Midnight Eclipse (Paranormal Viking Romance, Completed)

Chapter 8: Disneyland

Greenland, present day

It doesn't take long before civilization makes way for nature as we drive on bumpy roads, cracked by ice in winter. Nuuk isn't a big town after all.

"Where are we going?" I ask, looking over fields of gray rock adorned with scattered dots of blue.

Bluebells. A forgotten memory from another time flies across my mind. A hand touches a cheek when a bell-shaped flower in the shade of the ocean is perched behind a curl-covered ear. Eyes of forbidden lovers meet during a celebration that is anything but joyous.

"Home," Mikk simply replies. "Didn't I already tell you that?" He gives me a crooked smile that makes my heart flutter. The flutters chase the mysterious memories away for now.

"But..." I look back toward Nuuk. "I thought home was that way?" I point in the direction of his parents' B&B.

Mikk smiles again. Wider. Warmer. More flutter-inducing. "I'm twenty-nine years old, Saga," he notes. "I don't live with my parents."

"Oh," I can only reply, biting my tongue for assuming. Being a year younger myself, I haven't lived with my parents for almost ten years. So why would Mikk?

"This is where I live." He pulls into a smaller dirt road, leading toward a single house on a rocky peninsula. The house is painted as bright blue as the sea that dwells below. A pair of high-tech kayaks are pulled up on the shore, contrasting against the rock in their sunny orange hue.

Like the gentleman he is, Mikk holds the door open once he's parked beside the house. "Welcome home," he says before a subtle red shade falls over his cheeks. "Welcome to my home, I mean..."

Taking his outreached hand, I bounce out of the pickup truck. I understand now why the vehicle is so beaten up if these are the kind of roads Mikk drives daily.

My hand remains in his as we walk toward the house. It feels so natural already. Hand in hand.

Out hands detach as he has to rummage through his pocket for his keys. After some fumbling, the door opens to reveal a hallway piled with coats and boots. I suppose you need a lot of options for warm winter gear in this part of the world. Upon entering, I sit down on a rustic wooden bench to untie my lace-up boots, which aren't quite made for this terrain but have served me well so far.

"Are you hungry?" Mikk asks. He walks past me toward the kitchen, which looks like it comes straight from IKEA. It appears the widely successful franchise of my homelands has made it all the way to Greenland. The room also features a corner couch in leather, which looks old and worn, but also very cozy. I can't help but imagine sinking into those well-worn cushions for a night of movies and cuddles.

I miss those nights with Stefan. I miss the closeness more than I miss him.

"I'm good," I reply since I'm still full from the delicious breakfast Mikk's mother served me this morning. Rising from the bench, I walk into the personal sphere of a man who I find very intriguing.

And attractive. So damn attractive. Like I can't stop looking at the bulging muscles of his upper arms, which have just been revealed since Mikk shed his hoodie on a kitchen chair. The lightheadedness that ensues can probably be accounted to swooning.

"Good." He smiles. I swoon harder. "Because I don't have much to eat anyway. My mom said she's cooking tonight though, so we can go over there to eat later." He looks away into the cupboard, perhaps trying to hide a blush behind the door. "I mean... you already live there and she always loves to feed her guests dinner. She's making Suaasat I believe."

"What is that?"

"Seal stew." Mikk closes the cupboard with a bang, taking a step toward me.

"Oh..." I'm not judging anyone for eating seal, as I guess it's not really any different from eating any other animal, but I do worry the taste of it won't appeal to me. I would feel awfully rude turning down the dinner cooked by the mother of a man I... could care about. Like a lot.