A Midwinter Fantasy - Leanna Renee Hieber [108]
“The speed at which my life’s changed is bizarre,” she murmured. “Speaking of the bizarre, is my father here yet?”
Vidar cleared his throat. “There’s something I need to tell y—”
“Ah, you’re here.” A delicately beautiful woman with long black hair and blue eyes glided out to greet them. An ivory silk wrap encased her slender body, but she was obviously naked underneath the fine fabric. She embraced Vidar before casting an assessing gaze over Sonja. “Buon giorno, Sonja. You have your father’s beauty.”
“Sonja, meet Arminia, she’s the reigning queen of the Folletti and a very distant niece of mine.”
“Buon giorno,” Sonja replied.
A moment later Troy came out, and Sonja blinked in amazement. Each time she’d seen him he was impeccably dressed. Even after the conflict with Odin, he’d hardly had a hair out of place. Now his feet were bare, the top button on his trousers was undone, and he was shirtless.
“Sonja, child.” He touched her cheek. “Have you practiced walking unseen?”
She tried not to stare at the amazing pearly skin of her father’s naked chest. “I’ve been too busy.”
“I’ll practice with you later and help you to master your other skills.”
“We’ll leave you to show Sonja around,” Arminia said to Vidar. “We’ll meet you for dinner.” Then, with a seductive sideways glance at Troy, she turned and flitted back inside.
Troy watched her go before returning his attention to Sonja. “We’ll talk when you’re rested.” He followed Arminia.
“My having a rest is not what’s on his mind,” Sonja exclaimed as soon as he was out of sight.
“Sorry I didn’t get a chance to warn you your father’s here,” Vidar said. “I get the impression Arminia has been seeing him for a while, but she’ll never get him to commit to her. He has a bit of a reputation for fighting hard and playing hard.”
“Oh my god, he doesn’t.” She turned to Vidar with an embarrassed laugh.
He gave her a wry grin. “Look on the bright side. It means that you likely have a few siblings. If we find out who they are, we can visit them.”
“Gosh.” She leaned against Vidar, suddenly feeling as if the earth were shifting beneath her feet again. Meeting her father had been a revelation, but to think she had brothers and sisters somewhere . . . She’d gone from having no one except her reluctant pseudo aunt to having a lover, a family, the whole world at her fingertips. This Christmas all her childhood dreams were coming true. It made up for all the years when she’d missed out on Christmas gifts. When she’d set out for Santa’s Magical Wonderland, had she known deep inside that she’d find her guardian angel there?
Vidar hugged her to him. “I have a surprise for you.”
She turned in his arms and speared her fingers through his hair to pull his head down. “I hope it’s a huge king-size bed with silk sheets.” Pressing her lips to his, she melted into his embrace.
He eased back and stroked wisps of hair away from her face. “You’ll love our bedroom. But first I want to take you somewhere else.”
“Not another Yule Fest, please. I can only cope with one of those a year.” He gave her a mysterious smile, then led her along a warren of staircases and tiny corridors, through ancient warped doors and under low stone arches where he had to duck. They emerged in a garden of tiny linked terraces literally hanging on the edge of the cliff. Hidden among the greenery was a stone bench in an alcove set with shells. Sonja inhaled the scent of mild salty air as the sea lapped against the rocks below them.
Vidar stepped forward to gaze down at the water. “Years and years ago, I used to come here to think.” His leather jacket outlined the masculine width of his shoulders, tapering to his narrow waist. Itching to touch him, Sonja followed him and laced her fingers with his.
“It’s good to be home,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “The only thing I’ll miss about Iceland is Gleda.
“When my father summoned me all those centuries ago, I dashed off proud to be the son of a god, eager for adventure and excitement. I had no idea I would never see my mother again. But if I hadn’t gone to