Careful to be gentle with both of their still-recovering bodies, Matt slowly urged Helia over onto her back and climbed on top of her. He sat on his knees with his hardened cock protruding out above her as he pulled off her panties and gently parted her legs with his hands. He rubbed just the very tip of himself against the tender flesh between her thighs, which made her wet and wanton and ready to have him. When he first pushed into her, he stayed on his knees and rocked his body in a way that moved within her to the point of ecstasy. She arched her back and writhed in pleasure beneath him. She placed her hands against his hips and felt the rhythmic motion of his whole body, working to pulsate inside of her. She relaxed her muscles and let herself fully feel the sensuous, titillating climb as heat flowed to the place where their bodies met. They wanted to stay locked in this moment forever, never reaching the point of release and never giving in to the arousal ending. This was what it felt like when two lovers were one in both mind and body, this was what wars were fought for and worlds were ended by; the feeling that everything outside of each other could burn down around them, but they would still be safe inside this moment.
The lovemaking lasted hours. At each surge that seemed it would finally claim them and force them to release, Matt would defy the desperately insatiable feeling just long enough to still himself and bring them back down to the point at which they could start again. He laid above her, holding Helia gently in his arms as he kissed her and pushed inside of her, feeling every twist of her tongue and every shake of her body. Finally, when their bodies were too fatigued to go any further, he strengthened his pace, and together they burst open as if the earth had shaken beneath them.
The aftershock of their immense pleasure caused tremors that rolled through them for more than a mere moment. Matt gently rolled beside her, and when his hot, wet cock left her body, she moaned with both pleasure and the thought of wanting to keep him inside of her forever. She rested her head on his shoulder and listened to his pounding heart against her ear as he ran his fingers through her hair and wiped the sweat from her brow.
“What would happen if I were to impregnate you?” he asked randomly as they lay in complete bliss together.
“Why would you ask such a thing?”
“It was just a thought that came into my head. We have made love so many wonderful times, and so I just wondered what would happen. Unless you have a means of birth control?”
Helia laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“I have no means of birth control; I cannot get pregnant.”
“Why not?”
“It is part of my fate as the queen of Hel. The ruler of the underworld is barren, and no children shall ever come to be mine. I suppose the universe didn’t think that Hel would be a good place to raise little ones.”
Matt looked thoughtful about what she said.
“What, don’t tell me you disagree?”
“I dunno,” he said. “The underworld has grown on me. Not that I have any desire to be buried beneath it again, that part definitely sucked. But I think it’s just as good a world as any of the others.”
“True. Regardless, I am not well-suited to motherhood anyway, so it’s for the best.”
In the living room, Brandt and Brenna had quickly shifted gears from grief to determination. If Erik said he knew how to get Kemma back, then their only thought was on doing so as quickly as possible. Lopt and Leif agreed, and all focus was solely on Erik and his plan to retrieve her.
“How do you know where she is?” Leif asked him.
“I know because she is in Valhalla, where I was.”
“Valhalla?” Lopt seemed surprised by this news. “Valhalla is for fallen warriors in battle.”
“She did fall in battle,” Leif said. “Whatever that thing was, it attacked her amidst the fight that Helia and I were getting ready to have.”
“That’s not exactly the kind of battle that usually gets one into Valhalla. Eric, are you sure it was Kemma you saw there?”
“Positive, it’s her, and she is most certainly on Valhalla.”
“Okay, so how do we get her?” Brandt asked. “It’s not as if we can all go marching into Valhalla without an invitation.”
“Actually,” Lopt’s eyes brightened, and a smirk tilted up the corner of his mouth. “I always have a standing invitation to Valhalla. I can get us in there without a problem.”
“Why would you have a—” Brenna suddenly thought better of it and decided to refrain from asking the question of why Lopt would be welcome to traipse in and out of the afterlives. She figured it was probably an answer that she didn’t want to know, something he achieved back from his more reckless days, so she changed her question to something more productive instead. “When can we go there?”
“Now.”
The three of them stood, ready to follow Lopt to Valhalla and bring back Kemma to the Earthly realm with them.
“I will let you in, and when you are ready, Brenna can summon me with her magic to let you back out.”
“You won’t be coming with us?” Brandt asked.
“No. The five of you will be fine going on your own. There is nothing in Valhalla that will harm you unless the dark sorcery has infiltrated things there too. But regardless, the plague is everywhere, and you do not need me to escort you. I need to go back to Alfheim and check on things there. I will return as soon as Brenna summons me.”
They weren’t all that pleased that Lopt wouldn’t be joining them on Valhalla, but he was right, someone should stay behind to help with things on Alfheim and on Earth, and hopefully, the trip to Valhalla wouldn’t take long.
“Ready?” Lopt asked them. He clapped his hands together with one loud smack that shook the glass windows and then pulled his fingers apart, leaving the bottom of his palms still touching. Between his hands, a milky, rippling energy appeared. As the others stared at the force seeping out from between his fingers, Lopt suddenly pulled his hands completely apart from each other, and when he did, they all disappeared.
Leif hadn’t quite gotten used to all the different ways of magical travel yet, and the abruptness of their arrival in Valhalla made him a bit sick to his stomach. He gripped his shirt and tried to steady the nauseating feeling.
Colby gave him a solid smack on the back when he saw Leif’s weakness. “Man-up,” he laughed.
Even without the dark sorcery still in his veins, Leif still held a solid hatred for Colby.
Valhalla was beautiful. Lopt had placed them on the direct path to the Hall of Warriors, a great hall that was lined with rooms on both ends which housed the newest recruits in Valhalla. He must have thought that this would be the most likely place to find Kemma.
The land in Valhalla was rich with both natural lushness and god-made constructs. The city itself was massive and filled with giant buildings, ornate halls, and massive arenas for the warriors to hone their fighting skills.
“What are they practicing for?” Brenna said as she saw men and women training in combat out in the open.
“Not sure,” Brandt answered. “Maybe to battle the dark sorcery when the plague reaches here, or maybe something else.”
Something else? Brenna thought to herself.
They walked on the stone road that led then into the Hall of Warriors. There was a giant feast spread across several enormous tables that stretched the entire length of the hall. There were people everywhere, sitting at the table and standing alongside the edges of the room, deep in hearty conversation and enjoying the delicious spoils before them.