The Hellhound (Riders of Tyr #2 - MC Romance)

41. Second Chances

Thank you all so much for your love!

I heard this song and thought it goes well with the chapter. So, enjoy.

The next chapter will be the Epilogue. Rage's and Iris's story is almost done. I hope you like this chapter as much as I did. 

Rage

"I love you."

I hear it from the abyss I am drowning in, through the screams, the screeching, through the blood and the pain. It comes down like light, dispersing all the gloom, chasing away the dread that holds my soul captive. Iris, the hunter of nightmares. My beautiful brave Iris. I look down at her and her eyes have her soul exposed, once more trusting me with it despite the pain I have caused her. She loves me.

I search for fear in me, the fear that made me push her away, the one that commands me whole. But it's not there. It's as if it's replaced by those three little words, by a set of grey eyes, by a warm body near me. I search for rage, the rage that dominates me, preventing me from feeling anything else. But it's not there. It's replaced by one warm, irrevocable, utterly devastating feeling.

"I fucking love you, too," I growl and gather her to me.

I kiss her with all the thirst my tortured body has endured away from her. It has always been her, ever since she looked in my eyes, in my soul. She has claimed me whole and I was hers even before I knew it. I tighten her to me still unable to believe that she is here, in my arms. Mine. I kiss her face, her lips, her eyes, her hair. I am frantic, wild with ecstasy. But when her body melts against mine, her fingers tangle in my hair and her moans are in my ears, the kiss turns deeper, bottomless and I spiral down in a free fall that leaves me breathless. All of me is poured in that kiss. I tell her all that my fucked-up brain can't put in words. Mine. My Iris. My one. My Valkyrie. I love her.

"Finally," there is a voice near us.

I look with my arms still around her. I am not letting her go ever again. I will claim her, take her as mine and the whole world will know. Bjorn stands there with a wide smile on his lips.

"She is mine," I say. "Mine. Iris is mine. My Valkyrie."

"No shit," Bjorn chuckles and then takes one step closer and his face turns menacing. "I have told you that if you hurt her I would kill you. And you said that I should. I gave you a chance, brother," he narrows his eyes. "Fuck this up and I won't give you another."

"My word still stands, brother," I nod.

Bjorn laughs with his whole body shaking and before I can do anything he pulls me in for a bear hug. And I let him. And then his attention turns to Iris. She is smiling, wiping the tears from her face and it's her turn to surprise the big man by falling in his arms. Bjorn stiffens for a while and glances at me. He acknowledges that Iris is my Valkyrie and asks for my permission to touch her. I nod and he takes her in a crushing hug. Then Iris comes back to me and nests in my arms, her head on my chest, her arms around my waist. I wrap my arms around her and swear to never let her go.

It's dark but only for the sky above me, not in me. Finally. I am standing in the middle of Bjorn's yard after the wedding, smelling the nature around me, listening to the sounds of the night, feeling the soft breeze on my skin. I am fucking alive.

"Brother," Bjorn offers me a beer.

I take it and I sip slowly. For a while we just stand there. Iris has gone to gather her few things and come back with me. I can't wait. All I wanted to do all day is take her away back to my room and make up for the lost time and the hurt I caused her. I tasted her for one night and I crave for more, so much more. And that fucking dress added to my torment, making me stiff in my jeans, barely holding back from throwing her against a wall, have her there and end any doubt of whose she is. Especially, for Wood to see.