin. He lays out a blanket on the grass before stretching out on top of it. His body looks like it was cut out of the hardest marble, made up of pure lean muscle. He reminds her of a Greek statue. There doesn't seem to be an ounce of fat on him. The sight of his well-defined body makes it difficult for her to breathe. He oozes power and grace in his smooth movements.

Laurin turns towards the warming sun and it lights up his restful face. Indra bites her lower lip, trying to hide her building desire for him. He has distinctively high cheekbones and a strong jawline. And, as if that's not enough, he has the most plump and juicy lips she's ever seen in a man. They are expressive and look like they were created only for the purpose to give a woman, long and steamy kisses.

When he talks and smiles, a deep dimple emerges in his left cheek, giving his appearance a unique charm.

His dark chocolate-colored hair is just long enough to reach the collar of his pale blue attire and it’s filled with sun kissed highlights that give him a luminous glow.

Indra has never taken much of an interest in men’s appearance, she prefers to look for a person’s innermost qualities. Most of the men she knows are not that attractive and their intelligence hardly impress anyone, other than themselves. It is usually other qualities that make her pay attention to someone rather than the look of a proportionate body or well styled hair.

Once again, she lets her eyes trail over Laurin's muscular body. As far as this man is concerned, perhaps she could make an exception. Indra brushes away her fringe that repeatably falls into her eyes from the lukewarm breeze coming in from the sea. She brings the cup to her mouth and gently sips on the hot liquid and resumes to study him. After a while, she gets up from the bench and lays down on the blanket next to him.

Laurin turns around and leans slightly towards her, close enough that her nostrils fill with his musky scent mixed with the heat from his body. His stare bore deep into hers, but she is still feeling a bit reserved.

"My senses are exceptionally evolved, Indra." He lowers his gaze to her nipples, which stiffens under his intense stare. "I can hear your heart beating harder. I hear the blood flowing faster through your veins and I know that you are wondering if I can really be trusted."

He's certainly intimidating. "Can I trust you then?" she says quietly, turning away to admire the blossoming rose bushes growing everywhere before turning towards the rising sun.

Laurin catches her wandering eyes. "What do you think?"

Indra tries to read his emotions, but the man is as impenetrable as a stone wall. "Honestly, I don't know yet."

He turns around to his stomach on the small blanket and rests his head gentlyon his folded arms. He smiles and her stomach fills with fluttering butterflies. "You're smarter than I thought," he says, his tone calm and collected.

Indra doesn't know what to think, or what to answer. Instead, she puts her empty cup down, sits herself up and looks towards the majestic castle.

It's certainly an impressive sight. The castle is made of smooth black slate stones and sits on the edge of a cliff surrounded by somber, daggered mountain ridges. The ocean crystals formed from the saltwater waves continuously thrashing over the mountain walls now embellish the facade with thousands of tiny sparkling jewels. The light from the crystals dazzles her, and she has to squint to make out anything at all.

At dusk, magic envelops the shimmering jewels on the castle. She has witnessed it with her own eyes when Laurin woke her one night and dragged her out into the crisp dawn. The powerful sight took her breath away. The gates are adorned with reliefs of twisted dragons with large, green emeralds as eyes, shining menacingly in the soft morning light. She knows that the intention is to deter unwelcome guests.

The night before, Laurin showed her around the halls of the castle's four wings. Every hall was larger and grander than the last one. Indra almost found it surreal to wander around in the luxurious rooms and somehow, strangely, it began feeling like home. She admired the ceiling paintings that adorned each room, paintings that showed the history behind the creation of time.

The painting that captured her the most was the one that adorned Laurin's grand ballroom and showed the life and eradication of Adam and Eve. Indra has a history with Adam and Eve's firstborn son Cain. He was banished by the Triune God Elohim after he murdered his brother Abel. Elohim then branded Cain's skin with the eternity symbol in the form of an eight, which became his immortality mark. Elohim forced him to wander forever amongst the people of earth. Indra met him in Asgard, when she was sixteen years old.

Living in Asgard wasn't always easy. Indra grew up on a small farm, east of the large longhouse that forms the heart of Asgard. There, the Vikings gathered before each sunset to socialize with friends, to seek warmth and sanctuary.

In the countryside surrounding the longhousewas extensive arable land and farms in radiant colors of butter yellow, auburn red and matured green. Outside the village, stretched miles of vast forests beneath high snow-covered mountains. Beyond the old growth forests lay the dark sea waiting to take the Vikings out on pillaging and plundering raids.

Indra loved everything about Asgard, but the best part was the tight nit community and sense of security. But that sense of security disappeared the day Cain showed an interest in her and wrapped her around his finger, with his flattering words and undivided attention. And for the first time, she felt like a woman.

At first, she enjoyed his attention, but soon the previous excitement turned into fear and uncertainty when Cain wanted to take thing further than she was prepared to. These are thoughts that she has pushed to the back of her mind for the longest of time, not wanting to even want to think about these memories.

She shakes off the unwelcome flash back, turns around and looks at Laurin. It looks incredibly inviting to lie down and relax on the soft blanket in the thick grass.

She hears Laurin grit his teeth. Doesn't he usually lie next to a woman? She hears him swallowing and deeply sighing, and eventually he apparently manages to relax to the point where he falls asleep.

Indra looks at his hands. His elegant, long fingers are adorned with medieval rings with twisted intricate patterns. It's really hard to remember that this man is not a man, but an entity out of a fairy tale.

Laurin turns around in his sleep and suddenly puts an arm around her. Indra’s body stiffens and her heart begins to race in her chest. All his manly strength is pressed against her in an extremely distracting way. He really is sexy. His facial features get more of a boyish charm now that he's so relaxed. His hair has fallen over his eyes and his full lips are slightly open. She wants to taste them so badly to see if they would fit with hers.

What's the matter with her? She's not a sex-crazed nymphomania, is she?

Her sex drive is healthy and normal. Yet, she wants to touch his tanned skin, sun-kissed hair and his full lips every time she looks at him.

What's wrong with her?

Aah, just forget it. She closes her eyes and starts counting pretend sheep on the meadows in Asgard. After a while, she gives up, sighs and reaches out to touch one of his rings, the ring that has captured her interest the most. It's big and feels cold, the ring covers most of his finger. She traces over the twisted pattern, from the tip of his finger down towards his warm palm.

Before she can comprehend what's going on, she is holding his hand. Laurin mumbles incoherently in his sleep and presses himself against her. Indra’s eyes widens when she feels his warm breath fan her cold skin and his growing erection pushing against her hip. His grip around her tightens and he pulls her closer against his strong body.

He whispers in her ear: "You are mine Similde." She shrugs by the sound of the unfamiliar name. Who's Similde? She can't help feeling hurt about being called another woman's name.

Indra tries to free herself from him, but he holds her in an iron-grip with his body wrapped around her. Maybe she just misheard. It's hard to hear exactly what he's saying when he mumbles so low. She decides to ignore what she thought she was hearing – so far Laurin has been surprisingly kind, but she doesn't know him and doesn't dare trust him fully yet.

"You are mine, princess..."

Suddenly Laurin’s body hardens and he looks up with blurred eyes at Indra, before closing his eyes, relaxing and falling back asleep.

No one's ever held her like this before. Her heart races uncontrollably in her chest, it's as if it already belongs to him. She feels as if she's completely enwrapped by his warmth.

What surprises her most is that, against her will, she likes this new feeling, far more than she wants to admit. Curled up in his warm arms, she finally falls asleep.