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of his palm harder, and her head fell back.
    “Ah, yes! Make love to me, warlord.”
    “Words from fantasy. But I cannot. I need more time.”
    She lifted her head. “I do not understand.”
    “I want more of you. I want eternity.”
    “What are you speaking of?”
    “If I deflower a Valkyrie before wedding her, I will never earn ohalla. Wóden would never gift me with it.”
    “Wed?” She yanked his hand from her. “Immortals cannot wed mortals! It’s unnatural.” To watch him die a little each day, until he withered with age …
    “Precisely. So I must be of your kind. And even were it not forbidden, I still would not wed you without ohalla. I know of no warrior older than sixty winters. I’ve forty. Two decades should be but a taste of life with you.”
    In a crestfallen tone, she said, “You want me to … wait?” Her plan was foiled, utterly. Not only would she
not
get what she came for, she’d be punished for trying.
    “Only to be claimed. Rest assured, I’ll sate you in other ways till then.”
    But she wanted to know everything, to experience it all. “How many battles do you have left?”
    He lifted his chin. “A mere six dozen or so.”
    “Are there even that many wars?” she cried.
    “Between the vampires and the unallied demonarchies, a lifetime of war awaits.”
    “Seventy battles could take years! I came here because I wanted you to be my first lover.”
    “By all the gods, I will be, woman. But not yet. You wait for me, Reginleit. I will seize ohalla for you, for us.”
    “And what would you expect me to do while you are out fighting? My Valkyrie nature hungers for war as much as yours does. And I hold no love for vampires.” Her mother’s people, the Radiant Ones, had been exterminated by them.
    “You will remain behind—”
    Eyes widening, she opened her mouth to give him a blistering reply.
    “—to train, as all my men do before they go to battle,” he finished.
    “Train?” she scoffed. “I’ve readied for war all my life.”
    “Using the wrong weapon. You still wield your long sword?”
    “Yes.”
    “With your small height and Valkyrie speed, you should be fighting with two short swords. I could teach you how.”
    She pursed her lips, reluctantly intrigued by that idea. “And once I am trained …” she prompted.
    As if the words were pulled from him, he said, “You can join me at the front. But only after I deem you ready.”
    She dug one fang into her bottom lip, actually considering his offer.
    He must have taken her silence as acceptance, because he leaned down to kiss her neck, his mouth so hot in the rain. Against her skin, he rasped, “And, brightling, know this …” His tongue flicked out to lick drops from her. “I vow to you now, I will be your
last
lover.”
    She couldn’t think when he was doing that! “I-I haven’t agreed to this. Am I to have no say? Again?”
    He inhaled as if for control, then raised his head. “Give me a chance, and I
will
claim your heart. All I need is time.”
    She didn’t believe that could happen. An immortal like her could never fully love a mortal. Her instincts would rebel against tender feelings like that.
    After all, she could never give her heart to a man who would take it to the grave with him, leaving her broken and yearning for eternity.
    Still, there was something captivating about Aidan’s utter confidence. As if he knew something about her that she didn’t even know herself. And her out-of-control desires were making it difficult to deny him. “I will give you three months, warlord. You have three months to win me.”
    “Ah, Valkyrie”—he curled his finger under her chin—“your heart will be mine in two.”
    -iii-
    Seven months later
    Where is he? I’m going mad without him here.
    Regin paced their longhouse as a blizzard raged outside. Aidan was a week overdue from a campaign. She’d ridden the countryside searching for him for days, but found no sign.
    There was rumor of a capture.
    Did he