Hello, Little Ones!

No, your eyes are not deceiving you, here we are with a Saga novella. This one will be marked complete with the first post, but just know that this novella is where future takes/outtakes/etc. will be posted.

Be sure to subscribe to the story to get all future chapters!

On that note, this future take is post epilogue.

A massive thank you to Mel, Jill, and Paige for their incredible work and support as always.


There was a time that I didn't know how to appreciate the simple things in life.

Most of my existence has been spent hungry for the power I've always known I was capable of but was so frequently denied.

For so long, I pitied mortals who took the time to celebrate the mundane. What a wretched existence to commemorate the unextraordinary.

Some things in me have changed; for I am no longer the same woman, looking down on humans with pity.

I have been cursed, deceived, tortured, and killed, but oh, how I've grown.

The simple ceremony of undressing after a long day now brings me unspeakable pleasure. Sitting before a brightly gilded mirror and carefully plucking pins from my hair, watching each tendril fall to my shoulders, feels like a gift.

There are far too many pins in my hair, but it's just as well because I love removing them. I move one at a time, watching the intricate curls my handmaids have helped me achieve start to unwind.

Beyond my mirror sits a great infinity. It's a perfect, open view to the skies and the gleaming city below. We've no need of glass panes, not this high up, and the sweet evening air that brushes in against my skin feels like a song.

I hear the gentle whoosh of our bedroom door opening, and in the mirror, my eyes look up until I'm met with a single, brilliant emerald eye.

His gaze is intense, focused on my movements as I unleash my curls, one pin at a time. The edges of my mouth quirk into a small smile, and I take care to put on a little show, my fingers trailing over my skin and hair, stoking a fire that always seems to be burning in me.

His gaze darkens, and he stays completely immobile, watching me.

When the pins have all been removed, I give my hair a little shake, my eyes still on his. My hands land on my lap, and very slowly, I glide them over the silk of my dress, stroking the outside of my breasts before I reach for the brooches holding my dress together.

Keeping my eyes firmly on his, I smile and release the clasps.

The gold silk slips down my body, a cascading glimmering waterfall, and in the cool night air, my nipples harden, my breasts already aching with need when I see the fire in his eye.

He doesn't move—doesn't even breathe—as I let my hands fall down from my shoulders, fingertips ghosting over my skin. The touch is so light, I shiver, and I know he's watching my nipples harden even more in the mirror. My breathing is going shallow as I continue to play with myself, teasing him through the mirror.

It's been a very long day. We've hardly seen each other since we parted this morning.

Slowly, his eye lifts to meet my gaze, and I know my eyes are hooded, issuing a silent challenge.

His power moves over me, like a shadow falling over sun-burnt skin. I shiver as I feel his magic brushing against me, stroking over me like a cat.

My mouth falls open, my eyes shutting as I moan, soft and sweet.

In less than an instant, he is behind me, clothes shed along the way as his strong body presses against my back, his mouth covering mine, kissing me upside down as my head tilts back.

His tongue is sweet with honey wine and blackberries, and my hands travel up, wrapping around his neck and sinking into his thick hair.

His calloused hands move over my body, starting at my elbows and sliding down my arms until his long fingers brush over my aching breasts. I arch, silently urging him toward them, but to my disappointment, his hands continue down, dancing over my ribcage and down toward my waist.

I bit his lip to tell him I'm displeased, and he lets out a dark chuckle against my mouth.

In a single, fluid movement, he hauls me up out of my seat, my upper body pressed flat against my dressing table as he rips the gold silk of my gown, exposing the rest of my body to the cool evening air. I moan as one of his hands holds me down at the neck, the other one traveling along my spine. My hips buck against him, seeking, and his hand moves from my spine, delivering a deliciously firm slap to my behind. I moan against the table as his hand resumes the path down my back, moving slowly over each vertebrae.

I can feel the slickness dripping down the inside of my thighs in anticipation of his touch.

His hand reaches the base of my spine, and I wait on baited breath to see what he'll do.

He leans down, pressing a scraping kiss to my shoulder blades before he sinks to his knees, both of his hands traveling to my backside as he grabs my hips and plunges his face between my thighs.

My moan shakes the earth, my hand slapping down on the vanity so hard, the marble cracks.

The rough scrape of his beard combined with his hot silky tongue sliding into me has me screaming, each sound out of my mouth enough to level a mountain.

He nudges my legs wider, and I comply, nearly sitting back on his face as his long fingers dig into the soft flesh of my thighs.

The world is shaking with my thrashing against his face, islands forming with the power of the heat rising in me.

Before I can crest that final peak, he stands, his body letting go of all contact with me.

My fury is sudden and sharp, and in the sky, black storm clouds snap warning bolts of lightning.

"Easy, Little One." He growls, his voice right over my shoulder. "You'll level the city with that temper."

I twist to glare at him, but then his hand is at my throat, his hips slamming against mine as he fills me so deeply, I scream. I can feel the seas rising, thrashing in time with his thrusts. His hand flexes over my throat, and he leans down, biting at my shoulder.

In a fluid motion, I push off the vanity, twisting us so that he's leaning against the broken marble. I climb up his body, my knees resting against the stone as I slam onto him.

His hands slide down to my hips, guiding me as I undulate over him. His mouth leans forward, taking one of my breasts between his teeth, and I hiss, my hands flying to his back, my nails sinking into his flesh.

Encouraged, he bites and sucks at my skin, dividing his time between both breasts.

My hips swivel, squeezing him harder, and his teeth nearly sink through my flesh.

It only pushes me further, and I slam down harder.

