Karli smiled.  “I never would have thought a strong warrior would possess a poet’s heart.”

“Give us the chance, and we will surprise you every day for the rest of your life.”  Ryden pumped into her, and Rayne followed behind him, creating the tempo she needed.

Moments later, as they reached their climaxes together, she knew that she could not walk away from these men.  “Yes! Yes….yes….yes.  I want to see it grow.”  Kissing them both intensely, all three then drifted into a deep sleep, still holding Karli in the warm embrace of their arms.

Chapter Eight

Eryck looked out of the old mansion’s bay windows, peering up at the starry sky, wondering if Ryden and Rayne were enjoying their night with their mate.  A smile formed on his lips, knowing full well they were.  A stab of jealousy struck him as he thought about the woman who probably even now stretched between their large bodies.

Why couldn’t it have been he and Erulf?

Over one thousand years without a woman to warm your heart and mind, life was becoming boring.  True, his newly found powers were causing an interesting mix to the everyday, but he couldn’t share his skills in fear of pissing off Erulf.  He wouldn’t lose Erulf like Joran had lost Jakob.

As if his words had conjured him up, Joran walked into the study, plopping down in one of the overstuffed arm chairs beside an old suit of armor.  “What’s on tap tonight?  Another Highlander movie marathon? Because believe me, those don’t get boring as hell to watch.”  Eryck laughed to himself as he watched Joran’s eyes roll.

“Yeah, you are funny.  You know full well that I only watch those movies because they were written by one of our own.”

“Hann did do a good job; I will have to give him credit.”

“What else was he supposed to do after he lost Hake?”  As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Eryck wished he could reel them back in.  The shadow that fell across Joran’s face at the reminder that Jakob had left them, left him, was devastating to watch.

“Well, I suppose he had to do something to make the loss go away.”

That was the first time Joran had said anything at all about Jakob’s disappearance, and Eryck wondered if he should press further, give him the opportunity to unload about his missing twin.  “Do you feel him at all?  I know when Rulf is not in the same area I occasionally get snippets, feelings, thoughts….Oh, I don’t know how to explain it.  I just know he is out there.”

Joran looked at the floor, his bare toe curving along the outline of the design in the Persian carpet.  He sat there silent for what felt like hours, but was mere seconds.  “Yeah.  I feel him.  Jakob is out there, alright.”  A large hand came up to rub across his face.  “And as of late, the last couple of days especially, I have sensed so much emotion.  Extreme highs.  I don’t know what’s going on.”

“You miss him.”  It wasn’t so much a question, but a startling statement of fact.

“Of course I do.  Did you think I wouldn’t?”

“You pushed him so hard.  I wasn’t sure…” Dropping the rest of his sentence at the look of fury on Joran’s face, Eryck changed course.  “Perhaps if he ever comes back, you can tell him that.”

“I didn’t push him.  I just couldn’t….ah hell.  I don’t know if he will ever come back.”  The wistful expression on Joran’s face was heart wrenching.  “But if he did, he wouldn’t care if I did miss him.  If he cared, he wouldn’t have been gone so long.”

Pain struck Eryck at that moment, the vision slamming into him with so much force that it knocked him to his knees.  Bringing a hand to his head, he fought to stay conscious, swaying in the utter non-reality of the swirling space of his own mind.  He watched the snippets of the movie playing behind his closed eyelids, trying to remember all the sights as they whirled around in flashing lights so fast he couldn’t tell one apart from the other.

As the pictures faded, and the pain subsided, he fell over onto his side and rolled to his back, looking up at the bright white of the ceiling above, trying to find his equilibrium.  He saw Joran huddled over him, as well as Erulf running into the room and standing above him as well, though he heard no sounds at all.

Sitting up, the world spun one final time and everything sped back up to normal.  Words hit his ear and he winced, the pain of their yelling hitting his eardrum perfectly.

“What the hell was that? Eryck?  Can you hear us?”  Erulf’s face was red, his eyes wild.

“Yes, yes, I can hear you.”

Erulf knelt beside his twin, looking him in the face.  “What aren’t you telling me?”

Eryck felt his stomach turn.  “I’ve been getting visions as of late.”  There was more, but he refused to go there.

“Visions?  Is that what you were screaming about in the park?  Visions of what?”

“The first few were such a rush of images and colors; I have no idea what I was seeing.  The second was of the dragon, but it was basically too late.  By the time I found Ryden and Rayne, the dragon was upon us.”

“And tonight?”  Joran looked skeptic.  He had always been the logical type, he had often laughed at his and Erulf’s magic abilities.

“Tonight was another jumble.  But I saw…or at least I think I saw…Jakob.”  With a woman.

“Was he alright?”  The lines of worry creased Joran’s face.

“I didn’t see…anything to lead me to believe…he wasn’t.”  Eryck cringed, hating himself for not telling everything.  Of course he is fine, he has found his mate.

And he is going to bring her here.

She is already carrying his child.

 And Joran, you will be alone.

****

The following afternoon, Ryden opened the front door to the mansion, one of their servants running to welcome them in.  Ushering Karli in, he felt almost embarrassed, not knowing how to act in regards to the woman standing between them, knowing there would be questions that he was not prepared to answer.

There had never been secrets between the Berserkers in this house, but there had also never been a mate.  The relationship that he and his brother shared with her was their own to share, and no one, not even the Berserkers willing to lay down their lives for her protection, would know the depths of his feelings for the woman.

Looking around the space, Karli whistled.  “So just what do you guys do to get a house like this one?”

“Being alive for over one thousand years has allowed us to amass several collections of artifacts, artwork, and the like.  We sold off some insignificant pieces over the years, and also work in the art trade.”  Rayne smiled at her.

“Art?”  Karli’s eyes shimmered with interest.  “What media?  Paintings?”

“To name one, yes.”  Ryden liked the fact that she was interested in what they did.

“I was an Art History major; I would love to see what you have.”

Rayne placed an arm around her shoulders, pressing her towards the drawing room.  “There will be plenty of time for all that.  First we need to introduce you to our Berserker brothers, and then, we need to properly welcome you into our new bedroom.”

Ryden stood back and watched as his brother led her into the other room, still in awe of the fact she was theirs.  After eons of meaningless relationships, they finally had a woman in their grasp that would love them, accepting them for what they were, bearing their children.  He could not wait to see the swell of her stomach as the seed they placed in her the night before took root.

Ryden was happy she had chosen to come with them.  Finally, they were truly going to become a family.  Whole.

Epilogue