With a snarl, he releases my breast from his mouth, pushing away from my broken vanity, and hauls us to our bed. He slips out of me, throwing me down on the soft furs before he falls on top of me, his face buried once again between my thighs. My fingers yank relentlessly at his hair as his long, skilled fingers slide into me, stroking me in tandem with his slippery tongue.

My legs wrap around his head, locking him in place as he feasts on me.

Toes curled in complete ecstasy, I struggle to catch my breath as my pleasure mounts.

I can feel his long fingers in me, massaging that point deep within me that only he knows how to find. He presses against it, his tongue and teeth working me over, beckoning me to fall.

I fight it off, not ready to surrender yet.

"Stop fighting it, Little One." He growls, his tongue buried in me again the second he's finished talking.

"No," I rasp, my legs squeezing him tighter as another wave of complete pleasure shudders through me. My stubborn refusal both thrills and infuriates him. I can feel it in the pressure of his fingers, stroking me harder, the sting of his teeth as he scrapes over my flesh.

I scream, shuddering, and using my knees as leverage, I manage to flip us on the bed, his face still locked between my thighs. Sitting over his face, the glorious scratching of his beard is nearly too much on my overly-sensitive skin. I can feel his moan of pleasure, the complete surrender of him under my body, and I nearly fall apart right then and there.

I edge closer and closer, my hands traveling up to my breasts, squeezing at them as I ride his face.

His hands slip out of me and grab my hips, and before I can even breathe, he's standing, flipping me in his arms, securing my back against his chest, his arms locking under my knees as he slams me down over him. I'm at his complete mercy, unable to move as he pounds into me once again, and I cry out, my head leaning back against his chest. His head bends, his lips capturing mine. I can taste the explosive flavor of myself on his tongue, and I moan into his mouth, wanting more.

In another flurry of motion, we are suddenly stretched out over our bed, his hips nestled in the cosmic fertile crescent of my thighs. My legs wrap around his waist, feet locking behind him as he pounds into me, his tongue sliding in and out of my mouth, echoing the rest of his body. I am on fire, my body blazing brighter than the sun. Nebulas are forming in the shockwaves of this pleasure, but I'm still not ready to give into it completely.

"Let go, Little One," he murmurs against my mouth. "Let go and fall with me."

I can feel the swelling of him, feel his body tightening like a bowstring. I wrap my arms around him, bringing his body as close to mine as I can. I feel his arms slide under my back, clutching me to him, and with a series of deep thrusts, we fall, stars bursting in our ecstasy. I can feel our power sweep over the nine realms, feel the life force we've generated flow into the mighty Yggdrasil, fortifying it. I can feel the crops we have sprouted throughout the worlds, feel the Auroras we've sent out in each heavenly sky. The universe pulses with the shockwaves of our love, echoing vows of our power to every corner.

I love you more than my own name.

Still nestled deep in me, his head moves, his lips landing soft as a sigh against my cheek. My head turns to capture his lips. Our kiss is sweet, reverent.

We stay locked in our embrace for several moments, extending this eternity.

"How was your day?" I ask, my lips brushing over his jaw, loving the scrape of his beard.

His sigh is long but not unsatisfied. "Productive," he answers. "Construction is moving along well. The expansion is already ahead of schedule."

We twist against the furs, both landing on our sides, and my hand reaches up to scratch lightly through the hair on his chest.

"That is good," I agree.

His hum is deep in his chest and tickles me with the vibrations.

"And your day?" he asks, his arm squeezing me tighter against him. I let my nose run through the soft curls over his heart before tilting my head up and looking at him.

"Negotiations are going well. I think that we'll be able to reach some sort of settlement soon."

His eye is amused and bright with his smile as he gazes down on me.

"I never doubted you," he says, fully confident. I smile, my lower body squeezing where he's still buried inside of me. His gaze darkens, hunger flickering back to life in him.

"Of course not." I moan as his hand moves down my side, hooking my leg over his hip. It slides him deeper into me, and I gasp, my eyes fluttering shut.

He begins to move, slow at first, a quiet, long rhythm that makes me feel every single inch of him. My head is thrown back, pillowed on one of his biceps while my hand moves under his arms and around his shoulders, clinging to him.

"I hate the time we spend apart," he whispers into my skin, his lips like silk compared to the roughness of his beard. "But oh, how I love to come home to you in this way."

I let out a breathy laugh.

When we were reborn, after Ragnarök, we had spent a small eternity, bodies locked together, remaking reality with our pleasure. It had been an intricate, complex weaving, but we'd been more than up for the task.

Despite that time, my need for him has never been fully satiated. I always want him, in ways I know he always wants me too. There is not enough time, not in this infinity or the next, for us to be together.

I push against his hips, and he slides onto his back so that I can climb over him, sinking over him once again. We both moan, and I lean down, my hands clasping his as I slowly writhe atop him. The friction is slow and deep, and I can feel in each stroke, new mountains being formed, their bases growing and spreading, wider and deeper.

Our tongues slip together, sparking new stars into existence with each sigh and moan.

The rhythm of our hips coming together sets the heartbeat of the universe, a quiet, beautiful melody.

When we crest, we fall with a rain of stars in the skies above.

In the morning, there is a gentle but insistent knock on the door that rouses us. With both of us in such high demand, there isn't time for much more than a searing kiss and a promise of later.

In the daylight hours, we belong to them: the realms and worlds beyond. We are leaders, providers, builders, and negotiators. We work endlessly for them.

But the nights belong to us.

One day, new leaders will rise, and power will be redistributed. One day, we will be able to pass on our wisdom and strength and allow new voices to be heard. One day, when the last star has burned out and everything has faded from memory, we will walk, hand in hand, into the unknown, facing our next lives as we have done every life—together.